Leaders of the 16 million-member Southern Baptist Convention prefer to say that the denomination is a network of autonomous churches. The denomination’s constitution claims that each church is “independent and sovereign in its own sphere,” and that the Nashville-based Convention “does not claim and will never attempt to exercise any authority over any other Baptist body.”

The Rev. (Name Withheld) paced First Baptist Church’s sanctuary, decorated for the holidays with poinsettias and a Christmas tree. He addressed his congregation about forgiveness.

 “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,” he read from the Gospel of Matthew.

Since NW’s arrest in October on sexual abuse and statutory rape charges, which follow similar allegations from 2010, forgiveness from his congregation has become critical to his survival as its pastor. It is this group of about 100 souls — not a bishop, nor a disciplinary committee nor national church leaders — who will decide NW’s future in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Unlike members of many denominations — such as Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalian and Presbyterians — Southern Baptists don’t conform to a centralized, hierarchical structure.

Instead, authority resides at the local church level. And that’s true even amid allegations of clergy misconduct.

So while Catholic bishops have the authority to remove abusive clergy throughout their dioceses, among Southern Baptists that task falls to individual congregations.

In any denomination, Christians confronted with the shocking news that a pastor has been accused of sexual misconduct, many congregations circle the wagons, some experts say.

“When a church rallies around its pastor, there’s disbelief that someone they trust could do something like this,” said Diana Garland, dean of the school of social work at Baylor University, which was founded by Baptists. “It often feels so much safer to blame the victims for causing his downfall, rather than accept that the power of a religious leader has been abused.”

But what happens when those circling the wagons around their pastor are also those who have to make the ultimate decision about his fate — his career, his paycheck, his reputation?

P. M., a deacon at First Baptist, said no one from the congregation has put forward a motion to dismiss NW, the first step in a longer process to remove the pastor.

“These are old charges, and if they’re true, why weren’t they brought up when they occurred?” he said. “We’ll wait for the court system to address them and let justice take its course.”

The most recent accusations against NW by two different women, stem from alleged incidents in 1998, 1999 and 2005, when the women were minors. Those allegations led to what the Highway Patrol called a “lengthy investigation.” Prosecutors charged NW with six felonies, including sexual abuse, second-degree statutory rape and forcible rape

Both NW and his lawyer declined a request to speak with a reporter.

NW “was rough around the edges when he was younger, and that’s where all this comes from,” P.M. said. “But he has a good heart, and he’s good for our church.”

In 2010, according to news reports and law enforcement officials, NW was arrested after a 14-year-old girl, a friend of his daughter, accused him of molesting her during a fishing trip. Another girl then came forward and said Smith began having sex with her, in 2005, when she was 15. Both girls were members of his congregation.

Last year, NW was acquitted in one case and the other was dropped. A year later, he was arrested on the current charges, which involve different girls.

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