In 2021, Dr. Russell Fuller publicly remarked, “Southern Baptists, not only do we not know what a pastor is, we do not know what adultery is either.” His observation appears increasingly accurate. The repeated and deliberate efforts by two adults to rendezvous and sustain a relationship over more than a decade, even when separated by hundreds of miles, with no indication that Lyell sought to escape the relationship, and while she later held authority over Sills in her role as a publisher, point clearly in one direction. The logic of the #MeToo framework seeks to redefine such a relationship as abusive solely based on age, position, and gender differences. 

The rationale used to campaign for sweeping #MeToo overhauls within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination has now been thoroughly discredited. Newly released documents in Sills v. Southern Baptist Convention reveal how unwise decisions by denominational leaders, combined with unethical conduct by investigative consulting group Guidepost Solutions, manipulated Southern Baptists into a manufactured crisis. The result was a self-inflicted unraveling that exposed the denomination to litigation and has already cost $13 million and counting in investigative and legal expenses.

The recent revelations center on Jennifer Lyell, a former student at Southern Seminary, and missions professor David Sills, whom she alleged had abused her over a period of 12 years, as well as the investigation Southern Baptists contracted Guidepost Solutions to conduct regarding sexual abuse within the denomination.

Background

Lyell’s case, along with the 2018 firing of then-president of Southwestern Seminary Paige Patterson, and a series of articles in the Houston Chronicle reporting on abuse victims within the denomination, led to the Guidepost report, the SBC Executive Committee waiving attorney-client privilege, and the formation of an abuse report hotline.

Patterson’s controversy involved an accusation he advised a student to not report an alleged rape incident to the police in 2003 when he was then the president of Southeastern Seminary. This was never confirmed, but when it mattered most, Southeastern stated there was “no evidence discovered that disputes or discredits our former student’s account,” thus framing the incident without the presumption of innocence.

After the firing, Southern Baptists met in June 2018 and adopted a resolution on abuse that encouraged “ministry leaders . . . to implement policies and practices that protect against and confront any form of abuse.” SBC President J.D. Greear then launched the Sexual Abuse Advisory Group, which made recommendations and crafted an abuse prevention curriculum for churches. These resources adopted much of the #metoo movement’s assumptions, particularly the elevation of victim perspectives as superior in addressing abuse and the encouragement to believe accusations automatically, regardless of corroboration.

The Houston Chronicle added fuel to the fire in February 2019 when it released a story implying that the denomination had an unusually high number of sexual predators, even though it was much lower than the percentage in the general population. Despite this, President Greear said that Southern Baptists had “created . . . safe spaces for abusers.” The following month, Baptist Press escalated things further with their story on the accusations against Professor Sills.

A Manufactured Crisis

Sadly, Lyell passed away earlier this year at 47 years old. The New York Times reported that her “activism ignited an agonized reckoning over sexual abuse among the Southern Baptists.” Lyell earned a Master of Divinity from Southern Seminary in 2005 and worked in Christian publishing for Moody and later Lifeway, where she rose to vice president of book publishing and merchandising.

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