Christina
Hello, everyone, I’m Christina Darnell, the managing editor of MinistryWatch. Welcome to the MinistryWatch podcast.
In today’s extra episode, I talk with Warren Smith about some news items that are slightly (even significantly) outside of our normal charity and philanthropy “beat.”
So, Warren, what’s up first?
Warren
Last Friday, just days before the Southern Baptist Convention gathered for its annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, SBC megachurch Pastor Jack Graham said in a social media post that the SBC has never had a “systematic sexual abuse crisis” and described what prompted a 2021 independent investigation by Guidepost Solutions as a “reckless hoax.”
Christina
Speaking of reckless, given all the evidence for serious issues in the SBC, that seems a pretty reckless thing to say.
Warren
Agreed. I have met Jack Graham a few times, and he seemed like a normal guy. I clearly missed the signs.
This statement is so dislocated from reality as to make my head swim.
Christina
The Houston Chronicle documented nearly 400 cases of sexual abuse in Texas alone. The Guidepost Report on the SBC found hundreds more.
Warren
Graham’s view seems to be that the problem was not systematic and was instead a function of how large the SBC is (“a few bad apples”). Even if that was true (and I do not think it was), the failure to respond quickly and adequately to survivors was surely systematic, a product of the culture of the SBC. That said, the SBC has, in recent years, taken solid steps toward reform. I applaud the denomination for that. But Graham’s comments are not helping.
Christina
While we’re on the subject of the Southern Baptist Convention, the SBC has released new demographic information, and Ryan Burge has analyzed it.
Warren
Here’s a passage from one of his recent weekly newsletters: “I’ve said this on many occasions, but the rise of the SBC from 1945 through 1990 will never ever be replicated again in the history of American religion.”
The SBC peaked at $16.2 million in 2006. Today it has about 12.3 million. This 25 percent decline in a generation is due to a lot of factors, including a general secularization of culture. But to claim that the sex abuse scandals played no role strains credulity.
Christina
The Southern Baptist Convention is meeting this week, but the SBC is not the only thing in the news.
Warren
That’s right. A new study is out from Communio and the Institute for Family Studies. Among the findings: “Children raised in homes where faith is discussed regularly are more than twice as likely to attend church and say religion is very important to them when they become adults.”
The study is called Passing the Torch: How Faith Moves Across Generations, and it claims to be the “most comprehensive examination to date of how parents successfully pass on faith to the next generation.”
The report also found that when both parents attend church weekly, 41 percent of children do the same in adulthood, compared to 29 percent when only one parent attends. Children who report a strong relationship with both parents are 97 percent more likely of believing in God as adults than those with weaker parental relationships.
Christina
We do not often cover the Catholic Church, but a story from our hometown of Charlotte caught your attention this week.
Warren
Prosecutors say a Catholic Charities employee in Charlotte embezzled and laundered money by using a business credit card. The damage was more than $13,000. Leah Stewart, age 46, was arrested in late April. She faces felony charges over the unauthorized credit card charges. We do not cover Catholic charities much, but this one was in my hometown, so I could not help but notice. Also, it gives me another opportunity to note that we can learn from this situation. To find out how your organization can put safeguards in place to avoid financial fraud, click here.
Christina
And our last story is a bit of good news.
Warren
That’s right. There’s so much news about people doing bad things, it’s nice sometimes to catch people doing good things, especially when they happen to be friends.
Christina
And one of them is right here in Charlotte.
Warren
That would be Rod Culbertson. He has “graduated” to emeritus status at Reformed Theological Seminary here in Charlotte after a long and distinguished career as a pastor, campus minister with Reformed University Fellowship, and a longtime professor at RTS. “Emeritus” is what you call someone who has retired but who does not believe in retirement as a biblical category!
Christina
And who’s the other one.
Maria Montserrat Alvarado, the current president and COO of U.S.-based Catholic media giant EWTN News, will lead the Vatican’s communication office, the Vatican announced Tuesday (June 2).
Montse, as I know her, is not yet 40 years of age, and she will be the youngest person to lead a Vatican dicastery in recent memory and the first woman who is not a religious sister to be a Vatican prefect, a task historically reserved for cardinals.
When I first met Montse, nearly 20 years ago, she was barely in her 20s and working for The Becket Fund, the religious liberty legal organization. We have reported on their work often here at MinistryWatch. It was clear even then she was a rising star. Indeed, in 2017 she became the Executive Director there.
So, Montse and Rod, I will be praying for you both as you enter news seasons of life and ministry.
Christina
Warren, we need to wrap things up here. Any final thoughts before we go?
Warren
I’m in Colorado Springs and Denver this week. I’ll be doing a reader lunch in the Springs on Thursday and in Denver on Friday. Let me know if you would like to join us. My email is wsmith@ministrywatch.com.
I also want to mention that June is the end of our fiscal year. We’ve had a good year, so far, but we still have about $45,000 that we need to raise between now and June 30. If that number sounds huge, I’d like to remind you that the average gift to MinistryWatch is less than $100. But they add up. If you have been listening to us here on the podcast for a while, but have never given, I’d like to ask you to consider a gift so MinistryWatch can continue our work. Just go to www.MinistryWatch.com/donate
Christina
That brings to a close this EXTRA episode of the podcast. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. I hope you’ll join Warren and me again on Friday. We’ll be bringing you the news of the week, from a MinistryWatch perspective.
Until next time, may God bless you.
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