Bryan K. Johnson Named in Southern Baptist List of Abusers

Was Bryan K. Johnson Listed in SBC Abuse Investigation Report?

Bryan K. Johnson, of Vineyard Ministries in Westwego, Louisiana, and Greater Cypress Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Algiers, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to having sex with a 15-year-old girl and was sentenced to 6 years in prison and forced to register as a sex offender for another 25 years in 2016.

SBC Executive Committee Response To Report

According to the Washington Post, a 300-page report was released on Sunday, May 22, 2022. The report includes terrible new information concerning specific abuse circumstances and clarify how denominational officials actively disapproved abuse prevention and change for several years.

Southern Baptist Convention leaders have actually revealed a comprehensive and independent third-party investigation that found that abusers were frequently overlooked, forgotten, and even blamed by upper-level church administrators from within this religious denomination of greater than 16 million individuals. Moreover, it showed these leaders typically deceived their own members to stop them from understanding the unchecked sexual misbehavior.

Click to continue reading about the groundbreaking SBC Executive Committee Response to Report

A Story of Overlooked Misconduct

For almost 20 years, survivors who were sexually assaulted attempted to contact the administration of the Southern Baptist Convention with regards to the pastors and congregation staff members. Nearly all of these disclosed incidents fell beyond the statutes of limitations, making it uncertain how many predators were really charged. According to the report, a secret list was kept. Victims’ cries for justice went unheeded as officials from organizations and churches tried to shield themselves rather than those who have actually been preyed on by sexual assault.

One victim talked about being treated with animosity as she alleged she was sexually abused by a youth pastor. The accused pastor served in several Southern Baptist churches in several states. At a meeting with the SBC leaders in 2007, a member of the Exec Committee “turned his back to her during her speech and another chortled.”

Responsibility in the Southern Baptist Church

Russell Moore, the previous head of the SBC’s policy branch, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, mentioned ‘this is not all Southern Baptists, look at all the good we do.’ The Report shows a pattern of stonewalling, coverup, intimidation, and retaliation.” He hopes this document will bring much-needed change and hold those accountable for their misconduct.

The document asserts that a major Southern Baptist official was credibly accused of sexual assault merely one month after finishing his two-year term as the convention’s president. The report likewise names three previous presidents of the convention, a previous vice president, and the previous head of the SBC’s administrative branch as notable SBC leaders who helped in covering and even motivated suspected sexual predators.

He anticipates this report will bring much-needed reform and hold those accountable for their misconduct.