These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. The police issue is difficult because this would have been a call to the local SBTS area police in 2018. Part of Lyells reason for being "compliant at times" and remaining silent for as long as she did, she stated, was because she became like part of [Sills] family and feared the collateral damage that telling would cause for those around him. In her statement, Lyell accused Sills of grooming and taking advantage of his student.. She lost her reputation, her job and even her health in the process. Then Basham quotes three male friends of Lyells alleged abuser who all say they cant imagine him behaving the way Lyell has described. MOBILE, Ala. (BP) - A former Southern Baptist seminary professor and his wife have filed suit against the SBC and 10 other individuals and entities connected to the SBC, including Jennifer Lyell and Guidepost Solutions. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. It conclusively demonstrated the non-consensual nature of what happened to her. In fact, the key facts alleged are right in the first few paragraphs: 1. Southern Baptists oust Rick Warrens Saddleback Church for naming a female pastor, Southern Baptists plan to hire Guidepost Solutions to run abuser tracking database, Beth Moore tries to untangle her all knotted-up life in new memoir, Copyright 2020, Religion News Service. Neither Smietana nor his editor offered comment to BNG when asked about the situation. He unsuccessfully ran for the SBC presidency in June. Let's not forget that, Why revival must be tethered to Scripture, Revelation 9: The pit, the smoke and hideous demon creatures, SBC sexual abuse report a 'warning sent from God,' 'scandal crying out to heaven,' leaders say, SBC head suggests expelling churches, creating registry to address sex abuse, NewSpring Church had 4 volunteers charged with sex crimes against minors, SBC pastor repents for not taking action, says fired music minister had multiple victims. The full context of the email is this: Thank you again for replying and taking the time to find a scenario with which you are willing to talk with me. I now wonder if the only reason that a family relationship was ever presented as an option was to ensure I wouldnt tell what had happened in those first instances.. Jennifer Lyell claims she never wanted the attention her abuse allegations created nor to harm the family of David Sills, her alleged abuser. Lyell was even commended in an SBC Resolution for her bravery in standing against sex abuse. By admitting to having sinned and asking for forgiveness, they can mitigate the consequences of their actions and preserve a future in the church. News broke today that former Southern Baptist Seminary professor, David Sills (who resigned 9 months ago), resigned due Continue reading When Sin Goes Unchecked the Nations Suffer Tom Ascol, Tom Buck and Megan Basham tweeted about the Sills lawsuit and accused not only Lyell, but also Religion News Service reporter Bob Smietana who has covered the SBCs sexual abuse situation for years of misconduct. They simply want to push their agenda & cancel anyone who refuses to kowtow to their self-righteous bloviating. Mississippi lawyer Don Barrett, one of the attorneys representing David Sills and his wife, Mary Sills, said that part of the complaint was in error, the story said. George, as curator of the Spurgeon Library and digitized archive, worked with the . Mohler should have said, Now, Jennifer, thats not a promise I can make you like, we need to do whats right for the kingdom, Lyell said. The article was eventually retracted, but the damage was done. That was untrue. After Denhollanders criticism, Baptist Press issued a statement, saying it had failed to convey that the heart of Lyells story was about sexual abuse by a trusted minister in a position of power at a Southern Baptist seminary.. The court filing further claims Lyell maintained the relationship by driving several hundred miles from Nashville, Tenn., to Louisville, Ky. to see Sills. Except the pattern of inappropriate sexual activity continued throughout the relationship., Lyell wrote that when she presented her claims to Mohler, she also shared the responsibility" for being compliant at times and for idolizing the idea of a whole family., I protected [the family] despite what was happening within it, she wrote. InterVarsity Press, which published one of Sills' books, removed Sills' biography page from its website and the webpage for Sills book Changing World, Unchanging Mission: Responding to Global Challenges. Man At Center of Massive SBC Sex Scandal Sues Denomination, Along with 11 Prominent Southern Baptists For Lying About Him The Soap Opera Plods On And recovering from abuse as an adult is a long-term process. The Complaint does not hid and it does not disappoint. Lawsuit protests the SBC and third-party firm for supporting allegations in a new legal challenge referencing historic abuse report. Lyells claim that she was abused by David Sills while he was a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary resulted in a controversial news story published by Baptist Press, the denominational news service, which portrayed the relationship as consensual. . Pastors and churches called for her to be fired. Geiger alleged that Mary Sills threatened Jennifer Lyell in text messages and that Mrs. Sills knew of the relationship between Jennifer Lyell and David Sills. Lyell told Baptist Press she has attempted to contact the Louisville Metro Police Departments Special Victims Unit. It also names Jennifer Lyell, a former seminarian and vice president for Lifeway, who has repeatedly alleged that Sills was abusive, an allegation Mohler has also made on social media and in. If this seems like a contradiction, this is just the beginning. The Southern Baptist Conventions Executive Committee earlier this year offered a public apology and a confidential monetary settlement to Lyell and announced the resolution during their February meeting in Nashville. Women are seen first and foremost as sexual objects, means to an end, she said, adding women are seen as temptresses, trying to bring a good man down and getting married is seen as a way of helping men deal with their lust. If I were not to come forward with this letter, a church or ministry who receives Dr. Sills CV and does an internet search for him would have no way to know the truth behind his resignation, she wrote. Old login credentials will no longer work. As Veinot explains on the website: Our mission is to give clear answers, and a solid defense of the orthodox biblical faith, to all types of unbelievers atheists, agnostics, as well as members of cults and new religious groups such as the Jehovahs Witnesses, Mormons, the International Churches of Christ, and so on. It looked idyllic on the surface. If not, why not? Who those others were is not clear. Sills has not denied engaging in an inappropriate relationship with Lyell, and he resigned his post at Southern Seminary after being confronted about it. The larger conversation around sexual abuse has dominated SBC life for the past two years and has been addressed by two special task forces, one of which is still working. David Sills Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson thinks he redeemed himself. Ascol, Buck and Basham had collaborated with the source of the original quotation that Sills took out of context in his recent lawsuit. Lyell still attends a Southern Baptist church, in large part because of the friendship and support she has received from her pastor and his wife. While churches say they want to care for survivors of abuse, those survivors are often viewed with suspicion, having to prove they are worthy of compassion and respect. Then Buck retweeted Basham to highlight her commentary about Sills and the SBC investigation. Then things went terribly wrong. My thinking was I could just verbally work through your article and clarify/add the information you didnt have or was inaccurate as well as answer the broader questions you asked when the information you had didnt reconcile for you. In the spring of 2019, Lyell, then a well-respected leader in Christian publishing, decided to publicly disclose that she was a survivor of sexual abuse. We were horrified by what she shared with us. Our policies and procedures are clear and are consistently applied. Ascol ran for SBC president on the slogan Change the direction.. Lyell contends it was not consensual. For example, why did Lyell continue the relationship with the alleged abusers after graduating from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS)? When a pastor or leader is involved in a sexual scandal, the language of affair is used, even when its a predatory use of spiritual power, he said. Such people have no fear of God, no interest in truth, no regard for justice, & no love for people. I now realize that despite SBTS handling the situation justly and as I asked without stating the reason for his resignation it led to the exact kind of scenario the SBC is now trying to prevent, she said. Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our. The Sillses contend neither Mohler nor the SBC nor Guidepost did sufficient investigation to find out the truth of the matter. Individuals who knew her story alerted that particular mission agency to the details behind Sills resignation from SBTS and Sills is no longer listed as a missionary for that organization. Anytime time you have to invoke these procedures is heartbreaking but simultaneously necessary. In the spring of 2018, after more than two years of therapy, she disclosed to her boss at Lifeway that a former professor named David Sills had first sexually acted against her without her consent during a mission trip he was leading while she was a seminary student. All rights reserved. She graduated from Southern with a master of divinity in 2006 and enrolled in an SBTS doctoral program for one year after that. David Sills, an ex-Southern Baptist Convention seminary professor accused of sexual abuse by his former student filed a defamation suit in Alabama against her and several SBC entities. Facebook/The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Bible teacher Jen Wilkin addresses criticism of her views on sending children to public schools, Teen, 21-year-old man indicted for murder of Memphis pastor, Deion Sanders' prayers are constitutionally protected, lawyer tells University of Colorado, Revival at Kentucky college faces hurdles from school leadership, moves worship off-campus. Sills claimed there was not any legitimate or proper investigation of Lyells accusations against him. Ascol is a Florida pastor who leads Founders Ministries, a group of Southern Baptist Calvinists. Basham says whatever number of actual abuse cases may be found in the SBC, they represent such a small percentage as to be anything but a crisis.. I mean, I was like, literally like, I mean, it was it was police at my house and, you know, safety, Lyell said. Guidepost and the SBC are two of 12 total defendants named in the lawsuit that revolves around allegations that David Sills sexually abused Jennifer Lyell starting in 2004, when Lyell was. In a post on her website, Lyell accused Sills of sexually abusing her during a 2004 mission trip and claimed the abuse continued over a decade. In a separate email, Lyell recounts to Henzel her understanding that Ascol put Midwest Christian Outreach on the trail of her story in the first place. Lyell built a strong relationship with Sills family over the years as she spent many of her weekends and holidays with them. Lyell said she no longer trusts the convention, feeling like key leaders betrayed the faith she put in them. When I shared what had happened to me with my boss at LifeWay [Geiger] and then later with SBTS President Dr. R. Albert Mohler, I was quick to also share the responsibility I bore for being compliant at times, for not telling immediately and for so idolizing the idea of a whole family that I protected it despite what was happening within it, Lyell said. We say that we are not this hierarchy but in reality, we function like we are protecting the barracks of the Vatican, she said. Attorneys misidentified an email from Lyell, which was sent to a pair of ministers, not to RNS. All rights reserved (About Us). Jennifer Lyell serves as Vice President of Book Publishing & Merchandising at LifeWay Christian Resources where she leads the second largest business segment of Lifeway's ten Ministry Areas. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) Jennifer Lyell was trying to do the right thing. A reasonable inference is also that Defendant Lyell intended to advance her false narrative by taking a hand in the actual writing of an article by RNS and Smietana, each of whom had previously served as a resource to Defendant Lyell for the purpose of publishing her malicious allegations against the Sills Plaintiffs. The law should reflect that, Legacy of Wounded Knee occupation lives on 50 years later, Holy Queer author seeks Black church inclusion beyond singing with choir. She did so after learning her abuser, a former Southern Baptist seminary professor, author and missionary, had recently returned to ministry. In addition to being missionaries to these groups it is also our purpose to train and equip those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ, his death, burial and physical resurrection, for their salvation to do the same., At one point last summer, Henzel sent two emails to Ascol, asking him to communicate with elders at Lyells church about Henzels and Veinots concerns regarding Lyells wellness.. I shared how Dr. David Sills, then a tenured professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, first sexually acted against me on a mission trip in 2004, a pattern that continued and escalated for more than a decade following that trip. Lyell wrote that she first shared her story with her boss at LifeWay and then with Mohler. After Baptist News Global broke the news that former seminary professor David Sills and his wife, Mary, filed a defamation lawsuit against the Southern Baptist Convention and 11 other defendants, three high-profile Southern Baptists took to Twitter to highlight one specific section of the 31-page legal document. Veinot and his senior researcher, Ron Henzel, had conducted a video interview with Lyell and wrote about it on their blog under the headline Does Abuse Absolve Adultery? Lyell sent a statement to both BNG and RNS: I do not need to be under oath to tell the truth and there are no lies that will shake my certainty about what is true. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". She has alleged Sills abused her over a multi-year period. Sills local church, Ninth & O Baptist Church in Louisville, confirmed to Baptist Press that Sills is no longer a member and that the church acted swiftly and firmly after hearing the accusations. 11 - Motion to Introduce Report moved by Councillor Jennifer McKelvie (Carried) That the Report from Meetings 14 and 15 of the Scarborough Community Council listed on the Agenda of Council be presented for consideration. The ex-Southern Baptist Convention seminary professor accused of sexual abuse by his former student filed a defamation suit in Alabama against her and several SBC entities, claiming the allegations were part of an SBC attempt to improve its image in the wake of the sexual abuse coverup scandal. Lyell told RNS she did not initially report what happened because she was in shock, confused and scared about what people would believe. He said it is often easier for churches to blame victims than to look at the way they have empowered abusers. 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