The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee deemed four churches not in friendly cooperation with the SBC Feb. 20, including a Greenville, S.C., congregation.
Because of matters related to the handling of sex abuse allegations, the Executive Committee deemed not in friendly cooperation Grove Road Baptist Church in Greenville, S.C., and West Hendersonville Baptist Church in Hendersonville, N.C.
Based on the recommendations of the SBC Credentials Committee, the EC ruled against Immanuel Baptist Church in Paducah, Ky., because it has a female senior pastor, and New Hope Baptist Church in Gastonia, N.C., because of its egalitarian view of women in ministry posted on its website.
Grove Road Baptist Church
The EC deemed Grove Road Baptist Church not in friendly cooperation “based on a lack of intent to cooperate in resolving a concern regarding the pastor’s mishandling of an allegation of sexual abuse.”
Terry Greene pastors Grove Road Baptist, a small congregation of 20 members that averaged 12 in Sunday worship in 2021, the last year the church submitted statistics to the ACP. Greene previously pastored Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Greer, S.C., as early as June 2004, according to his profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook that have not been updated since 2020.
On Facebook, he listed previous South Carolina pastorates at Northgate Colonial Baptist Church in Camden, Home Branch Baptist Church in Manning, and Dentsville Baptist Church in Columbia.
Baptist Press could not reach Greene for comment, and details of the sexual abuse allegation in question are confidential.
In accordance with Article 8, Section C of the SBC Bylaws, when an issue arises regarding a church’s cooperative status, the Credentials Committee may make inquiries of the church and make a recommendation to the EC based on information available to the Committee. The Committee is not authorized to conduct investigations of churches or perform other processes that would violate the SBC Constitution.
Churches may appeal the EC’s decisions at the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis in June.
— Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.