The child shows up in a hypothetical situation but represents a real possibility — so real that it moved one South Carolina pastor deeply enough to embrace a seemingly impossible task and expend time, energy and money urging others to come along with him.
He joins a group of founding members already committed to the effort — a group that knew he needed to be included and extended the invitation. Read about the recently announced new Abuse Response Commission here.
The South Carolina pastor, Marshall Blalock of First Baptist Church, Charleston, and the other five ARC incorporators are serving (or have served, as in Blalock’s case) on the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force.
Task force job not easy but ‘worth it’
“My conviction about this has grown more and more over the course of time,” Blalock shared with The Baptist Paper. “Serving on this task force was not an easy job by any stretch. It takes a lot of extra time and hard work, but as each day passes, I’m more convinced of the necessity of getting this right. Every ounce of energy that has been spent on this has been worth it.”
Finding a path forward with ARC involves costs and time, he continued, “but it’s worth it for leadership to have the best information and resources and to have the opportunity for churches to become the safest places on earth to hear the gospel. It’s an overarching goal, but our churches deserve that from us.”
Following the SBCAL Banquet on June 11, ARITF chair Marshall Blalock (above) and members Brad Eubank and Jon Nelson provided a sneak peek to the group’s official report coming during the Tuesday afternoon session of the SBC Annual Meeting.
For Blalock personally, it’s back to that child — a little girl actually — that keeps him energized and focused.
Why he supports the Abuse Response Commission
“Over a year ago now, I had this dream, in some ways a nightmare, about a 12-year-old girl at a Baptist church. The little girl said, ‘If you had just gotten this done sooner, it wouldn’t have happened to me.’
“All this time later, my eyes still well up with tears when I think of or tell someone about the dream,” he shared with The Baptist Paper.
“Why did I say yes to the invitation (to help launch ARC)? I did this for her,” he said.
“There’s a little girl out there somewhere, and if we get this right and her church looks at this database and decides they can’t hire a person they are considering because the name shows up, then that little girl is not abused and it is worth every minute of my time and every cent of my money.
“While the task forces have not always known what to do and how to do it, they have kept working,” he added. “My personal goal is to serve that little girl, to protect her. She matters to me.
“When people hear and understand what’s actually being suggested and understand there are still some things that are yet to be worked out, I believe they will see that this plan accomplishes the goal.”
Goal is to serve churches without creating liability
Blalock confirmed an independent institution in this case is “not to be free of the SBC.”
“The point is to serve the churches of our convention while not creating liability for the SBC.”
The plan is not fully developed, and many unanswered questions remain. Asking those questions is appropriate, and the team is working hard to answer them, he said.
To learn about the resources available related to abuse response and keep up with the ARITF’s work, visit sbcabuseprevention.com.
— Jennifer Rash is editor of The Baptist Paper, a national publication of The Alabama Baptist.