A Reflection on the Baptist Reality

The following is from an online course I recently completed:

The church and the world do not expect absolute purity, but they can expect acknowledged standards of integrity. Otherwise, clergy lose their capacity for leadership, and such failures diminish the role of the church as a whole in providing credible leadership in the society.

It has been ten years almost to the date when I first confronted the individuals involved in the ValleyGate scandal.  Little did I know then just how corrupt the leadership of Baptist life had become.  Just like the fundamentalist leadership was never about the Bible, the moderate leadership was never about “baptist freedoms”.  It has always been about money and power on both sides.

I recently looked at the staff list of the convention I once believed in.  Interestingly enough, much of the same people who stood by and let the ValleyGate scandal happen are still receiving paycheck from funded by people who were kept in the dark about the staff’s complicity in the event.

The Baptist denominational structure fosters scandals like ValleyGate, protecting sexual predators, over compensation through manipulation of the boards and trustees, and a good old boy system more intent upon preserving its questionable lifestyles of those involved.  There will be more scandals and more fleecing of the saints in the name of “missions” and Rich Boy Bicycle Rides.

Oh, by the way, the only thing I received from those who worked for the convention for saving Texas Baptists, the SBC, the CBF, and the Baptist World Alliance millions of dollars in further losses from the actions of those involved in ValleyGate was condemnation and ridicule.  Still, I would do it again in a heartbeat.  Why, because I know it was the right thing to do.

Sadly, many of those still employed did not.

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the opinions of any individuals or entities I am affiliated with.