Once roiled by sexual abuse issue, Southern Baptist leadership now downplays its extent

Four years after a landmark Guidepost report and a 2022 apology, new SBC leaders including president Willy Rice are publicly downplaying that there was ever a “systemic” sexual‑abuse crisis, calling the issue “weaponized.”
Survivors and reform advocates say promised changes have largely stalled — a task force was disbanded and the proposed database of credibly accused church workers was never created — leaving many feeling silenced and unsafe.
Debate continues over scale and accountability: critics point to several hundred publicly reported cases as not widespread for a huge denomination, while advocates warn abuse is vastly underreported and uniquely damaging when committed by clergy.