The fallout was quick and devastating. Scarsella, who also works with a nonprofit that advocates for abuse victims, noted that clergy abusers also often know how to use the theology of sin for their advantage. In her post, the 41-year-old Lyell said that the tenured professor of missions and cultural anthropology first sexually acted against her during a mission trip in 2004. Lyell was the SBC Lifeway Christian Resources Vice President before she decided to come to the open on the sexual abuse done her by Sills. They simply want to push their agenda & cancel anyone who refuses to kowtow to their self-righteous bloviating. 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, Three big numbers that tell the story of secularization in America. In a filing made in the Mobile, Ala., Circuit Court, David and Mary Sills allege "defamation, conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and . For example, why did Lyell continue the relationship with the alleged abusers after graduating from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS)? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Upon hearing Lyells claims last May, SBTS immediately took action. Buck is an East Texas pastor who shares Ascols beliefs and is aggressive on Twitter in spreading his commentaries and accusations. She stated that the pattern continued and escalated for more than a decade following that trip.. Although the Sillses live in Mississippi and Lyell lives in Tennessee, the lawsuit was filed in Mobile County Circuit Court because former SBC President Ed Litton, who is among the defendants in the suit, lives in Mobile County and the SBC, the conventions executive committee and other SBC entities own and maintain property, employees and/or agents in Alabama, including Mobile County Alabama, the suit stated. Jennifer Lyell, 2006 graduate of SBTS, says in her statement that 2004 was the first time Sills acted against her. 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.. There are elements that sound like an abuse victim pleading with an abuser, I just want you to be like a dad, and there are elements where the story does not seem plausible given what we knowpay special attention to the police. 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. He said that he is "brokenhearted over the reality" of the situation. 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. Reaching and Teaching International told BP in a statement that they are aware of a statement by Lyell regarding her allegations and are committed to ensuring a culture of transparency and accountability., Lyell said, It is my hope that my story, one in which a SBC entity and its leaders acted swiftly and justly but in which that same individual was also in a ministry position only months later, will also help to illustrate the need for some form of a reporting tool that can ensure that those who have victimized others from a ministry position are unable to ever do so again., (EDITOR'S NOTE This story has been edited by Biblical Recorder staff. The following year, Jennifer Lyell, a former vice president at Lifeway Christian Resources, told Baptist Press she had been a victim of emotional and sexual abuse by Sills, who had been her professor. But he didnt make it public disclosure, Lyell said. 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. The church said it acted swiftly and firmly and that Sills is no longer a member. Venue is appropriate in this court because defendant Ed Litton is a resident citizen of Mobile County, Alabama., Guidepost report documents pattern of ignoring, denying and deflecting on sexual abuse claims in SBC, SBC Executive Committee publicly apologizes to sexual abuse survivor, SBC report shows how five words turn abuse victim from survivor to whore | Opinion by Marv Knox. The suit was filed in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Ala., on Monday, Nov. 21. She lost her reputation, her job and even her health in the process. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Old login credentials will no longer work. 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.. Lyell told Religion News Service she wished she had never gone public. The group has no apparent connections to the SBC, and its interview with Lyell seems outside its stated purpose. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. I stand behind her in [her public statement] and believe she is acting righteously, he told BP. Her name appears on 37 pages of the report. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". It was a Zoom call conducted June 6, 2021. Neither Smietana nor his editor offered comment to BNG when asked about the situation. One of Lyells advocates over the past three years has been Mohler, who has publicly stated he believed Lyells story as she has told it. But I am a victim nonetheless.. It interwove Lyells story with this discussion. Jennifer Lyell, who now works as an executive for LifeWay Christian Resources, posted a confession online last week claiming how Sills, who has been married for 30 years and has three grandchildren, sexually abused her and even groomed her from the time she was a master of divinity student until just a few years ago. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Secondly, on information and belief, defendants SBC, the Executive Committee, and Lifeway own and maintain property, employees and/or agents in Alabama, including Mobile County, Alabama. . We hope you will! I am not a sinless victim. Last year, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor David Sills resigned from his position without much of an explanation. Lyell previously was a vice president at Lifeway, which is located in Nashville, Tenn. She voluntarily agreed to an interview with Baptist Press in 2019, by her account hoping her story would encourage other survivors of sexual abuse to come forward. The court filing further claims Lyell maintained the relationship by driving several hundred miles from Nashville, Tenn., to Louisville, Ky. to see Sills. She describes being shocked and blaming herself despite that she had not initiated the encounter. And because of their power and influence, pastors and other religious leaders have a responsibility to set up boundaries in their relationships with other people. All rights reserved (About Us). The reason that a professor was able to continue grooming and taking advantage of his student was because I became like part of his family. This article has been updated with a statement from Lyell. That happened three months prior to release of a bombshell report from an independent investigation that found widespread mishandling of known cases of sexual abuse in the SBC and its churches. It does not store any personal data. BNG has confirmed Midwest Christian Outreach was working with Ascol, Buck and Basham in the background into 2022. But we must not be silent.. . And now the two competing narratives of what happened between Sills and Lyell likely will add more fuel to the SBCs internal debate over the nature and extent of sexual abuse as a real problem. She did not revisit all the details of the abuse but did disclose those details to leaders at Lifeway and then to Al Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where the professor was employed. George's resignation was "due to a personal moral failing," Midwestern told the Recorder on June 1. (June 15, 2020) Letter from David S. Crawford, Streetscape Coordinator, St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association (EX.Supp . Basham is a conservative writer for the Daily Wire website, which describes itself as a counter-cultural outlet for news, opinion and entertainment., In June, Basham launched a full-force assault against Lyells credibility with an article titled Southern Baptists #MeToo Moment published on the first day of the SBC annual meeting. In that email, Lyell makes the exact statement the lawsuit attributes to communication with Smietana. 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. 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. Why Midwest Christian Outreach was interested in such a deep dive into Lyells story is not clear. The campus of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the flagship seminary for the Southern Baptist Convention, located in Louisville, Kentucky. So that's not up for renegotiation," he explained. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. RELATED: Jennifer Lyell wanted to stop her abuser by . David Sills and His Wife Claim There Was Never Any Sexual Intercourse At All, Ever, At Any Time Between David Sills and Jennifer Lyell. Pooler said abusive relationships with clergy often last for years. Hes wrong. In his lawsuit filed Nov. 21, Sills claimed Lyells allegedly false claims were repeated in SBC media as an opportunity to improve the appearance and reputation SBCs handling of abuse cases and made him a bona fide scapegoat.. She praised SBTS for acting swiftly after she contacted Mohler. She claims . Lyell told RNS she did not initially report what happened because she was in shock, confused and scared about what people would believe. 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. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Sills was a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary until his resignation on May 23, 2018. 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. Although the lawsuit was filed in Alabama, David Sills lives in Mississippi. 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. It looked idyllic on the surface. Just over two years later, she stated the allegations to then-LifeWay Senior Vice President Eric Geiger and Mohler. I am not a sinless victim. Things made a little more sense last Friday when a woman named Jennifer Lyell (below) released a statement explaining how she had been engaged in an "inappropriate relationship" with Sills for nearly a decade, beginning when she was his student. Today, she feels that belief, known as complementarianism, has created an unhealthy culture. Prior to the apology's issuance, she has informed SBC Executive Committee Chairman Rolland Slade in October regarding the pending disputes and legal claims she has due to her case. David Sills and his wife, Mary, filed the suit Nov. 21 in Mobile County circuit court. David Sills (Photo via Baptist Press) And for so long, people have been unable to understand those categories., RELATED: The cost for coming forward one survivors life after #MeToo. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Sills was a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary until his resignation on May 23, 2018. The church needs a way of understanding sin and violence that enables Gods grace without giving abusers back their power, their access and their good regard, she said. According to documents obtained by BNG, however, Ascol, Buck and Basham had collaborated with the source of the original quotation that Sills took out of context in his recent lawsuit. Yet victims who are not minors must decide for themselves whether to contact authorities, he said. RELATED: Southern Baptist leader, experts say churches should address the abuse of adults. While the SBCs reports on Lyells allegations claimed Sills was fired, the former professor claims he voluntarily resigned after admitting to a morally inappropriate relationship with Lyell. David Pooler, professor of social work at Baylor University, said sexual misconduct by clergy and other religious leaders is often labeled as having an affair. But that description misses the power imbalance at play. RELATED: At Caring Well conference, SBC leaders hear criticism of abuse response. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. And we met with him within hours of his arrival back in the United States since our policies call for an immediate conversation. And recovering from abuse as an adult is a long-term process. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. UPDATE #1: Shortly after this article was published, Jennifer Lyell graciously reached out to us and provided crucial details of her case both to me and to Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. President Don Veinot. These ultra-conservatives believe the SBC is sliding into liberalism and needs to be rescued by them. The hundreds of titles that the Books business team has acquired, developed, or managed under Jennifer's leadership include more than a dozen New York Times bestsellers, as well as CT . She did so after learning her abuser, a former Southern Baptist seminary professor, author and missionary, had recently returned to ministry. However, not everyone has believed a sexual abuse crisis exists in the SBC. Pooler said church members often become nonprotective bystanders, whose inaction enables abuse to continue and abusers to go unpunished. Lyells experience reveals the difficulty survivors often face when they try to speak up about their experiences. Attorneys misidentified an email from Lyell, which was sent to a pair of ministers, not to RNS. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our. This led to a general understanding that what happened between Dr. David Sills and Ms. Jennifer Lyell was a consensual affair. Hilary Scarsella, assistant professor of ethics and director of women and gender studies at Colgate Rochester Crozier Divinity School, said survivors of clergy abuse can feel trapped because they know publicly disclosing the abuse may have consequences, both to their own faith and their place in the community. 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