MK forum

The tide of public opinion is turning.

People are expecting churches, denominations, and mission boards to be wiser in vetting people and checking out their backgrounds. No one should disregard previous "indiscretions", or current reports of "inappropriate" behavior. Innocent, vulnerable children can be in danger ... and the responsibility to protect them falls on the leaders of these organizations.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/flori ... on-113188/

Florida Baptist Convention Ordered to Pay Pastor's Sex Abuse Victim $12.5 Million

A Florida jury has ordered the Florida Baptist Convention to pay $12.5 million to a man who was sexually abused by a Southern Baptist church planter as a boy, but the attorney representing the religious group insists the judgement will be overturned once he files an appeal.

While the jury's verdict came on Saturday, Jan. 18, Gary Yeldell, the attorney representing the Florida Baptist Convention, said on Tuesday that his client plans to appeal the Lake County jury's decision because the church planting pastor was working independently and not under the supervision of the organization at the time of the crime.

Convention spokesman Barbara Denman further explained that the abusing pastor, Douglas W. Myers, worked in the capacity as a church planter "who assisted in starting churches and received a stipend from the church," and that official hiring was done by the respective churches.

The sex abuse survivor, an unidentified 21-year-old college student, received the favorable verdict from the jury after a six-day trial. The unanimous decision was a result of jurors grasping the "devastating" impact of the abuse, according to the man's attorney.

The Florida Baptist Convention was found liable in the case in 2012 when a jury decided that the religious organization failed to properly vet Myers, who reportedly had previously faced accusations of inappropriate contact with children. The convention did not check Myers' references or contact churches where he previously had been employed.

The 64-year-old former church planter spent seven years in prison after pleading guilty to lewd and lascivious molestation of the boy, who he met in 2005 at Bay Street Baptist Church in Lake County and abused for six months. Myers, married at the time, reportedly left a trail of sex abuse allegations in various churches where he worked during his 30-plus years in Christian ministry.

The Florida Baptist Convention, which claims 2,968 churches and missions, is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Press reports that in 2013, "messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Houston passed a resolution expressing affirmation for children and recognized the 'ever-increasing criminal offense' of the sexual abuse of children even within Southern Baptist churches." The resolution also called on SBC members to remember their legal and moral responsibility in protecting children from abuse.

Now that would be the day.

No, the men of great faith seem to abandon their faith in favour of lawyers in their hour of greatest need. Which makes ye and me, men of lesser faith, but perhaps men of greater honesty because of it.

Believe it or not! I didn't know where to post this but thought it needed posted. In upstate New York a teacher convicted of sexually abusing an 8 year old student many years ago has had 22 teachers write letters in his defense and also refused to cooperate with law officials. The parents now want the names of these teachers but seems they aren't available. I don't know about anyone else but I stand with these parents who have a petition going wanting the names of these teachers. The sex offending teacher's name is Matthew LoMaglio and it is the Rochester City School district. Like many parents are saying, we send our children off to school thinking they are in a safe environment. It is a law to report suspected child sex abuse so what are these teachers going to do when they think or even know about such a case or are they actually just protecting themselves. If you defend it what in the world are you up to? full stop.

It's a very good question "If you defend it what in the world are you up to?"

And it is one that I wonder about many of the men of my past, who preached a strict moral code to MKs and their native converts, yet when it comes to the sexual crimes of their fellow missionaries, suddenly they are silent or defend them. It makes no sense, but it certainly raises questions.