In the spring of 2019, Lyell, then a well-respected leader in Christian publishing, decided to publicly disclose that she was a survivor of sexual abuse. I am grateful for the diligent, fast work of Guidepost Solutions, particularly as the EC leadership delays from June-October 2021 took up 1/3 of the investigation period allowed by the investigation motion. 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.. Mohler said his encouragement from the start in any case such as this is that authorities be contacted and that only law enforcement should judge whether laws may have been violated in such situations. She mentions them many times during this recording. Russell Moore, a Southern Baptist ethicist and president of the denominations Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said the power dynamics involved in abuse have often been misunderstood in evangelical circles. What happened instead was a controversy over what kind of relations are consensual and nonconsensual and who gets to make that determination and challenges to the veracity of Lyells account. She praised SBTS for acting swiftly after she contacted Mohler. She graduated from Southern with a master of divinity in 2006 and enrolled in an SBTS doctoral program for one year after that. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our. She has alleged Sills abused her over a multi-year period. 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. Lyell mentions police at her house and Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary calling the police. But her feelings toward the denominations beliefs about gender roles have shifted. In the spring of 2018, after more than two years of therapy, 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. 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.. I have never been unwilling to be questioned when making allegations that arent only moral, but are also criminal and Im extremely thankful that all parties who received and investigated my allegations did press me for details necessary to understand what I was alleging given my age and the fact it was not a single occurrence as well as that I did not report anything to them for a very long time.. In fact, she claims in a newly leaked audio recording that she has been vague intentionallyso that the Sills grandchildren wouldnt find out much about this by using Google. The Capstone Report reached out to verify the audio and for comment about the provenance of the audio. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. I am not a sinless victim. She describes being shocked and blaming herself despite that she had not initiated the encounter. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) Jennifer Lyell was trying to do the right thing. Sills was a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary until his resignation on May 23, 2018. Although the lawsuit was filed in Alabama, David Sills lives in Mississippi. Want to share a story? Any criticism of complementarianism is seen as a sort of gateway drug into theological liberalism., I think a culture that believes that its righteousness is dependent on preserving and protecting the strictest form of complementarianism is a culture that sees women as a threat, sees women as a risk, sees women as more likely to sin, she said. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. It also claims Sills ended the relationship with Defendant Lyell who nevertheless persisted her pursuit of Sills and undertook efforts to reach Dr. Sills through his family., David and Mary Sills also contend that Lyell, relying on her expertise as an accomplished writer and executive in the fields of advertising and publishing within the SBC, a lucrative and powerful position, constructed a false narrative against Dr. Sills and Mrs. Sills, at the height of awareness of SBC scandals.. Lyell said she no longer trusts the convention, feeling like key leaders betrayed the faith she put in them. The lawsuit challenges what has been accepted as fact in one of the highest-profile cases in the web of allegations regarding mishandling of sexual abuse within the SBC. . He unsuccessfully ran for the SBC presidency in June. Hope youll give us another try and check out some other articles. 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. Moore said he and his wife are friends of Lyell and he described her as one of the strongest, most courageous and brilliant leaders I know. He hopes she will eventually return to a leadership role in the church. In May, Guidepost Solutions, which investigated the SBC scandal, issued a report that found alleges survivors of sexual abuse encountered resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility, from some on the SBCs Executive Committee. Jennifer Lyell was trying to do the right thing. 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. "[O]ur policies and procedures work and we work hard to make certain that they are up to date with best practices. And because they, in a sense, represent God, they have more power than almost any other professional person that works with other people.. 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. Geiger, senior pastor of Mariners Church in Irvine, Calif., confirmed to BP that Lyell shared her allegations with him. Lyell came to us with an allegation of abuse and should have been cared for throughout the entire process. And Christian theology about sin and about the roles of men and women often makes it difficult for survivors who come forward. If you do not know your new account number you can contact. Instead of receiving support and compassion, she found herself trying to convince critics she was not responsible for the abuse she had experienced at the hands of the former professor. Lyell said that at the time, she did not want the seminary or Lifeway to publicly disclose what had happened to her. David Sills and Mary Sills contend they have been smeared repeatedly in the process and seek monetary damages. It does not store any personal data. 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. RELATED: Jennifer Lyell wanted to stop her abuser by . The SBCs public relations service, Baptist Press, misrepresented her statements about the situation, which eventually led to a public apology and a financial settlement from the SBC Executive Committee, which runs Baptist Press. 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. 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If this seems like a contradiction, this is just the beginning. 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. These ultra-conservatives believe the SBC is sliding into liberalism and needs to be rescued by them. Sills files defamation suit against SBC, Lyell, others MOBILE, Ala. (BP) - A former Southern Baptist seminary professor and his wife have filed suit against the SBC and 10 other individuals and entities connected to the SBC, including Jennifer Lyell and Guidepost Solutions. The lawsuit centers on allegations that Sills sexually abused Jennifer Lyell starting in 2004 when Lyell was a student and Sills was a professor. Photo by Karen Race Photography 2019. The abuser often spends years grooming a victim and then does not let the victim go. Lyell tells the story in her own wordsso people can finally judge for themselves the particulars of the case. So that's not up for renegotiation," he explained. Lyell was not writing to a professional journalist with a national news organization; she was writing to two bloggers who run a small nonprofit that investigates cults and preaches against the Enneagram. But that's not quite what we see. You've read 0 of 5 of todays most popular posts. 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. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson thinks he redeemed himself. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) Jennifer Lyell was trying to do the right thing. Lyell was labeled on social media as an adulteress rather than an abuse survivor, with users leaving scores of vile comments about her on Lifeways Facebook page and the Baptist Press website. David Sills | MOODY PUBLISHERS Louisvilles Ninth and O Baptist Church told BP it is the congregation referenced in Lyells statement. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) Jennifer Lyell was trying to do the right thing. Whatever else is accurate or inaccurate in the lawsuit filed by David and Mary Sills against the SBC, Lyell and 10 others, the quotation attributed to a Lyell email to Smietana of RNS actually comes from a different Lyell email sent to Veinot and Henzel June 18, 2021. Based on the information we now have I retract any suggestion that Jennifer Lyells physical relationship with David Sills was consensual., By Aug. 3, 2021 about six weeks after the SBC annual meeting at which a Sexual Abuse Task Force was authorized Midwest Christian Outreach issued an update to its post with this note from Henzel: 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. And so, we invoked our policies and procedures,"Mohler told The Christian Post in a phone interview. The leaders who had the information and ability to correct the inaccuracies supported her privately but were publicly silent. Thereafter, Ms. Lyell engaged in an effort to restore her reputation and preserve her powerful position of doling out lucrative book deals, while affirmatively and skillfully dismantling the reputations, careers, and family life of David Sills and Mary Sills, the court filing states. Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here. A former Southern Baptist Theological Seminary student has come forward to detail how former professor David Sills, who resigned last year, engaged in an inappropriate and "abusive" sexual relationship with her that lasted for over a decade. Neither Smietana nor his editor offered comment to BNG when asked about the situation. The police issue is difficult because this would have been a call to the local SBTS area police in 2018. Anytime time you have to invoke these procedures is heartbreaking but simultaneously necessary. Refresher: Sills was man most prominently named as abuser in report. We must clearly tell the truth so that our churches and ministries are safe and as pure as they can be.. Henzel told CR that he did not know how the audio was leaked and did not feel comfortable speaking about it. But at Lyells request, SBTS, the flagship seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention, did not make the details behind Sills resignation public at the time. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 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. Just over two years later, she stated the allegations to then-LifeWay Senior Vice President Eric Geiger and Mohler. 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