Declining baptisms. Declining attendance. Every year new details are reported about the sad state of the Southern Baptist Convention. Why is the Southern Baptist Convention in decline? Secrecy. It permeates everything. Want to know how much SBC employees are paid? Good luck. They won’t reveal it. Want to hold the IMB accountable for how it handles sexual abuse? Well, good luck finding out about it—as everyone is sworn to secrecy.
And that is one of the troubling elements in the sad, heartbreaking Houston Chronicle report on abuse within the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.