An Arkansas Baptist church, under fire for alleged cover-up of sexual abuse, has devised a new way to control negative publicity—forbid members from speaking anything with “(negative) intent” in public.
The church, Immanuel Baptist Church (IBC) in Little Rock, Arkansas, has faced intense public scrutiny since December, when former IBC deacons alleged that church leaders failed to disclose sexual abuse of minors.
On February 4, longtime IBC Senior Pastor Steven Smith told the church’s board of deacons, “I can’t have trust restored if people inside the church are talking to the newspaper,” according to sources reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Two months later, Smith stepped down.
Now, Immanuel is revising its bylaws to include a restriction on free speech.
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“Church members are expected to avoid making statements to the general public, media, or via the Internet with intent to breach Church business confidentialities, injure the reputation of the Church, or disregard Jesus’ imperative to love one another . . .” the proposed bylaws state.
However, the draft bylaws still obligate members and staff to “comply with the requirements of federal or state law,” notably as it pertains to “report(ing) any suspected child abuse.”
A member who doesn’t comply with the bylaws “may be subject to discipline or sanctions including temporary or permanent forfeiture (of membership),” states the draft document.
The IBC board of deacons held a congregational business meeting Sept. 8 to present the proposed bylaws, which are posted online.
Months prior, deacons had appointed Attorney Mike Rainwater, a longtime member, to lead a15-member committee to draft bylaws for the church. In his remarks, Rainwater called the process of drafting the bylaws “democratic, transparent, and authentic.” He noted that the committee had invested “about 750 man and woman hours in this project.”
Rainwater also implied some provisions in the bylaws were drafted in response to recent church scandals.
“We specifically did not want to react to our recent difficult situation but, on the other hand, we wanted to respond to that,” said Rainwater. “You can look at certain bylaws and you can kind of see what people have been through.”
The Roys Report (TRR) reached out for comment to church spokesman Phillip Ashworth and to attorney Rainwater at his law practice, but did not receive a response.
Sexual abuse of minors not disclosed for years
Since December, hundreds of members and at least eight former IBC deacons have reportedly left the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)-affiliated church.
In recent months, former church staff member Patrick Miller and former church volunteer Reagan Gray have faced new criminal charges related to their interaction with minors at the church.
In 2019, IBC Assistant Director of Children’s Ministry Miller was charged with second-degree sexual assault related to the abuse of an underage girl in a church classroom. In a plea deal, Miller pleaded down to misdemeanor harassment in 2022 and was given a one-year suspended sentence.
Miller’s criminal conduct was not disclosed to the church for seven years. However, last December, one day after a report in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, former Pastor Smith addressed the situation in a church service.
“I wish we would have told you about these crimes sooner,” said Smith. A church statement at the time similarly claimed that disclosure would impede prosecutors’ investigation.
A second victim’s case, alleging assault and multiple other felonies committed by Miller when she was a minor, is currently pending in Pulaski County Criminal Court.
Recently, a third woman has come forward. Miller has denied the recent allegations.
In April, IBC student ministry volunteer Reagan Gray was arrested on charges of first-degree sexual assault of a high school boy who attended the church. She has pleaded not guilty.
Last September, Smith disclosed the allegations against Gray, which had occurred in the summer of 2020, to church members.
Smith claimed in the email to members that Gray had been “removed” from the student ministry. But months later, after church-mandated counseling, Gray resumed her youth leadership role.
In a January statement, Smith said, “It was wrong, and I apologize to those we hurt by allowing it to happen.”
Provision to silence members is unprecedented, say pastors
The 16-page document marks a significant change for the church, founded in 1892. Immanuel Baptist has been managed without governing bylaws for over 130 years, a rarity, particularly among large churches.
Courtney Reissig, a Christian author and former IBC staff member who spoke to media about the scandals at Immanuel, told TRR that it’s a “good move” for the church to establish written policies.
But Reissig, who left Immanuel last fall after being a member for four years, added, “I don’t want to assume motive, but I wish people didn’t have to get hurt for them to establish bylaws.”
Reissig also criticized the provision restricting members’ speech.
“If you have nothing to hide, then there is nothing to be afraid of when someone speaks to the media,” she said.
Multiple pastors told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the provision on speech is not common among SBC churches. Former SBC president Bart Barber said, “That’s the first I have ever seen of a mention of the media in governing documents.”
Similarly, Todd Benkert, a longtime SBC pastor who now leads a nonprofit group called Hope’s Companion, criticized how the wording seeks to establish the negative “intent” of members who speak up about abuse.
“My experience with whistleblowers has always been a desire to see justice for survivors and keep predators from abusing again,” he told TRR. “I have never met a survivor or advocate whose intent was to injure the church. Their heart is to help not harm.”
Benkert, whose nonprofit group educates churches on trauma-informed abuse prevention, said the draft bylaws for IBC reflect a limited understanding of “biblical peacemaking as it relates to abuse dynamics.”
He pointed to how section 11 of the document cited Matthew 18, an often-misunderstood chapter, multiple times.
“The Bible teaches more about conflict resolution than one passage of Scripture in Matthew 18,” he said. “We need to understand how abusers can manipulate these policies and processes to silence their victims and avoid accountability.”
The board of deacons at IBC, which has a “feedback form” online for members, has stated that a revised version of the draft bylaws will be sent to members on November 7. Ten days after that, members are set to vote on the bylaws.
Correction: Details of the criminal charges against Miller have been updated for accuracy.
Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith, culture, and public policy for several media outlets. He and his family live in central Florida.
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19 Responses
That will be the end of that one
Silence is what is destroying the church and the public perception of Christians in general.
After beginning recently to read these reports about the increasingly vile, vulgar, ungodly leadership in the Protestant churches, my spirit has greived, and my heart has melted, but the haughtiness of these churches in allowing these same ungodly leaders to continue ministering to their prime targets is spitting in the face of God, and may God in the Name if Jesus, plow them under and remove their candlesticks from his presence! If there are any godly people left in these churches, “Get you out from among them”!!
They’ve come a long way in 25 years. Back in 1998, Albert Mohler was criticizing the church for their failure to discipline President Clinton, who held membership at Immanuel, over the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Now it’s “we cannot interfere with the autonomy of a local church…”
Sounds like middle school. “If you say negative things about us even though they’re true, then you’re out of our clique. You can’t sit with us.” More and more, church is just a social club. And there are plenty of other places to find community.
Who would attend a church like this? Why would you give them your money as a tithe? This is comical to see the church try to put in place an authoritarian structure that has zero ability to be enforced. The SBC is a dinosaur that needs to go extinct.
Immanuel Baptist Church (IBC) in Stalingrad. Buh-bye.
The continuation of this kind of behavior is why people look as Christianity askance. The issue of “Making America Great Again” is not in the ballot box but in the pew and the pulpit. It is bad enough that the unregenerate act this way but is sullies Christ with the constant litany of avoidable failures. I would suggest that Lucifer’s failure was a basic condition of pride and these men are followers. As Christ has said “Get behind me, Satan,” and it fits well here.
the comment by Mr. Ressig (sp?) about being ill-prepared is simply another excuse. We in our medium size (250) congregation had a teen helping with youth doing just what happened here, we called the police and then dealt with the discipline and counseling issues and the Pastors who covered up the first incident. The we had a Pastor and Church employee fail big time again, no police-consenting adults.
We were ill-prepared this was the early 1990s, no protocols etc, we as Elders simply followed scripture and the principles taught therein.
Let’s review: First, hide abuse allegations for years. Remove & Reinstate abuser. Face intense public scrutiny for these actions. Forbid members from talking about it in new by-laws. Give up your First Amendment rights.
If you go to this church stop giving and run.
This is the exact same thing that is happening in Houston, TX at the mega church Champion Forest Baptist Church. The sexual assault case on the student pastor at their church of 25+ victims. They absolutely refuse to talk about it and will not inform others about it and are trying to silence the victims. There has since been another case of a little boy that was touched inappropriately by an adult and also abused physically. Not a word was said and church members were not notified. The SBC is fully aware of both incidences too! So they are lying as well!!
Sadly, the SBC has followed the Catholic Church in just hiding the abuse to save the reputation of the church and also continuing to “pass the abuser” on to the next church they find employment in.
Shame on churches for not protecting “the least of these”
I suggest, to any member of that church who is on this site, begin the process to RESIGN your membership. The best approach is to send a letter via certified mail with tracking option, so you can confirm the church received it.
Once they receive it, do NOT under any circumstances meet with them; they will attempt to sway you into returning, or threaten you with legal action if you speak about the matter. And any letter which says “you can’t leave” is a legal nullity. Contrary to what the leadership may tell you, the First Amendment protects YOUR right to free exercise of religion which includes leaving a congregation at any time for any reason. (If you aren’t an official member, you can simply stop attending.)
Also, know how to turn OFF any automatic donations you may be making to them (whether through their website, via PayPal, or your financial institution). The IRS does not allow donors to demand a donation be returned absent fraud, so do it BEFORE sending the letter.
Rainwater is obviously a true snake here. Lawyers were condemned by Jesus, back in His day they were called “Scribes.” Such as this cannot avoid hell. Taking Jesus command to do everything out in the open and bury under a mountain of b.s. These institutions are every bit as corrupt as they were in Jesus’ day. Abuse the sheep and then lord your authority over them and command them to shut up. There ain’t no Jesus in this “church.” Just like God was not at all involved in the Sanhedrin back in the day.
This is an attempt to keep the dark in darkness. Aren’t we as believers looking forward to light shining on darkness?
Luke 12:2-3 “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known”.
So in summary, the problem isn’t the problem. Instead, the problem is people talking about the problem. And somehow they’ve managed to convince and the entire congregation of mature Christian men and women to go along with this? Yikes!
There used to be a time when denominations were the “safer” place to go (versus “independent”
or non-denominational churches), as denominations provided oversight, discipline and discipling to pastors.
This article highlights a big reason why denominations are bleeding members in droves. They have become little more than huge corporations with hierarchies designed to protect the top while keeping the minions in line (via manipulation of scripture and “the book of discipline”).
It’s very sad.
The SBC has never operated like the Catholics, Lutherans, or denominations which determined who could be a pastor. It has always been a voluntary association of churches. Even if it “withdraws friendly cooperation” from a church (like it did with Saddleback), the congregation continues to operate as if nothing ever happened.
1 Jn 1:5-10
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Sad but unsurprising.
When an organization is faced with wrongdoing they have a choice to be transparent and accountable or to be more secretive and authoritarian.
This church choose the later, but it’s just part of a long running trend. Consider how many churches reported on here have boards comprised of non members, virtually no financial or leadership accountability, and strangely prominent rules about “gossip” and such.
Just more evidence of churches focused on protecting themselves rather than victims.