On May 15, the Southern Baptist Convention finally acknowledged what Sandy Phillips Kirkham has already experienced – that pastors and other church employees have sexually abused parishioners and that the church covered up those claims for years.
Sandy was not a member of the Southern Baptists when she was sexually abused by her youth pastor. She was a member of another protestant denomination, the Desciples of Christ, which shows that such practices go beyond religious boundaries.
She recounts her story in Let Me Prey Upon You, a memoir that reveals how a charismatic youth minister preyed upon her, betrayed her in the most vile way, and shattered her faith, leaving her broken and separated from the church she once loved.
Sandy is with author/attorney Mark M. Bello and me on this episode of The Lean to the Left Podcast to discuss this tragic situation and relate it to the incidents involving the Souther Baptists. When she saw those headlines, she says she was not surprised, but that they shook her and brought back memories that she's had to deal with for nearly three decades.
Sandy previously told her own story on both the Lean to the Left and Justice Counts podcasts, but Mark and I wanted to invite her back to get her thoughts about these latest revelations regarding the Southern Baptists. A list of hundreds of pastors and other church-affiliated personnel accused of sexual abuse has just been released by church officials. The list had previously been kept secret by the church, and Kirkham suspects that it is far from complete.
We will see. Meanwhile, take a listen: