Resolution: On Abuse Reform and Commitment to the Southern Baptist Convention

ADOPTED on September 21, 2025

WHEREAS, MERCYhouse has spent over two years monitoring the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) to find signs of genuine repentance and fruit in keeping with that repentance as they implement abuse reforms, and

WHEREAS, The SBC passed the 2022 Resolution “On Lament and Repentance for Sexual Abuse” which publically acknowledged that the SBC had failed and done things that were egregiously wrong in numerous instances and apologized to survivors, and

WHEREAS, The SBC Messengers have voted to enact new abuse reform measures, elected Presidents who have also supported these measures, placed a new Executive Committee President who has supported these efforts of abuse reform, and

WHEREAS, The SBC has completed the majority of the recommendations made by the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force including the expansion of the Ministry Toolkit for equipping churches to respond to and prevent abuse, the creation of the "Abuse Prevention & Response Team" within the Executive Committee as a permanent home for abuse reform, as well as additional reform efforts originally called for by the Sexual Abuse Task Force, and

WHEREAS, the MERCYhouse Abuse Reform Task Force has concluded their work and submitted their final report with a strong majority of the ARTF members agreeing that the SBC has maintained a trajectory consistent with genuine repentance, now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, The Members of MERCYhouse find that the Southern Baptist Convention has shown signs of genuine repentance and are exhibiting fruit in keeping with that repentance, and be it further

RESOLVED, The Members of MERCYhouse affirm their affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention.