As such, Jennifer Lyell seems to be someone who is the victim of horrendous sexual abuse. I am not a sinless victim. It was a Zoom call conducted June 6, 2021. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. But her feelings toward the denominations beliefs about gender roles have shifted. In February, the top-ranked Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) did something that's almost unprecedented: they apologized and offered a monetary settlement to Jennifer Lyell, who for years had been abused by an SBC seminary professor. It conclusively demonstrated the non-consensual nature of what happened to her. Geiger alleged that Mary Sills threatened Jennifer Lyell in text messages and that Mrs. Sills knew of the relationship between Jennifer Lyell and David Sills. In a post on her website, Lyell accused Sills of sexually abusing her during a 2004 mission trip and claimed the abuse continued over a decade. And because of their power and influence, pastors and other religious leaders have a responsibility to set up boundaries in their relationships with other people. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Jen came forward at incredible personal cost to herself, to defend those who had no voice, Denhollander said. Mohler should have said, Now, Jennifer, thats not a promise I can make you like, we need to do whats right for the kingdom, Lyell said. The Southern Baptist Convention would pass Resolution 6 which acknowledged Jennifer Lyell as an abuse survivor and therefore labeling David Sills as an abuser. While churches say they want to care for survivors of abuse, those survivors are often viewed with suspicion, having to prove they are worthy of compassion and respect. 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. And we met with him within hours of his arrival back in the United States since our policies call for an immediate conversation. RNS published a story about the Sills lawsuit Nov. 28 and noted at the end of the story the complaint against Smietana and RNS. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. 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. RELATED: Jennifer Lyell wanted to stop her abuser by . 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I think her efforts to call attention to this horrible aspect of abuse are needed.. I deeply regret that anyone could have been led to conclude that it was consensual based on what I wrote.. Lyell spends some of the recording taking about a blogpost written by Peter Lumpkins (likely this post.). Photo via Baylor University. Jennifer Lyell, 2006 graduate of SBTS, says in her statement that 2004 was the first time Sills acted against her. Though 30 pages in length, the key facts allged are right on the first page. According to Lyell, the reason she waited so long to come forward with her claims is because she was afraid that her coming forward could cause collateral damage impacting people she loved. 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. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. The police issue is difficult because this would have been a call to the local SBTS area police in 2018. 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. Baptist Press reporting did, in fact, mislead people. Litigating this case publicly could cause extreme discomfort for some of the defendants named, forcing them to testify under oath about matters they have tried to handle discreetly. Secondly, on information and belief, defendants SBC, the Executive Committee, and Lifeway own and maintain property, employees and/or agents in Alabama, including Mobile County, Alabama. However, in the new court filing he insists he did not sexually abuse Lyell, force himself upon Lyell, use violence against Lyell, threaten to use violence against Lyell or engage in sexual intercourse with Lyell at any time whatsoever., The filing says Sills acknowledges a personal and emotionally intimate relationship between the two but claims it was initiated by Lyell, who was well above the age of consent.. Jennifer Lyell Lyell is a former vice president at Lifeway Christian Resources, the SBC publishing house. Guidepost and the SBC are two of 12 total defendants named in the lawsuit that revolves around allegations that David Sills sexually abused Jennifer Lyell starting in 2004, when Lyell was a . Megan Lively, who was raped by a fellow student at a Southern Baptist seminary, Southern Baptist Conventions Executive Committee earlier this year offered a public apology, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. ", As a result of the conversation upon Sills' return, Mohler said "he was no longer a member of the faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from that time.". 11 - Motion to Introduce Report moved by Councillor Jennifer McKelvie (Carried) That the Report from Meetings 14 and 15 of the Scarborough Community Council listed on the Agenda of Council be presented for consideration. Sills local church, Ninth & O Baptist Church in Louisville, confirmed to Baptist Press that Sills is no longer a member and that the church acted swiftly and firmly after hearing the accusations. 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 an . [I] became an aunt to their grandchildren, and their grown children became like siblings to me, she wrote. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". But I am a victim nonetheless.. Ascol, Buck and Basham had collaborated with the source of the original quotation that Sills took out of context in his recent lawsuit. 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. Critics of the SBC investigation and of the existence of a crisis of sexual abuse in the denomination frequently point to Lyells story as questionable, but they have been minority voices. 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. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). . And that retraction happened only after Denhollander had publicly criticized the SBCs treatment of Lyell during a major conference on abuse in the fall of 2019. There are elements that sound like an abuse victim pleading with an abuser, I just want you to be like a dad, and there are elements where the story does not seem plausible given what we knowpay special attention to the police. Mohler assured that he stands behind Lyell and her statement. Reaching and Teaching International told BP in a statement that they are aware of a statement by Lyell regarding her allegations and are committed to ensuring a culture of transparency and accountability., Lyell said, It is my hope that my story, one in which a SBC entity and its leaders acted swiftly and justly but in which that same individual was also in a ministry position only months later, will also help to illustrate the need for some form of a reporting tool that can ensure that those who have victimized others from a ministry position are unable to ever do so again., (EDITOR'S NOTE This story has been edited by Biblical Recorder staff. Attorneys misidentified an email from Lyell, which was sent to a pair of ministers, not to RNS. Veinot responded by filing a request for a copyright infringement complaint with YouTube to stop further sharing and said he began contacting those I discovered who had created links to it and requested they delete them.. The Southern Baptist Conventions Executive Committee earlier this year offered a public apology and a confidential monetary settlement to Lyell and announced the resolution during their February meeting in Nashville. Anytime time you have to invoke these procedures is heartbreaking but simultaneously necessary. Jennifer Lyell claims she never wanted the attention her abuse allegations created nor to harm the family of David Sills, her alleged abuser. Basham questions Lyells description of events, her claims to have reported the abuse to police, and her ability to enlist others to corroborate her story. 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. Just over two years later, she stated the allegations to then-LifeWay Senior Vice President Eric Geiger and Mohler. All rights reserved. 1. She began her thread saying, " What I referenced today about the Baptist Press' defamatory statements regarding @jenlyell and her abuser, former SBTS prof. David Sills, was the tip of the iceberg. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. ", "We hold unquestionably to a biblical standard of sexual morality and personal morality and we expect that of any who would teach but also even as students. Survivors dont just lose their trust in that one person, she said. "David Sills was repentant and obedient to the rules of the SBC," the complaint alleges. Baptist Press eventually apologized for the article, but Lyell said she had already been devastated by the repercussions of its inaccurate reporting. ", Follow Samuel Smith on Twitter: @IamSamSmith. Mississippi lawyer Don Barrett, one of the attorneys representing David Sills and his wife, Mary Sills, said that part of the complaint was in error, the story said. 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