RE: Editorial: Who has authority to restore a pastor?
Sexual misconduct—whether physical or within the heart of the sinner—is fully explained by Jesus as nearly identical.
What I would like to hear addressed is what sort of restitution is offered to the victims in these cases.
In the case of Johnny Hunt, accused of sexual assault by the wife of another minister, you report he denies sexual assault but admits to “a ‘compromising situation’ and a ‘consensual encounter.’ If it was sexual assault, that is a crime in every state in the union.
Was Mr. Hunt ever prosecuted for the alleged assault? I Googled the statute of limitations for sexual assault in Georgia, and it’s two years from the date of the incident. So, he was completely and totally free from criminal prosecution when he admitted to a “compromising situation” and a “consensual encounter.”
Good Baptist ministers seem to be focused on reinstating this probably beloved minister to his full, former status, while completely ignoring the victim of what he admitted he committed.
The focus is on restoring the perpetrator to his full and former glory, while the victim is left possibly to wonder why in the world she should remain a member of a denomination that rewards abusive men and ignores women left to suffer untold misery for the rest of their lives.
Bonnie Dove, former paid staff member of Mayfield Road Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas; Arapaho Road Baptist Church in Littleton, Colo.; and First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, Texas
Arlington, Texas
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