And these men couldnt even lift a finger when she was defamed and crushed and destroyed. Lyell was the SBC Lifeway Christian Resources Vice President before she decided to come to the open on the sexual abuse done her by Sills. All this played out as the SBC addressed the independent report of Guidepost Solutions about a long-term pattern of ignoring or mishandling known cases of sexual abuse in SBC churches and agencies. . I am not a sinless victim. She has alleged Sills abused her over a multi-year period. All rights reserved. Lives in: Mayfield KY Used to live: Mayfield KY AKA: Anthony White, Anthony Scott Jackson, Anthony Scott Jackson, Anthony S Jackson Related to: Lindsey R Jackson, Akia T White, Antonio D Jackson, Carlos L Jackson, Darrell Albert White View Details Lyell told Religion News Service she wished she had never gone public. That was untrue. Lyell urged denominational leaders as well as pastors to recognize the responsibility they have to protect survivors from more harm when they come forward. Baptist Press reporting did, in fact, mislead people. The Louisville, Ky., church where Sills was a member, Lyell said, also took action following Sills resignation. Pastoral misconduct is seen as a moral failing rather than an abuse of power. Then things went terribly wrong. At the time, she was a 26-year-old master of divinity student, and the alleged relationship continued until she was 38, spanning a period in which Lyell moved from Louisville, Ky., to Chicago and then to Nashville, she told BP. After various mischaracterizations, misstatements, and a contrived investigation by defendants, the plaintiffs, David Sills and Mary Sills, have been wrongfully and untruthfully labeled as criminals and shunned by the SBC.. The Southern Baptist Convention would pass Resolution 6 which acknowledged Jennifer Lyell as an abuse survivor and therefore labeling David Sills as an abuser. The string of email correspondence viewed by BNG implies Buck contacted Lyell to ask questions about her claims. Jennifer Lyell serves as Vice President of Book Publishing & Merchandising at LifeWay Christian Resources where she leads the second largest business segment of Lifeway's ten Ministry Areas. Just over two years later, she stated the allegations to then-LifeWay Senior Vice President Eric Geiger and Mohler. Ascol retweeted her, insisting: Exactly. All rights reserved. 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. As such, Jennifer Lyell seems to be someone who is the victim of horrendous sexual abuse. Then Buck retweeted Basham to highlight her commentary about Sills and the SBC investigation. 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. Nine months after The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) professor David Sills resigned for undisclosed reasons, a woman has released a statement of allegations including details of what she describes as sexual abuse by Sills, beginning while she was a Southern Seminary student. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our. Lyell told Baptist Press she has attempted to contact the Louisville Metro Police Departments Special Victims Unit. Lyell tells the story in her own wordsso people can finally judge for themselves the particulars of the case. By Lyells previous accounts, Sills cultivated a relationship with her. The article was eventually retracted, but the damage was done. 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. But her feelings toward the denominations beliefs about gender roles have shifted. She mentions them many times during this recording. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". The audio came to the Capstone Report from a source not connected with Midwest Outreach. The leaders who had the information and ability to correct the inaccuracies supported her privately but were publicly silent. He also said churches often believe survivors were participants in their abusers sins. 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). Plaintiffs David Sills and Mary Sills file this complaint against Defendants, alleging defamation, conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and wantonness concerning untrue claims of sexual abuse initiated by Defendant, Jennifer Lyell, and thereafter David Sills and His Wife Claim There Was Never Any Sexual Intercourse At All, Ever, At Any Time Between David Sills and Jennifer Lyell. Buck, like Ascol, holds no official role in SBC life and has no direct connection to her claims of abuse from Sills. According to Baptist Press, Lyell was involved in the relationship with Sills from the time she was 26 until she was 38. Want to share a story? In June, BP reported Sills also had resigned as president of Reaching and Teaching International Ministries, a missions organization that engages in discipleship and theological education internationally. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Defamation?! In a statement posted on her website, Jennifer Lyell, who is now 41 and works for a major Christian book publisher, said Sills first "sexually acted" against her on a mission trip in 2004 and that the relationship continued until she was 38. Jennifer Lyell in 2019 decided to reveal she had been sexually abused by a former Southern Baptist seminary professor who had recently returned to ministry. She claims . I stand behind her in [her public statement] and believe she is acting righteously, he told BP. Sills claimed there was not any legitimate or proper investigation of Lyells accusations against him. 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. In a statement posted on her website, Jennifer Lyell, who is now 41 and works for a major Christian book publisher, said Sills first "sexually acted" against her on a mission trip in 2004 and. They also risk losing their relationships with everybody else who has a relationship with that person because when the chips fall, you dont know how theyre going to fall.. The church said it acted swiftly and firmly and that Sills is no longer a member. Bishop Scott Jones moves from extreme center of UMC to new Global Methodist Church, Jesus Revolution leaves out the tough stuff but gets the music right, From Super Bowl ads to Kentucky revivals, stop the Christian cannibalism, Holy Queer author seeks Black church inclusion beyond singing with choir, Its time to stop erasing Black Muslim Americans from the story of Islam in the US, Saddleback Church doubles down on support for female pastors. 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. Just over two years later, she stated the allegations to then-LifeWay Senior Vice President Eric Geiger and Mohler. All rights reserved. So that's not up for renegotiation," he explained. 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. But that's not quite what we see. 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. If I were not to come forward with this [statement], a church or ministry who receives Dr. Sills [resume] and does an internet search for him would have no way to know the truth behind his resignation. Lyell previously was a vice president at Lifeway, which is located in Nashville, Tenn. She voluntarily agreed to an interview with Baptist Press in 2019, by her account hoping her story would encourage other survivors of sexual abuse to come forward. Lyell sent a statement to both BNG and RNS: I do not need to be under oath to tell the truth and there are no lies that will shake my certainty about what is true. And we met with him within hours of his arrival back in the United States since our policies call for an immediate conversation. I mean, I was like, literally like, I mean, it was it was police at my house and, you know, safety, Lyell said. Jennifer Lyell claims she never wanted the attention her abuse allegations created nor to harm the family of David Sills, her alleged abuser. However, according to media reports none of the local police had any reports regarding these alleged incidents. 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.. We hope you will! The fallout was quick and devastating. What Ascol, Buck and Sills share in common is adherence to an extreme version of Reformed theology, known as hyper-Calvinism, that has been on the resurgence in the SBC over the past 30 years. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Geiger told Lyell he was responsible to share the allegations with Southern and invited her to participate in the process, Geiger recounted to Baptist Press. In her statement, Lyell says that it began when she was a student. Return to homepage. 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. David Sills, the professor, and his wife, Mary Sills, allege defamation, conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and wantonness in connection with untrue claims of sexual abuse made by Jennifer Lyell in 2021. Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. told Baptist Press he could not disclose why Sills employment at the seminary ended. InterVarsity Press, which published one of Sills' books, removed Sills' biography page from its website and the webpage for Sills book Changing World, Unchanging Mission: Responding to Global Challenges. I have never been unwilling to be questioned when making allegations that arent only moral, but are also criminal . Hope youll give us another try and check out some other articles. In May, Guidepost Solutions, which investigated the SBC scandal, issued a report that found alleges survivors of sexual abuse encountered resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility, from some on the SBCs Executive Committee. Lyell explains why she had not confronted Lumpkins because of Lumpkins history with Lifeway and her personal issues. 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. Because this is a personnel matter, we cannot comment further.. In a release to Baptist Press (BP) and others, Jennifer Lyell, now 41 and director of the books ministry area at LifeWay Christian Resources, alleges Sills initiated sexual contact with her on a mission trip in 2004. The full context of the email is this: Thank you again for replying and taking the time to find a scenario with which you are willing to talk with me. The church needs a way of understanding sin and violence that enables Gods grace without giving abusers back their power, their access and their good regard, she said. Whatever else is accurate or inaccurate in the lawsuit filed by David and Mary Sills against the SBC, Lyell and 10 others, the quotation attributed to a Lyell email to Smietana of RNS actually comes from a different Lyell email sent to Veinot and Henzel June 18, 2021. And he claims this was done in a conspiracy by all the named defendants, who understood the value of making an example out of SBC member and employee David Sills who, without controversy, had admitted to an affair with Lyell and willingly accepted the SBC requirement that he depart from his position at the seminary. In fact, she claims in a newly leaked audio recording that she has been vague intentionallyso that the Sills grandchildren wouldn't find out much about this by using Google. And for so long, people have been unable to understand those categories., RELATED: The cost for coming forward one survivors life after #MeToo. Sills resigned from the Kentucky-based schoollast May shortly after Lyell presented her claims to SBTS President Albert Mohler. The larger conversation around sexual abuse has dominated SBC life for the past two years and has been addressed by two special task forces, one of which is still working. I now realize that despite SBTS handling the situation justly and as I asked without stating the reason for his resignation it led to the exact kind of scenario the SBC is now trying to prevent, she said. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Lyell told RNS she did not initially report what . But he didnt make it public disclosure, Lyell said. 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. It takes years and years to recover from trauma, and no one should be in the position of having to explain it to the whole public while theyre still trying to do that, she said. 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. David Sills, into having a sexual relationship with him while she was enrolled in a missions class at the seminary. RELATED: At Caring Well conference, SBC leaders hear criticism of abuse response. Here's how. And now the two competing narratives of what happened between Sills and Lyell likely will add more fuel to the SBCs internal debate over the nature and extent of sexual abuse as a real problem. Such people have no fear of God, no interest in truth, no regard for justice, & no love for people. This and so much more is contained in a roughly 2-and-a-half-hour audio interview never released that hit the Internet today. Pooler said church members often become nonprotective bystanders, whose inaction enables abuse to continue and abusers to go unpunished. Mohler draws praise from Lyell and some criticism too. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. 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. Lyells attorney suggested to Baptist Press that Sills filing the lawsuit in Alabama appeared inappropriate. The same day, Geiger and Lyell contacted Mohler, he said. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Lyells experience reveals the difficulty survivors often face when they try to speak up about their experiences. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. After Baptist News Global broke the news that former seminary professor David Sills and his wife, Mary, filed a defamation lawsuit against the Southern Baptist Convention and 11 other defendants, three high-profile Southern Baptists took to Twitter to highlight one specific section of the 31-page legal document. Filing claims Guidepost never interviewed or even contacted him before publicly naming him a predator. (Guidepost Solutions is the firm hired by the SBC Executive Committee to investigate charges of sexual abuse within the convention. By the time Lyell had come forward publicly with her story, she had been in counseling for over two years. Facebook/The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Bible teacher Jen Wilkin addresses criticism of her views on sending children to public schools, Teen, 21-year-old man indicted for murder of Memphis pastor, Deion Sanders' prayers are constitutionally protected, lawyer tells University of Colorado, Revival at Kentucky college faces hurdles from school leadership, moves worship off-campus. Christian leaders need to remember that they are called to be shepherds in the model of the Good Shepherd, she said, protecting the sheep even if the wolves include their fellow leaders., A woman holds signs about abuse during a rally outside the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex on June 11, 2019, in Birmingham, Ala. RNS photo by Butch Dill. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) Jennifer Lyell was trying to do the right thing. She describes being shocked and blaming herself despite that she had not initiated the encounter. She said she was a 26-year-old Master of Divinity student when it began. Photo by Karen Race Photography 2019. The group has no apparent connections to the SBC, and its interview with Lyell seems outside its stated purpose. The abuser often spends years grooming a victim and then does not let the victim go. David Sills and Mary Sills contend they have been smeared repeatedly in the process and seek monetary damages. In fact, she claims in a newly leaked audio recording that she has been vague intentionallyso that the Sills grandchildren wouldnt find out much about this by using Google. Hilary Scarsella, assistant professor of ethics and director of women and gender studies at Colgate Rochester Crozier Divinity School, said survivors of clergy abuse can feel trapped because they know publicly disclosing the abuse may have consequences, both to their own faith and their place in the community. This wasnt by accident; I believe it was by design, Lyell wrote. One of Lyells advocates over the past three years has been Mohler, who has publicly stated he believed Lyells story as she has told it. Once the person gets access, they keep that access, he said. In that email, Lyell makes the exact statement the lawsuit attributes to communication with Smietana. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) -- Nine months after Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor David Sills resigned for undisclosed reasons, a woman has released a statement of allegations including details of what she says was a morally inappropriate relationship with Sills for more than a decade, beginning while she was a Southern Seminary student. George, as curator of the Spurgeon Library and digitized archive, worked with the . Lyell came to us with an allegation of abuse and should have been cared for throughout the entire process. On October 7, 2019, Jennifer Lyell, a LifeWay employee, penned an open letter to Southern Baptists expressing her grief caused by what she alleges was an erroneous Baptist Press report released in March this year. Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here. The suit states: On June 18, 2022, Defendant Lyell wrote to Religion News Services (RNS) and Reporter Bob Smietana, the following: My thinking was I could just verbally work through your article and clarify/add the information you didnt have or was inaccurate as well as answer the broader questions you asked when the information you had didnt reconcile for you. 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. Louisvilles Ninth and O Baptist Church told BP it is the congregation referenced in Lyells statement. If this seems like a contradiction, this is just the beginning. ", Follow Samuel Smith on Twitter: @IamSamSmith. And there were aspects of it certainly that I think is something that an abuser can use., Abuse advocate and attorney Rachael Denhollander said that Lyells story reflects a bigger problem with a complementarian culture that defends male leaders but views women leaders and survivors of abuse as expendable., Abuse survivor Rachael Denhollander, right, discusses the Southern Baptist Conventions history of addressing sexual abuse with ERLC President Russell Moore at the Caring Well conference in Dallas, on Oct. 4, 2019. I shared how Dr. David Sills, then a tenured professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, first sexually acted against me on a mission trip in 2004, a pattern that continued and escalated for more than a decade following that trip. Any criticism of complementarianism is seen as a sort of gateway drug into theological liberalism., I think a culture that believes that its righteousness is dependent on preserving and protecting the strictest form of complementarianism is a culture that sees women as a threat, sees women as a risk, sees women as more likely to sin, she said. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. We must clearly tell the truth so that our churches and ministries are safe and as pure as they can be.. Lyell built a strong relationship with Sills family over the years as she spent many of her weekends and holidays with them. Hes wrong. I am not a sinless victim. She stated that the pattern continued and escalated for more than a decade following that trip.. "I think she was courageous in making those statements and I think it sets an example for how others should also demonstrate an equal courage," Mohler said. Sills was a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary until his resignation on May 23, 2018. Why Midwest Christian Outreach was interested in such a deep dive into Lyells story is not clear. He said that he is "brokenhearted over the reality" of the situation. Lyell still attends a Southern Baptist church, in large part because of the friendship and support she has received from her pastor and his wife. He did call the police. This issue caught fire on Twitter, where critics of SBC leadership and of the sexual abuse study picked it up, prompting retweets and commentary. By admitting to having sinned and asking for forgiveness, they can mitigate the consequences of their actions and preserve a future in the church. When she was enrolled in a roughly 2-and-a-half-hour audio interview never released that hit Internet. She stated the allegations to then-LifeWay Senior Vice President Eric Geiger and Mohler can not comment further come publicly... 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