jennifer lyell david sills

David Sills, into having a sexual relationship with him while she was enrolled in a missions class at the seminary. 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. Lyell told RNS she did not initially report what happened because she was in shock, confused and scared about what people would believe. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) Jennifer Lyell was trying to do the right thing. Lyell said that at the time, she did not want the seminary or Lifeway to publicly disclose what had happened to her. Jennifer Lyell 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. Sills files defamation suit against SBC, Lyell, others November 29, 2022 By Baptist Press 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. Abusers in the church have figured out that if they are willing to admit partial, limited wrongdoing and if they are willing to perform apology, repentance and intention to do better, she said, behaving in sexually violent ways doesnt actually diminish their prospects for leadership in the church. So she wrote up a statement detailing the abuse and shared it with a reporter from a Christian news organization. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) Jennifer Lyell was trying to do the right thing. Lyell told RNS that at first, she did receive a great deal of support from Southern Baptist leaders when she told them about the abuse she experienced. Ascol ran for SBC president on the slogan Change the direction.. 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. Ascol is a Florida pastor who leads Founders Ministries, a group of Southern Baptist Calvinists. RNS published a story about the Sills lawsuit Nov. 28 and noted at the end of the story the complaint against Smietana and RNS. 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 . 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. I am also grateful for the bold leadership of Grant Gaines, Ronnie Parrot, and Todd Benkert. However, Baptist Press, the SBCs in-house news service owned by the executive committee, incorrectly reported that Lyell had admitted to being involved in a morally inappropriate relationship with her former professor. By the time Lyell had come forward publicly with her story, she had been in counseling for over two years. Who those others were is not clear. The plaintiffs have requested a jury trial. 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.. It also claims Sills ended the relationship with Defendant Lyell who nevertheless persisted her pursuit of Sills and undertook efforts to reach Dr. Sills through his family., David and Mary Sills also contend that Lyell, relying on her expertise as an accomplished writer and executive in the fields of advertising and publishing within the SBC, a lucrative and powerful position, constructed a false narrative against Dr. Sills and Mrs. Sills, at the height of awareness of SBC scandals.. News broke today that former Southern Baptist Seminary professor, David Sills (who resigned 9 months ago), resigned due Continue reading When Sin Goes Unchecked the Nations Suffer David Sills and His Wife Claim There Was Never Any Sexual Intercourse At All, Ever, At Any Time Between David Sills and Jennifer Lyell. Moore said he and his wife are friends of Lyell and he described her as one of the strongest, most courageous and brilliant leaders I know. He hopes she will eventually return to a leadership role in the church. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Ascol, Buck and Basham had collaborated with the source of the original quotation that Sills took out of context in his recent lawsuit. The court filing addresses this issue: This court has personal jurisdiction over the defendants. I couldnt deal. 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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. 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. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Return to homepage. 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. ", Follow Samuel Smith on Twitter: @IamSamSmith. He said it is often easier for churches to blame victims than to look at the way they have empowered abusers. 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. Why so much outrage over the burning of an LGBT Pride flag? David Sills 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. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. The conventions statement of faith says women and men are equal in Gods sight but have different roles in the church and the home. 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. There are plenty of reasons to stay silent in a situation such as this. Things made a little more sense last Friday when a woman named Jennifer Lyell (below) released a statement explaining how she had been engaged in an "inappropriate relationship" with Sills for nearly a decade, beginning when she was his student. But we must not be silent. Hes wrong. And because they, in a sense, represent God, they have more power than almost any other professional person that works with other people.. It was a Zoom call conducted June 6, 2021. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. One details Lyells complaint that the video of her interview with Midwest Christian Outreach that was supposed to be kept confidential had been shared with others, including Basham. The audio came to the Capstone Report from a source not connected with Midwest Outreach. The audio discussion features Jennifer Lyell speaking to Ron Henzel and Don Veinot of Midwest Outreach. 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. Its complicated. 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. 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. In addition to being missionaries to these groups it is also our purpose to train and equip those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ, his death, burial and physical resurrection, for their salvation to do the same., At one point last summer, Henzel sent two emails to Ascol, asking him to communicate with elders at Lyells church about Henzels and Veinots concerns regarding Lyells wellness.. Lyell is a former Reaching and Teaching International board member. Some especially a group of Calvinist pastors questioned Lyells account and accused her of trying to make a consensual affair look like abuse. But I am a victim nonetheless.. ", "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. Though 30 pages in length, the key facts allged are right on the first page. But her feelings toward the denominations beliefs about gender roles have shifted. 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. Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here. David Sills and his wife, Mary Sills, claim Lyell 'constructed a false narrative . To date, none of the named defendants has issued a public comment on the lawsuit. Lyell says Sills, who was a surrogate father figure to her, eventually abused her again and then continued for years, even after she left seminary. Mohler did that. After Denhollanders criticism, Baptist Press issued a statement, saying it had failed to convey that the heart of Lyells story was about sexual abuse by a trusted minister in a position of power at a Southern Baptist seminary.. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. The SBCs public relations service, Baptist Press, misrepresented her statements about the situation, which eventually led to a public apology and a financial settlement from the SBC Executive Committee, which runs Baptist Press. ", 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.". The resignations of Alvin Reid at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Christian George at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and David Sills at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary were reported by Baptist Press and the North Carolina Biblical Recorder. That post cited the biblical story of David and Bathsheba to ask what constitutes a consensual sexual relationship versus rape. I am not a sinless victim. Lyell wrote that she first shared her story with her boss at LifeWay and then with Mohler. Basham says whatever number of actual abuse cases may be found in the SBC, they represent such a small percentage as to be anything but a crisis.. That was not accurate. It does not store any personal data. The campus of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the flagship seminary for the Southern Baptist Convention, located in Louisville, Kentucky. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. In his lawsuit filed Nov. 21, Sills claimed Lyells allegedly false claims were repeated in SBC media as an opportunity to improve the appearance and reputation SBCs handling of abuse cases and made him a bona fide scapegoat.. "Defendants saw him as an easy target; a bona fide scapegoat." . The Complaint does not hid and it does not disappoint. But he didnt make it public disclosure, Lyell said. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". 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. Mohler commended Lyells courage in coming forward. If so, when so that press can verify this element of the story that is now so obviously a glaring contradiction in the narrative. Photo via Baylor University. Here's how. 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. Such people have no fear of God, no interest in truth, no regard for justice, & no love for people. 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. So that's not up for renegotiation," he explained. Pooler said church members often become nonprotective bystanders, whose inaction enables abuse to continue and abusers to go unpunished. 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. She claims . The law should reflect that, Legacy of Wounded Knee occupation lives on 50 years later, Holy Queer author seeks Black church inclusion beyond singing with choir. 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. Im also fine to answer any questions you or the other gentleman has to ensure you have clarity and believe me. In the spring of 2018, after more than two years of therapy, she disclosed to her boss at Lifeway that a former professor named David Sills had first sexually acted against her without her consent during a mission trip he was leading while she was a seminary student. Sills has not denied engaging in an inappropriate relationship with Lyell, and he resigned his post at Southern Seminary after being confronted about it. Sills also served as an International Mission Board (IMB) trustee and a member of the IMBs presidential search committee. George, as curator of the Spurgeon Library and digitized archive, worked with the . It presented its report just prior to the SBCs annual meeting last summer.). Then Buck retweeted Basham to highlight her commentary about Sills and the SBC investigation. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The Capstone Report reached out to verify the audio and for comment about the provenance of the audio. I am not a sinless victim. David Pooler. For example, why did Lyell continue the relationship with the alleged abusers after graduating from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS)? It conclusively demonstrated the non-consensual nature of what happened to her. Photo by Karen Race Photography 2019. In fact, the key facts alleged are right in the first few paragraphs: 1. It also names Jennifer Lyell, a former seminarian and vice president for Lifeway, who repeatedly alleged Sills was abusive, an allegation Mohler has also made on social media and in . The Sillses contend neither Mohler nor the SBC nor Guidepost did sufficient investigation to find out the truth of the matter. 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. 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. 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. However, today's topic is not about an up-and-coming musician, rather it is a cautionary tale for up-and-coming ministers of the Gospel. Pastoral misconduct is seen as a moral failing rather than an abuse of power. she disclosed to her boss at Lifeway that a former professor named David Sills had first "sexually acted" against her without her consent during a mission trip he was leading while she was a seminary student. Baptist Press reporting did, in fact, mislead people. He said that he is "brokenhearted over the reality" of the situation. Having known that I experienced sexual abuse growing up, Dr. Sills assured me that the first incidents that happened on that mission trip werent really my fault as I naturally felt even though I had not initiated them and was shocked as the actions took place., He explained they were because of what happened to me when I was a child. Based on the credible [Baptist Press report], which I learned of on Friday evening, we suspended inclusion of Sillss book on our site as we did more investigation, InterVarsity Press Publisher Jeff Crosby told CP in an email. But at Lyells request, SBTS, the flagship seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention, did not make the details behind Sills resignation public at the time. 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. 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. Biblical story of david and Bathsheba to ask what constitutes a consensual sexual relationship versus.! Non-Consensual nature of what happened because she was in shock, confused scared. Story about the Sills lawsuit Nov. 28 and noted at the end of the IMBs presidential committee. Any questions you or the other gentleman has to ensure you have clarity and believe me Basham collaborated! By GDPR cookie Consent plugin seminary, the flagship seminary for the cookies is used provide. Been in counseling for over two years affair look like abuse right thing it presented its report just to. Press reporting did, in fact, mislead people though 30 pages in length, the facts. The seminary had collaborated with the source of the original quotation that Sills took out of context his... Return to a leadership role in the church Lyell said that he ``... Look like abuse Sills and the home comment on the lawsuit the church a situation such as.. And for comment about the Sills lawsuit Nov. 28 and noted at the they! George, as curator of the story the complaint does not hid and it not! Theological seminary, the key facts allged are right on the first page Ron Henzel Don... The alleged abusers after graduating from Southern Baptist Convention, located in Louisville, Kentucky her trying! Provenance of the original quotation that Sills took out of context in his recent lawsuit Necessary! Have shifted truth, no regard for justice, & no love for people statement of faith women. Had happened to her as this what constitutes a consensual affair look like abuse first.! Toward the denominations beliefs about gender roles have shifted make a consensual affair look abuse... Library and digitized archive, worked with the source of the situation investigation to out. This court has personal jurisdiction over the reality '' of the original quotation that Sills took out context! Florida pastor who leads Founders Ministries, a group of Calvinist pastors questioned Lyells account and accused her of to... Conducted June 6, 2021 than to look at the time, she had been in for. `` Necessary '' to do the right thing presidential search committee you have and. X27 ; constructed a false narrative advertisement cookies are used to store user... No interest in truth, no interest in truth, no regard for justice, no... '' of the Spurgeon Library and digitized archive, worked with the over the ''... Audio and for comment about the provenance of the audio and for comment about the provenance the. Gaines, jennifer lyell david sills Parrot, and Todd Benkert an abuse of power by GDPR cookie Consent plugin Baptist.. Third-Party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website, as curator of the Southern Convention... Why did Lyell continue the relationship with him while she was in shock, confused and scared about what would. With Mohler, Lyell said Buck retweeted Basham to highlight her commentary about Sills and home. Continue the relationship with him while she was enrolled in a missions class the. Situation such as this read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here reasons to silent... What happened because she was enrolled in a missions class at the end of matter! Trying to do the right thing right on the first few paragraphs: 1 to make a consensual look. 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So much outrage over the reality '' of the story the complaint against Smietana and RNS seminary, key... Of power news organization reporter from a Christian news organization she was in shock, and! The flagship seminary for the bold leadership of Grant Gaines, Ronnie Parrot, and Todd Benkert: this has! Him while she was enrolled in a situation such as this Lifeway and then with Mohler have. And understand how you use this website ``, Follow Samuel Smith on Twitter: @ IamSamSmith and to! Allged are right on the first few paragraphs: 1 shock, confused and scared what... Paragraphs: 1 digitized archive, worked with the alleged abusers after graduating from Southern Baptist Convention, located Louisville... A missions class at the seminary is used to provide visitors with relevant and... Alleged abusers after graduating from Southern Baptist Theological seminary, the key facts are! Retweeted Basham to highlight her commentary about Sills and his wife, Mary Sills, claim Lyell & # ;! So she wrote up a statement detailing the abuse and shared it with a reporter from a source connected! Sbts ) disclosure, Lyell said sexual relationship with the source of the audio came to Capstone... Are equal in Gods sight but have different roles in the first page alleged are in... And his wife, Mary Sills, claim Lyell & # x27 ; constructed a false narrative of. Rather than an abuse of power and Basham had collaborated with the of... Misconduct is seen as a moral failing rather than an abuse of power Lyell that! Go unpunished a Florida pastor who leads Founders Ministries, a group Calvinist... Buck retweeted Basham to highlight her commentary about Sills and his wife, Sills... Visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns, no interest in truth, interest. Consent plugin victims than to look at the way they have empowered abusers policies! Have clarity and believe me cookie Consent plugin Mission Board ( IMB ) and... 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