Thread by @RobDownenChron

SOON AT #CARINGWELL: Longtime and outspoken survivor advocate, lawyer, Liberty University professor and Billy Graham grandson @BozT

#SBCtoo #ChurchToo

@BozT BOZ BEGINS with prayer for Jesus to have mercy on his churches.

Says he was hesitant to speak at a conference held by the SBC "for such a time as this." #SBCtoo #ChurchToo #CaringWell

@BozT "There are so many survivors that cant afford $200 to come to a conference. They're just trying to make it through another day... “This organization that is responsible for decimating so many lives."

#SBCtoo #ChurchToo #CaringWell

@BozT Says he has been on the front lines for so many years, with survivors and pleading THIS DENOMINATION to confront this issue.

#SBCtoo #ChurchToo #CaringWell

@BozT "To most survivors, what do they hear/ What do they see? I was sexually abused in a Southern Baptist church and now the Southern Baptist Convention is hosting a conference because a newspaper down the road had a big expose."

-@BozT #SBCtoo #ChurchToo #CaringWell

@BozT "It is not those outside of churches that need healing most. The system of this denomination is broken. It is broken."

-@BozT #SBCtoo #ChurchToo #CaringWell

@BozT Boz asks the audience to imagine if Southern Baptists found out 700 babies had been killed, despite years of warning and vilifying those who warned them.

Its the same as the "systemic" abuse in the SBC, which he says need to be dismantled." #SBCtoo #ChurchToo #CaringWell

@BozT Boz calls out the "Good Ole Boys Club" that he says focuses on book sales instead of protecting churches.

"We can talk about abuse until its some leaders friend ina church, and then we’re not talking about it. That’s wrong. That’s not what Jesus did." #ChurchToo #CaringWell

@BozT Boz now calling out a denomination that only allows one gender of leaders. And then he questions Southern Baptist polity, and calls out their stances on homosexuality or women pastors. #ChurchToo #CaringWell #SBCtoo

@BozT Boz now refers to the Good Samaritan and says that it is survivors -- not leaders -- who are Samaritans.

And yet they've been "marginalized, vilified, not invited to speak here, accused of wanting to destroy the church" #ChurchToo #CaringWell #SBCtoo

@BozT "Perhaps they want to destroy the church that ignores abuse, and we should celebrate that," @BozT says. "...Its time to start listening to all survivors, not just the ones we deem safe and approved." #ChurchToo #CaringWell #SBCtoo

@BozT Boz now calls for a commission that truly investigates abuse.

In five years, he says, maybe then Southern Baptists can have a conference. #CaringWell #SBCtoo #ChurchToo

@BozT "The very fact that there are survivors who are still willing to talk to the church amazes me," @BozT says. #CaringWell #SBCtoo #ChurchToo

@BozT Boz listing "flashes of light" that expose what's in the darkness.

"Flashes of light include @ChristaBrown777 ... who has been shut out, ignored, vilified and marginalized by this denomination. But she spends her days inspiring other survivors. She inspires me." #CaringWell

@BozT @ChristaBrown777 I leave you with this: embrace the voices and lives of all survivors because they are the Good Ssamaritans in our midst who not only give me hope for humanity, they give me hope for the healing of a sick church.

-@BozT #CaringWell #SBCtoo #ChurchToo

@BozT @ChristaBrown777 They give me hope that winter is finally ending in the church, and that spring will be here soon.

-@BozT #CaringWell #SBCtoo #ChurchToo