MeToo Is a Wake-Up Call for Pastors, Says Former SBC President James Merritt

DALLAS — The MeToo movement is a “wake-up call” for Southern Baptist pastors, said James Merritt, lead pastor of Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, Georgia, ahead of the denomination’s annual meeting on Tuesday.

“The safest place an abused woman should feel she can go is her church. And the safest person she should feel like she should be able to go to is her pastor,” said Merritt during a panel discussion hosted by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, titled “Conversation on Gospel Sexuality in a #MeToo Culture.”

Panelists at the ERLC event Monday night included Russell Moore, president of the ERLC; Trillia Newbell, director of community outreach at the ERLC; Jamie Ivey, author, speaker and podcaster of The Happy Hour; Kimberlee Norris, sexual abuse trial attorney for Ministry Safe; and Merritt.