page_title: Wade Burleson
section_title: Proposed Database of Sexual Predators
hierarchical_section_title: Wade Burleson / Career / Proposed Database of Sexual Predators
caption_attribution_description: English: Wade Burleson speaking at 2018 For Such a Time as This Rally in Dallas, Texas, June 12, 2018.
context_page_description: Wade Burleson is a writer, avocational historian, and teaching pastor at Emmanuel Enid, Oklahoma. Burleson was twice elected President of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, and served as a trustee for the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board. Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating appointed Burleson to the northwest Oklahoma Higher Education Program Board where he was instrumental in establishing the Northwestern Oklahoma State University's campus in Enid, Oklahoma. Burleson worked five years as the south Tulsa Police chaplain where he was awarded the Silver Star for outstanding service. He later served as chaplain for the Garfield County Sheriff's Department. The United States Department of Justice awarded Burleson a Certificate of Achievement for his work with victims and their families during the aftermath of 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
  Burleson is the author of several theological books, including Happiness Doesn't Just Happen, Learning to Be Content Regardless of Your Circumstances, and Hardball Religion.
context_section_description: In 2007, Burleson recommended the creation of a database to track sexually abusive ministers. The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention eventually denied Burleson's motion, stating that it would be impossible to ensure that all convicted sexual predators who ever had a connection with a Baptist church would be included in such a database. The Executive Committee also said Burleson's recommendation would violate the autonomy of Southern Baptist churches, stating the convention does not have any authority to require local churches to report instances of alleged sexual abuse to their local association, the state Baptist convention, or the national convention. Time magazine reported that the denial of Burleson's motion was one of "The 10 Most Under-Reported National Stories of 2008.
  In 2018, Burleson again proposed at the annual Southern Baptist Convention that the Convention establish a predator database. In response to the motion, new SBC President J.D. Greear and the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee announced the formation of a Sexual Abuse Presidential Study Group. The working group will “consider how Southern Baptists at every level can take discernible action to respond swiftly and compassionately to incidents of abuse." It will also make recommendations for creating safe environments in churches and institutions.
  On Sunday, February 10, 2019, the Houston Chronicle published the first of three parts of an investigative report covering over 700 victims of Southern Baptist sexual abuse entitled "Abuse of Faith" Investigative reporter Robert Downen interviewed Burleson about his database proposal being rejected by SBC leaders, quoting Burleson as saying, ""There's a known problem, but it's too messy to deal with. It's not that we can't do it as much as we don't want to do it. ... To me, that's a problem. You must want to do it, to do it."
  Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear stated at the 2019 SBC in Birmingham, Alabama, that a predator database to track sexual predators in the Southern Baptist Convention was on the table.
caption: Wade Burleson Speaking at the 2018 "For Such a Time As This" Rally in Dallas, Texas
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