Draft:Christa Brown
 | Review waiting, please be patient.
This may take 3 months or more, since drafts are reviewed in no specific order. There are 4,563 pending submissions waiting for review.
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
Reviewer tools
|
Submission declined on 11 June 2026 by CopyleftEverything (talk).
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
This draft has been resubmitted and is currently awaiting re-review. |  |
Submission declined on 27 February 2026 by Pythoncoder (talk). This draft appears to contain text generated by a large language model (such as ChatGPT). You cannot use LLMs to generate article content.
Declined by Pythoncoder 5 months ago.LLM-generated pages with certain obvious signs of being machine generated may be deleted without notice. These tools are prone to specific issues that violate our policies:
Instead, only summarize in your own words a range of independent, reliable, published sources that discuss the subject. See the advice page on large language models for more information. | |
Submission declined on 18 January 2026 by MurielMary (talk). This draft's references do not show that the person meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion for people. The draft requires multiple published secondary sources that:
Declined by MurielMary 6 months ago.
| |
Comment: LLM authorship. Full of WP:OVERATTRIBUTION throughout. Please rewrite this article with human hands and verify all claims within. CopyleftEverything (talk) 03:38, 11 June 2026 (UTC)
- Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest guideline, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. Davidrmorris65 (talk) 20:50, 15 January 2026 (UTC)
 | This article may incorporate text from a large language model, which is prohibited in Wikipedia articles. (January 2026) |
Christa Brown is an American retired appellate lawyer, survivor, and author known for her advocacy related to clergy sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). She is the author of the memoirs This Little Light and Baptistland. Brown has been featured in major national and regional journalism addressing the handling of sexual abuse cases in Southern Baptist churches and has appeared as an interviewee in the documentary film For Our Daughters.
Story of abuse
[edit]As a teenager at a Baptist church in Farmers Branch, Texas, Brown experienced abuse by a male youth group pastor, including verbal grooming through the use of religious language and escalating sexual contact over a period of months. Brown states that when she eventually disclosed the abuse, church leaders failed to report the minister or warn other congregations.[1] [2]
Advocacy
[edit]Brown has engaged in decades-long advocacy for reform.[3] ABC News's 20/20 featured Brown's advocacy in a 2007 exposé on clergy sex abuse in Protestant churches, including the SBC.[4] She was one of the survivors who were featured in the Houston Chronicle's 2019 multi-part investigative series that documented allegations of decades of abuse by 380 pastors, teachers, deacons, and volunteers and examined how denominational structures and leadership responded to reports of misconduct.[5] There are records of the historical correspondence regarding Brown's abuse between Brown, her attorney, and the leadership of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the SBC in the Guideposts Solutions Report of 2022,[6] a story that was also covered by the New York Times.[7] Ms. Magazine,[8] and again in the Houston Chronicle, though as an interview of Brown,[9] as well as a timeline of the SBC abuse crisis by Religion News Service.[10] The Religion News Association named Brown as one of the top religion newsmakers of the year in 2022 based on how her "advocacy for fellow survivors of sexual abuse helped force a reckoning" regarding the SBC's history of mishandling cases of sexually abusive ministers.[11]
Southern Baptist Convention abuse reporting and offender database controversy
[edit]In 2006, Brown, joined by leaders of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), first proposed that the SBC create a centralized system for record-keeping and information-sharing on credibly accused clergy sex abusers.[12] In the years that followed, the SBC denied it could maintain its own list, citing the fact that denominational churches govern independently. Yet according to the Guideposts Solutions 2022 report, there was a staffer in the office of Augie Boto, then vice president of the SBC's executive committee, who had compiled a list of "Baptist leaders who had been arrested or were the subject of civil suits concerning sex crimes against minors spanning back to roughly 1960."[13] Eventually, the SBC released a list on May 26, 2022, sixteen years after Brown sounded the alarm that the SBC should keep such a list.[14] However, Brown has criticized the SBC, stating that the offender database has not been maintained as an ongoing public database and has been abandoned.[15] Brown has stated that any database might be ineffective unless it is run by outsiders, that "It has to be independently administered to provide survivors with a safe place to report."[16]
Documentary film
[edit]Brown appeared as an interviewee in the documentary film For Our Daughters, produced by historian and author Kristin Kobes Du Mez. In interviews with survivors, journalists, and scholars, the film examines sexual abuse, individual impact, and institutional accountability within Christian organizations.[17][18]
Commentary writing on institutional accountability
[edit]In addition to her books, Brown has written commentary on religion, abuse, and accountability for Baptist News Global as well as Ms. Magazine.[19] Her opinion writing has focused on survivor perspectives and critiques of denominational responses to abuse allegations.[20]
Books
[edit]- This Little Light: Beyond a Baptist Preacher Predator and His Gang. Grand Rapids, MI: Lake Drive Books, 2009.
- Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal, and Transformation. Grand Rapids MI: Lake Drive Books, 2024.
References
[edit]- ^ Brown, Christa (2009). This Little Light: Beyond a Baptist Preacher Predator and His Gang. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Lake Drive Books (published May 26, 2009). pp. 52–53, 148–150. ISBN 978-1957687513.
- ^ Stankorb, Sarah (January 4, 2023). "The Southern Baptist Church Ignored Its Abuse Crisis. She Exposed It". Vice. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Brown, Christa (2024). Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal, and Transformation. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Lake Drive Books (published May 7, 2024). pp. 215–223, 286–290. ISBN 978-1957687445.
- ^ "Preachers Accused of Sins, and Crimes: 20/20 uncovers ministers accused of abusing children in their congregations". ABC News. April 12, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Downen, Robert; Olsen, Lise; Tedesco, John (February 10, 2019). "20 years, 700 victims: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms". The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Guideposts Solutions (May 15, 2022). "Report of the Independent Investigation: The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee's Response to Sexual Abuse Allegations and an Audit of the Procedures and Actions of the Credentials Committee". Retrieved January 27, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Graham, Ruth; Dias, Elisabeth (May 22, 2022). "Southern Baptist Leaders Mishandled Sex Abuse Crisis, Report Alleges". The New York Times. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Shaw, Susan (June 6, 2022). "Sexual Abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention Points to Subordination of Women and Girls". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Downen, Robert; Tedesco, John (May 29, 2022). "She spent decades warning Southern Baptists about abuse. This week's revelations brought 'no joy.'". The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Banks, Adelle (May 23, 2022). "40 years in the making: A timeline of the Southern Baptists' sexual abuse crisis". Religion News Service. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "RNA members name Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision top story of 2022". December 21, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Guideposts Solutions (May 15, 2022). "Report of the Independent Investigation: The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee's Response to Sexual Abuse Allegations and an Audit of the Procedures and Actions of the Credentials Committee". Retrieved January 27, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Stankorb, Sarah (2023). Disobedient Women: How a Small Group of Faithful Women Exposed Abuse, Brought Down Powerful Pastors, and Ignited an Evangelical Reckoning. Nashville, Tennessee: Worthy Publishing (published August 8, 2023). pp. 248–249. ISBN 978-1546003809.
- ^ Bailey, Sarah Pulliam (May 26, 2022). "Southern Baptist leaders release sex abuser database they kept secret for years". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Hinton, Carla (June 15, 2024). "Southern Baptist Convention gives update on sex offender database. What we know". The Oklahoman. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Southern Baptist Convention due to focus on sex abuse". The Los Angeles Times. June 8, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Kobes Du Mez, Kristin (September 26, 2024). "For Our Daughters". YouTube. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Matas, Caroline (October 7, 2024). "A Love Letter (and Challenge) to Evangelical Women, 'For Our Daughters' Documents Devastating Cost of Christian Patriarchy". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Brown, Christa (June 4, 2024). "Southern Baptists Pursue a Mission of Misogyny". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved July 1, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Brown, Christa. "Christa Brown, Author at Baptist News Global". Retrieved January 15, 2025.
LLM-generated pages with certain obvious signs of being machine generated may be deleted without notice.
These tools are prone to specific issues that violate our policies:
Instead, only summarize in your own words a range of independent, reliable, published sources that discuss the subject.
See the advice page on large language models for more information.