What do you know? More men have stepped-forward with claims of sexual abuse by Paul Pressler, a leader of the SBC’s so-called Conservative Resurgence. His part in that squalid drama was so important that he is memorialized with his very own stained-glass window in the chapel of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
It remains for the courts to sort out the stories and their truth or falsity, but they follow a familiar pattern.
On one such retreat, Pressler told Twining there was a shortage of beds and asked if the two could share a bunk bed, according to the affidavit.
“I preferred to sleep alone and assumed that Pressler, as the retreat’s host, was politely inconveniencing himself as well,” Twining wrote. “One night that weekend, Pressler told me he was cold and then he unexpectedly rubbed his feet against mine under the covers without asking. … It struck me as odd, but it was over as soon as it began so I did not say anything and shrugged it off. However, in retrospect and in light of what follows, I now believe Pressler had designs on me early in our acquaintance.”
Will the glass come down if the courts establish that Pressler is a pederast? I doubt it. The SBC leadership will much more likely say that his curious little hobby has no bearing on his great service to Baptists (Rally ’round the pastor!), refuse to say any more or ever again acknowledge the unpleasantness, and count on the puppy-like memories of the flock to do the rest.