Southern Baptist Convention President Willy Rice has announced that his church in Florida will host a special abuse prevention training event next year. Calvary Church of Clearwater will be the location for “Safeguarding the Next Generation” event on Jan. 19, 2027, hosted by Calvary, the Tampa Bay Baptist Association, the Suncoast Baptist Association, and the SBC Executive Committee’s Sexual Abuse Prevention & Response team.
In a statement emailed to The Christian Post on Friday, Rice said “sexual abuse was, is and will remain a grievous wickedness and a threat that requires constant vigilance.” “The greatest tragedy is the broken lives and wounded souls of the people who have been betrayed,” Rice stated.
“Until our King comes and vanquishes all evil, there will be wolves who need stopping and people who need protecting.” Rice added that the SBC has “taken extraordinary steps to address this issue,” including over 5,200 SBC churches training staff, volunteers and parents on abuse prevention and response since 2021 and the SBC Executive Committee voting in 2024 to create an office of sexual abuse prevention and response.
“I hope our event in January will serve as an example of how we can and should be working together to address this issue,” he added.
“I call upon all Southern Baptist churches to practice ongoing training, install proper protocols and, when faced with accusations of abuse in their ministries, to take those seriously, to report to law enforcement immediately and to cooperate with all legal investigations fully.” The January event will be part of the Fortify Initiative, designed by the SBC EC abuse response team, which focuses on training congregations to improve youth protection and direct churches to local resources better tailored to their specific ministries.