The Southern Baptist Convention is to form a Sexual Abuse Presidential Study Group in the wake of repeated scandals and a resolution at the SBC's annual meeting in June urging action.

Widespread outrage over SBC grandee Paige Patterson's mishandling of rape reports while he was president of two SBC seminaries and his comments about women and abuse sparked what commentators called the denomination's #MeToo movement. 

The study group has been formed at the instigation of SBC president JD Greear and will involve the 15 million-member denomination's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

Greear said: 'How we as a convention of churches care for abuse victims and protect against vile predators says something about what we believe about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our churches should be a refuge for the hurting and a safe haven for the oppressed.

'Over the next year, I look forward to hearing from this group and partnering with our churches, state conventions, local associations, seminaries and national entities to determine what we can do to equip churches to minister effectively and stand guard against any who would seek to prey on the vulnerable.'

ERLC president Russell Moore said: 'Sexual assault and sexual abuse are Satanic to the core, and churches should be the ones leading the way when it comes to protecting the vulnerable from predators.'

Among other issues, the case of a former South Carolina Baptist Convention official has proved embarrassing for the SBC. Former missionary Mark Aderholt was arrested on July 3 and charged with sexual assault of a child under 17. The alleged offence took place in 1997. According to Baptist News Global, he was investigated by the International Mission Board (IMB) in 2007, which concluded that he had probably abused a 16-year-old girl when he was a youth pastor but did not report him to the police. Anne Marie Miller, the alleged victim, contacted the authorities after finding Aderholt had gone on to work at two SBC churches and then for the denomination.

IMB president David Platt has pledged an independent review of how it handled the case. He said in his statement: 'In conclusion, we must do better. In the IMB. In the SBC. In any church and any ministry, we must do everything we can to protect children and adults from abuse and harassment, and we must do everything we can to hold anyone who is guilty of these things fully accountable.'