This article contains graphic descriptions of alleged sin and sexual misconduct.
What just happened?
Baptist Press, the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), recently ran an article highlighting the abuse allegations against Paul Pressler, a seminal figure in the SBC. For example, the church where he served as a deacon, Houston’s First Baptist Church, “rebuked Pressler in 2004 for being nude at his home with a young man from the congregation.” That same year, Pressler settled a lawsuit by Duane Rollins, who had accused him of sexual assault.
Another lawsuit by Rollins against Pressler was settled in 2023. Documents uncovered in that sexual abuse lawsuit further link Jared Woodfill, a politician seeking to become speaker of the Texas House, with the abuse scandal involving Pressler.
The Pressler scandal once again reveals how conservative Christian leaders were willing to turn a blind eye to decades-long accusations of sexual abuse.
Who is Jared Woodfill?
Woodfill is an attorney from Houston known for his expertise in civil litigation. He served as the Harris County Republican Party chair for several years. He has been involved in various state and national campaigns, often advocating for conservative issues and candidates. In 2015, Woodfill played a key role in defeating the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, which extended civil rights protections to cover homosexuality and transgenderism.
His role in such campaigns has positioned him as a key player in Texas politics, where he’s currently running to be a representative in the state legislature. If elected, he has said he’ll run for speaker of the Texas House.
Who is Paul Pressler?
Pressler is a figure of considerable influence and controversy within the SBC. He’s best known for his pivotal role in the “conservative resurgence.” This movement, which gained momentum in 1979, aimed to steer the SBC back to a more conservative theological and ideological stance, particularly concerning the issue of biblical inerrancy. Pressler’s efforts, often in collaboration with other leading figures like Paige Patterson, led to a significant shift in the SBC’s leadership and direction. This shift had far-reaching effects on the Southern Baptists’ policies, educational institutions, and overall approach to ministry and evangelism.
Pressler served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church of Houston. He also served on the SBC Executive Committee (1984–91), the International Mission Board (1992–2000), and the Baptist World Alliance’s General Council. In 2002, he was elected as first vice president of the SBC, a largely honorary role that supports the office of the president.
Outside his involvement in the SBC, Pressler had a notable career in law and justice. From 1978 to 1992, he served as a justice on the Court of Appeals of Texas, 14th District. After retiring from the bench, he practiced law with the firm of Woodfill and Pressler, where Jared Woodfill was a partner.
Recent allegations of sexual abuse against Pressler have cast a shadow over his legacy. The accusations have been made by multiple men over several decades. One of the accusers, Rollins, filed a lawsuit in 2017 alleging Pressler had sexually abused him for nearly a quarter century, starting when Rollins was a teenager. The lawsuit mentioned other men who came forward with similar accusations.
A settlement was reached in the Rollins lawsuit, which also involved the SBC and its Executive Committee. The settlement ended the case before a jury could determine Pressler’s guilt.
The claims against Pressler sparked an investigation by the Houston Chronicle into allegations of sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches and to nearly five years of calls for abuse reform within the denomination.
What is the connection between Woodfill and Pressler?
Woodfill was Pressler’s former law partner and was included in the lawsuit by Rollins. He was also mentioned in an email filed in a lawsuit related to the sexual abuse allegations against Pressler. The email, written by a young man who was resigning as Pressler’s personal aide, asked Woodfill to stop paying him to work out of Pressler’s Houston mansion. The email shed light on Woodfill’s supposed involvement in the situation and his connection to Pressler.
According to the Texas Tribune, during sworn testimony in the Rollins lawsuit, Woodfill said he’d known since 2004 of an allegation that Pressler had sexually abused Rollins as a child. Woodfill says he learned of those claims during mediation of an assault lawsuit filed against Pressler by Rollins that Woodfill helped settle for nearly $500,000. Despite his knowledge of the accusation, Woodfill continued to work with Pressler for nearly a decade.
In his testimony, Woodfill said that while Pressler did almost no work for their law firm, he was given numerous young male assistants to provide for his and his family’s needs. Two of those men have accused Pressler of sexual assault or misconduct.
Woodfill has denied any wrongdoing and said in a text message to the Tribune that he “had not read the aide’s letter, and does not know him or another man who said in 2004 that Pressler forcibly undressed and groped him.”
What was the substance of the email?
The email allegedly implicating Pressler was filed in fall 2023 in the Harris County District Court as part of a lawsuit that accused Woodfill and others of concealing decades of abuse by Pressler.
In 2017, a male student at Houston Baptist University who was hired by Woodfill’s law firm to work for Pressler sent the email to Pressler’s family. The student says he witnessed Pressler “getting young men who work for him to give him full-body massages, with all present parties in the nude.” He also claims this of the 86-year-old Pressler:
[He] told me that he went skinny dipping in the hot tub with [name redacted] and his three young boys that are ten years old and younger. . . . After bragging about his hot tub experience Paul [Pressler] told me “you seriously need to get over your phobia of taking off your clothes with me.” This upset me greatly. Paul then went on to say that “if the young boys were okay with getting naked in the hot tub with me then so you should be okay with it also.”
The student relates how he “watched [Pressler] manipulate a 20-year-old man [who] has previously stolen money from Paul and now is almost homeless. [The man] had nowhere to turn so he called Paul, who took this as a sign to get something out of a young man that needed help.” Pressler allegedly told the young man he’d pay him $100 to give him a massage and that he preferred they both be nude. The student continues,
We all got home and they quickly went upstairs to begin the massage. He made sure the door was locked so that Nancy could not walk in. I know this because I checked. I felt extremely sad for [the man] because I could tell on his face that he felt that he was just taken advantage of. Paul executed on the opportunity to have a young man touch him, and tried to seize the opportunity to please his eyes as he wished to look upon another naked man. Right before our exit, Paul told [the young man], “Next time I’ll massage you when you massage me” [the man] said no thanks. I know Paul said this because was standing two feet away. I observed Paul kiss [the man] six times between the two and a half hours we were all together. I know [the man] did not enjoy it because he hardly knows Paul and I could also see it on his face.
The aide then attached a resignation letter and asked that he be taken off the payroll of Woodfill’s law firm. “My conscience dictates that I step away,” he wrote. “Please do not seek future help from male students at Houston Baptist University, or from any institution for that matter. . . . Please take me off the payroll. If I am to continue receiving paychecks from Woodfill in the continuing weeks, I will have them sent back.”
As the Tribune notes, “The newly-unearthed email shows that Woodfill continued to furnish Pressler with young aides until at least 2017–13 years after he was first warned that Pressler was a sexual predator, and less than a year after he was made aware of new sexual misconduct allegations.”
Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?
In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
