Southern Baptists are supposed to talk about sexual abuse. But right now they’re discussing whether one woman can preach.

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey June 9 at 8:00 AM

Houston-based Bible teacher Beth Moore, one of the most widely recognized evangelical women in America, has highlighted the issue of sexual abuse from her stage for years. With her thick Southern drawl, she has told audiences how she was abused as a child, often sliding her personal story into her larger message about Jesus.

As thousands of Southern Baptists prepare to arrive this week in Birmingham, Ala., for their annual meeting, many have expected for months that it would focus on questions of how to handle sexual abuse and coverups in their own churches. Moore is expected to be there, sitting on a panel on sexual abuse with several others, including the president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

But in the run-up to the meeting, Moore has become a focus of attention. In a recent response to a tweet, Moore, who has nearly a million Twitter followers, teasingly suggested that she was planning to preach on Mother’s Day. Except, as is her practice, Moore did not use the words “preach” or “sermon” to refer to the talk she gave on the holiday in front of the congregation at Bayou City Fellowship, where her son-in-law is pastor and she is a member.

This one, among a number she has given under similar circumstances, was about the biblical story of Hagar, the Egyptian handmaiden of Abraham and Sarai.

The debate isn’t about what Moore said, but the idea that she would be “preaching” at all. ...

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