SNAP says ‘thank you’ to Journalist Bob Allen
With 14 years of courageous reporting on Baptist clergy sex abuse and church cover-ups, journalist Bob Allen made a difference in the lives of countless survivors and helped to make church kids throughout the country safer. In response to the announcement of his retirement on March 31, SNAP can only say “thank you.”
Bob Allen was there on the scene in 2006 at the very first SNAP media event outside “the Baptist Vatican” – i.e., the Southern Baptist Convention headquarters in Nashville. From that point forward, day in and day out, his news articles continued to document the Baptist clergy sex abuse scandal and the early activist efforts in the movement for child safety and clergy accountability among Baptists.
He methodically reported the stories of numerous Baptist clergy abuse survivors long before the momentum of the #ChurchToo movement, and at a time when many still mistakenly viewed clergy sex abuse as being limited to a Catholic problem.
In 2007 alone, Bob Allen wrote 53 articles on Baptist clergy sex abuse, church cover-ups, and activist efforts, and he continued until the present day, writing hundreds such articles, often in the face of online criticism of his extensive coverage of the problem.
There were times when Bob Allen was the only one doing the initial reporting on some of the early Baptist stories and SNAP press releases. But his prescient headlines helped to garner the attention of more mainstream media and served as a foreshadowing of future exposés on abuse among Baptists.
Bob Allen didn’t shrink from the truth about Baptist clergy sex abuse and church cover-ups, and because of that, he has played an important role for which we are grateful. Without his body of work, much of the history of activist efforts in the Baptist arena would simply be lost. Thank you, Bob Allen.
CONTACT: Christa Brown, SNAP Board Member ([email protected]), Zach Hiner, Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009)
(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director