(RNS) — A federal judge ruled against former Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt on Monday (March 31), rejecting his claims of defamation against Guidepost Solutions and nearly all the former megachurch pastor’s claims against the Southern Baptist Convention and its Executive Committee.
Judge William Campbell of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee issued an order granting summary judgment in the case, with a memorandum detailing the judge’s decision forthcoming.
“We are grateful for this decision and the forward progress in our legal process,” Jeff Iorg, SBC Executive Committee president, told RNS in a statement.
Hunt had sued Guidepost, an investigative firm, and SBC leaders for defamation and other damages after Guidepost published allegations of sexual assault against Hunt in a May 2022 report on an investigation into how SBC leaders had dealt with sexual abuse.
At issue was a 2010 incident in which Hunt allegedly kissed and fondled another pastor’s wife. Hunt, who had kept the incident secret for years, at first denied it occurred and then claimed it was consensual.
In their court filings, Hunt’s lawyers claimed Guidepost had ruined his reputation and claimed the pastor’s sins were no one else’s business. Hunt, the former pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Georgia, and a former vice president of the SBC’s North American Mission Board, claimed Guidepost and the SBC had cost him millions, and he so …