Ryan Ashton, creator of the For Such A Time As This Rally logo shares his inspiration
My logo for the June 12th “For Such a Time as This Rally” has a specific meaning I would like to share.
Within the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary stands stained glass windows of pastors and luminaries who are accused of sexual abuse (Pressler) and spiritual abuse (Patterson). Their offenses are long and numerous. But missing from these windows are any sign of honor or dignity to the people the Church has hurt. That ends today.
In this new era, I believed it appropriate to enshrine and dignify the people Jesus is closest to—the battered, the beaten, the broken. The confused, doubting, and despairing; the tearful, the mourning, and the barely alive.
The people we did not hear, and the people we cannot help but listen to now.
Updating the #MeToo icon to include a man’s hand—no nailpolish on the far left—signifies how many men are a part of this growing community.
The stained glass, of course, is to give honor to those the Church so often forgets. It has a double meaning as well: That though we are broken, we cannot be shattered.
______________ “From 2016-1017, more than 90 Baptist pastors were charged with a crime. Forty-five of those pastors worked at a Southern Baptist Convention Church. The vast majority involved sex crimes committed against minors.
“By comparison, only six Presbyterian pastors were arrested during the same period.” —Dr. Wade Mullen __________________ On June 12th, there will be a rally outside the Southern Baptist Convention’s Annual Meeting in Dallas, protesting the prevalence of abuse and its enablement within the Church, insisting a clergy sex offender database for the Southern Baptist Convention be estabished, and mandating all pastors and SBC seminaries be trained on the issues of domestic abuse and sexual assault. If you would like to learn more, go to https://www.forsuchatimeasthisrally.com/ or email forsuchatimeasthisrally@gmail.com
Thank you!