NASHVILLE (BP) – Judge William Campbell has set a jury trial date of June 17, 2025, for the civil trial of Johnny Hunt v. the Southern Baptist Convention, et al.
The date was originally set for last month in the United States District Court for the Middle District in Tennessee, but the parties failed to reach a settlement in a court ordered mediation in September.
The lawsuit has been ongoing since March 2023, when former SBC president Johnny Hunt sued the SBC, the SBC Executive Committee and Guidepost Solutions for defamation, claiming that Guidepost, et. al., used Hunt as a “scapegoat” in an investigation of alleged mishandling of sexual abuse claims by the SBC EC.
The May 2022 report from Guidepost’s investigation included allegations from an unidentified woman who claims Hunt sexually abused her in 2010, shortly after his two-year stint as SBC president. Hunt resigned from his position as senior vice president of evangelism at the North American Mission Board, a position he’d held since 2018, days before the Guidepost report became public.
The lawsuit has been a major contributor to the dire financial situation of the SBC Executive Committee, which has spent more than $3 million defending itself as well as Guidepost. The contract governing Guidepost’s initial investigation stipulates that Guidepost would have indemnity in any lawsuit resulting from the investigation, and the EC would foot its legal bills.
