This Little Light

Beyond a Baptist Preacher Predator and His Gang

Christa Brown

As a child, in Farmers Branch, Texas, Christa Brown was preyed upon by her youth minister. Then her church community, people she thought were her friends, betrayed her. She was treated as a seductress while, in their eyes, he remained a good, God-honoring man. Trusted authority figures told her to pray for forgiveness and keep quiet.

Years later, having a teenage daughter of her own made Christa realize that what she’d always thought of as an “affair” was actually something much more sinister—abuse.

Christa spent decades suffering from the repercussions of her childhood trauma before deciding to break her silence. The story shared in this book is a call for accountability within the Southern Baptist Convention. It highlights the denomination’s alarming inaction and downright punishing of victims. Brown’s fight for justice casts the Church’s widespread culture of denial, the negligence of denominational leaders, and the harmful impact of their “do-nothingness” in stark relief.

This is not just about one man’s crime but about an institutional failure affecting thousands.

In the fifteen years since its initial publication, the need for institutional reform remains pressing, as Southern Baptist leaders continue to evade meaningful action. This Little Light is both a call to action and a testament to the enduring power of truth.

Brown is also the author of Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal and Transformation.

Named as one of the “top 10 religion newsmakers” of 2022, Christa Brown has persisted for two decades in working to peel back the truth about clergy sex abuse and coverups in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. As one of the first to go public with substantiated child molestation allegations against a Baptist minister—and documentation that others knew—she has consistently demanded reforms to make other kids and congregants safer. Brown has been featured in The Houston Chronicle, Vice, writes for Baptist News Global, and has had numerous mentions in national media. She’s the author of Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal, and Transformation and This Little Light: Beyond a Baptist Preacher Predator and His Gang, a retired appellate attorney, a mom, and a grandma. She lives with her husband in Colorado.

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