Abuse survivors and their advocates plan to rally outside a national meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Birmingham, Alabama, as America’s largest Protestant denomination wrestles this week with how to address clerical sexual abuse and cover-ups of the abuse within its ranks. Current and former Southern Baptists, as well as survivors and advocates from other denominations, will be gathering at the “For Such a Time as This” rally just outside the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center on Tuesday evening. The protesters are demanding concrete change ― including the creation of a clergy sex offender database for the SBC’s network of 47,000 churches and mandatory sex-abuse prevention training for all SBC pastors, staff and volunteers. They are also asking that the denomination, which approves only of male pastors, make a commitment to respect women.

For Such A Time As This Rally Rev. Ashley Easter stands next to a fake millstone that will be displayed Tuesday at the "For Such a Time as This" rally outside the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center in Alabama. It represents Jesus' warning about people who harm children.

The group is bringing a large foam-board “millstone” to the rally, a reference to Jesus’ warnings in Scripture that those who harm children would be better off having a “large millstone hung around their neck” and drowning in the sea. The harsh imagery is meant to remind Southern Baptists of how critical the issue of sexual abuse is, according to Rev. Ashley Easter, the rally’s spokesperson who was ordained through the Progressive Christian Alliance. “Jesus uses strong words for those who harm children, and we believe the SBC needs a reminder of Jesus’ strong words,” Easter told HuffPost. The rally is set to take place as thousands of Southern Baptist delegates from around the country gather inside the Birmingham convention center for the denomination’s annual meeting. For many delegates and onlookers, the priority on this year’s agenda is voting on key reforms aimed at holding member churches accountable for mishandling abuse allegations.

Mark Humphrey/ASSOCIATED PRESS Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear speaks to the denomination's executive committee in Nashville earlier this year after a newspaper investigation revealed hundreds of sexual abuse cases by Southern Baptist ministers and lay leaders over the past two decades.

Jeffrey McWhorter / ASSOCIATED PRESS Mary DeMuth, a rape survivor who's an advocate for sexual abuse victims, speaks during a rally at the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Dallas in 2018.