Southern Baptist Convention leaders mishandled sexual abuse claims and survivors were "met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility" from some within the SBC's Executive Committee, according to a new report.

State of play: The report comes ahead of the SBC's annual gathering in June with membership of the country's largest Protestant denomination at the lowest it's been for some 40 years amid controversies about systemic problems of clergy sexual abuse, racism and the treatment of women, per the New York Times.

Driving the news: The report, published Sunday following a seven-month investigation by Guidepost Solutions, an independent firm contracted by the EC, covers allegations of abuse at the SBC from the year 2000 to the present.

What they found: "Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC's response to these reports of abuse," according to the report.

The bottom line: "While stories of abuse were minimized, and survivors were ignored or even vilified, revelations came to light in recent years that some senior SBC leaders had protected or even supported alleged abusers," per the report.

What they're saying: SBC president Ed Litton said in a statement he's "grieved to my core" for the victims and prayed "Southern Baptists will begin preparing today to take deliberate action to address these failures and chart a new course when we meet together in Anaheim," AP reports.

Zoom in: Among the report's key recommendations are that the SBC:

What's next: The Executive Committee will meet on Tuesday to discuss the report.

Read the report in full, obtained by the Houston Chronicle, via DocumentCloud:

Go deeper: Southern Baptist committee chief resigns amid division over sex abuse review