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Legal Jesus: How Churches (Mis)Handle Abuse
Jun 14, 2020
The following is a guest post submitted by author Rebekah Palmer. You may listen to Rebekah's interview on the Preacher Boys podcast
here, or watch the video version
here.
Nothing bad can ever happen to a person who believes in Jesus Christ.
Nothing bad can ever happen to a person who believes in Jesus Christ. This phrase rings in my ears and sticks to my gut even now as a 32 year old Christian. The first time someone from church insinuated Romans 8:28 meant that anything that had happened, happens, or will happen in a believer’s life is good was in 2002.
I was fourteen years old and had revealed for the first time that I had been sexually molested by my babysitter when I was around five years old. I was in attendance with other teenagers at a youth event hosted by a local church. I remember being overcome with guilt, but not what I felt guilty about. I remember a female team member from a bible college group hired by the youth event hosting church taking me aside because I was in tears after the service. I remember telling her about the
sexual things that had happened to me as a little girl. She may have read Romans 8:28 to me because that verse scripturally promises, not all events that happen are good, but promises that bad circumstances can result in unexpected goodness.
I was fourteen.
Romans 8:28 did not comfort me; it silenced me into survivor mode.
I felt it was my job as a Christian to pray for the day when the abuse I endured would be good. I felt it was my purpose to remain joyful and dismiss my abuser because the future of my life would be good. I felt I was to blame because as a believer in Jesus, sexual abuse, which is not good, happened to me. I decided to wait until God would make the abuse good.
After all, nothing bad can happen to a person who believes in Jesus Christ.
As Phil Johnson divulges in his session titled “Dead Right: The Failure of Fundamentalism”, fundamentalism within Christian denominations is large and varied and contains a myriad of differences from sect to sect. I would even add that fundamentalism within non-Christian religions is equally general and broad and varies depending on who the religious leaders are and what kind of authority they wield over their congregants.
This article deals with the Baptist and evangelical versions wherein fundamentalism has added extra-biblical teachings to general Baptist and evangelical believing church systems. The church I grew up in was part of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. When I was thirteen years old, the leadership of the church changed and the ministry became associated with the label independent and fundamental Baptist church.
What most Baptist or evangelical churches hold as major tenets of faith and practice are typically five-fold. The members believe the Bible is the Word of God and is applicable in all matters of faith and practice. If one is a church member, they must have publicly confessed their faith in Jesus Christ and have been baptized. The members believe in strict separation of church and state. The members do not go to a third party, such as a clergy member, to confess their sins but go directly to God through prayer. The church organizes itself and its members through local governance. Members need only to participate in two ordinances: baptism (one time after professing Christ) and communion (monthly, weekly, or whatever the local church has decided is appropriate for remembering Christ’s sacrifice on the cross).
When a new pastor was voted as the leader of my childhood church, the following four traditions of men involved in other churches labeled independent and fundamental were enforced: King James onlyism, strict adherence to male and female roles, education in the home, and
infant discipline. King James Onlyism is the belief that the only Bible appropriate for English speaking people is the King James Version of scripture. All other English translations are fake messages influenced by the devil to deceive God’s chosen elect.
Strict adherence to male and female roles became scripturally defended by assigning dress codes to men and women based on 1940s gender fashions. For example, women were to be in dresses and skirts and men were to wear pants, never shorts.
Men are to be the provider for any women and children in their care. Women are to be caretakers of the men and children in their care.
Education in the home became preached from the pulpit as the evils of public school were denounced. Even the K-12 grade school that was previously attached to my childhood church began to lose students because Old Testament mandates of parents being responsible for their offspring’s education trumped any teacher educating good Christian family’s children.
Infant discipline was recommended as a way to control a child’s will before they reached the age of accountability. This was to somehow make parenting easier when children became teenagers. Much of Charles Dickens cultural interpretation of “spare the rod and spoil the child” ethics were pounded from the pulpit.
Back when I was 14, the female team member from the bible college advised me to tell the pastor of my church what had happened to me, especially since the babysitter that had molested me was at that time also a member of the same church my family was.
I told the pastor-at-the-time in his office. I was fourteen and the babysitter was now around twenty-two. I was enrolled at the school in my church. The pastor decided he would counsel me and the babysitter separately for this reason: to not hurt either of our families. I graduated from the church school in 2005 and went on to attend Bible college of like-faith majoring in secondary Christian education. I worked a front desk reception position on a work scholarship program. With this responsibility came training meetings dealing with the security of the college students. Emphasis was given on protecting female students because if an alleged rapist entered the building, the college and the pastor’s reputation would be ruined forever. Nothing was ever mentioned about how such a dastardly deed affects a victim’s life or that of his or her family. Actually, a victim referred to as “he” was never mentioned because of the pervasive belief that women are the only victims of sex crimes.
It was at this independent and fundamental labeled Baptist college that I learned about other traditions of men taught in churches of Baptist and evangelical faiths. In addition to separation of church and state, a social separation from culture was to be maintained. Including, but not limited to, no attendance in public movie theaters, no
dancing, and no listening to rock music which was taught as having an addictive beat which would lead to fulfilling lusts of the flesh.
A woman’s role was not only to be contained in the home, but also to be managed in the home her whole life. If she had no father to submit to, she was to have a husband to submit to. If she had no husband, she was to take advice from her male pastor. Women caused men to sin when they dress immodestly, which is why within a fundamentalist church community, men would remain pure until their wedding day unless a woman tempted them into impurity. Women were solely responsible for any sexual happenings surrounding their mind, heart, and body.
A few days into my freshman year, I remember filling out a background check to work within the church ministry as a college student. This background check did not include finger prints administered by civil authority, but it did include questions
uncovering my history as a child who had been molested.
Revealing my past used to be incredibly shaming. I cringed to tell it then because it often became the reason adults gave me for my lack of faith as well as the origin of my guilt before God. The adult I told would then typically explain this was why I could not be happy and accept that I was to be a good wife to a man someday. My depression and anxiety were treated as sins instead of mental and emotional states that could have been treatable earlier on in my life. My depression and anxiety were rarely normalized as conditions adults who have been abused in childhood sometimes live with, and rarely was the events of my childhood attributed as evil behavior an abuser committed.
Coincidently, I again encountered another predator at the church I attended while enrolled in Bible college. As is consistent with findings from students with similar experiences at other fundamentalist colleges, and reported by Claire Gordan in her online article posted with Al Jazeera News, “How the Fortress of Fundamentalism Handles
Sexual Assault”, placing blame and shame on the abused is the norm for many Baptist and
evangelical colleges.
“‘The typical response to sexual abuse is first they need to forgive their abuser, and second is that they shouldn’t talk about it or it will hurt the cause of Christ,’ says Jeffrey Hoffman, who attended BJU's [Bob Jones University] elementary,
junior high and high school. He says he was molested by his Sunday school teacher, and BJU staff member, in a shower stall on church premises when he was 10 or 11 years old.”
Twisted purity, obedience, and forgiveness allowed so many to believe that sexual assault was only a secular problem and not one that could exist in a Christian institution. Claire Gordan also revealed in her article: "You have girls who don’t know what body parts are called, let alone what sex is," says Beth Murschell, who graduated BJU in 1992. "I know a girl who didn’t realize what happened was rape; she thought it happened to everyone."
This is congruent to my own experience as I remember another student at Bible college telling me about another girl who thought couples had children because they prayed by their bedside at night. Similar to other students in fundamentalist educational bastions, students were trained to think the outside world was corrupt, and we were incorruptible, so we had no need to discuss mental illness, sex, drugs, alcohol, and sexual orientations.
I did not consciously realize what happened to me as a small child was abuse until my mother gave me the talk about my changing body when I was about ten years old. I remember feeling scared, but not vocalizing to my mother I had already experienced some of what mothers and fathers did when making a baby. I had two childhood surgeries to correct rickets, a kidney transplant, and a bout with childhood cancer from the ages of eleven to thirteen and did not speak up until I was fourteen at that aforementioned youth event.
Because my mind and heart was so focused on pleasing the authority that was allegedly God-ordained to protect me, I held onto my wrong understanding of Romans 8:28 and remained silent. I did tell my sordid tale to eight ministry workers total
associated with churches self-identified as independent and fundamental: the female team member at the youth event, my youth pastor’s wife, my pastor, a Reformers Unanimous Addictions worker, a deacon, the college dean of women, a professor at the Bible college, and a missionary’s wife. Eight. Eight adults I told between the ages of fourteen and
twenty-four and not one of them took me to any police station to file a report.
Some had their own tales of abuse and parroted church teachings back to me. I had even offered support in like manner to peers who came to me with stories similar to mine.
Finally at age twenty-four, I told a pastor of a non-denominational church and later I also told his wife. They were able to lead me to a licensed, Christian therapist.
I wondered how on this earth a whole religion and whole congregations of people, especially those who claimed they were trained to minister to people, could overlook the evil of sex crimes, and ignore bestowing love on their parishioners?
My mother recently found some legal paperwork that was passed out to my childhood church congregation back in 2004 for the purpose of alerting the congregation why certain dialogue would take place and questions would be asked to candidates volunteering for children’s ministries. The title of the legal document is “Seven Steps to Reduce the Risk of Child Abuse Allegations”.
By using the word “allegations”, instead of wishing to reduce the risk of child abuse, this document’s goal is not in the interest of reducing child rape and molestation. This document is in the interest of silencing the voices of those that would report such actions due to the refusal of independent and fundamental church leaders to comply with local police authorities.
Claire Jones cites in her article a reason I have observed secular universities, at least, are aware sexual crimes are being committed: “It’s impossible to get accurate
sexual assault statistics about any campus; it’s an extraordinarily underreported crime.
But under federal law, colleges must collect and disclose the best numbers they can...”
Independent and fundamental churches create their own schools from daycare to the college level and keep them unaccredited under the guise of protection from corruptible secular influence. In reality, this also keeps federal law from mandating collecting and disclosing data on sexual abuse/
community.
Ironically, the legal ministry that penned “Seven Steps to Reduce the Risk of Child Abuse Allegations” has links to the Bible college I graduated from in 2010. I have no way of going back to any board of directors to report any sexual harassment or abuse that occurred during my time there.
“Seven Steps to Reduce the Risk of Child Abuse Allegations” consists of three articles:
• “How to Destroy Your Name, Your Family, Your Church, and the Name of Jesus
Christ”.
• “Lawsuits by Victims against the Church”
• “Seven Steps to Reduce the Risk of Child Abuse Allegations”
The first article reads “How to Destroy Your Name, Your Family, Your Church, and the Name of Jesus Christ”. According to the title’s wording, being a victim of a sex crime or reporting a sex crime puts someone in danger of bringing down the very name of God Almighty, a high prejudice indeed. Article one places the wrong on the preyed upon, and not the predator. The definitions of sins get exploited by abusers as it is easy to get their victims to believe they had a part in the wrongdoing and must answer for it as well, if they are to tell clergy what was done to them. In an environment where the predator’s actions are dismissed and the victim’s identity becomes the problem, many children’s voices have been hushed deep into adulthood, and many never will tell.
As negative examples are made of church authorities indicted in molestation charges, the document casts suspicion on legislators who would demand clergy make mandatory reports of allegations of child sex abuse by suggesting: “These statutes [clergy mandatory reporting] raise serious constitutional concerns”.
Article one continues to play into the fear of parishioners by claiming since the Roman Catholic Church legal dispute, it is profitable for litigators to sue churches. Instead of seeing the consequences met and the added safety brought to Catholic dioceses from investigating, the article capitulates on victim identity of the congregation, and ignores the children whose adult lives are forever altered due to sexual abuse: “One of the unintended consequences of the Roman Catholic church child molestation and cover-up scandal was the creation of a profitable new cottage industry in the legal profession-suing
churches for allowing priests to molest children and for failure to report child abuse allegations.”
The real concern of this document is laid out in article one’s final wrap-up: “If your church has not yet taken effective measures to help reduce the likelihood of child abuse allegations and investigations, Lighthouse Legal Ministries next provides you with the “Seven Steps to Reduce the Risk of Child Abuse Allegations” (this refers to the steps within the third article under the same title). Protection of the church legally is more imperative than protection of the children and vulnerable persons within the flock of God.
The second article headlines: “Lawsuits by Victims against the Church”. The article outlines two concerns the church has: could victims sue the church as well as the pastor? Was the church responsible for the actions of the pastor?
The document lists damages done to children who have been abused and a state-by-state review of lawsuits. Underneath the claims for damages in child molestation cases, the accusatory rhetoric continues: “To better understand the issue of child sex abuse, and why juries award huge verdicts, and why well-heeled churches settle for huge amounts, consider the following summation from the recent OSBA [Ohio School Board Association] course on ‘Calculating Damages in Child Sex Abuse Cases’.”
The article directs the reader to understand why reward is given to the whistle- blowers, as if the only reason a person would report an abuse case is the benefits, instead of the reason being accountability/punishment for the predator and healing for the victim.
The article lists damages lawyers supposedly come up with for the purpose of milking financial award to victims of sex crimes. These will be listed by name later in this article (another list by OSBA).
The third article takes on the whole document’s title and reads “Seven Steps to
Reduce the Risk of Child Abuse Allegations”. The ministry recommendation to reduce
the risk of people speaking out consists of these seven steps:
1. Recognize the Elephant in the Sanctuary
This means, number one to them, the most common gender of child molesters is male. They claim to suspect all males ages 12 to 120 based on age and authority in the church. Why are males ages 12 to 25 in any kind of sole authority in a church? Am I to assume no females can exhibit predatory behavior? The high demands on female purpose as familial eliminate the female sexual predator completely, as it encourages the pubescent to elderly male to be the aggressor and perpetrator. While the independent and fundamental teachings insist homosexuals to be, by nature, the only perverts in society, their willingness to stereotype straight men ages 12 to 120 here is a back handed way for them to prove the rightness of inherent heterosexuality in placing blame on the male gender solely. While research and statistics show a higher percentage among pedophiles to identify as male, this does not translate the whole population of males to be identified as pedophilic.
2. Develop Congregational Awareness
The document calls reports of sexual abuse scandals, instilling more fear by relaying to the congregation that they can legally be held responsible. Step two includes the paragraph, “Your church may wish to publish a bulletin insert, such as the sample below, drafted for Independent Baptist (self-identified) churches. Before using, keep in mind the sensitive nature of the topic discussed.”
The sample is headed “What Our Independent Baptist Church Can Do to Help Prevent the Scandal of Child Sex Abuse” and states, “Independent Baptist churches are rightfully outraged at the continuing allegations of Roman Catholic priests sexually molesting boys and girls. After all, children are our most precious resource, our hope for a brighter tomorrow, a hope that is darkened by their sexual exploitation by wicked priests.”
Nothing is all this offers congregants of independent and fundamental churches to do because it is the Roman Catholic denomination that has blood on their hands, not theirs.
Priests are wicked, but not ministry leaders in a self-identified independent and fundamental or evangelical church. A child who is abused is part of a scandal, turning them into something dirty and ugly, and has become a mere possession, not a soul.
3. Respond Properly to Criticism
This step includes an outline of a program that can be shared with the congregation. It is another three tiered list that blames legalized abortion, secularized Christians, and unguarded churches.
The logic behind blaming child abuse on the prevalence of abortion clinics is equated with society’s view of the most disposable of lives: a fetus. The logic behind blaming secularized Christians is secularism causes Christians to sin, instead of the wickedness of their own hearts (which is what the scriptures actually teach). Apparently, any sex outside of legal marriage, though consensual, leads to child sexual assault. The logic behind unguarded churches is the realization that pedophiles go where unsupervised children are.
After this bit of truth, indeed pedophiles go where there is uninhibited access to minors, the document reads: “You must admit that the child abuse scandals in Roman Catholic churches have created a heightened awareness of child abuse allegations in our society.” Alas, the recanting of accusing secular institutions throwing away children’s lives because the church does it too, is only too good to be true because this document decides to address how to handle church members who are “turned off” by discussing screening church workers for the protection of children in the service of the Lord.
The Ohio School Board Associations (previously mentioned) listing of damages in child molestation cases is as follows: damage to childhood, damage to personal relationships, damage to family relationships, damage to business relationships, damage to educational/career opportunities, damage to marriage partner/companion relationships, damage in sexual intimacy, damage in mental and physical health, and damage to spirituality. These were previously listed under Article II as reasons for claims by sketchy lawyers trying to sue money out of the church, instead of appropriately listed as
researched and studied consequences when a child is abused.
Apparently, members of churches that are independent and fundamental care more about their uncomfortable feelings in discussion preventing child sexual abuse than in actually caring about the adult lives of those who survive being abused sexually as children.
4. Develop and Implement Appropriate Screening Procedures
For the independent and fundamental church, these often do come in place since the pastor wishes to retain his kingdom of control over his congregation and local community. The clincher here is the question: were you a victim of abuse or
molestation as a child? If the applicant answers, yes, he or she must undergo further counseling with the pastor before determination of eligibility to work in youth ministries is made by the church. There is no recommendation for further counseling with a licensed therapist or psychiatrist, but adamant and forceful counseling with the pastor of the church, who we have seen, has little to no desire to help those who have been abused. This mandate of counseling, especially with vulnerable people, is another way for the independent and fundamental church authority to further victimize an already hurt soul.
5. Develop and Implement Appropriate Procedures to Reduce the Risk of Child Abuse Allegations
Six additional rules of appropriate procedures for the independent and fundamental church are listed under number five: maintaining strict authority, removing all touch between males and females especially adult males and children, including more than one supervisor when with minors, maintaining accurate records, and communicating with parents. Many of these rules are common sense as far as accountability between adult transference of care of children: the adults plan the activities; the adults supervise the children; the adults schedule and coordinate with each other and the parents whose
children are involved.
The restrictive aspect of all touch between males and females is quite alarming and isolating. All physical touch is not sexual. After all, how does one change a diaper or soothe a crying child? In order for more healthy males to exist, male children should receive equal affection as their female peers. Touch is imperative to nurturing children.
6. Properly Supervise Church Workers
7. Develop Proper Reporting Policies and Procedures
These last two steps in this document are repetitive in appropriate procedures. There is an overemphasis on establishing a chain of command in training those who supervise the children who participate in church activities. The document even lists reporting to the state as only an option due to many states in America making mandatory reporters of suspicious behavior to be the job of clergy.
The wording again recants this excellent advice of reporting to the state by claiming “Regardless of the state law on mandatory reporting, a pastor always has a spiritual duty to protect his flock...” which again puts the value on how the congregants and pastor are feeling over the child and his or her family.
Claire Jones’ article states “Sexual abuse commonly occurs when there is a power dynamic to be exploited”. The reasons behind abuse in Christian-labeled institutions have nothing to do with human sexual desire or attraction, but with power and control over the people it supposedly seeks to help. Harming people in the guise of Christian ethics has defamed the name of Christ more than any man, woman, or child who has come forward and shared his or her story of surviving sexual assault.
Romans 8:28 reads “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” The verse never implies Christians only experience good things. The verse describes things (whether these are good or bad or in between is not clarified) working together for the good of those who
love God, who are called by God for his purposes.
The entire chapter of Romans 8 focuses on those who walk after the Spirit of Christ. This chapter claims Christ’s love keeps those in the Spirit inseparable from their creator God. Those who walk after the Spirit of Christ display the following fruits: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance
(Galatians 5:22).
For twelve plus years I was convinced I was the problem because the abuse I endured was harsh. For twelve plus years I was convinced the faith I trusted more than anything in this world condemned me for tempting men. For twelve plus years I was convinced forgiveness meant I was not to speak of the treatment I received at the hands of so-called spiritual authority. I turned the other cheek so many times my mouth would not open even in my own defense.
When I learned that taking ancient biblical texts out of context is the first rule of theological error in Bible College, I wondered why the denomination I had aligned with believed so many traditions of men. As Martin Luther, of Roman Catholicism in the 1500s studied the bible and nailed his 95 thesis describing heresy forced onto the people by the controlling church of the day, started the Protestant Reformation and kicked into gear removal of religion controlling the state, I challenge any independent and fundamental congregation whose culture mirrors this article to correct their prideful and sinful ways; to get rid of any extra-biblical teachings; denounce the works of darkness hidden in their pews; and to apologize to those children, women, men, and families hurt by unholy church decisions. May our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of hope, peace, and love be with us all in this church age. Amen.
This guest article was written by Rebekah Palmer.
You can find more of her writing on:
You can find more of her writing on:
www.rebapalmer87.wixsite.com/authorrebekahpalmer
www.cystinosisociety.wordpress.com
www.cystinosisociety.wordpress.com
You can connect with Rebekah on:
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pg/WomanofJairus/about
You can purchase Rebekah's books on Aneko Press and Amazon
Dr. Steve Pettit – president of Bob Jones University – a fundamentalist college in South Carolina, resigned on March 31, 2023.
The texts read as follows: "Please consider the following Bible commentary and commandments related to sexual assault. Scripture: Genesis 39:7-21 What MUST we do when someone makes unwanted sexual advances? 1. Joseph Refused 2. Joseph RESISTED 3. Joseph RAN. 4. Potiphars wife CRIED OUT. See Deuteronomy 22:23-27. Look at Jn. 8 For Jesus’s application in the NT. Note also that this was before Moses received the law. Common sense and human conscience tells us that this is proper. 5. Potiphars wife had EVIDENCE. A coat. 6. Potiphars wife REPORTED the attempt the SAME DAY. She told her husband when he came home from work. 7. Potiphar Went to the POLICE! Immediately. If someone knows to do good and does not do it then they have SINNED. This summarizes a message I intended to bring to our church family but have not been allowed to deliver. Summary: People accuse pastors of covering sin when they themselves did not follow the Biblical Instruction in Genesis 39. I have two other studies on this subject. The passages and topics are as follows: 1st. Pastors are not Policemen. Go to the police immediately to report a Crime! Go to your pastor for Comfort! Study Romans 13:1-6. 2nd. What Sins ought to be covered> See 1 Peter 4:8. Please pass this on to anyone and everyone possible! It’s time to unsheath the sword of the Word of God which is the sword of the Spirit. I should have asked for a copy of the police report when people came with accusations. I was asked to be a detective. Never again.
If you have a car stolen who should you call? Call the police. If you have someone breaking into your home who do you call? Not your pastor. He does not bear that sword of justice. It belongs to civil authority! If you were assaulted or molested and did not report it to Gods other ministers as taught in Romans 13 your car or house is evidently more important than the well-being of your family member. Who has done the cover up?
Please distribute this as widely as possible for the truths sake!!" *A little while later, Kingsbury sent another text*
"Don’t bother sending it to anyone. Thanks."
I know what you're thinking... "Oh great, another guy offering his unsolicited takes on purity culture. Just what the world needs." You're probably not off-base for feeling like that. The staggering amount of opinions swirling around the internet right now in the wake of the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting and, especially the now-deleted Matthew West song, Modest is Hottest are exhausting. But if you can find the patience within yourself, please hear me out, I won't be long. I got the less painful side of purity culture. All men do. That's just the truth. It's equally toxic (more on that in a minute), but it's less painful. The majority of the shame, extreme restrictions, and hurtful rhetoric tends to fall on the shoulders of young women. The same women, no doubt, who have been raising their voices to share their rightful hurt after watching Modest is Hottest and seeing it warmly received by many of their fellow Christians. On the surface, it's easy to miss why purity culture and the Christian conversation is, in fact, so toxic. It began, no doubt, in the minds of well-intentioned parents and pastors. It has been shared and developed by well-intentioned Christian authors. It even had a song written about it by a well-intentioned Christian musician that has been shared by well-intentioned Christian fans. But good intentions do not mean good results. As they say, the road to hell is paved with them. One could write a book on the reasons that purity culture and the church's teachings on sex and modesty misses the mark. In fact, several great books have been. I'd recommend those interested to read The Great Sex Rescue by Sheila Gregoire, Talking Back to Purity Culture by Rachel Welcher, Prey Tell by Tiffany Bluhm, or Recovering From Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by Aimee Byrd for a start. If you're not a reader, you can watch an interview like this one with Rachel Welcher.
The quote above represents just one of the gut-punching passages within Prey Tell , written by Tiffany Bluhm. The new book – releasing in March 2021 from Brazos Press – “explores the dynamics of power and lack of accountability that occur within many organizational contexts and encourages women and men to speak out in the face of unjust systems.” (Publisher’s Summary) Prey Tell is undeniably well-researched, but it also comes from personal experience. In the opening chapter, Bluhm recounts the terror of spotting her sexual abuser in public – the person she spent so long trying to avoid entirely – as well as the racially-charged mistreatment she experienced as an adopted child from East India.
IFB Sermon Clips on Twitter retweeted clip, confirming the identity. Cavanaugh's bio on Bethel Baptist's website reads: "Since graduating from Providence Baptist College in 2009, Bro Cavanaugh has served in several different ministries including: traveling with Dr. Dennis Corle and Revival Fires, starting a church in Nigeria with Missionary Mark Holmes, and traveling and serving as Camp Evangelist at Cedar River Baptist Camp. Bro. Cavanaugh joined our staff in 2017 and serves as the Bus Director, Dean of Students, and teaches the Faith Builders Sunday school class. He is married to Leah, and they have three boys – Marcus, James and Nicholas." It is notable that the founder and president of Providence Baptist College, has a history of inflammatory political rhetoric.
As most of you have seen, I had planned to lead a peaceful gathering of survivors at North Valley Baptist Church in Santa Clara, CA. The event was scheduled for January. After an immense amount of time and thought weighing it out, I’m making the decision to cancel the event. Sincerely, I can say that the motivation behind the event was a positive one. I know the motivation of those attending was also positive. The goal of the rally - like everything I do with the Preacher Boys Podcast - is to try to shed light on abuse, give a voice to survivors, and spark helpful conversations. My reason for cancelling comes from that same place. While there are extremely valid arguments that need to be made, and discussions about NVBC and other fundamentalist institutions that need to be had, I don’t feel comfortable about this particular forum for a few reasons. 1. Context is a crucial element for productive conversations. I try to be very careful not to place myself or others in situations where words can be taken out of context, misconstrued, or ideas can be misrepresented. I do not feel comfortable with the fact that anyone could take a picture of the peaceful gathering and position it as a riot, bitter people screaming at NVBC attendees, or people who hate church on some vendetta. Not one of these things are true, and I don’t want to give people the chance to say that they are. 2. Optics matter. I have been accused of attacking the Church at large, as well as Christianity and local churches broadly. The reality is, I am a strong believer myself. As such, I unashamedly love my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Church. I'm thankful for the reality of the Gospel and the truth of God's Word. As I mentioned in the first point, I don't wish to give others the opportunity to say that this is a full-fledged attack on the Christian religion in it's entirety. Nor do I want to give the signal to pastors that I am going to show up on their sidewalk with a picket sign the minute there is a disagreement. There are people within North Valley Baptist Church and congregants and staff in churches like it who are reaching out for help and guidance, many on the brink of leaving and finding healthier ministries. I don’t want to put those good transitions in jeopardy by giving the vibe that we are exactly how we will be inevitably presented to be. I don’t want to confirm isn’t the minds of those in the congregation that my goal is to persecute the Church at large. My goal is to help good people get out of bad situations. 3. COVID restrictions. COVID rates are on the rise in California right now, and even many within my family have contracted the virus. I also recently lost someone due to the disease. I don’t want to put risk on anyone, and also, want to respect the current mandates and CDC recommendations. Conclusion I feel like the potential cons of this largely outweigh any potential positive. For the sake of the cause at large, I need to take precautions to be - for lack of a better term - above reproach. I still want to project the truth as loudly as possible, but I want to do it in a way that is defensible against scrutiny or misrepresentation. For that reason, I don’t feel comfortable attaching the protest to the Preacher Boys Podcast at this time. I know that there might be disagreement with me, but I truly feel this is the best decision.
In 2013, Jack Schaap, 62, pleaded guilty to taking a 16-year-old girl he was counseling at First Baptist across state lines for sex.
Jack's guilty plea apparently wasn't enough to lose the favor of his devoted followers.
140 letters – written by family, staff, and parishioners – were submitted as exhibits to be reviewed by the judge as he carried out sentencing. They pleaded for lenient sentencing.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The information in this article was made available by Jonathan Grisham Burchfield, creator of Stop Pastoral Abuse. ( https://www.facebook.com/stoppingpastoralabuse ) TRIGGER WARNING: The following article contains descriptions as of sexual, and mental abuse toward minors, and one photographic piece of evidence of child abuse and neglect.
"Treatment Shouldn't Leave Survivors" | Reflecting on Paris Hilton's Peaceful Protest in Provo, Utah
Protester at Paris Hilton's peaceful march at Provo Canyon School holds a sign that reads, "The Kids You Abuse Today Will Be the Ones Who Take You Down Tomorrow.:"