From the Associated Press (see story here):
Three female plaintiffs claim in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that an evangelical church group covered up allegations of sexual abuse against children, failed to report accusations of misconduct to the police and discouraged its members from cooperating with law enforcement.
The lawsuit was filed in Maryland state court against Sovereign Grace Ministries, a 30-year-old family of churches, with about 100 congregations. Most of its churches are in the U.S., but it also has planted churches in about 21 countries.
The plaintiffs allege a conspiracy spanning more than two decades to conceal sexual abuse committed by church members. The alleged abuse happened in Maryland and northern Virginia in the 1980s and 1990s. The lawsuit accuses of church representatives of permitting suspected pedophiles to interact with children, supplying them with free legal advice to avoid prosecution and forcing victims to meet with and “forgive” the person that had molested them.
“The facts show that the Church cared more about protecting its financial and institutional standing than about protecting children, its most vulnerable members,” the lawsuit claims.
The church did not immediately respond to a written message or to a phone message left on its general voicemail box. It wasn’t immediately clear if the church had a lawyer. The suit names as defendants about a half-dozen pastors and church officials who plaintiffs say were alerted to the accusations but either failed to take action or actively covered them up. One official said he had not seen the suit and declined comment. Other defendants either did not immediately respond to phone messages or did not have publicly listed phone numbers.
In accusing church leaders of turning a blind eye to sexual molestation, the lawsuit bears parallels to the allegations of priest sex abuse and the resulting cover-up that have rocked the Roman Catholic church over the last decade. But while that scandal centered on sex abuse by priests, the accusations in this case involve molestation by church members instead of clergy.
Sovereign Grace Ministries grew from its mother church in Gaithersburg, Md., in 1982. It moved its headquarters this year to Louisville, Ky., where it’s also planting a new church. The group has struggled in recent years with fractured leadership and criticism over its discipline methods, especially the church’s emphasis on sins, discipline and repentance.
The suit only covers alleged abuse that occurred in Maryland in northern Virginia, but the church has faced scrutiny on other occasions for its handling of sexual abuse claims, and Susan Burke, a lawyer representing the three plaintiffs, said there are other alleged victims prepared to join a class-action suit.
For instance, an April report by a non-profit Lutheran mediation group that studied the church for nine months found that while church leaders showed “care and concern” about sex abuse allegations, a number of people interviewed felt the claims were handled irresponsibly and were left with “disappointments and hurts.”
The lawsuit faults the church’s “Home Group” structure, in which children are provided with day care so their parents can attend services, as fostering a poorly supervised environment that enabled the abuse to occur.
The lawsuit centers on allegations of three female plaintiffs, each identified by pseudonyms to protect their anonymity.
One of the three plaintiffs, a high school student in Virginia, alleges she was sexually assaulted when she was 3 years old and that the mother of the boy who abused her revealed the molestation to the church. But church officials discouraged her family from reporting the allegations to police and, instead, repeatedly interviewed the alleged abuser and worked with him and his mother to determine how best to prevent any prosecution and publicity regarding the abuse.
A second plaintiff, a college student in Maryland, says she was sexually abused as a toddler by a church member. She says the church pastor scolded her parents after they called the police and then tipped off the accused that he had been reported to the police. She says her parents were instructed to bring her to a meeting with her alleged abuser so they could be “reconciled,” but that she was “visibly scared and crawled under the chair” after being brought into the same room with him.
The third plaintiff says her adoptive father, a member of the church, sexually abused her older sister for three and a half years. She says the church warned her mother not to pursue a prosecution, then kicked the family out of the church and denied the children reduced tuition to the school. The man was ultimately prosecuted and imprisoned, the lawsuit says.
“We view the case as an important step in holding SGM accountable for its misdeeds,” said Burke, the lawyer who represents the three plaintiffs and is also suing the military on behalf of female service members who say they were raped. “No institution can put its own financial concerns above the needs of vulnerable children.”
More to follow…
In the meantime, if anyone is interested, here is a post from 2011 that (I think) lays out a good (if lengthy) explanation for the mentality behind the inappropriate pastoral responses in certain situations where abuse occurred.
October 18th, 2012 at 7:32 am
As I was thinking some more about this lawsuit, it struck me anew how this could affect the way people view SGM’s recent move to Louisville.
CJ and the people who enable him have all been so insulated from reality for so long that they probably don’t grasp how the non-SGM world will perceive what they say. The non-SGM world has not had decades of “believe the best” teachings to make them predisposed to turn off their logical thinking skills. The non-SGM world does not automatically see questioning or expressions of concern, or even outright disagreement, as “slander.” The non-SGM world is not going to believe something just because a group of SGM leaders keeps repeating it.
So they can keep saying that the move to Louisville was in the works for years and had nothing to do with CJ’s running away from what had always been his “local” church and from the people there who were looking for answers. They can keep saying that all is well. They can keep saying that SGM’s problems have all been dealt with appropriately and are only the product of just a relatively few embittered people.
But their target audience won’t necessarily believe them just because they keep saying this stuff.
Especially now.
Even if this lawsuit gets thrown out tomorrow, it’s going to cause normal non-SGM outsiders to take a closer look at the realities of SGM’s history. And despite what SGM leaders may keep saying, it’s really not that difficult to piece together a pretty clear picture of the truth.
I think CJ and his handlers/enablers might want to consider that they’re going to have to start being more open about the truth. They should take a lesson from history. How many liars out there could have saved so much face if they’d just ‘fessed up immediately?
October 18th, 2012 at 7:43 am
“Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed — without remedy.” Proverbs 29:1
October 18th, 2012 at 7:47 am
JoyfulAndFree -- #40 -- it struck me when you said…”Praying for these courageous women,” how interesting it is that women are bringing this lawsuit against a church system whose leadership is so completely male dominated. Reminds me of the 3 woman at the tomb who went with spices to care for the body of Christ and were the first to learn that Jesus had resurrected. I join you in praying for these women who are also caring for the Body of Christ! Praise God!
October 18th, 2012 at 7:48 am
The Louisville Courier-Journal makes no mention of the lawsuit. I guess because they’re not affiliated with the Associated Press? I wonder if and when they will pick up on the story.
October 18th, 2012 at 8:06 am
Kris, re your #99 and past teachings on “psycho-babble” I know that in those wonderful Youtube videos deifying CJ, in one of the musical Broadway-style numbers, they mention how CJ helped them see what nonsense psyco-babble is. I think those are from 2004?
Also, in “Love That Lasts,” the wonderful tome written by Gary and Betsy Ricucci, SGM’s resident marriage “experts”, it’s stated on page 100 that “popular theories…abound” as to why couples have conflict, including (but not limited to): “latent psychological urges, past emotional trauma, etc.” This is then followed by “Sadly, much of the Christian community has gladly entered into this tempest, becoming engulfed in a swirl of theories that simply can’t be reconciled with Scripture. Such theories appeal to our sinful tendency to look somewhere-anywhere-other than our own hearts for the root cause of our sins.” And they go on and on. So they would discount “past emotional trauma” as a valid reason for current turmoil in one’s life. Trauma like, say, abuse. AAAAGGGGHHH I get so angry when I think about their idiocy!
I know the book is about marital conflict, but it is a huge window into their counseling approach (greatly influenced by CCEF) which affected how poorly I and my husband were counseled as a couple, and of course, to a much more damaging degree, how the defendants in the suit filed were woefully, inadequately counseled.
October 18th, 2012 at 8:40 am
Detoxing, NPR even followed this story? Praise be to God. The truth is being spread throughout the land.
Thank you, Detoxing, for also sharing about my beloved people at CovFel. News about the people I care so much about is always welcomed. Can you say whether it is just one or two or if there are more people who are actually starting to see the light and leave? If you can’t, I understand.
October 18th, 2012 at 8:41 am
Two Feet Out: #105, you said “I know the book is about marital conflict”
That marital conflict, of course, can come from ANY past trauma…including abusive church AND being molested as a child.
So…I think your example is perfect.
Sidney
October 18th, 2012 at 8:54 am
Kris #99 -
Any teachings, videos, and books that are available will solidify the effects, and the connection, that the teachings from SGM headquarters have had on members. The pastors followed the teachings they learned from CJ and Co. in counseling their members. This is one of the horrible side effects of what happens when people blindly follow men and are taught to not think for themselves . . . pastors following CJ as if he is Lord and NO ONE wanting to speak out and rock the nice little boat when something concerning has happened.
I don’t think this lawyer would have taken the case if it wasn’t going to be effective.
October 18th, 2012 at 9:44 am
“104Moniker
October 18th, 2012 at 7:48 am
The Louisville Courier-Journal makes no mention of the lawsuit. I guess because they’re not affiliated with the Associated Press? I wonder if and when they will pick up on the story.”
I emailed the WaPo link to Peter Smith religion and faith reporter for the Louisville Courier yesterday afternoon. He quickly replied back and said he had not seen the story yet and thanked me.
October 18th, 2012 at 9:58 am
It seems to me that even the lawyers that provided guidance to cover-up may be at risk of losing their legal practicing licenses. And, if I remember the stories correctly, there were some police officers involved that may not have taken action. There will be a lot of repercussions. I suspect that a criminal indictment may be in the works based on such serious allegation. People may go to jail….Hope that the victims and their families will be able to heal.
October 18th, 2012 at 10:02 am
Josh sent out a letter church wide saying they have not received any notifications nor have they been served with anything, but they will keep us members posted.
October 18th, 2012 at 10:04 am
Interesting quote from an article June 2012 saying the Watchtower had been found liable for a girl’s sexual abuse:
“McCabe said he was not aware of any other case in which a religious organization has been found liable for wrongdoing by a member who was not in an official position of responsibility”
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/06/15/12225753-jehovahs-witnesses-ordered-to-pay-more-than-20-million-to-woman-who-said-she-was-sexually-abused?lite
So while it is difficult to hold a church liable for the conduct of a member, it is not impossible.
October 18th, 2012 at 10:07 am
KWIM @ 110,
I saw something on Montgomery County’s circuit court website last night that it can take up to 60 days to notify someone of a civil suit.
October 18th, 2012 at 10:21 am
Diane 109, good for you! It really surprises me that the LC was not aware of this development, but NPR was, and another outlet with a front page story, etc. Louisville folk so need to know.
October 18th, 2012 at 10:22 am
I was sued in 2009 by a former employee for wrongful termination. I took me about about 2 weeks to be formally served after the docs where filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
Also, Kris: did you notice at the end of The Huffington Post article, there is a link to this site :)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/sovereign-grace-ministries-child-abuse_n_1974568.html
October 18th, 2012 at 10:23 am
I asked a question at TWW about how the process works, and Julie Ann (the blogger who was sued by her former church and won) answered:
“Based on my recent lawsuit. We knew about the lawsuit before I was served. AP would never have published the story if it was not filed – -- too much risk for them. Someone must have notified AP after the suit was filed. Anyone local could probably go to the courthouse and find the court papers for a small fee. They are public. It took about a week after we ‘heard’ about the lawsuit until the process server hand-delivered the official papers at our home.”
So, it appears that things will be made more clear over the coming days.
October 18th, 2012 at 10:34 am
@LetMyPeopleGo #103 -- “how interesting it is that women are bringing this lawsuit against a church system whose leadership is so completely male dominated. Reminds me of the 3 woman at the tomb who went with spices to care for the body of Christ and were the first to learn that Jesus had resurrected.”
It reminds me of Deborah who told Barak the honor of victory would go to a woman because of his hesitancy to lead and Jael who conquered Sisera in his place. The male leadership of SGM should carry the same shame Barak carried because of his cowardice. What the men of SGM would not do, four women (including the attorney) are doing. Kudos to them.
All quite interesting given SGM’s strong complementarian commitment.
October 18th, 2012 at 10:50 am
@Two Feet Out #105 -- “but it is a huge window into their counseling approach (greatly influenced by CCEF)”
Doesn’t CCEF take a much more balanced view of psychology than SGM has historically taken? Didn’t David Powlison’s “Blame It on the Brain” allow for legitimate psychological illness?
I know they may still differ from non-Christian counselors in how to assess and deal with psychological illness, but they’ve always stuck me as more balanced. Stories about SGM seem more in line with Jay Adams’ nouthetic approach (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouthetic_counseling, especially the first sentence). Jay Adams had been associated with CCEF early on, but I believe he split with them because they had become integrationist in his view.
I did just come across this on the CCEF site: http://www.ccef.org/blog/there-value-phd-work-outside-christian-institutions (posted yesterday), but haven’t had time to listen to it yet.
October 18th, 2012 at 11:11 am
I was thinking about the amount of lost sleep that occurred last night for many SGM pastors and board members.
I think one reason this case may have merit is that SGM has kept written records on members and past members. Remember, that when the whole abuse story from Noel and Wallace hit the web, some of the pastors involved mentioned that they had “seen the file” and that the whole story was not being told.
It seems that if this goes to discovery, the whole story will be told.
Another point, SGM responded on it’s website with the following
“Sovereign Grace Ministries takes seriously the Biblical commands to pursue the protection and well being of all people, especially the most vulnerable in its midst, little children.”
This really irks me, considering that in the 80′s and 90′s-my pastors at Covenant Fellowship were teaching a new born/toddlers class in which they instructed new parents to “discipline” with glue sticks and offering to refer us to a Dr. that wouldn’t check a child’s back end since he “understood Biblical discipline” and wouldn’t be obligated to report parents that left marks on their children.
October 18th, 2012 at 11:13 am
“It took about a week after we ‘heard’ about the lawsuit until the process server hand-delivered the official papers at our home.”
That’s my experience filing a case in small claims court. The plaintiffs file the suit and the court has to go through the process of serving the defendants. The defendants wouldn’t know anything about the suit unless you alerted them first. I assume it works the same at higher court levels.
If you read some of the comments at these news sites, the downside to the publicity is that many people don’t see “SGM” they just see “church”. There’s no real distinction in the minds of most non-Christians. Unfortunately, SGM’s failures here have not only made themselves look bad, they’ve made all churches everywhere look bad (which makes their sin that much more significant). Every believer who has a co-worker saying to them today, “I see another one of your churches supports pedophiles,” feels the weight of SGM’s wrong-headed actions whether they even know about SGM or not.
SGM leaders, this is the other side of being in the spotlight.
Here’s Mark Dever quoting 19th century pastor, John Brown. It may be fitting for SGM.
October 18th, 2012 at 11:20 am
I have someone looking for the filing. Do we know if it was filed in Mongomery County? I don’t think she’ll have to pay a fee though.
October 18th, 2012 at 11:22 am
I received a copy of the filing. I’m going to post it in a bit, once I confirm with the attorney that she’s OK with my doing so.
October 18th, 2012 at 11:33 am
All y’all…this is my proverbial broken record:
This case does not look like it’s public, but sealed. The information that a case has been filed has been publicized. The rest of it, no. The clerk’s office has all sorts of cases listed as filed yesterday. None of them bear any of the names that have been mentioned here and elsewhere.
I would not, either, go so far as to say that the papers are what is contemplated by the expression “the light.”
I will now stop beating you with this stick.
October 18th, 2012 at 11:33 am
Musicman Wrote:
I was thinking about the amount of lost sleep that occurred last night for many SGM pastors and board members.
I think one reason this case may have merit is that SGM has kept written records on members and past members. Remember, that when the whole abuse story from Noel and Wallace hit the web, some of the pastors involved mentioned that they had “seen the file” and that the whole story was not being told.
Me: I wonder if CJ went to Staples to buy extra shredders first thing this morning. It will be interesting to see if they pull an Enron and start shredding everything. As it has been well documented by former CGR’s and Pastors, they have a massive amount of records on members. Every written report from care group, every meeting with a member, every thought they have on a member’s “sin” J. Edgar Hoover would be impressed at the massive amount of blackmail material they have on their members.
October 18th, 2012 at 11:36 am
Kris,
H. Cow, had I refreshed my page before I hit “submit comment” I would have written something different -- maybe nothing (except for the part about the papers).
October 18th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Poor SGM. I wonder what their statement will be once the thing is posted on a blog. lol. They don’t even have to wait to be served to own up to the fact that they’re being sued.
(sorry…just looking for something funny in this ugly mess)
October 18th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
I just Googled “Sovereign Grace Ministries” and the Huffington Post article appears second, immediately after SGM’s own site. Now anyone searching for information on SGM will see the article without having to search for the words abuse, scandal, or whatever.
October 18th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Freedom 124 ..and everyone knows Gary R. never threw away any of his records on his sheep so, he might have the most to shred.
They should be very careful what they say on email, too. But, I bet they already learned that lesson.
Did anyone see the email sent out to CLC members from Josh Harris? He says he hasn’t seen any suit documents yet.
October 18th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Freedom 124, that’s so creepy. I remember our CGL’s wife writing down all kinds of things, but thinking it was just to get to know people better and how to pray for them. While I’m sure many times, it was indeed out of love and concern for group members, the idea that they might have been “gathering data” is different altogether. If a member is involved with something that needs reporting to higher ups, that’s one thing, but from what I’ve read countless times from other ex-SGMers, that personal information was at least sometimes, used for control.
October 18th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
Lily 129
The pastors at CLC passed personal information about members, freely among one another. We now suspect at least one room in the office is bugged, to help them gather even more information from their members during a case. It was so creepy being interrogated by the pastors and it made me increasingly uncomfortable speaking to them about anything. Talking to them seldom helped us or another sheep and it was obvious that was not always their intent, anyway.
We know someone who worked in the office and they said pastors have even more information about members than we know. The pastors even sometimes called other members, to try and find out what the church member, had done or said.
And, when a big scandal would arise, pastors were known to call affected church members to try and ‘modify their perceptions’ about the case or discover what the member thought about the situation, all with the goal of protecting the church’s reputation.
One thing is for sure, you were in deep trouble if two or more pastors visited you for questioning. Why we did not leave sooner than we did, I will never understand.
October 18th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Kris, looking forward to seeing the papers you mentioned.
October 18th, 2012 at 1:58 pm
Persona #130,
Have you ever told your story on the blogs? You seem to know a lot about the inner workings of CLC/SGM. Up until 2 mos. ago I was a member of SGM in 3 diff, churches (CLC twice) for 27 years. I think I may know you.
Also… seriously? Bugged? Wow! To what lengths…????
October 18th, 2012 at 2:08 pm
Guy is helping me redact addresses of the defendants. Once we get that cleaned up, we’ll be posting it.
October 18th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Just came across this article about the Boy Scouts and boys who had been molested while they were in Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts handled the perpetrator well and put them on a list of people who could never volunteer/be around kids again. The problem was that they never shared this information with the victims. Victims whose lives were destroyed by this silence. The most striking quote from one of the victims, “It’s the secrecy that kills people.”
On that note, let me again, applaud those with the courage to stand up and speak out. No more secrecy! No more silence! (And don’t let anyone who wants to poo poo you do so. They just don’t know what they are saying. You speaking your voice in every venue that you want to speak in, is what counts and what matters and eventually, WILL lead to changes in this world. And if you care about this, and it’s cool if you don’t, that truth is what will glorify God. He isn’t glorified by cover ups of abuse of small children. He is glorified by this. At least, that’s what I think.)
October 18th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Opps, I forgot the link:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/boy-scout-secret-file-resurrects-past-abuse-victim-170247896.html
October 18th, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Lost -
RE your comment #132, this is something I’ve heard from a couple of others who gained knowledge of a particular conference room at CLC. When I posted about it a couple of years ago, people said this site had “jumped the shark” and I was crazy.
Maybe I was snookered by a couple of ingeniously coordinated emails. However, I don’t think I was. With all of SGM’s paranoia in other areas, why wouldn’t they think it was within their rights to record their conversations with lowly members?
October 18th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Here’s more SGM creepiness. If you served in a children’s ministry in the last 10 years, take another look at the disclosure agreement you had to sign. Yes, criminal records check should be mandatory for anyone working with kids — but this agreement authorized SGM to review your finances, talk to your employer, and conduct other Big Brother investigations. I flatly refused to sign this, and was promptly chastised by the senior pastor: “Wasabi, what’s the heart issue behind your unwillingness to sign this? No one else had a problem with it, including everyone who serves at CLC…”
Ironically, 6 months after my refusal to sign, they neglected to check someone’s records and placed a sex offender in charge of security for children’s ministry! Someone found him on a watch list, which then tipped-off the pastoral staff. This was all quietly kept from the congregation.
October 18th, 2012 at 2:31 pm
Good point, Kris! But… WOW! That is a high degree of paranoia.
October 18th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
I have not been here for a long time, at least 3 years. I just saw the article on the Huffington Post today, and let me say that it is amazing to finally see these injustices being brought into the public light, injustices that have been talked about here for years.
May those hurting find healing and those culpable be found wanting.
October 18th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Guy,
How long does it take to edit/replace??? Come on already. We want to read the lawsuit!
October 18th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
For those of us not in the “in group” who can’t see the letters sent to “members only,” Brent shared the current one from Josh Harris on his blog.
Thanks Brent.
October 18th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Whirlwind #118: you are probably right about CCEF being more balanced these days. I am likely thinking of some earlier influences they may have had when Jay Adams was there, recalling seeing their Journal of Biblical Counseling in the offices of PDI, way back when I worked there.
Wasabi #137: WTF?! There was a registered sex-offender in charge of security!?? I can only imagine why it was “quietly kept from the congregation.” That really ticks me off. I have two kids, and they were both in CM during our time there. Last year, when I pointed out to Corby Megorden and Josh Harris that their reporting guidelines for suspected abuse were way off, they replied with thanks for the input. Does anyone at CLC know what it says in the CM handbook about workers reporting suspected abuse? In the past, you reported to your team leader, who reported to the CM leader (Josh Cooley) who reported to Corby Megorden. Then THEY would take care of reporting to the authorities. I hope it is no longer like that.
October 18th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
Um, Brent just posted the lawsuit on his blog. He didn’t redact the addresses of the defendants. Although some of them are not accurate -- they still have the MD addresses of those who moved to KY.