Almost 2 years have passed since I resigned my membership at UCCD (United Christian Church of Dubai) over issues of conscience. I was opposed to the promotion (on occasion from the pulpit) and sales of books authored by C.J. Mahaney due to his involvement in covering up and enabling the sexual abuse of children in the Sovereign Grace churches.
When I was a member of UCCD I had numerous conversations with several of the pastors concerning C.J. Mahaney. Their response to me was that Mahaney and the sexual abuse scandal he was involved in was an American problem, it had nothing to do with us in Dubai. I wasn’t buying what they were selling. Here is an email I wrote to Assistant Pastor Richard Ngwisha on 23 February 2013, about 2 weeks prior to my resignation.
Hi Richard,
Unfortunately this SGM crisis is not simply a denominational crisis, nor is it contained within the USA. The fact that the T4G leaders continue to allow Mahaney to speak at conferences and either publicly endorse his ministry or remain silent in the face of mounting charges of sexual abuse and cover-up is shameful. (Not to mention well documented blackmail by Mahaney.) It is a sad commentary on “leadership” when they do nothing in the face of this evil and it is left to the lay-people to speak up and force change. As you know these leaders hold conferences attended by people from all over the world. Mahaney’s books are promoted at churches and Christian bookstores world-wide. John Folmar told me our church considers Mahaney’s books “go to books” for new Christians. We have had Dever, Trueman and DeYoung speak at our church. Dever, to the best of my knowledge, has not said anything positive or negative about Mahaney but he continues to share the platform with him at conferences. Trueman was a member of the original 3 man panel that declared Mahaney had not done anything to disqualify him from ministry. DeYoung has endorsed Mahaney. Piper will be speaking at our church later this year and he just spoke at Mahaney’s church and gave him a ringing endorsement. Mack Stiles preached at Mahaney’s church the week prior to Piper. Brent Detwiler said the following about John Piper, but I believe it applies to all these leaders:
“John has tolerated in SGM what he would never tolerate at Bethlehem Baptist Church. He has made exceptions for C.J. that he would never make for a church member.”
These leaders unwillingness to speak out against Mahaney, or tell him he needs to quit speaking at their conferences is doing untold damage to the Reformed movement world-wide. In April Duncan, Dever, DeYoung and Mahaney are jointly holding conferences in South Africa. The following blog from SA is questioning the whole Reformed movement, and I must add that I have read untold comments of the same sort. Reformed Christianity, which I believe holds to the correct scriptural doctrine, is taking a severe hit. I must admit that I myself am very disillusioned with the whole group of Reformed leaders. Again I will quote Detwiler:
It goes to show that godly men like Piper will disobey the Bible when idols in their hearts become more important than the righteousness of Christ and the truth of God. To be honest, it is hard to listen to some of these men preach any longer because of such hypocrisy. They protect their own, while their own harm others, and there are no consequences for their actions. In this way, they do not follow the Bible.
I agree with Detwiler. It is very hard for me to respect these leaders.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1:27
Over the past two years it has become evident that Brent Detwiler’s words also apply to John Folmar, the UCCD leadership and the leadership of several of the UCCD church plants in the United Arab Emirates.
Today and tomorrow Bruce Ware and Thomas Schreiner, both professors at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, will be holding a conference at UCCD. SBTS is the seminary where John Folmar studied. The president of the institute is C.J. Mahaney’s close friend Albert Mohler. Mohler has issued a strong statement of support for C.J. Mahaney. He has never retracted it. Bruce Ware and Thomas Schreiner both spoke from the pulpit of C.J. Mahaney’s run-away church plant in Louisville, KY. They all endorsed him in full knowledge of the sexual abuse scandal in the Sovereign Grace churches.
Nearly every conference speaker UCCD has had over the past several years has been an outspoken supporter of C.J. Mahaney. Coincidental? I think not. John Folmar has cast his lot with the Celebrity Christian “leadership” of the Neo-Reformed movement. He has chosen notoriety over identification with the weak and downtrodden.
Many UCCD members don’t know about these issues. Those that do have chosen not to confront John Folmar.
Earlier in the week I ran across this Tweet by Dave Furman. Furman is the senior pastor at Redeemer Church of Dubai, a church plant of UCCD. Furman is well aware of the Sovereign Grace/C.J. Mahaney scandal. I have had lengthy discussions with Mack Stiles, a senior leader at Redeemer, after he twice spoke at Mahaney’s church. Nevertheless, Furman also apparently has no issues featuring teachers who choose allegiance to the Gospel Glitterati over love and concern for the broken and abused sheep.
Notice the names of those who commented on Furman’s Tweet:
Thabiti Anyabwile – A close friend of John Folmar and Mark Dever. He has spoken at C.J. Mahaney’s run-away church plant, lending his support to the man.
Bryan DeWire – Formerly on staff of Desiring God Ministries, John Piper’s organization. Dewire now is the communications PR man for Sovereign Grace Ministries.
Matt Chandler – One of the Celebrity Christians riding the Christian Conference circuit, well established in the Gospel Corporation.
And so it goes. It really is a “good old boys” club where the main rule seems to be protect your fellow club members at all costs. To do so may cost you your integrity, but you will have notoriety and maybe even the money so many of them seem to be chasing.
Thomas Garrett – Founding Father of the Gospel Coalition?
“Garrett is a figure straight from R. H. Tawney’s Religion and the Rise of Capitalism: he was part missionary and part entrepreneur. And it was in this double role that he arrived in Oxford on Christmas Eve 1527 as a sort of travelling salesman for radical reform. There he won souls for God, and also turned in a nice profit by selling his converts the key works of the New Learning. His catalogues, neatly arranged and marked up with the prices, included Luther’s De captivitate babylonica (The Babylonian Captivity [of the Papacy]), William Tyndale’s New Testament in English, and the key source book, Unio dissidentium. The Unio is an anthology of extracts from the Church Fathers, which covers the main topics of Reformation controversy, including Faith and works, the Eucharist, the veneration of saints, and the Antichrist.”
-Starkey, David (2009-10-13). Six Wives (pp. 372-373). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
“For three decades, C.J. (C.J. Mahaney) tragically mislead the pastors in CLC and other churches where abuse was occurring because of financial and repetitional concerns. So many molesters could have been stopped. So many children and minors could have been spared. Those that followed his evil counsel should be held to account but we know who is ultimately responsible for the needless destruction of souls.
…And Mark Dever, Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan of Together for the Gospel and Don Carson, Kevin DeYoung, Justin Taylor of The Gospel Coalition should demand C.J.’s fully comply! That won’t happen. Why? Because these men loath due process in this situation. Due process scares them to death.
All of C.J.’s enablers, lawyers included, have sought to circumvent the factual allegations by all means possible.”
-Brent Detwiler, Blog entry from Tuesday, June 25, 2013.
The “Gospel Glitterati” is not a term coined by me, but I like it and find it aptly describes the celebrity Christian leadership who are elite members of the para-church organizations consisting of the Gospel Corporation, 9Marks of an Authoritative Church and Together For The Go$pel.
The men belonging to this elite inner sanctum, an Evangelical hierarchal structure not unlike the Roman Catholic Church, have demonstrated a fierce loyalty to their fellow members. A case in point is their continuing support for C.J. Mahaney. This man has blackmailed the former co-leader of Sovereign Grace Ministries and covered up the sexual abuse of children in the denomination which he presided over. The Gospel Glitterati have been unwavering in their loyalty to Mahaney while demonstrating no concern whatsoever for the suffering victims.
Based on Mark Dever’s recent tweet it appears the Gospel Glitterati are assuming that the sheep have short memories. I would guess they held some strategy sessions discussing how to best get their good friend C.J. back on the Conference Circuit.
I wonder if, during their time of sharing, they discussed the qualifications of an elder?
I wonder if their prayers included any for the many victims of sexual abuse in the Sovereign Grace Churches? How about prayer for Nate Morales, serving a 40 year sentence for sexually abusing young boys while attending Mahaney’s church?
I have not forgotten. I will be watching.
“No one I know of in Christian ministry has ever been charged like C.J. by so many close friends with so many serious transgressions over so long period of time! It has nothing to do with ruining a good man. He simply does not meet the biblical qualifications for ministry. You should remove him or call a Church Court for a hearing. There are countless other reasons why people should separate from Sovereign Grace Ministries not including American Evangelicalisms’ biggest sex abuse scandal to date.” -Brent Detwiler
Below is an excerpt of Joshua Harris speaking to the congregation of Covenant Life Church on May 18, 2014:
“Joshua Harris already knows the truth about many of the sex abuse crimes committed in Covenant Life Church and also about the massive criminal conspiracy that followed in their wake. He knows about C.J. Mahaney, John Loftness, Gary Ricucci, Grant Layman, Larry Tomczak, Nate Morales, David Adams, Steve Griney, Mark Hoffman, Dave Mayo, Charlie Llewellyn and others. The “pedophilic ring” is big and so is the cover up. Joshua is well aware of these facts. Joshua also knows he has contributed to the conspiracy. But guess what? He isn’t talking at least not for two years.” -Brent Detwiler, June 25, 2013
“In an interview, Harris said the isolation of Covenant Life, and of a small cluster of churches of which it was a part, may have fed leadership mistakes, including the decision of pastors — himself among them — to handle a child sexual abuse case internally instead of going to police.
A former Covenant Life member who helped with the youth group was convicted last year of molesting three boys in the 1980s. Trial testimony showed that the victims or their families had gone to church leaders for help and that the church officials did not call police. Harris said the thinking of the church was that such allegations should be handled as an internal, spiritual issue.” -Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post
It appears that Joshua Harris has finally decided to come clean and start telling the truth about the cover-up of sexual abuse which took place in the Sovereign Grace denomination.
As a side note, Brent Detwiler has steadfastly revealed the truth in this whole matter. For doing so he has drawn the wrath of the Gospel Glitterati. He is once again vindicated. Here is a quote from Detwiler from May 19,2014:
“Joe Carter is employed by The Gospel Coalition as an editor. He tweeted a woman today, “Watch the actual sermon and you’ll see Detwiler is making it up. Harris makes no admission of knowing about the abuse.”
Harris doesn’t explicitly say in his sermon that he knew about the abuse in one comment. The acknowledgement comes from a number of remarks taken together in conjunction with the testimony given by Grant Layman at the Morales trial last week.
For instance, Harris refers to 2007 but doesn’t explain. He says, “The events related to 2007 are a significant issue for us and they are going to be fully addressed and accounted for by us. I can’t say any more than that.”
What is this “significant issue”? In 2007, Morales told Layman he sexually abused boys at Covenant Life Church. Layman testified under oath that he shared this information with the “pastoral team” at CLC. He further testified that he had a responsibility to report these crimes but didn’t do it.
Upon reception of this information, the “pastoral team” discussed how they should handle the situation and what they should do with the information. Like Laymen, they did nothing. None of the pastors reported the acknowledgment of sex crimes by Morales to the police. That is ever so serious.
Layman also testified at the trial that he knew about Morales’ sexual abuse all the way back in 1992. So did other pastors like C.J. Mahaney, Robin Boisvert and Chris Glass.”
“This comprehensive process has clearly confirmed C.J.’s fitness to lead and his exceptional character as he has graciously endured major trials. Through all of this he has been found to be a man and a minister of fundamental integrity. We know of no one who is better suited for the office of President.” (June 28, 2012)
-John Loftness, Chairman of the SGM Board
“One key item we discussed was John Loftness’ request to resign from the Board. John has worked hard to serve the Board and our churches since July, 2011. He has logged countless hours as a Board member and since March, 2012, as the Chairman of the Board. He has done all this while serving as the Senior Pastor of Solid Rock Church. The time required in chairing the Sovereign Grace Board added to John’s already full schedule in both serving his church as well as caring for members of his extended family who are in poor health. Now that the edited Polity Proposal is ready for presentation, John felt it was time to step back from his Board duties and give more time to these other very important priorities. So effective immediately, John will no longer serve as Chairman of the Board nor as a member of the Board. We thought it wise to not fill his slot as a Board member until the new Polity is implemented, should it be ratified.
We are grateful for John’s hard work and leadership amidst a very challenging season. He has selflessly given himself to working with and leading the Board as we seek God’s wisdom and grace for our family of churches. He has shown himself as a man committed to the authority of God’s word and eager for the health and fruitfulness of God’s people. We as a Board love and respect our brother, we will miss serving with him, and we are grateful for his on-going support of the Board. We count it a deep privilege to have co-labored with John, our friend and brother. Please pray with us for a season of rest and refreshment as John gives himself anew to serving those in his extended family and in his church.” -SGM Board update regarding John Loftness, February 18, 2013
John Loftness, formerly the Senior Pastor of Solid Rock Church, recently resigned from that church and has started a new church called Living Hope Church in Bowie, MD. Seventy or eighty former members of Solid Rock Church joined Loftness in starting the new church.
Solid Rock Church has reportedly recently left the Sovereign Grace Denomination. Read into that what you will.
Loftness remains ever loyal to C.J. Mahaney, the embattled former leader of Sovereign Grace Ministries who fled from the Washington D.C. area to “plant” a church in Louisville, KY, because we all know how devoid Louisville is of any good evangelical churches!
Mahaney rewarded Loftness’ loyalty by inviting him to speak at his church on January 25, 2015.
In the sermon Loftness delivered he wonders aloud whether, in light of those gossipy pests in social media, is Christian community still possible? Clearly, to Loftness, the evil blogs are the source of all the problems affecting himself and Sovereign Grace churches.
Listen to the following excerpt, culled from the sermon. It begins around the six minute mark in case you want to go to the source and listen.
Just in case you have forgotten the sordid details plaguing John Loftness, here is a brief rundown of alleged charges. I happen to believe they are true. I also believe it is a travesty that Loftness is still a pastor.
The following information is from Brent Detwiler’s Blog. It contains complaints filed against pastor John Loftness in a class action lawsuit. Be warned that some descriptions are graphic.
Victim: Jessica Roberts-Thomas Complaints: 86-87 Location: Covenant Life School – Separate Room with a Window Timeframe: 1983/1984 Age: 5 Alleged Abuser: John Loftness, Unknown Man
86. Another victim of the Individual Defendants’ ongoing conspiracy and Institutional Defendants’ gross negligence is Plaintiff Jessica Roberts-Thomas.
87. During the 1983/1984 school year, Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas was five years old and in kindergarten. At that time, Defendant Loftness was serving as the School principal as well as serving as a pastor in CLC. Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas was in kindergarten at the school, with [Stephen] Griney as her teacher. Defendant Loftness entered the class, and took Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas out of class and to a separate room that had a window. There was a man unknown to Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas standing outside the window watching her and Defendant Loftness. Defendant Loftness directed Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas to bend over the desk and pull down her underwear. Defendant Loftness stood silently behind Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas for quite some time. Then Defendant Loftness began to beat Plaintiff with a white cord for a lengthy period of time. Defendant Loftness stopped beating Plaintiff [Roberts-Thomas] and she tried to pull up her underwear. Defendant Loftness directed her not to do so, and walked away, leaving Plaintiff there for quite some time. Defendant Loftness returned, and began hitting Plaintiff again with the white cord. Defendant Loftness then inserted the white cord into her vagina.
Observations
The addition of Jessica Roberts-Thomas and James Thomas as Plaintiffs in the SAC must have terrified certain Defendants and perpetrators. I suspect the information they supply investigators will lead to further indictments and arrests. There is no statute of limitations for felonious crimes and no pastor can hide behind the First Amendment or claim clergy-penitent privilege in order to cover up the sexual and physical abuse of children. None of these evasive arguments that have been forth by Sovereign Grace Ministries will hold up in a criminal court.
In 1983/1984, John Loftness was managing editor of People of Destiny Magazine (a.k.a., Sovereign Grace Magazine), an elder in Covenant Life Christian Community, and the principal of Covenant Life elementary school.
The factual allegations in the SAC often describe a conspiracy of persons working together in order to abuse children, not just cover up the abuse of children by individual offenders unknown to each other. For example in this Complaint, Loftness is allegedly working with “a man unknown” and he also appears to be working in tandem with Stephen Griney, the kindergartener teacher. Griney allows Roberts-Thompson to leave his classroom and go with Loftness for a lengthy period of time. The “man unknown” also appears to be waiting for Loftness at the separate room according to a predetermined plan. The efforts of these three men appear coordinated according to the factual allegations.
In the account, Loftness enters the classroom and removes Roberts-Thomas. There is no indication this was because Roberts-Thomas was unruly and in need of discipline by Principal Loftness. Roberts-Thomas is then taken to “a separate room that had a window.”
As reported, this room must have been out of the way. It is not called a classroom. It could have been any kind of a room located in a remote, semi-concealed, or unused part of the school building. As described, Loftness and the unknown man outside the room looking through the widow, appear to have no fear of detection. There are two references in the account to “quite some time.” If factually true, Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas was disrobed for a long period of time in front of a window. That raised no apparent concerns.
The Complaint says the man watching was unknown to Roberts-Thomas when the initial abuse allegedly occurred. That does not mean she did not recognize the man thereafter. In a lawsuit, Plaintiffs’ lawyers leave out a lot of evidence they plan to present later in civil court or to law enforcement officials in private. I doubt Roberts-Thomas forgot the face of the man observing her. If she did, law enforcement has provided her photos of all the Covenant Life pastors, male teachers and employees at the time.
The alleged abuse and voyeurism occurred during the day at Covenant Life elementary school when classes were in session. Therefore, I doubt the “man unknown” was a teacher since they could not be away from their students for that long. Furthermore, I don’t remember any male school officials or teachers besides Loftness and Griney in 1983-1984.
That probably means the man was a Covenant Life pastor unknown to Roberts-Thomas when she started kindergarten. There is a small chance the alleged individual snuck in and out of the school undetected but that is high risk and unlikely. Therefore, I assume the “man unknown” was comfortable being seen at the school with Loftness and the children. His presence would not have stood out. If this allegation is true, the unknown man must have been a close friend/associate of Loftness.
Roberts-Thomas has a “lawyer’s mind.” She claims to remember numerous details. There appears to be no lack of clarity in her recollections. From my perspective, the details she recounts as a mature adult embarking on a career in the field of law sound believable.
On the other hand, if such allegations are lies than Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas is worthy of a gigantic lawsuit. Defendant Loftness should immediately counter sue for the most vicious libel imaginable – accusing someone of physically and sexually abusing children. Moreover, if the factual allegations are made up, Roberts-Thomas is deranged and can forget ever being a lawyer! Prospective employers in the future will be reviewing the outcome of her case. She must have taken all this into consideration when deciding to join the lawsuit and not go by a pseudonymous name.
Loftness allegedly directs Roberts-Loftness “to bend over the desk and pull down her underwear…for quite some time” and “then began to beat [her] with a white cord for a lengthy period of time.” This was no spanking. It was a sustained beating with a chord on exposed flesh according to the description.
After the initial beating as alleged, “she tried to pull up her underwear” but Loftness “directed her not to do so, and walked away, leaving [her] there for quite some time.” We are not told where Loftness goes but one assumes he joins the unknown man who is outside the room watching all of this supposedly happen through the window.
Later “Loftness returned, and began hitting [her] again with the white cord” according to the lawsuit. This is a second alleged beating. Then “Defendant Loftness…inserted the white cord into her vagina.”
Victim: Jessica Roberts-Thomas Complaint: 89 Location: Covenant Life School – Empty Class Room Timeframe: 1983/1984 Age: 5 Alleged Abuser: John Loftness
89. During the 1983/1984 school year, Defendant Loftness pulled Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas out of class as the class was learning to read. Defendant Loftness brought her into an empty class room, and directed her to pull her underwear down and lie across a desk. Defendant Loftness beat Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas repeatedly with a plastic cord. Defendant Loftness stopped beating, and Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas heard him unzip his zipper. Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas cannot presently recall what happened after that point.
Observations
It is still 1983/1984. This is the third account provided by Roberts-Thompson when she was a five year old in kindergarten. Two deal with Loftness. One with Griney. The same method is alleged. Loftness pulls her out of Griney’s class while in session. She remembers details they were “learning to read.”
Loftness supposedly takes Roberts-Thomas to “an empty class room.” It appears to be a third room. He has her strip and then repeatedly beats her on exposed flesh with a plastic cord according to the account. This plastic cord may or may not be the “white chord” described earlier. After the beating, Loftness unzips his zipper. This implies masturbation. Roberts-Thomas “cannot presently recall what happened after that point.” This implies trauma after the alleged beating.
Victims: Jessica Roberts-Thomas, Heather Thompson Bryant, Third Unnamed Girl Complaint: 90 Location: Covenant Life School (Aspen Hill) – Empty Room Timeframe: 1985/1986 Ages: Jessica – age 7, Heather – age 5 Alleged Abusers: John Loftness, Stephen Griney, Gary Ricucci
90. During the 1985/1986 school year, Defendant Loftness, Griney and Defendant Ricucci brought Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas into an empty room with two other girls. Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas recognized the girls, one of whom was Plaintiff Thompson. (The other is not being named here to protect her privacy.) Defendants directed the girls to strip off their underwear, and lay across desks. Defendant Loftness beat Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas on her bare buttocks. Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas heard the unnamed girl crying, and saw Griney hitting her on her bare buttocks. Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas turned over her shoulder to look for Plaintiff Thompson, and realized Defendant Ricucci had taken her out of the room. Defendant Loftness continued to beat Plaintiff Thomas-Roberts’ bare buttocks, and then he inserted his fingers into her vagina.
Observations
This account occurs two years later in 1985/1986 when Roberts-Thomas was seven years old and in second grade. It alleges a conspiracy between John Loftness (Covenant Life principal), Stephen Griney (Covenant Life school teacher) and Gary Ricucci (Covenant Life pastor). All three of these men worked for C.J. Mahaney, who was the senior pastor. They were also close friends with C.J. Especially Loftness and Ricucci. I will say more about Defendant Ricucci and Complaint 90 in a future post.
Once again, the SAC alleges sexual and physical abuse. Loftness “beat Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas on her bare buttocks.” He “continued to beat [her] bare buttocks, and then he inserted his fingers into her vagina.” This allegedly occurred in an “empty room.”
Victim: Jessica Roberts-Thomas Complaint: 91 Location: Covenant Life Sunday School (Magruder High School) Timeframe: Likely 1985/1986 Age: Likely age 7 Alleged Abuser: John Loftness
91. On one Sunday, Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas was attending Sunday School (then held at Magruder High School) when Defendant Loftness arrived and told the Sunday School teacher that he needed to take Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas. Defendant Loftness took Plaintiff down a hallway, and began to hit her, and then fondle her vagina. Defendant Loftness told Plaintiff that she needed to “learn to be good” and that he “loves” her. Defendant Loftness told her it is “her fault” but that he is going to help her “learn to be good.” Defendant Loftness hit Plaintiff again, and then walked her back to Sunday School. Just before permitting her to enter the class, Defendant Loftness told her that she is being “very good” and cannot tell anyone what occurred or she would “get in trouble.”
Observations
The timeframe likely remains 1985/1986 but the location changed from Covenant Life School on Aspen Hill to the Covenant Life “Sunday School (then held at Magruder High School).” Sunday School is a reference to Children’s Ministry.
Defendant Loftness was also considered a pastor in the church. I assume he left the regular worship service for adults and went over to the Children’s Ministry area. It says, “Loftness arrived and told the Sunday School teacher that he needed to take Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas.”
Roberts-Thomas certainty remembers the identity of her Sunday School teacher. This teacher may also be part of the alleged conspiracy with the “man unknown,” Griney, and Ricucci. I’m confident law enforcement has interviewed this person.
The account says “Defendant Loftness took Plaintiff down a hallway, and began to hit her, and then fondle her vagina” and later “hit Plaintiff again.” Physical abuse preceded and followed the sexual abuse as described in this allegation. Both supposedly happen “down a hallway” but not necessarily in a hallway.
In this Complaint something new appears. If true, it is as destructive to the human soul as physical and sexual abuse. That is the alleged sinister psychological manipulation of the Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas as a seven year old child. She remembers it well according to the SAC.
Here’s how her lawyers describe it. After the first alleged hitting, “Defendant Loftness told Plaintiff that she needed to ‘learn to be good’ and that he ‘loves’ her. Defendant Loftness told her it is ‘her fault’ but that he is going to help her ‘learn to be good.’”
After the second alleged hitting, “Just before permitting her to enter the class, Defendant Loftness told her that she is being ‘very good’ and cannot tell anyone what occurred or she would ‘get in trouble.’”
If true, here’s what I infer. First, Loftness is telling her she has been beaten because she is bad. Second, Pastor/Principal Loftness will teach her how to be good. Third, Loftness “loves” her implying sexual abuse is a legitimate expression of that love. Fourth, Pastor/Principal Loftness tells her she is good because she submitted to the physical and sexual abuse. Fifth, Loftness coerces silence by threatening to punish her.
This account describes the characteristic way a sex offender takes control of his victim. It is a textbook example. In my opinion, Jessica Roberts-Thomas studied the stereotypical behaviors of sex abusers so she could paint Loftness in that evil light or else the allegations are true.
There are only three options for explaining motive from my perspective. One, Roberts-Thomas hates Defendant Loftness for some mysterious reason and wants to destroy him. Two, Roberts-Thomas is money hungry and willing to commit fraud in order to get rich. Three, Roberts-Thomas is telling the truth.
“Noe says she was molested when she was 2, and when her parents reported it to the church, a church official, defendant John Loftness, told them not to call police.
When the parents told Loftness they already had contacted police, he said, “that is going to be a problem,” and that such matters were handled internally, not by secular authorities, according to the complaint.
Noe says Loftness tipped off her molester that her parents had reported the abuse, and “took steps to ensure that other church members in the neighborhood were not alerted to the crime.”
Then the church forced her to be “reconciled” with her predator at a meeting, traumatizing her and her parents, Noe says. She says the family was told not to tell other members about the abuse or the identity of her attacker, and that church officials let him continue working with children.
The third plaintiff says she reported the abuse of her sister by her stepfather, a Sovereign Grace member, to a church leader, who reported it to defendant church leaders Gary Ricucci and Loftness, who went to the aid of the predator, not the victim.
“Rather than assisting the victims, the church retained a lawyer for the sexual predator,” plaintiff Roe says.
“The church even suggested to Robin Roe’s mother that she send Robin Roe’s sister, the victim, out of the house in order to ‘bring’ the predator home as ‘head of the household.'”
Roe says the church booted her out after she told another member about the assault. She claims the church’s conduct and misrepresentations landed her in a juvenile halfway house.
Roe says the church kicked her mother out, too, for refusing “to acquiesce in the church’s attempt to obstruct justice.”
The complaint contains numerous other allegations of sexual abuse and the church’s alleged coverups, including the mother of a 10-year-old girl who had been abused by her father for years being reprimanded “for the sin of ‘gossiping,'” after she turned to her friends for support.
“The church also told the 10-year-old victim that she was a ‘sinner’ for having been victimized.
“The church blamed the mother for the father’s pedophilia and instructed her to engage in sex with her husband more frequently to prevent him from ‘being tempted,'” the complaint states.
Also named as defendants are Sovereign Grace officials Charles Mahaney, David Hinders, Louis Gallo, Frank Ecelbarger, Grant Layman and Lawrence Tomczak.”
Pamela Palmer is a friend of mine. Her daughter was sexually abused while attending Covenant Life Church. At that time Covenant Life Church was the flagship church of Sovereign Grace Ministries. If you have been following the sexual abuse scandal in Sovereign Grace Ministries, what some have called the largest scandal of its kind in Evangelical Christianity, you will know that there was a civil suit filed by 11 victims in this case. The lawsuit was dismissed due to the limited statute of limitations which exists in the state of Maryland.
Pamela Palmer recently testified in favor of extending the statute of limitations in front of a committee of the Maryland Senate.
I extend my thanks to Pamela Palmer for her tireless and courageous efforts on behalf of her daughter and all victims of sexual abuse. She is a fighter and because of people like her justice is being extended for the powerless.
The entire video of the testimony can be seen here.
It has been nearly two years since I wrote an article about seven celebrity pastors who made their way to C.J. Mahaney’s runaway church plant in Louisville, KY. These men all delivered sermons at Mahaney’s church – apparently happy to utilize their celebrity status in an attempt to bolster the severely listing ship of Sovereign Grace Ministries and C.J. Mahaney. If you have been reading my blog you will know that C.J. Mahaney was the leader of Sovereign Grace Ministries during the time period that SGM leadership was doing their best to cover-up a purportedly large scandal of sexual abuse of children in their churches. Mahaney claimed, and still claims, ignorance of the whole situation, but a child of 3 could detect his Clintonesque lie.
Since the time I wrote my initial article on the shameful seven who preached at Mahaney’s runaway church plant much more evidence has come to light, all very damning to Mahaney and his group of psychophants. Included is the conviction and sentencing to 40 years in prison of Nathaniel Morales. Morales worked with the youth at Covenant Life Church and sexually abused numerous boys. His actions became known to church leadership, but they chose not to alert law enforcement, leaving Morales to continue abusing children. Grant Layman, brother in-law of C.J. Mahaney and a former pastor at Covenant Life Church, testified to this under oath at the Morales trial. Joshua Harris, who took over duties as senior pastor from Mahaney, also recently admitted this in an interview with the Washington Post.
There is now such a preponderance of evidence in this case that any individual with a lick of common sense would rightly wonder how a “man of God” could, with a clear conscience, accept an invitation to preach at C.J. Mahaney’s church. Yet there seems to be a handful of men with consciences sufficiently seared that are willing to make the trek to Louisville.
Rick Holland is one such preacher. One can only guess at Holland’s motives. He may say he is standing up for his friend, but I would suggest a true friend of Mahaney’s would advise him to resign from the ministry. My guess is Holland has a burning desire to become one of the big name celebrities – you can detect it in his tweets and the conferences he organizes and speaks at. Being a friend of Mahaney’s used to propel one to celebrity status on the conference circuit. Not anymore. Mahaney is damaged goods. It seems nobody has gotten the word out to Rick Holland though, and he apparently is not bright enough to figure it out. Celebrities like Mark Dever, Al Mohler, John Piper and John MacArthur all used to be vocal supporters of Mahaney, but even though they have never retracted their endorsements of the man, they seem to be doing all they can to distance themselves from him, at least publicly.
Back in June of 2014 Mahaney spoke at a conference organized by Rick Holland. I, along with numerous others, wrote the conference organizers urging them not to have Mahaney as one of the speakers. Below is my email. I never received a response or even an acknowledgment of receipt. As a matter of fact I have a friend, Steve, who managed to have a phone conversation with Holland prior to the Anchored Conference. He attempted to dissuade Holland from having Mahaney as a speaker. He was obviously unsuccessful. During the course of the conversation Holland told Steve he had never received an email from me, so Steve forwarded him a copy.
Dear Anchored Conference Organizers,I write to you in hopes that you will reconsider having C.J. Mahaney speak at your conference in June. The man has blackmailed the co-founder of his organization and covered up sexual abuse in his church. That he is still in the pulpit is a travesty, that he is allowed to speak at conferences even worse.Thank you for considering my request.
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” -Proverbs 31:8-9 NLT
“Despite what Baptist leaders may say publicly about “precious children,” when they leave predators in their pulpits and do nothing to help clergy victims, the message they send is the “you don’t matter” message. It is a terribly hateful lesson for religious leaders to teach and it betrays the very faith they purport to profess. If I had fully believed the lesson that Baptist leaders taught, I would surely be dead by now. But I was graced to have other people in my life – people who worked hard to counter Baptist teachings and to constantly remind me that my life mattered. Thank God for non-Baptists and non-believers.”…Besides, to the extent I feel something akin to a “calling,” it is a calling that comes with the mere fact of being human. It is a calling that comes with being a mother. In fact, it is a calling that sounds for every mother, every parent, and every adult. We are all called upon to protect the young, and I will never understand how so many Baptist leaders can close their ears to that calling.”
-Christa Brown, “This Little Light: Beyond A Baptist Preacher Predator and His Gang,” pages 218-21
It came as no surprise that Mahaney was kept as a speaker at Holland’s conference. Listen to this glowing report of Mahaney by Holland in a promo for the conference:
Here are the opening comments from Mahaney at his speech at the Anchored Conference. A master at flattery, as I have documented elsewhere, Mahaney is in fine form:
Fast forward nine months and Rick Holland is letting the world know, via his social media accounts, that he will be a featured speaker at one of the seemingly endless conferences sponsored by the gospel glitterati, this one to be held at Boyce College, the college closely tied to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Holland seems proud, I guess justifiably, that he will be sharing the stage with Al Mohler.
Holland appears to have the proper pedigree to successfully climb the gospel glitterati celebrity ladder. He has graduated from both the Master’s Seminary and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His oldest son is attending Boyce College and he pastors a growing church in Kansas.
Mahaney seems to keep abreast of all the men of God who make their way to Louisville for various functions at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He does his best to persuade these men to make a side trip to his small church plant while in town. I can understand that as one of five pastors for a congregation of about 80 a guy can get worn out attempting to keep up with all the work, so roping a guest speaker to address your church on Sunday morning provides a much needed respite from the weekly grind of preparing a sermon.
So on March 15, 2015 Rick Holland, in spite of overwhelming evidence that his friend C.J. Mahaney has covered up sexual abuse in his denomination and blackmailed the co-founder of the ministry, chose to speak at Mahaney’s church. By doing so he sent a message loud and clear to victims of sexual abuse in SGM that they don’t matter. A twisted friendship with a pastor unworthy to be in the pulpit trumps any concern for the beaten, battered, bleating sheep who suffered so greatly in SGM under the leadership of C.J. Mahaney. Good luck to you Mr. Holland on your climb to celebrity status. Don’t think twice about those you are stepping on as you climb to the top.
Since Rick Holland spoke at Mahaney’s church Brent Detwiler has revealed further outrageous activity by C.J. Mahaney and his fellow leaders in SGM. They actually paid hush money to a pastor whose son was sexually abused by the son of another pastor. All involved were SGM members. The money was paid to keep the father of the abused boy from joining the class action lawsuit against SGM. Read the complete story here.
Yes sir, Mr. Holland. That rascally C.J. Mahaney is a real beacon of integrity! Oh, and in case you are wondering if Mahaney really did not know anything, let me present a few items from individuals who actually do have integrity.
As you can see below Covenant Life Church is planning on a Harris worship service on May 17th. One can only hope it will not be quite as repulsive as the C.J. Mahaney worship service on the occasion of Mahaney’s 25 years of leadership in Sovereign Grace Ministries.
The burning question is whether C.J. Mahaney and his side-kick, Bob Kauflin, fellow co-conspirators in the sexual abuse cover-up in the SGM denomination, will make an appearance at the Harris worship service. It wouldn’t take a whole lot of work for Kauflin to rework his worship song of Mahaney into something appropriate for the Harris love-fest!
The purpose of this blog post is to encourage you to submit your own thank you to Covenant Life Church for the Harris worship service. It would be nice if some of the victims of sexual abuse from the Sovereign Grace scandal could submit an entry.
Here is an email I submitted, along with the video I made. I feel fairly certain it will be one of the videos they show on May 17th. -Not!
Former member of Sovereign Grace Church, Gilbert, AZ
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” -Proverbs 31:8-9 NLT
“Despite what Baptist leaders may say publicly about “precious children,” when they leave predators in their pulpits and do nothing to help clergy victims, the message they send is the “you don’t matter” message. It is a terribly hateful lesson for religious leaders to teach and it betrays the very faith they purport to profess. If I had fully believed the lesson that Baptist leaders taught, I would surely be dead by now. But I was graced to have other people in my life – people who worked hard to counter Baptist teachings and to constantly remind me that my life mattered. Thank God for non-Baptists and non-believers.”…Besides, to the extent I feel something akin to a “calling,” it is a calling that comes with the mere fact of being human. It is a calling that comes with being a mother. In fact, it is a calling that sounds for every mother, every parent, and every adult. We are all called upon to protect the young, and I will never understand how so many Baptist leaders can close their ears to that calling.” -Christa Brown, “This Little Light: Beyond A Baptist Preacher Predator and His Gang,” pages 218-21
Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glenn Mills, PA. Covenant Fellowship Church (CFC) is arguably now the flagship church in the Sovereign Grace denomination since Covenant Life Church (CLC) of Gaithersburg, MD has withdrawn.
Machowski has recently authored an article, published on the Sovereign Grace Ministries web page, on educating childcare workers, and indeed the membership at large, how to recognize sexual predators.
It is welcome news that CFC and Sovereign Grace Ministries have enlisted the help of the professionals of Ministry Safe. The legal team of Ministry Safe, Gregory Love and Kimberlee Norris, appear to be highly qualified to conduct training on how to recognize sexual predators.
One might legitimately wonder what the driving force to obtain this training for CFC was. (And no matter the reason, I believe it is commendable to receive the training.) Is this an admission of failure by the Sovereign Grace denominational churches to, in the past, adequately protect their children from sexual predators? Or would the Sovereign Grace leadership claim this has nothing to do with their abject failure in this matter in the past, claiming that in today’s society it is wise for churches to conduct this training? I believe both to be the case, but wonder if Sovereign Grace leaders would admit to the first?
One might also question the wisdom of Sovereign Grace Ministries decision to choose Marty Machowski to be the point man on this drive to educate church members on how to recognize sexual predators in their midst. You may recall that Brent Detwiler has documented the short-comings of Machowski in this area. You can read Detwiler’s excellent article, titled “Sex Abuse Victim Asserts Prominent SGM Pastor Marty Machowski “Threw My Children & I to the Wolves” here. One would think you would not need much training to recognize a child predator in your midst when the wife comes to you for help and informs you that her husband has been abusing their children. That might possibly be “a warning sign” Mr. Machowski. But Machowski’s ineptitude apparently qualifies him to be the SGM spokesman on the subject.
Let’s take a look at a few of the email exchanges Brent Detwiler had with this distressed woman:
“Our family is one more Sovereign Grace family in which serious and repeated sexual abuse of our beautiful daughter occurred over the course of about 14 years and with the church’s full knowledge. The abuser was my husband. I only went to the church after years of silence – because our family desperately needed help. The church’s reaction and various responses are hard for me to even grasp. I don’t know if we will ever recover. If you were to read the pastoral records over the past 15 years, detailing the times my daughter and I went to our pastor [Marty Machowski] for help – and the responses our pastor gave us – you would probably be shocked as well. The church forbid my husband to be anywhere near children’s ministry, yet they supported him in his efforts to be around his own children [two of whom he sexually abused], and pressured me to forgive and reconcile with him [just like other victims in SGM]. The message I repeatedly received was the mandate to focus on the sin in my own heart, and forgive my husband. How did our pastor put it… “Reconciliation always honors the Lord.” To which I could only respond, “No, truth is what honors the Lord. Repentance is what honors the Lord.” I have years of emails and letters to document this, as well as pastoral records.”
“I was a committed member of Covenant Fellowship Church for 19 years. I LOVED our church, and focused our entire family life around actively serving the church, raising our children in the church, etc. I believed in Sovereign Grace with my whole heart, and I believed that part of the humility of joining a church is covenanting to submit to leadership that, at times, is imperfect. So I submitted to our pastor [Marty Machowski] and trusted his advice for years. He sure threw my children and I to the wolves. His responses always seemed more like “damage control” to me, than any willingness to hear the truth.” [I’ve read the evidence and agree with her assessment. She and her children were terribly treated.]
“You cannot imagine what I am feeling right now – to discover for the first time that I’m not alone?? [Like so many other victims in SGM who had no idea sexual abuse, and the cover up of sexual abuse, was so widespread.] That there are others who have experienced something similar in a Sovereign Grace Church??? I am not one to jump on a bandwagon. However what has gone on in our church is just plain wrong. And the damage it has done to our family is almost indescribable. We’re still suffering the repercussions of being ostracized from the church – for “resisting efforts to reconcile.”
What has been my response until now? Well, currently, as often as thoughts and memories flash back, I pray for the Lord to HELP me forgive…because I’m willing to forgive. I am also willing, after all these years, to speak up. I’m not out for vengeance. I recognize the evil that has been “winked at” in our own church, the lives that have been destroyed by our church’s actions as well as inactions, and I’m willing to speak up – if it will help others. If there is any sort of class action being taken, I am willing to contribute years of firsthand experiences and documented letters and emails. May God forgive me if it’s wrong to speak the truth in this matter…”
“One brief rabbit trail – Are you familiar with Boz Tchividjian (a grandson of Billy Graham), down in Virginia? He was well known for his work in prosecuting sex offenders as Assistant State Attorney in Florida. He’s presently founder and executive director of GRACE. Anyway, he became involved in our case and offered to talk with our pastors and advise them.
Our pastors turned his offer down. When I asked Marty Machowski how he could turn down an offer to at least communicate with a godly man of Boz’s stature, expertise, and experience, my question met with silence…no response at all. …”
…”Yet, I’m continually amazed when I encounter men who do not appear to be concerned with the truth. I have often observed quietly that the pastors of my former church, Covenant Fellowship, seemed more concerned with “damage control” than with the truth. I never told anyone this before, but in my eyes, it was brutally apparent on numerous occasions.
As I write this, I’m facing renewed pressure from my husband to “reconcile and reunify” (spurred on by Andy Farmer and Marty Machowski). It’s been 8 YEARS since our separation, and about 6 years since I resigned from the church – and the pressure continues. To date, my husband has turned himself inside out to regain his reputation in the eyes of men – and he’s quite smug in his supportive audience of these two pastors. While it’s true that he’s repented of a few general, “peripheral” issues, [he] has yet to repent of the numerous physical and sexual abuse issues that caused me to leave him and leave our church. My lawyer told me recently: “Doesn’t your church get it — that CYS [Child & Youth Services] will take your children away from YOU if you go back to your husband?!??””
“Also, our local county District Attorney’s office has had some run-in’s with Covenant Fellowship pastors in the past over allegations of sexual abuse.
While allegations of this nature are unfortunately commonplace these days, the assistant DA involved expressed his grief over the WAY IN WHICH our church handled the specific situations. In other words, CFC has a history; our family has not been the first nor the last. In our case, the finger-pointing never went back as far as our church…I’m the one who obstructed it and defended our church, believing I was being led by godly men who would do no wrong. I never suspected my pastor [Marty Machowski] would turncoat on the children and me, charging me with “failure to cooperate with reconciliation” of our family and ignoring the facts.”
Here is a comment Brent Detwiler made about Marty Machowski in this article:
“On June 30, 2013, Machowski preached a message entitled, Judas the Betrayer. In an altogether self-righteous manner (listen to the message), he cited Satan as the reason for Dave Harvey’s departure from Covenant Fellowship Church, churches leaving SGM, my blog, and the sex abuse lawsuit against Sovereign Grace Ministries. None of these were due to the sins of SGM leaders, the discipline of God, an effort to see justice and reform in SGM, or the righteous actions of victims seeking redress. They were all the work of the devil.
In fact, Machowski compared these to “the same opposition of the enemy” that Jesus faced when the devil entered Judas Iscariot’s heart (John 13:27). Such is the proud and delusional thinking of Machowski.”
Well perhaps Marty Machowski has seen the error of his ways, asked forgiveness from this woman and numerous others that encountered similar treatment under his pastoral “care” and dedicated his life to now keeping churches safe from sexual predators.
The paragraphs below are not one continuous, flowing thought, but rather are independent thoughts not necessarily related to each other. They were lifted from a lengthy document authored by an influential man.
“Pastoral workers can thus fall into a relativism which, whatever their particular style of spirituality or way of thinking, proves even more dangerous than doctrinal relativism. It has to do with the deepest and inmost decisions that shape their way of life. This practical relativism consists in acting as if God did not exist, making decisions as if the poor did not exist, setting goals as if others did not exist, working as if people who have not received the Gospel did not exist. It is striking that even some who clearly have solid doctrinal and spiritual convictions frequently fall into a lifestyle which leads to an attachment to financial security, or to a desire for power or human glory at all cost, rather than giving their lives to others in mission. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary enthusiasm!”
“Spiritual worldliness, which hides behind the appearance of piety and even love for the Church, consists in seeking not the Lord’s glory but human glory and personal well-being. It is what the Lord reprimanded the Pharisees for: “How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (Jn 5:44). It is a subtle way of seeking one’s “own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (Phil 2:21). It takes on many forms, depending on the kinds of persons and groups into which it seeps. Since it is based on carefully cultivated appearances, it is not always linked to outward sin; from without, everything appears as it should be. But if it were to seep into the Church, “it would be infinitely more disastrous than any other worldliness which is simply moral””
“A supposed soundness of doctrine or discipline leads instead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism, whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyzes and classifies others, and instead of opening the door to grace, one exhausts his or her energies in inspecting and verifying. In neither case is one really concerned about Jesus Christ or others. These are manifestations of an anthropocentric immanentism. It is impossible to think that a genuine evangelizing thrust could emerge from these adulterated forms of Christianity.”
“Their hearts are open only to the limited horizon of their own immanence and interests, and as a consequence they neither learn from their sins nor are they genuinely open to forgiveness. This is a tremendous corruption disguised as a good. We need to avoid it by making the Church constantly go out from herself, keeping her mission focused on Jesus Christ, and her commitment to the poor. God save us from a worldly Church with superficial spiritual and pastoral trappings! This stifling worldliness can only be healed by breathing in the pure air of the Holy Spirit who frees us from self-centredness cloaked in an outward religiosity bereft of God. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the Gospel!”
“Spiritual worldliness leads some Christians to war with other Christians who stand in the way of their quest for power, prestige, pleasure and economic security. Some are even no longer content to live as part of the greater Church community but stoke a spirit of exclusivity, creating an “inner circle”. Instead of belonging to the whole Church in all its rich variety, they belong to this or that group which thinks itself different or special.”
““Let us not grow weary in doing what is right” (Gal6:9). We all have our likes and dislikes, and perhaps at this very moment we are angry with someone. At least let us say to the Lord: “Lord, I am angry with this person, with that person. I pray to you for him and for her”. To pray for a person with whom I am irritated is a beautiful step forward in love, and an act of evangelization. Let us do it today! Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the ideal of fraternal love!”
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION EVANGELII GAUDIUM OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY,
CONSECRATED PERSONS
AND THE LAY FAITHFUL
ON THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL
IN TODAY’S WORLD
I assume all who are reading this have heard of the sexual abuse of children scandal which has rocked the Roman Catholic Church. Not as widely known is the sexual abuse scandal which has rocked the Sovereign Grace Ministries denomination. Some have called it the largest sexual abuse scandal to hit Evangelical Christianity.
There are many similarities between the scandals. While the actual abuse of children seems to have been perpetrated by the clergy, the top dogs in both organizations do not seem to have participated themselves, but instead are guilty of attempting to cover-up the abuse.
The Roman Catholic Church finally has a Pope in charge who seems to be serious about ridding his church of sexual predators.
The Evangelical Church has not reached this point. Sexual predators and those leaders who cover-up the abuse are generally given a pass. This is true not only in the Sovereign Grace denomination, but also in the Baptist denomination.
One problem with Sovereign Grace Ministries is that C.J. Mahaney was the head of the denomination, the “Pope” if you will, so there is really nobody that could force him to resign; indeed anyone in the denomination’s leadership bold enough to confront Mahaney soon found himself looking for new employment.
It is encouraging to hear that the Roman Catholic Church is now moving aggressively against not only the sexual predators in the clergy, but also against those in top positions who covered up the abuse, thus providing cover for the predators.
“Speaking out on the most important clergy sexual abuse issue in the United States, Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley said the Vatican must do something quickly about Bishop Robert Finn, the Kansas City prelate convicted of failing to report child abuse by one of his priests.
Finn, convicted two years ago, was sentenced to two years of probation for waiting six months before telling police that diocesan officials had found pornographic images of young girls on the computer of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, one of his parish priests.” -Crux, November 14, 2014
Ratigan pleaded guilty to child pornography charges and was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison; Finn has remained the bishop of the diocese.
“A Jackson County circuit judge in 2012 convicted Finn of a misdemeanor of failing to report suspected child abuse until months after church leaders and employees learned of photographs of young girls on a priest’s computer. The charges were expunged from Finn’s record after he completed a two-year probation period without incident.
The priest in question, Shawn Ratigan, pleaded guilty to producing child pornography. Ratigan was expelled from the priesthood and sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Finn, 62, resigned April 21, 2015 for reasons unspecified by him and the Vatican. Pope Francis accepted the resignation several days after Finn visited Rome.” The Kansas City Star, April 27, 2015
Sovereign Grace Ministries has experienced a similar situation. Nathaniel Morales was convicted of sexually abusing boys and sentenced to 40 years in prison. During the Morales trial Grant Layman, one of the pastors and brother in-law of C.J. Mahaney testified that church leadership knew of the abuse but chose not to alert law enforcement officials.
Unlike Bishop Finn, C.J. Mahaney has not been convicted of failing to report suspected child abuse. It is actually unclear whether Mahaney, as a member of the clergy, actually broke the law in Maryland by failing to report the known abuse. I have heard that there is an ongoing criminal investigation, so some in Sovereign Grace Ministries may yet face prosecution. Even though Mahaney has not been convicted, it is evident he has covered up abuse in his denomination. Al Mohler, Mahaney’s good friend, had this to say about the sexual abuse scandal that hit the Penn State football program:
“When the facts became known, the firings of both Paterno and Spanier were inevitable and necessary. Both men had credible knowledge that young boys were being sexually abused, and neither did anything effective to stop it. Most crucially, neither man did what they should have done within minutes of hearing the first report — contact law enforcement immediately….
What about churches, Christian institutions and Christian schools? The Penn State disaster must serve as a warning to us as well, for we bear an even higher moral responsibility.
The moral and legal responsibility of every Christian — and especially every Christian leader and minister — must be to report any suspicion of the abuse of a child to law enforcement authorities. Christians are sometimes reluctant to do this, but this reluctance is both deadly and wrong.
A Christian hearing a report of sexual abuse within a church, Christian organization or Christian school, needs to act in exactly the same manner called for if the abuse is reported in any other context. The church and Christian organizations must not become safe places for abusers. These must be safe places for children, and for all. Any report of sexual abuse must lead immediately to action. That action cannot fall short of contacting law enforcement authorities. A clear lesson of the Penn State scandal is this: Internal reporting is simply not enough.
After law enforcement authorities have been notified, the church must conduct its own work of pastoral ministry, care, and church discipline. This is the church’s responsibility and charge. But these essential Christian ministries and responsibilities are not substitutes for the proper function of law enforcement authorities and the legal system. As Christians, we respect those authorities because we are commanded to do so.“
-Albert Mohler, President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary | Thursday, November 10, 2011, Christian Headlines
It would appear that there is nobody within the Sovereign Grace Ministries denomination with sufficient gravitas to call on C.J. Mahaney to resign from the ministry. The only real hope for this to happen lies with the powerful, influential celebrity pastors who are good friends with Mahaney and, sadly for American Evangelicalism and the cause of Christ, none of these men seem inclined to confront their good friend. To date the exact opposite has taken place. Many of the men have offered statements of support for Mahaney, accepted invitations to speak at Mahaney’s church and spoken with Mahaney at conferences.
So what are the chances that one of these influential leaders will make the case to C.J. Mahaney that he needs to resign from the ministry? Don’t make me laugh!
*Albert Mohler’s endorsement of C.J. Mahaney:
“I always have had only the highest estimation of C.J. Mahaney as a man and a minister,” Mohler said in an interview — his first public comments on the situation involving Mahaney, one of his fellow leaders in the Reformed, neo-Calvinist movement. “That continues absolutely unchanged. There is nothing in this current situation which would leave me to have even the slightest pause of confidence in him.”
Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, has worked closely with Mahaney for years as leaders of a revival of teaching on Calvinist theology, male authority and church discipline among some conservative evangelicals.
Mohler said he believes Mahaney and the Sovereign Grace board are being prudent in planning an independent investigation from people outside the denomination to make sure those involved are above reproach.
But Mohler has already drawn his own conclusions.
He based that on hundreds of pages leaked to the Internet last week, detailing correspondence between Mahaney, his main accuser and former colleague, Brent Detwiler, and other Sovereign Grace leaders.
“There is nothing disqualifying in terms of anything that is disclosed in this,” said Mohler, who regularly speaks on programs along with Mahaney. “It’s just evidence we knew all along, that C.J. is human but a deeply committed Christian and a visionary Christian leader.”
Additional information may be found at the links below:
“One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.” -Chinua Achebe Jon Payne, pastor of a Sovereign Grace Church called “Redemption Hill Church” has stated that one of the benefits of their partnership with Sovereign Grace Ministries is having John Loftness encourage the people of Redemption Hill Church. John Loftness …
“The moment you say that any idea system is sacred, whether it’s a religious belief system or a secular ideology, the moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought... Read more
Chris Oswald pastor at CrossHaven Church in Belleville, IL (a city located across the Mississippi River from St. Louis) has great news for his congregation, they have joined the Sovereign Grace denomination! Mark Prater, Executive Director for Sovereign Grace Ministries, had... Read more
Is Josh Harris Getting in Touch With His Feminine Side? Guest Post by Janna Chan Thanks to Todd Wilhelm for letting me write a guest post. Why is “Complementarian” Josh Harris Comparing Himself to a 14-year-old girl? Josh Harris is... Read more
Tweet“I think Jesus taught us that we have a Father who loves us more than we know, and if we could sort that out we would know how to treat each other.” Jacobsen, Wayne (2014-10-13). Finding Church: What If There... Read more
After 11 years of leading Covenant Life Church Joshua Harris preached his last sermon on April 12, 2015. His stated purpose for resigning is to pursue higher education. Time will tell whether some additional motivations may be revealed. Arguably his crowning... Read more
Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glenn Mills, PA. Covenant Fellowship Church (CFC) is arguably now the flagship church in the Sovereign Grace denomination since Covenant Life Church (CLC) of Gaithersburg, MD has withdrawn.... Read more
On a recent “Mortification of Spin” podcast Carl Truman had an excellent critique of Christian books and publishers. Related Posts Bad News for C.J. Mahaney – Joshua Harris is Coming Clean! 2015-01-31 06:09:45 notadminjanna 18 What Books... Read more
Almost 2 years have passed since I resigned my membership at UCCD (United Christian Church of Dubai) over issues of conscience. I was opposed to the promotion (on occasion from the pulpit) and sales of books authored by C.J. Mahaney due to his involvement in covering up and enabling the sexual abuse of children in the Sovereign Grace churches.
