"In late 2012, a lawsuit in Montgomery County, Maryland was brought against Sovereign Grace Ministries for a conspiracy to cover-up child sex abuse. Steve Witt's father had been influential in Larry Tomczaks salvation and transfer from Cleveland to DC area. The Sex-Abuse Scandal That Devastated a Suburban Megachurch Inside the rise and fall of Sovereign Grace Ministries. She did. Out of all the cases I have worked on, she says, this one is the toughest.. A Washington-based contributor to the New Republic, National Journal, and The Daily Beast, Tiffany Stanley has a masters in divinity from Harvard. It was 2011, five years after her family had left Covenant Life Church. Former church official Brent Detwiler, however, believes Mahaney knew more than hell ever let on. Mahaney reinstated at Sovereign Grace", "Controversial church with Southern Baptist ties moves headquarters to Louisville", "Sovereign Grace Ministries Relocating Headquarters to Kentucky", "Maryland megachurch secedes from Sovereign grace ministries", "Flagship Church Votes to Leave C.J. North Coast thrived and grew until its ultimate demise decades later. Mahaney pulls out of Louisville pastors conference", "Sovereign Grace Ministries, riven by conflict, seeks to change", "The Sex-Abuse Scandal That Devastated a Suburban Megachurch - Washingtonian", Mark Altrogger and Sovereign Grace Church of Indiana, PA Leave SGM, "Gospel Bluesman Offers God's Love in Sin City", "A letter from Larry Tomczak on his reconciliation with C.J. How would he not have woken her up? 3) Online forums ripped us to shreds. [63], 3. According to an audio recording of the meeting, senior pastor Mark Mullery blamed the churchs model of reconciliation. [39], Sovereign Grace Churches was known as "People of Destiny International" until 1998. This resulted in the victims family being corrected when they should have been gently cared for as sufferers, he said. Predictably, the judge questioned her very legitimacy as a plaintiff. [65], In a different case in 2014, Nathaniel Morales, a youth mentor at Covenant Life Church, who "led youth bible studies, directed worship teams, and even attended sleepovers,"[66] was convicted of abusing four boys between 1983 and 1991. SGM cared more about protecting its financial and institutional standing, the suit claimed, than about protecting children, its most vulnerable members.. In 2012 Mahaney and Sovereign Grace Churches relocated from Maryland to Kentucky, in part to strengthen ties with Southern Seminary. HB 642, the first bill of its kind to be supported by the Catholic Church in Maryland, extended the statute of limitations to 20 years after the age of majority, but makes it much more difficult to implicate a church or civic organization in a child sex abuse civil suit after the plaintiff turns 25. At the meeting, the parents recall, one of the pastors paraphrased the Bible, telling them, You shouldnt bring a Christian to court. The church leaders, they say, wanted to mediate. Take a look around and get a feel for our church, and if you are in the area on Sunday, drop on in. These confrontations often happened during small-group meetingscare groups, in church parlance. She went on, I wanted everyone to know that the serious effects of any sexual molestation at any age are devastating to the victim and their family for many years. On March 8, 2016, two individuals testified before the Maryland State Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee regarding the Sovereign Grace Ministries lawsuit. Eventually, a pastor from the ministrys flagship in Gaithersburg was consulted and another meeting called. "[30][31], Early in 2012, Sovereign Grace Ministries announced their intention to relocate their headquarters from Gaithersburg, Maryland to Louisville, Kentucky, citing Louisville's lower cost of living as well as the growing connection with the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in town. Entrusting their kids with fellow congregants was typical for Kate and Edward (his middle name). She was pregnant with the couples ninth childhow would she support them all? Multiple people have accused Sovereign Grace Churches (SGC) of covering up sexual abuse, and other reports indicate that the church's culture discourages people from reporting it. Chad was ordained as a pastor in 2021. This time, with Rose having a history of self-mutilation and having undergone a psychiatric hospitalization, Sarah and Richard went to the police. Until youve experienced your life ripped open by false accusations, please consider that what happened to us can happen to anyone. SGC Fairfax executive pastor Vince Hinders denied the allegation in an e-mail, adding: We want you to know that we never covered up or tried to cover up child abuse of any kind in our church. Don Nalle, a spokesman for CLC, said by e-mail: Our heart and practice is to comfort and protect those who have experienced abuse or neglect, including victims of sexual abuse. 1. They should also call a lawyer, preferably one with ethics grounded in Scripture, for legal advice. No fancy lawyers to get anybody off the hook, he quipped, to laughs. While the public focus was mostly on Mahaney, the Survivors blog had become a place where other families, compelled by Kates missive, were speaking out about sex abuse. The original apostolic team comprised Mahaney, Tomczak, Detweiler and Bill Galbraith. In the days and months to come, two of her sons would make a terrible disclosure to her: Theyd allege it had happened to them, too. Even for adults, questioning leaders was not always toleratedit meant you werent willing to submit to spiritual authority. As Baptist News explains, "The dismissed lawsuit claimed that Mahaney's church and another congregation aligned with Sovereign Grace Ministries (now Sovereign Grace Churches) routinely discouraged victims of child sexual abuse from calling the police so elders could deal with the allegations . [28][vague], In the summer of 2009, Detweiler, who had left the SGM board in 2009, released a series of documents detailing numerous grievances with Mahaney, including concerns about Mahaney's leadership style. It doesnt just go away after forgiving!. Distraught, Jacobs mother confessed her sons sin to church pastors, and they arranged a meeting so she could admit the wrongdoing to Kate and Edward and request their forgiveness. Harris explained that he had come to see flaws in that system. According to Kate, the Fairfax pastors reminded her that everyone was a sinnerJacob had done wrong, but so had Kate and Edward by not letting go of their bitterness. Then one day in December 2008, it all came back when an old friend from church told her about the year-old blog SGM Survivors. When Kate first raised alarms about abuse, Mahaney was already fueling a slow burn inside his ministry. In 2012, he moved the organization with him to Kentucky, where he started a new congregation, Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. To date the police have filed no charges against anyone in that case. In fact, the sexual abuse might have been dismissed by all but the families who survived it, but Mahaneys downfall brought attention to the ministrys secrets. As of now, the families are in limbo. Over the next 40 years, he expanded it from a hippie congregation into an evangelical empire. None notified the police. The familys son Taylor, too, is healing: Joining the original lawsuit persuaded him to go to therapy with his wife, and theyre working through how the ordeal affects their intimacy and marriage. For more than 40 years, Sovereign Grace Ministries was a haven for evangelical Christians from around the D.C. metro region. Mahaney announced "that he would step down as president of SGM's beleaguered network of churches. They stay one year and returned to DC leaving behind a team to monitor and build North Coast Church. Ennis said, during her Senate Committee testimony, that she was in favor of extending the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse, but that the proposed 2016 bill, SB 69, did not have "enough teeth" to prevent lawsuits based on false accusations against individuals or organizations. I share this with my heart breaking, Pam wrote on the SGM Survivors blog. With David on banjo, the group plays at festivals, restaurants, and church events around Washington. Mahaney himself still headlines conferences that help promote the movement. In Gaithersburg and Fairfax, the aisles are a lot emptier than they once were. Like the Catholic Church before them, Protestant ministries are increasingly having to confront sex-abuse scandals that get aired in public. Ennis testified that regarding the three plaintiffs alleging charges of multiple cases of child sex abuse and rape at the church school, "Not one of those plaintiffs has filed criminal charges even though there is no criminal statute of limitations in Maryland. Kauflin employs many other songwriters and pastors . At Sovereign Grace Church, we exist to spread the joy of Jesus in Orange and beyond. Young Christian men around the country began flocking to Gaithersburg for mentoring. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone, the verse reads. It took me a while to get onboard, he recalls. There were three plaintiffs initially, but it wasnt long before others came forward. Hurricane Road Grace Church | Ashland KY Ennis went on to testify that an "extensive and undoubtedly expensive" investigation was conducted by the Montgomery County Police Department but no charges were ever filed. An investigation commissioned by CLC revealed that between 1990 and 2007 at least five members of the churchs staff were told of Moraless abuse. The men and their families had kept the abuse a secret from many for yearsbut not from pastors, according to court testimony. Larry Tomczak, an associate pastor at Bethel World Outreach Church in Davidson County near Brentwood, Tenn., was named in a Maryland lawsuit filed against leaders of Sovereign Grace. It was as if Mahaney, now 62, had recreated an earlier time in his ministryonce again assembling a new, makeshift church, an audience full of idealistic young families. [61] As of January 2018, two years later, no such lawsuit has been filed. [45], Sovereign Grace Churches also operates Sovereign Grace Music, based in Louisville, Kentucky, where contemporary worship albums have been released every few years since the 1980s. Kates husband felt like as a family we needed peace, she says. They turn on him and they attack him and its relentless, he said in a near whisper, hunched over the podium. An internet lynch mob can go on forever, but the law should protect innocent people from legal charges they cant defend, like those from the distant past. When Kate typed her familys 9,000-word saga into the comments section, that changed. Mahaney as President", "C.J. But for the purposes of their class-action lawsuitand for demonstrating that SGM as an institution had failed its membersit wasnt that simple. SGM, with little experience in crisis management, found its reputation erodinga situation that only worsened after the bombshell announcement that Montgomery County prosecutors had indicted a 55-year-old man named Nathaniel Morales on child-sex-abuse charges in December of 2012. The ministers issued a blanket apology for not being more supportive, but it was too late. Instead of calling the police, the family pursued reconciliation with the abuser. The Washingtonian/February 14, 2016 By Tiffany Stanley Pam Palmer was at a barbecue when she heard the news. Mahaney, a shaggy-haired hippie from Takoma Park who was getting stoned when he was reborn as a Christian, had just joined the Jesus movement and wandered into a weeknight prayer meeting, full of raised hands and speaking in tongues. By 2002, Covenant Life Church occupied a sprawling complex on Muncaster Mill Road with stadium seating for thousands. [19] In the mid-1990s, while Tomczak was still involved in the group's leadership, religious anthropologist Dr. Karla Poewe wrote that "Vineyard is particularly attractive to the young and intellectual People of Destiny serves a Catholic constituency" although participants at that time would not agree with this assessment,[20] contrasting PDI with the Vineyard Church. there are singular grace and beauty in the Christian tale, teaching, as it does, such a glorious doctrine; but it is . Pam researched the sexual-misconduct policies in place at other churches. Prior to 2002 it was known as PDI International and before that, People of Destiny. In 1982, shortly after planting a church in Cleveland, Mahaney, Tomczak and Detweiler formed People of Destiny International as an umbrella organization for their various ministries. from Southern Seminary in 2016. A leading Southern Baptist figure on Thursday apologized for supporting a religious leader who was accused of helping conceal sexual abuses at his former church, and for making a joke that he. Before long, they were holding Sunday services, too, forming what would become Covenant Life Church. (Ennis testified that in addition to her personal involvement with the Palmer situation she had a professional background as a Research Manager for a news organization). [13] Mahaney describes himself as a "former pothead. This Catholic commentary on the New Testament, following the Douay-Rheims Bible text, was originally compiled by Catholic priest and biblical scholar Rev. Peggy wanted a divorce, but she says the pastors at CLC in Gaithersburg, to whom shed dutifully reported Davids transgressions, discouraged it. We were proud, Mullery went on, his voice breaking. created insular communities led by a patriarchal hierarchy. Hillsong, Once a Leader of Christian Cool, Loses Footing in America. The Church is located at 7505 Muncaster Mill Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20877, and at 2002 Fandango Court, Louisville, KY 40245. They were also friendly with Maranatha Campus Ministries for a period.[17]. It was not unusual for families to put up unwed church members in their basements and spare rooms. Hurricane Road Grace Church a sovereign grace church meeting at 3706 Hurricane Road, Ashland, KY,. Among them was Joshua Harris, scion of an influential homeschooling family and newly minted author ofI Kissed Dating Goodbye,an abstinence-until-marriage manifesto he wrote at age 21 that today is an evangelical cult classic. Mahaney, one of the church's founders, was one of the church leaders cited in a 2012 lawsuit as allegedly covering up sexual abuse for years. Since the scandal, more than 30 churches have left the denominationincluding Covenant Life and SGC Fairfax.