An epidemic of sexual abuse involving evangelical church leaders is affecting victims across the country. Worse, churches have covered up the abuse far too often.
While the evangelical church is not a monolith and not all churches should be blamed for the failures of some, there is a pattern of abuse in a number of churches that goes back years, even decades.
I am an evangelical who has attended evangelical churches all my life. Before evangelical leaders say a word about the upcoming election, abortion policies or drag queens, they should look at why and how this is happening – for the sake of the victims and for the health of the church.
Robert Morris resigns amid abuse allegations
The latest example involves Robert Morris, the lead pastor of Dallas-based Gateway Church, one of the nation’s largest congregations. Morris, who resigned Tuesday amid abuse allegations, admitted that he “engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a young lady” decades ago.
Cindy Clemishire told a website that exposes sexual abuse in churches that she was 12 years old and Morris was 21 when the pastor began sexually abusing her. Clemishire, who is now 54, says the abuse lasted almost five years.
Two weeks ago, Gateway’s board of elders sent a memo to church staff, which was later posted on ”
However, in a statement released Tuesday, the elders backtracked, saying that “we regret that we did not have the information we have now.” Morris, a former spiritual adviser to former President Donald Trump, resigned from the church that same day.
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Abuse and cover-ups are widespread in evangelical churches
Morris is just one example in a litany of similar behavior that is all too prevalent in evangelical churches. Evangelicals make up about 25% of the U.S. population and include Baptists, Lutherans, and members of other Protestant denominations.
Some of the larger evangelical congregations are non-denominational, meaning they operate outside the authority and responsibility of a larger organization.
And while it is unfair to tarnish all churches because of the crimes of one megachurch pastor, there is a clear pattern of abusive and sometimes criminal behavior among pastors and other leaders in a growing list of evangelical congregations.
In February, Aaron Ivey, a worship pastor at Austin Stone Community Church, an evangelical congregation in Austin, Texas, was fired over explicit text messages sent to at least one underage male. Church leadership said in a statement that Ivey engaged in “predatory manipulation, sexual exploitation and abuse of influence” with adult men and a minor male.
In May, a victim spoke out, saying he was 15 when Ivey groomed and then molested him. Ivey co-authored a book about marriage with his wife.
In 2018, several women accused Bill Hybels, former lead pastor of Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago, of sexually harassing them. According to ChurchLeaders.com, the megachurch has seen its weekly attendance drop from a once 25,000 to under 18,000.
The podcast “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” details the bullying and verbally abusive behavior of then-pastor Mark Driscoll, whose church had nearly 15,000 attendees at its peak. He is now a pastor at a church in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Then there is the long-standing abuse that occurred within the Southern Baptist Convention, the second largest faith group in the United States. The SBC says its denomination has about 47,000 affiliated churches, with about 13 million members.
In 2019, the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News published an investigation that found there was an epidemic of SBC leaders committing and covering up sexual abuse. In 2022, a third-party report from Guidepost Solutions found that SBC leaders ignored or held back abuse survivors while simultaneously maintaining a list of accused abusers, which numbered 703 at the time.
According to the Guidepost report: “For nearly two decades, abuse survivors and other concerned Southern Baptists have contacted the (SBC’s leadership committee) to report child molesters and other abusers who were in the pulpit or worked as church staff. They made phone calls, posted letters, sent emails, appeared at SBC and (leadership) meetings, held rallies, and contacted the press… only to be met time and time again with resistance, opposition, and even outright hostility. ‘
When will evangelical churches take responsibility?
In the United States, less than 1 in 3 sexual assaults are reported. Child sexual abuse is also vastly underreported, according to the National Center for Victims of Crime. So it is reasonable to conclude that abuse in our churches is much more common than we know.
Abuse within a faith environment is particularly horrific. People flock to an evangelical church for a variety of reasons, such as needing support when they are going through a difficult time, desiring emotional or spiritual healing, or at the invitation of friends or family. They trust that the evangelical church community, including pastors and other leaders, will be kind, trustworthy, and respectful, just like the Jesus Christ the church claims to follow.
Abuse, especially child sexual abuse, destroys that inherent trust. And as the Catholic Church has experienced, abuse by a trusted faith leader is incredibly damaging – emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
As with the abuse that occurs in all kinds of situations—whether at work, in an intimate partner relationship, or with a trusted pastor—the issue is not whether or not a woman (or man) cares. asked’, ‘agreed’. or was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sexual abuse is not a relationship problem, it is an abuse problem. It is not random, or based on ‘passion’; it is often calculated, occurs through deliberate grooming, and requires significant manipulation and deception. It comes from the abusive power dynamics and the abuser’s belief that he is entitled to it.
It is particularly horrifying that leaders of evangelical churches are speaking out about abortion policy, elections, and the LGBTQ+ community while their congregations struggle with abuse. How can evangelical churches condemn drag queens when some of those churches are led by pastors who sexually abused children?
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This kind of hypocrisy, among other things, contributes to why so many younger people have walked away from faith communities or refused to join them.
No man is sinless. Everyone struggles sometimes to do the right thing. Neither Jesus Christ nor the Christian faith demands perfection or a sinless life. That would be impossible. Forgiveness and restoration are a tenet of Christianity and Christ’s message to the world.
But child sexual abuse is a crime and should permanently disqualify someone from leading a church. It’s that simple. When will evangelical churches stop hiding their leaders and do right by their victims?
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist at USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four children. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it in your inbox.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How common is sexual abuse in the church? Evangelicals must face the truth
