41 Responses

1. Bob Hamp, with this article, has done much good for the cause of Christ and His church. Thank you.

   1. I 100,000 percent agree with the author. As a former pastor who has spent 30 years as a Licensed Professional Counselor I find it maddening that the church which should be the safest place in the world for the weakest among us, is frequently a haven for abusers instead. Hopefully, the church is finally having a me too moment.

2. Amen! This was incredibly well written. I too am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and I would add to when abuse happens to couples in your church. The leaders of the church mishandle the abuse and then abuse the victim again by not accurately handling the situation. I loved your line about consulting therapists instead of attorneys. Same thing when there are marital or relationship problems among members in your church. The church can cause long-term damage to victims and their view of God.

   1. My sad experience, Kimberly, is that licensed therapists collude with the male abuser, creating a nightmarish, triangulating multiplied abuse GROUP that terrorizes the victim. The ONLY people to reach out to for real counsel are those people who work in battered women shelters. Now, there are videos online and books written about the mind-shattering covert abuse that almost 100% of churches aid and abet in “couples counseling.”

      1. I experienced this for myself, Susan. After years of trying to come to grips with my father who was a pastor abandoning us for a new relationship, I experienced assault from my then fiancé. I was trying to get back into church after having been abandoned by my father AND by the congregation he preached for when they turned their backs on my mother and us kids when this happened. I found a Christian, female counselor to go to and she blamed me for what happened. Needless to say, it took many more years of healing to come to terms with everything. I was so hurt by the church, I claimed atheism for a very long time and as a PK who cried out to Yeshua every day, my entire life to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have the deepest connection I could with the Lord, it ruined my life. Spirit never abandoned me and it’s taken decades, but I’ve continually done the work to overcome and I did it ALL with Spirit, and Spirit alone. Even after all of it, I’ve tried finding a church home where I could worship and commune and every single one has had a pit of vipers in their leadership. The SBC will be judged.

      2. There are two issues I have with this article. You are touching upon the first. The first is that this man who wrote this article criticizes the online arguments that happen whenever anything like this comes to light. The author loudly proclaims that these arguments are useless, and the problem is that a basically good institution needs reform. It has to be basically good because he once gave years of his own life and a large sum of Mammon to support it. Yet this argument is flawed according to Jesus Christ. King Jesus praises the prophets of old. Those prophets went out on the streets and had these very kind of conversations with common people telling them as the greatest human prophet did, “John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” John did not go into the temple and preach to the priests. The institution was NOT in need of reform but the common people who went into the institution.

         There was just as much then as now a highly corrupt religious system. And Jesus primarily did the same. This pissed off the religious elite to a very great extent. So much that they wanted to kill him and eventually did. I completely disagree with the author. The online debate is critical. The emotions are important. A good therapist gets people to work through there emotions and find a practical solution. He does not tell them, “SHUT UP! Your emotions and arguing is the problem.”

3. Yes, we desperately need to have this conversation about a whole host of leaders. Not to mention the underlying systems that allow these abuses to continue if not flourish. Unfortunately, I don’t think these conversations will happen as long as there are “butts in the pews” and “bucks in the plate.”

   1. Yes, let’s be frank. There are people who aspire to have pastoral roles who despite their drive and external talents, in essence, are practical atheist who fall back on cheap grace. To those who bestow pastoral leadership – elders, seminaries, colleges – perhaps the spiritual advice from someone like Thomas A Kempis is in order. “Do not let fine sounding and subtle words of men/people deceive you. For the Kingdom of Heaven consists not in talk but in virtue. Attend rather to Christ’s words which enkindle the heart, enlighten the mind, excite contrition and abound in manifold consolation”.

4. This portion from the above article really stood out to me:
   “So, when someone initiates abusive behavior because of a personality disorder, and maintains a dynamic of coercive control over a victim….disaster follows. This happens not only in that specific situation, but in the culture of that church and the generations that follow.” Fifteen years ago I escaped from a church culture just like this. The leader of my former abusive cultic group, Witness Lee, who was revered as a God by most of the members and could do no wrong, suffered from a personality disorder which compelled him to make his ardent followers adopt his own disordered tastes, mannerisms and paranoid thinking. This resulted in the group becoming a hothouse within which abuse and predatory behavior could flourish. And now, decades after Witness Lee’s passing, the personality disordered culture Lee created is still abusing innocent victims. Their latest Conference messages can be viewed for free at this link until June 26th: https://www.lsmwebcast.com/Conference.cfm But watch the content at your own risk!
   Steve Nelson

5. This article is so well developed and written. Thank you for laying this out so clearly. The scripture says “Judgement begins with the house of God” (1Cor 11:31)– and we need to judge ourselves honestly! Be fruit-inspectors, stop enabling wolves in sheeps clothing.

6. “affair” is also language used to imply blame of both people instead of acknowledging the power dynamics…

   I remember after #metoo & #churchtoo exploded in late 2017 there was a deafening silence from the church (or worse, denial & resistance)… I believe many pastors/leaders hoped that it would blow over with the next news cycle, bc they knew how extensive this problem is in the church… so here we are almost 7 years later & the cesspool continues to be exposed!!

   1. It’s not surprising to me- Christ’s precious Bride has become, in many places, an Old Boys’ Club. They side with, enable , protect and promote each other. The other aspect which REALLY horrifies me, is that their wives collude with their sin and support/defend them (see James MacDonald saga).

7. These types of leaders have got living a double life down to an art. I attended a Christian college where the married leader was exposed for having visited a prostitute on several occasions. He refused any idea of stepping down and getting counseling. He left his denomination. I don’t see any hope of this sort of thing changing unless the church at large get over their hero worship. The men who commit these acts have to know they will never be allowed to preach again, much less make their lavish living off of it. If they are exposed for doing these sorts of things, what does it matter if they get to keep their big bank accounts, lavish lifestyles, get to keep their congregation, who will keep financially supporting them and avoid prison because too much time has passed? People who protect these sort of leaders have to know that if found out, there will be serious consequences. The level to which Christian leadership has sunk is just amazing.

8. This is really ‘right on’. From Michigan State University talking about its response to Larry Nasser, or Kanakuk talking about its NDAs, people know how to say ‘I wasn’t so bad’. The problems are systemic. The use of NDAs to silence those who have been abused, as was attempted here, is a clear sign something is wrong. The refusal of ECFA to even say such NDAs violate their standards is a clear sign something is wrong.

9. “When an institution or person consults image consultants and attorneys who protect the institution” … That’s what you do when you want to protect a human-established organization and are concerned about the bottom line.

   But that’s the last thing you want to do if you really want to protect the real institution – the church established by Christ, who’s mission is to proclaim the gospel. For a church truly focused on the gospel, they will be swift to expel wrongdoing once exposed, as the Bible commands..

   The two aims are wholly incompatible. Which way a church responds tells you whether they care about the gospel, or preserving revenue and a holier-than-thou reputation.

10. Very well written because the truth is glaring. The abuse in the evengicial church is alarming. We are at a place where man’s reputation and money takes prisidience over human lives. We should be utterly ashamed as a body of believers at this point. Since when does God give double standards to Men or Woman in a Ministry that break laws of the land.

    Hebrews 13:3 KJV
    Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

    Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless.
    Not to speak is to speak.
    Not to act is to act.

    Dietrich Bonhoeffer

    1. “When good men/women say nothing, evil triumphs.”

11. Hebrews 13:3 KJV
    Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

    Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless.
    Not to speak is to speak.
    Not to act is to act.

    Dietrich Bonhoeffer

12. It was very refreshing to read your words of truth in the midst of all the mess of wrong interpreptation of Scripture, worldly (rather than biblical) understanding of love, forgiveness, restoration, etc.
    So many weary, wounded sheep abused by wolves protected by yes men for way too long. God sees all. He is a God of justice. A reformation is needed – and is coming.

13. I would think that even a pre-Christian child predator would be permanently ineligible to become a pastor. The various leaders who were overseeing Mr. Morris’ “restoration” 40 years ago should have defrocked him instead. So, they too bear responsibility for this debacle that has now brought a reproach against the name of Jesus and against Christianity.

    1. I think I agree with you. I am a lawyer. I have always understood that pedofiles could not be rehabilitated. I‘ve seen this man preach. He’s a powerful orator. There’s a big temptation to conflate the mandate for forgiveness to utter acceptance of deep rooted psychological sickness. A man like this who would undertake such deviant behavior has no place being where the temptation to repeat the behavior is so abundant. It’s the whole “if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.” Forgiveness of the thief also doesn’t mean that you entrust him to run your house or business. If

       1. And Christians are prone to mistake powerful oratory for Presence of The Holy Spirit.
          Especially when the only oratory they have been exposed to is preaching.

14. Thank you, Mr. Hamp. Great article! As a third generation PK and retired pastor and state-licensed psychotherapist I experienced hope reading your lucid and informed comments. I would only add two thoughts: 1) there are no case studies of pedophiles being cured or fixed; only scattered anecdotal testimonies of a few church people who believe they were healed, and 2) status and quantitative success in the contemporary American church only prove the seductive power of celebrity, not the approval of God. I would recommend a relevant book by Matthias Desmet entitled The Psychology of Totalitarianism. Desmet is a professor from Belgium. Though he might not be rooted in our faith-based tradition, I found amazing insights that could be applied to the Church in general as much as to all other institutions. The author particularly focuses on groupthink and mass delusion fostered by untouchable leaders who often present a winsome persona.

    1. I hope this truth will enter all conversations about this matter: Some people are just opportunistic. RM has even admitted that he tried to find vulnerable girls. This does not mean he is a pedophile. This is a very important distinction to make precisely because of what you said about pedophiles not being able to be cured. This is a very important distinction to make because we want to face all of this head on, but in truth. It is also important because if he’s truly a pedophile, he no doubt has other victims. If he’s not, it is likely that after being caught, etc. he did indeed begin to live a life without predatory behaviors. Whichever it is, he committed a crime, but no one quite yet knows if RM was/is opportunistic, or a pedophile.

15. The refusal of much of the church to call what is sin a sin, coupled with the “don’t judge” mantra, allows this sort of thing to happen. Jesus didn’t suffer and die for our “moral failures.” A gospel that preaches greasy grace almost to the exclusion of obedience (redefined as trying to earn salvation) will be neither a deterrent nor a remedy for abuse. When the only part of the Torah preached (ad nauseum in Morris’s case) is tithing, our moral obligations as believers are diminished. Just cough up the cash. Failure to do that is the only “sin” guys like Morris recognize. Sexually abusing a child becomes simply a moral failure that can be swept away by a “season of restoration,” while failing to tithe is robbing the Almighty and will result in cursing/punishment. American Christians need to end their love affair with prosperity. It’s funding the sins of some of the most despicable people in the church.

    1. Indeed! Morris was the designated hitter for many churches (including my former church Willow Creek) to beef up their giving. Also, he denied the 2020 election results and prayed that those who voted the “wrong way” seek forgiveness! In February 2022, several of us petitioned Willow not to platform him, but to no avail. Willow has been very quiet (unless I missed it) about this recent fiasco. Where’s all the transparency that was promised?

16. God’s Word does not hide the messy, bloody stories of murder, rape, deception etc. – but this pastor and his leaders try to hide behind [1] lying about her being a “young lady,” [2] returning to ministry with her father’s blessing, and [3] NDA’s etc.?
    Are his board members more interested in truth and authenticity and safety – or protecting the pocket book and reputation of the church, (i.e. their system and their “tiny titles” with the illusion of importance ) – all in the name of representing Christ?
    As a former pastor – I saw how the system often protected the pedophiles instead of the young girls. And now, as an MFT working with abuse victims, I really appreciate this article. He summarizes three key dynamics well, (the special leader, mishandling of sin, and minimizing labels laden with inaccurate implication). I really appreciate the fact that he begins by apologizing to Cindy/honoring the pain of her story, (something the so-called leaders of the church failed to do).
    Their reaction is predictable – lie to support the predator, the system, and their own “tiny titles,” instead of protecting the vulnerable. Whatever gospel they are teaching, doesn’t translate into honoring Christ’s Words about predators and protecting the vulnerable.
    It would be great if 50,000 members left, but they have learned nothing from Willow Creek, the SBC etc. because they operate by the same shallow principles….And even if they lose thousands of members, their lack of character will remain. But there will be a day when they stand before Jesus, telling Him how they lied to protect a predator for Jesus, for their church, and they will hear the words, “Away from ME evildoers, I never knew you – you are paid in full with the illusion of importance via your tiny titles.”

17. Excellent article, but I think we still need to get specific about how Robert Morris and Gateway leadership are violating the important principles set forth here.

18. Agreed.

    But one thing I haven’t heard people talk about is where was the girl’s father? He didn’t report Morris to the police? Are you kidding me? And when Morris went back in the ministry, he didn’t do anything or say anything?

    And Morris‘s wife, she is culpable also. And Shady Grove Church, also culpable.

    I think every person in this girl’s life let her down.

19. Great Article. We DO need this and these conversations and the comments here are succinct. Thank you for your transparency (and courage.)

20. Well written and needed insight. Contrast this to TD Jakes simplistic acused sex acts with youth. He claimed he did nothing wrong but if he had a simple request for forgiveness would wipe the slate clean. His power voice sadly is heard by thousands both clergy and lay people. This article clearly adds a needed level of accountability.

21. Thank you Bob,

    This is one of the most insightful articles of church abuse that I have read. Often, people are not aware of “systems thinking” as it relates to the Church in America.

22. Bob, thank you, thank you, thank you for a most inciteful consideration of this situation. God bless you.

23. Perfectly thoughtful and insightful. If true biblical elderships rather than boards of sycophants and staffs of well controlled frightened sheep would arise from these ashes perhaps something redeemable could happen. But since the church for the most part is led by unbiblical Top down leadership structures where one dynamic narcissistic personality overmatches anyone who would seek to restore balance we may never see this without a total restoration and reformation to biblical ideals and only biblical ideals. But all of that is hard work and most do not have the strength for it.

24. Another group that sweeps it under a rug with little or no public knowledge of it. If there was one there must be others who has countered this behavior from this pastor. The elders who made that decision should also be accountable for their role of this, if they handled this years ago by the rules of our Law & not a small group of individuals which are saving face & church reputation, it would not be a story. I’ve watched him preach, my heart & soul is being tested to its max. Sad that he will still preach & profit $ from Gateway. If everyone is not accepting accountability in their role of this story it will not be laid to rest.

25. I think he has already lost his church.