Disgraced former pastor and Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) leader, Johnny Hunt, for months announced on his website that he’ll be hosting a “Hunted” men’s conference in February at his former church.
Last week, someone tweeted about it.
The Roys Report (TRR) contacted Hunt’s former church—First Baptist Church (FBC) Woodstock, a megachurch in the Atlanta area.
And now, the dates and location of the upcoming conference have been removed from Hunt’s conference website.
FBC Woodstock says the information posted earlier on Hunt’s website, which “does not belong” to the church, was “incorrect.”
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Hunt has been accused of sexually assaulting the wife of a former SBC pastor. The allegations were included in a blockbuster report last May, detailing sexual abuse and cover-up within the SBC. The report by Guidepost Solutions found the allegations by the pastor’s wife “credible.”
Hunt has admitted inappropriate behavior with the pastor’s wife but has claimed it was a “consensual encounter” and not abuse.
Hunt, a former president of the SBC, resigned last May as vice president of SBC’s North American Mission Board (NAMB).
Soon afterward, FBC Woodstock suspended Hunt from his role as pastor emeritus at the church. And his name was disassociated from an academic chair and BA/MDiv program at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The allegations against Hunt were included in a tweet Thursday by Matthew Manchester, who publicly asked SBC Executive Committee Chairman Jared Wellman and SBC President Bart Barber if they were okay with the upcoming conference.
“Nothing to see here, just sexual abuser ex-SBC president and ex-NAMB leader @johnnymhunt doing another men’s conference at the church he was suspended from. @JaredcWellman @bartbarber You okay with this? . . .”
On Thursday, TRR reached out to FBC Woodstock for comment about the conference but did not immediately hear back. On Friday, after the dates and location for the conference disappeared from Hunt’s conference page, TRR reached out to FBC Woodstock again.
FBC Woodstock Executive Pastor of Ministry Matt Lawson replied in an email: “The information on the Johnny Hunt Men’s Conference website yesterday was incorrect. That website does not belong to First Baptist Woodstock. There will not be a Johnny Hunt Men’s Conference at First Baptist Woodstock.”
TRR reached out to Hunt through his website and social media for comment about the conference but did not receive a response.
Following the revelations this week, Manchester and well-known SBC abuse survivor and advocate Christa Brown have called for an independent investigation of Hunt’s former church and all the ministries he touched. They also called for an investigation of City of Refuge—a rehabilitation camp for fallen pastors Hunt led for more than 20 years, from the late 1990s through 2018.
About that "pastor restoration camp:" For years, FBC-Woodstock's City of Refuge helped "fallen ministers" & pastors with "moral failures." Were these code for sexual abuse?
And how much did @NAMB_SBC spend supporting it?
Indpt investigation needed. 1/2 https://t.co/FoZ9E2WmwQ https://t.co/55IhUkKJGI
— Christa Brown (@ChristaBrown777) October 14, 2022
Hunt’s conference website remains active at the time of publishing.
Hunt also maintains a self-named website where he’s selling his books, as well as MP3s and notes from prior “Hunted” men’s conferences.
Correction: The dates and location for Hunt’s conference had been posted online since at least March, not recently as first reported.
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14 Responses
How many “ministries” are named after the person that started them?
People that would never name a church after a holy saint will name something they created after themselves. Why is that?
Excellent – starting with Ravi Zacharias…..etc
“Consensual or not,sleeping with somebody else’s wife is still wrong ad should disqualify him from the ministry.
Not only do we have to thank Julie for her ongoing exposure of apostate leaders of Christian churches, but I will thank a pastor who just this morning pointed out what Pliny said about Christians early in the church”s history.
Letters of Pliny the Younger and the Emperor Trajan
“….That they were wont, on a stated day, to meet together before it was light, and to sing a hymn to Christ, as to a god, alternately; and to oblige themselves by a sacrament [or oath], not to do anything that was ill: but that they would commit no theft, or pilfering, or adultery; that they would not break their promises, or deny what was deposited with them, when it was required back again; after which it was their custom to depart, and to meet again at a common but innocent meal,…” —-Pliny to the emperor Trajan about Christians
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/primary/pliny.html
Adultery was constdered a notable sin from the very beginning of the Church!
What would it take for a “disgraced” person to be allowed to conduct ministry? Are only people in authority who sin “disgraced”? How can anyone tell if a sinner has asked and received forgiveness from God? What verses tell you the right way for disgraced people to deal with sin? Are these people always guilty, maybe required to wear a letter upon their clothing?
These disgraced people make a living by attracting and keeping the attention of certain Protestants. Why should anyone pay attention to him anymore? Is there such a shortage of Christian celebrities that someone like him is still a draw for events?
@Richard S – I believe your question is a thoughtful question so a response: 1) I don’t believe it was consensual from reading her story. 2) By saying it was Hunt admitted infidelity. So has Hunt sought forgiveness from the woman & her husband – owned his sin? Has he submitted himself to a restoration process (Gal 6:1)? If so, he should make that known and to whom he was accountable. If the above has occurred, he can do ministry, but it will not be in a pastoral roll since he has violated a sacred trust (1 Tim. 3). Perhaps then could lose the “disgraced” identification? I do wonder how long we who are sinners and have confessed our sin and experienced God’s forgiveness need to wear our “disgraced” identification. I’m open to biblical instruction on this.
Don,
Johnny Hunt continues to deny any wrongdoing. He is completely unrepentant.
@Skyler – I believe you are correct. I was responding to the question, when does someone lose the “disgraced” title. I think “disgraced” still applies to Johnny Hunt – and perhaps should be even more negative. No forgiveness sought, no repentance and no accountability and restoration from/for Hunt. Even if it was “consensual” (which I do not believe it was), he still needs to seek forgiveness from the woman (because he could have stopped it – takes two), and her husband. He admitted something happened.
Richard, you should read the report about the sexual assault, not “affair”, that Johnny Hunt perpetrated. Johnny Hunt initially denied ever even coming into contact with the person who brought the charge against him. He later changed his story to claim it was a “consensual affair”. It was not an affair and he is clearly not only unrepentant, but lying. The report can be found here: https://www.sataskforce.net/updates/guidepost-solutions-report-of-the-independent-investigation
Temptation easily befalls us all, but we must structure our lives to guard against it. Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife…that’s the benchmark! So we must have a no closed door policy. Where I work all our office doors are clear glass. All our ‘meeting’ room doors have clear glass panels and/or tall narrow windows next to the door. No rooms are soundproof for more than hushed tones. We have CCTV throughout both our ministry centres. Every staff member has to have a police check before being engaged and a child protection check.
Stupid me, I thought that Christian men’s conferences were supposed to discourage men from committing adultery and sexual abuse. If Mr. Hunt continues this kind of thing, he’s going to get his picture below the definition for “chutzpah” in the dictionary.
Seriously, what are some people thinking? Did nobody think to tell Mr. Hunt (not pastor, Mr.) “Um, friend, given what you’ve just been caught doing, maybe….keep your head down in these regards for a while?”
Why is Hwy 92 by that church still named after him????
Was a grifter, still a grifter.
Why does Christianity attract so many grifters? ought to be the big question we are asking ourselves.
I can’t figure it out.