Matt Queen, the former interim provost at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, is now an associate pastor at a Southern Baptist church 30 miles away.
Now listed as associate pastor of Plymouth Park Baptist Church in Irving, Queen, 50, is responsible for ministry to shut-ins and developing evangelism strategies.
Queen pleaded guilty as part of a federal investigation into a 2022 case where a student at Southwestern’s four-year undergraduate Texas Baptist College was accused of sexual assault.
It later emerged that Teri Stovall, dean of women at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS), had prepared a document recounting the allegation. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which investigated sexual abuse throughout the SBC, alleged Heath Woolman, then-SWBTS chief of staff, told Stovall in January 2023 to make her document “go away.”
Queen was accused of falsifying records and providing false information to law enforcement. Federal officials said Queen had first said he did not hear Woolman tell Stovall to make the document disappear, then changed his story. They alleged Queen created fake documentation to support his claims, as TRR previamente reportado, but without naming Stovall and Woolman.
Your tax-deductible gift supports our mission of reporting the truth and restoring the church. Donate $50 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you can elect to receive “To Heal or Harm” by Steven R. Tracy, haga clic aquí.
In alleging the document fakery, federal officials said Queen tried to mislead investigators.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at the time, “As alleged, Matthew Queen attempted to interfere with a federal grand jury investigation by creating false notes in an attempt to corroborate his own lies. The criminal obstruction charge announced today should exemplify the seriousness of attempts by any individual to manipulate or interfere with a federal investigation.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge James Smith added: “Matthew Queen, an interim Provost, allegedly failed to inform the FBI of a conspiracy to destroy evidence related to the ongoing investigation of sexual misconduct and instead produced falsified notes to investigators. Queen’s alleged actions deliberately violated a court order and delayed justice for the sexual abuse victims.”
Queen was charged with obstruction of justice in the matter, though that was later dropped. He admitted to lying to the FBI about dates related to the case.
Apart from a one-time sermon during the hiring process, Queen is not on the preaching schedule, senior pastor Matt Henslee told El Informe Roys (TRR). He said Queen is still on a path of “restoration” for his crime of lying, which the senior pastor said was also a sin.
“I don’t really have a timetable for when he would preach or teach,” Henslee said in a telephone interview. “I’m kind of selfish when it comes to that, to be honest, but I would not anticipate him preaching or teaching before all of those aforementioned parties (in congregational leadership) would agree he is ready, that he is emotionally ready, he’s spiritually ready, that he’s been restored, that he sought reconciliation and so forth.”
Henslee said that while he recommended Queen to congregational leaders, he removed himself from the hiring process. He said Queen was a mentor during his (Henslee’s) doctoral program and helped him during a suicide attempt “about 10 years ago.”
Plymouth Park trustees and legal counsel, Henslee said, “perused every single page of those court documents” as part of the process. They also interviewed Queen via Zoom for two and one-half hours about the matter.
He said all the questions leaders had were satisfied and the congregation ultimately decided to move ahead with the hiring.
Despite a rather subdued role at the 400-member church, Queen’s hiring has sparked a backlash in some quarters, and silence in others.
David Bumgardner, a graduate of Texas Baptist College who said he knew Queen from the school, told TRR that Queen’s guilty plea and conviction on the lying charge was not just a matter of mixing up dates related to a document.
“Even though Matt Queen, some would say, was convicted on a technicality . . . the context in which his charge occurred is such that he should not be trusted at an academic institution or in local church ministry,” Bumgardner said. “You’re going to knowingly hire someone who has admitted to lying to the FBI while they were in the middle of a probe over sexual abuse. I certainly wouldn’t want a guy like that on my pastoral staff, and it really is as simple as that.”
The judge who sentenced Queen in the case appears to have agreed. Federal Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton, excoriated the Baptist educator during sentencing.
“This is a crime in which you falsified evidence, you lied about the evidence, you lied about facts other than the creation of the phony evidence, and you did it over a period of months, and you did one or the other of these things several times,” said Kaplan.
“It wasn’t a mistake. It was a plan. And you carried it out until it became clear to you that it was simply not going to fly,” Kaplan added. “Far be it for me to invoke the Ten Commandments, but you know which one I’m talking about.”
Queen served six months of home confinement, which ended in September before he was formally hired by Plymouth Park. Baumgardner said Queen had to get court permission to go to the church for the preaching appointment.
Henslee, for his part, says Plymouth Park is a church that believes in helping those seeking renewal after personal failure.
“We regularly preach at our church a message of restoration; a message of reconciliation that we serve of a God, not of second chances, but of another chance,” he said. “We believe that in this case, Matt (Queen) is in need of another chance, because he’s repented, he’s shown remorse, and he’s ready to fulfill his calling as an evangelist and an equipper of the saints and so God is kind of giving us a chance to live out what we’ve been preaching.”
Correction: This article has been updated to correctly identify David Bumgardner.
Mark A. Kellner is a reporter based in Mesquite, Nevada. He most recently covered statewide elections for the Correo de Nueva York and was for three years the Faith & Family Reporter for el tiempo de washington. Mark is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands and also attended Boston University’s College of Communication.
Spanish 
English
16 Responses
There are so so many jobs that a man who has shown he’s willing to cheat and lie when he has the opportunity to can do that AREN’T in church leadership. Restoration to fellowship does not mean restoration to leadership when he’s shown he’s willing to abuse it.
It’s ironic that someone like Queen who likely wouldn’t meet the basic ethical or professional standards to be hired as a real estate agent in most states, was nevertheless entrusted with the role of pastor by this church. It really says something about the lack of accountability and oversight in some religious organizations compared to even the most ordinary professions.
May we have the heart of Jesus for those who have truly repented. As Jesus said,”Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32
Just as Jesus used Peter to build his Church after is utter humiliating three time denial, so he will continue to use Matt Queen to equip the saints for works of service evangelistically and more. I’m so thankful for a Pastor who recognized a broken man who had probably wondered if God could ever use him again.Pastor Henslee has the heart of our Savior, who specifically gave angels orders to singled out Peter after the resurrection: “Tell his disciple-and Peter.” God uses broken repentant people to build his Church.
Mark Winkler
There is a stark difference between Peter’s denial of Christ in scripture, and its context, and this pastor who has previously lied to the FBI to cover up a sex abuse scandal. The bible says that pastors are to be “above reproach,” and “have a good reputation with outsiders.” But going beyond how this appears to those outside the faith, how can this man possibly be trusted to shepherd a congregation of believers if he has been caught and convicted of obstructing justice for the purpose of protecting alleged sex abusers? How many vulnerable people in the congregation are going to be hurt by this man’s actions?
You wrote: “How many vulnerable people in the congregation are going to be hurt by this man’s actions?”
Probably none.
The naysayers in the Roys Report comments continually forget that God, and only God, is the One who might cancel a minister.
Abraham was a serial sex-abuser, but was not cancelled.
Moses suffered from anger on numerous occasions but was not cancelled. (While he was excluded from the Promised Land in his lifetime, he did make it there in his after-lifetime…)
The prophet Samuel was a serial spiritual abuser of both the Israelites and their new king, but he wasn’t cancelled. And so on.
Surely, trying to use the books of the New Covenant as yet another set of “books of the Law” is syncretism of the worst sort?
Good morning Trevor,
I disagree with your comment about no one being hurt. This is an excellent case of being a convenience Christian – I only do the right thing when it works out for me. I will believe that the person is repentant when they freely talk about what they did, why and how they have changed.
I’m certain Juile would be happy to do an interview with Matt so he can proclaim how he has changed and give details on what happened.
I’m also skeptical of the repentance crowd – unless they and their church have an active prison/jail ministry. Anyone can mumble words, but I will believe when I see rubber hit the road with action.
Atentamente,
Con
That is some impressive eisegesis, all based on anachronistic fallacies. The correct thing to do is plain and obvious: the sheep are to be protected, and are not there to prop up the fallen shepherd.
Very well stated, Gilbert Mattingly ! Exactly.
Hello – I just crawled out from under my rock, to simply ask: may you explain to me how Abraham was a serial sex offender? real question – I must have missed something –
Good luck getting an answer to your question, Chris. I have asked Trevor before how he arrived at his accusations against Samual…crickets in response, and my earnest question was posed quite some time ago.
This article confirms my concern that The Roys Report has degenerated into a Christian version of TMZ or The National Enquirer. TRR’s motto is “restoring the church,” but I fail to see how airing such rumors could edify the church. The congregation that hired him already knows about the situation. What good does it do to publicize it further to the whole Internet who have nothing to do with that congregation? I am concerned that TMZ (oh, sorry, I meant TRR) is just as much about clicks and money as other gossip rags on the Internet. I certainly don’t see how TRR follows Matthew 18.
We most certainly do not report rumors. What you’ll find in this article are verified testimony and facts attributed to sources. As for restoring the church, it is our belief that exposing lies and reporting the truth always has a restorative impact. God is truth, and truth is never the enemy of the church.
The journalist who reported this story worked hard to gather the full picture. Unfortunately, the complete picture was not revealed by simply talking to the church’s pastor, so I doubt the congregation is aware of all the facts either. It is our hope that by reading this story, the congregation will be more informed and can make an informed decision about how to proceed.
You are correct, though, that we did not follow Matt 18. And the reason we didn’t is because it applies to personal offenses, not elders caught in sin and misconduct. The appropriate passage for sinning elders is 1 Tim 5:20, which instructs believers to expose the sin so others may stand in fear.
Would you rather the church be silent on matters like this and others found on this site? TMZ is more concerned with trivial issues and not about gross violations of Biblical principles.
When the church is not concerned with admonishing their own then who will?
Not an apologist for the TRR or any other website etc. for that matter. But if clergy and lay leaders only adhered to the two most significant aspects of Christianity, that being, Faith accompanied by Righteousness (ethical & moral behaviour) NOT personal status, a career, an income, enterprise, social club, establishment to use & abuse others. Then such reporting, warnings & need for accountability and due consequences aren’t necessary. Sounds simplistic, nonetheless, society needs, Bell ringers, whistle-blowers, truth tellers, etc who in one way or another call others to account while also emphasising consequences so that the church represents at best the body of Christ. 🤔
Good morning Bill,
I disagree with name calling. I’m sorry that many of Julie’s posts are upsetting. We wish/expect that certain people are better than they are in real life. Should Peter’s ‘I don’t know him’ be taken out of the Bible?
If you have something specific that you disagree with then post. I have always been impressed with Julie’s response.
If you dislike your reactions about what is posted, then pray that you will be open to honest reporting.
Always be suspicious of the echo chamber – Isn’t that pretty much what the Prophets of old were about and isn’t that what generates profits now?
Atentamente,
Con OKeeffe
Thank you TRR for continuing to report on this. While Henslee says that Queen has repented, has Queen publicly acknowledged his lying to the FBI or tried to put things right? If not, how is this repentance?