Well, sorry Todd I’m going to pass (for the moment) on answering your questions.

At this time I’d like to say, as a pastor and former law enforcement officer, “where there is smoke there is normally fire.” I doubt very much when the father hears his daughter speaking on the phone in an inappropriate manner that all she could come up with was “the pastor”, unless it was the truth.  And for him to say he is only guilty for being her “best friend” only supports this to me.  I’m sorry if I seem to be a skeptic and not giving the benefit of the doubt to him, but I don’t believe him.

The idea of armed guards at the church is sad indeed, not to mention the threat of church discipline if people talk about what’s going on.  What do you expect?  BTW...they are rent a cops and have no authority and I’d think that removing people from worship for something they say or think is a real violation of the Constitution. 

This has divided this church and he simply wants to hold on to his reputation rather then the reputation of Christ’s Church.

I also find it sad that a board member says, “we are going to err on the side of the pastor.” If you’re going to err, it’s wrong no matter what and what about this girl?”

I’m steamed to say the least.  I’ve heard this story too many times.  If the girl was speaking on the phone to just some young boy she would have far less ramifications from her father then telling him it was the pastor.

sad… on so many levels....

Sex with an underage girl being a crime, I’d start by leaving it to the proper authorities to investigate.  If they found insufficient evidence to prosecute, then the trustees will have to do that discernment (is it better for the church for this pastor to go or stay and what will our recommendation etc. say? 

Not only is it very likely that this girl is telling the truth, it’s likely that there have been other girls, and that at least some will come forward when they hear that they are not the only one.  At that point the deliberations of the trustees will be simplified. 

This does happen all the time.  And it skews...often for years to come… the faith life of all it touches.

I grew up in this church. My dad still goes there. He was telling me all of this just the other day and I told them that they had done a wonderful job keeping it out of the news. Guess I spoke too soon.

Ryan...it almost always comes out through the local media and then grows from there.  The media likes to report these things.  What’s sad is...it just gives one more reason for people to reject the gospel and keep away from the church.

AAARRRRGGHHH!!!!!!

OK, I feel better now.

When asked by the police Pastor Robinson agreed to a polygraph and during that polygraph Robinson denied any sexual contact with the girl. The arrest warrant affidavit stated that afterward, when Robinson was told that the examination showed “significant deception,” he asked what would happen to him if the sex all happened after the girl was 17 and his attorney ended the conversation at that point.

And this is OK with the church board?  That would certainly be evidence in court, is it not evidence to the church board?

If a church wants to stand by a pastor couldn’t they let him take a leave of absence or suspend him (with pay) until the charges are investigated.  But don’t announce that until he’s actually convicted he gets to continue to minister to the youth of the church.  I mean, come on, what would be wrong with saying “We love you and believe in you, but until this is cleared up you don’t get to teach”?

And armed security guards barring people and forcibly evicting people from the church services?

And all church members are invited to Pastor Robinson’s May 17th wedding?  Is the wedding is still on?

Ouch, another black eye.   :(

Andy,
all I was referring to was a church’s constitution. Whe n we hear of a church powerless against its pastor or board, what policies have they enacted (written) that enables that? this is a prime example. Who allowed the board to have this much power that it neuters a church’s ability to take action? You said, “Most church constitutions have a prevision for keeping people away “after” they have had due process of discipline.  Seldom from simply talking about something or giving an opinion. “ Right, so why did that happen here? Again, check your church’s bylaws and principles.  I won’t get into legal challenges vs. 1 Corinthians ban on suing Christians, but the law will support a church that operates according to its incorporated bylaws.

Let me add the little bit of insight that I have from the situation.
1) He did get married, though the accusers tried to convince her family that she shouldn’t do it.
2) Good point, Andy, on offering counseling if nothing was wrong.
3) I don’t think that you can hold someone liable when they don’t have evidence to prove otherwise (i.e. the church board). It would be one thing if they were ignoring facts, but from what I’ve heard, they haven’t and truly believe that he is in the right.
4) In my estimation, the question about sex after she turned 17 is the biggest condemning item in the bunch - and, from what I’ve heard, the only source of evidence.
5) Been trying to get more details, but no luck yet.

-ryan

Todd - to answer your questions:

1. Investigation should be done immediately.  Maybe not a thorough, deep investigation, but enough to see if there are grounds to continue.  In this case, the phone records and that last paragraph of the article seem to indicate that there are grounds to continue.

2. Make it public if it’s true.  (Gotta stress that last part.) The congregation should know and frankly, so should the surrounding community, assuming that you kicked the person out of that role and stopped him/her from repeat offenses.  If you didn’t do that much, I can see why you’d want to cover it up. 

3. The truth.  If terminated for this sort of thing, it needs to be disclosed.  This was criminal as well as being sinful.

4. Follow the person around and warn other congregations, complete with their evidence and findings.  That’s just prudent.  Work with the person for counseling/healing, but people need to be warned.  (Didn’t we just have a big discussion on this with the SBC list thing?)

5. I can understand that person’s point of view.  From the viewpoint of a congregation member without all of the facts, it’s a “he said, she said” case.  The pastor deserves some support when there’s no credible evidence.  In this case, I think that the person is being blindly loyal.  I don’t think that the person quoted realizes that the church’s reputation in the community is shot to pieces for years.

6. Preparation - darned if I know.  I’d start by having good, thorough search committees.  Accountability partners would help as well.  Also prepare them for the notion that “yes, it CAN happen here”.  We’re all sinners and even David, the man after God’s heart, fell.  Some common sense policies help as well.

7. If it’s a wrong accusation, be prepared to shout out the evidence and results everywhere.  And also, the people bringing a false accusation need to be prosecuted - fully - if this is false.  Destruction of someone’s character is not a matter to be taken lightly.

For your last question - if I were the father of that girl and found reasonable evidence that this was going on.  I would be talking to the church board/council, but advising them that the police have already been called.  That’s a criminal matter and goes far beyond any question of church discipline.  I would need to have reasonable evidence first, though.  I don’t want to destroy someone on shaky grounds.  However, from the story, this father had ample evidence that something was probably going on.  I’m just saddened that this was an attempted cover-up.  I hope that we never have to go through that.

Ryan, did he marry the girl or someone else?  That might say a lot about the situation.

different girl…

here’s the story, as I heard it from someone living in the midst of it (and please don’t take this as gossip or me trying to justify anything - just trying to be fair and balanced in reporting).

He was the youth minister for 3 or so years. The pastor became terminally ill and the youth pastor took over a lot more responsibilities. A girl in the youth group (the accuser) began helping out with a number of things around the office.
Eventually the pastor died and the accused was asked to become pastor (they didn’t find anyone they felt was a better candidate, though they did a lot of interviews). That was about 2 years ago.
When the new pastor announced that he was getting married, the whole accusation started.
So, what it looks like to a number of people is that she was upset that she lost his attention and was trying to stop the wedding by making an accusation.
That’s the story that I heard.

As soon as this came to light, the “pastor” should be put on administrative leave.  The authorities should be called, and investigation by an objective agency, such as the police should be started. 

The congregation should rally around the altar of prayer for both individuals involved. When the truth comes to full light, an immediate decision should be made to either fire the pastor, or start litigation against the accuser.

The problems begin when we let either the minister or the accuser to remain in the congregation until the truth is finally determined.

I am naive, it’s true.  But if I were ever accused unjustly about something concerning my job, I would offer to step aside and to cooperate in any and all investigations.  I would throw the windows and doors wide open, and let the truth shine through.

If you’ve got nothing to hide, why muscle people out who are trying to get to the truth?  I don’t understand why the Pastor involved seems to be handling this in such a heavy handed fashion.  It’s natural to feel very defensive in a case like this, but if you have nothing to hide, then don’t hide.

I do not know what the truth in this situation is, but I do trust that God will let the light of the truth shine.  And I pray for everyone involved