How common is sexual abuse in the church? Evangelicals must face the truth

An epidemic of sexual abuse involving evangelical church leaders is claiming victims across the country. Worse still, the churches have covered up the abuse far too often.

Even though the Protestant Church is not a monolith and not all churches should be held responsible for the failings of some, there is a pattern of abuse in many 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 policy, or drag queens, they need to look at why and how this is happening – for the benefit of the victims and for the benefit of the church.

Robert Morris resigns over abuse allegations

The most recent example involves Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church in Dallas, one of the largest congregations in the country. Morris, who resigned Tuesday amid abuse allegations, admitted to engaging in “inappropriate sexual conduct toward a young lady” decades ago.

Cindy Clemishire told a website that exposes church sex abuse that she was 12 and Morris was 21 when the pastor began sexually assaulting her. Clemishire, now 54, says the abuse lasted nearly five years.

Two weeks ago, Gateway’s Board of Elders sent a memo to church staff, later forwarded to X, saying Morris had “spoken openly and honestly about a moral failure he committed over 35 years ago.”

However, in a statement released Tuesday, the elders backtracked, saying, “We regret that we did not have the information we now have.” Morris, a former spiritual adviser to former President Donald Trump, resigned from his post at the church the same day.

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Abuse and cover-ups are widespread in Protestant churches

Morris is just one example in a series of similar behaviors that are pervasive in evangelical churches. Evangelicals make up about 25 percent of the U.S. population and include Baptists, Lutherans and members of other Protestant denominations.

Some of the larger evangelical congregations are nondenominational, meaning they operate outside the authority and accountability of any larger organization.

And while it’s unfair to discredit all churches because of the crimes of a single megachurch pastor, a clear pattern of abusive and sometimes criminal behavior among pastors and other leaders is emerging in a growing number of evangelical churches.

In February, Aaron Ivey, pastor of Austin Stone Community Church, an evangelical congregation in Austin, Texas, was fired for sending lewd text messages to at least one minor. The church leadership said in a statement that Ivey “predatory manipulated, sexually exploited and abused his influence” toward adult men and one minor.

In May, a victim came forward and said he was 15 when Ivey abused and then sexually assaulted him. Ivey had written a book about marriage with his wife.

In 2018, several women accused Bill Hybels, the former pastor of Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago, of sexually harassing them. According to ChurchLeaders.com, the megachurch’s weekly attendance has dropped from 25,000 to less than 18,000.

The podcast “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” describes the tyrannical and verbally abusive behavior of then-pastor Mark Driscoll, whose church had nearly 15,000 attendees at its peak. He now pastors a church in Scottsdale, Arizona.

And then there is the longstanding abuse that has taken place in the Southern Baptist Convention, the second-largest denomination 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 San Antonio Express-News published an investigation that exposed an epidemic of SBC leaders committing and covering up sexual abuse. In 2022, an independent report by Guidepost Solutions found that SBC leaders ignored or covered up abuse victims while maintaining a list of accused abusers that, at the time, included 703 people.

According to the Guidepost report, “for nearly two decades, abuse victims and other concerned Southern Baptists have contacted the (SBC’s executive committee) to report child molesters and other abusers who were in the pulpit or employed as church personnel. They called, sent letters, emails, appeared at SBC and (executive committee) meetings, held rallies, and contacted the press … only to repeatedly encounter resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility.”

When will the Protestant churches take responsibility?

In the United States, fewer than one in three sexual assaults are reported. Sexual abuse of children is also severely underreported, according to the National Center for Victims of Crime. So it’s safe to assume that abuse is far more common in our churches than we realize.

Abuse within a religious setting is particularly heinous. People flock to an evangelical church for a variety of reasons, including needing support during a difficult time, seeking emotional or spiritual healing, or because friends or family invite them. They trust that the evangelical church community, including pastors and other leaders, is 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 learned, abuse by a trusted religious leader is incredibly damaging – emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

As with abuse, which occurs in a variety of situations—whether it is in the workplace, in an intimate relationship, or with a trusted pastor—it is not a question of whether a woman (or man) “asked for it,” “consented,” or was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sexual abuse is not a relationship problem; it is an abuser problem. It is not random or based on “passion”; it is often calculated, occurs through deliberate initiation, and requires significant manipulation and deception. It stems from gross power dynamics and the abuser’s belief that he is entitled to it.

What is particularly abhorrent is that evangelical church leaders are vocal about abortion policy, voting, and the LGBTQ+ community, even as their congregations struggle with abuse. How can evangelical churches condemn drag queens when some of those churches are led by pastors who have sexually abused children?

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This kind of hypocrisy is one of the reasons, among others, why so many young people turn away from religious communities or refuse to join them.

No one is without sin. 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 a person from leading a church. It’s that simple. When will evangelical churches finally stop covering up for their leaders and start doing justice to their victims?

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four children. Subscribe to her newsletter, The Right Track, and have it delivered to your inbox.

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