Showing posts with label child sexual abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label child sexual abuse. Show all posts

Monday, May 20, 2013

Joshua Harris Drops A Bombshell

Posted by Christine Pack

Pastor Joshua Harris,
Covenant Life Church
Christianity Today is reporting today that Joshua Harris, pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD, shared in a recent sermon that he had been sexually abused as a child. In talking about the abuse he suffered, Harris encouraged anyone hearing him who was currently being abused to go to someone trusted and seek help. (The sermon in which Harris discussed the abuse can be accessed here.)

What makes this admission all the more shocking is that Harris pastors what was once the flagship church for Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM), and Sovereign Grace Ministries is currently embroiled in a class action suit involving allegations of child sexual abuse. 

I want to make it clear that Harris did not state where the abuse he suffered occurred, so it is unclear whether or not the abuse was connected in any way to Sovereign Grace Ministries. But God bless Pastor Harris for speaking up, whatever the circumstances, and my prayers are with him.

For those seeking information about this ongoing court case, below are all interviews to date by Janet Mefferd documenting the progress of the SGM class action lawsuit:

10/18/2012 - Janet Mefferd Interviews Attorney Susan Burke About Lawsuit Against Sovereign Grace Ministries ("I don't know how long evangelicalism can ignore this problem.")

1/18/13 - Janet Mefferd Interviews Attorney Bill O’Neil About the Sovereign Grace Ministries Lawsuit


2/28/13 - Janet Mefferd Interviews Former SGM Founder Brent Detwiler About The Sovereign Grace Ministries Lawsuit


5/16/13 - Janet Mefferd Interviews Attorney Bill O’Neil Again About the Sovereign Grace Ministries Lawsuit


  Additional Resources  

Copy of Lawsuit Filed Against Sovereign Grace Ministries

SGM - Updated Statement on Reported Lawsuit


As Appeal Is Announced in Sovereign Grace Case, Joshua Harris Says He Was Abused As A Child

Joshua Harris Discusses Being Sexually Abused During Sunday Morning Sermon (25:10 marker)

Lawsuit Claims Sovereign Grace Ministries Concealed Sex Abuse

Flagship Churches Prepare To Leave As Lawsuit Charges C.J. Mahaney's Sovereign Grace Ministries With Covering Up Child Sex Abuse

Sovereign Grace Ministries: In Sex Abuse Case, Courts Shouldn't "Second Guess" SGM's Pastoral Counseling

SGM's C.J. Mahaney Gets Support From John Piper