A Nashville-area megachurch is facing a lawsuit from two former longtime members. They claim that church officials tried to pressure them into not pressing criminal charges against a teenage volunteer who allegedly molested their son in a church bathroom last summer.
WTVF in Nashville obtained a copy of the complaint filed by the couple. Watch here.
The couple, identified only as “John and Jane Doe,” claim that on August 14, 2014; they came to Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, a Nashville suburb, for the regular service and left their two children in the care of the church’s children’s ministry. The following weekend, their three-year-old son, “Johnny Doe,” told his parents that he didn’t want to go to church. When his parents asked him what happened, Johnny told them a horrifying tale–a teenage boy who was volunteering at the church’s children’s ministry had taken him inside a bathroom and raped him.
The Does did what any parents would do–they stormed to the church to demand answers. However, the Does claim that church officials responded in the worst way possible. According to the complaint, church officials initially tried to say that Johnny had made the whole thing up, then tried to pressure his parents into not pressing charges against the teen. The Does also say that church officials suggested they might be better off attending one of Fellowship’s other two campuses in Franklin or South Nashville.
The Does didn’t back down. They pressed charges against the teen, who pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery in juvenile court. Their next move was to file a $37.5 million lawsuit against the church they had attended for 12 years. They not only allege that church officials tried to “hide the truth about the perpetrator pedophile” from other families, but that Fellowship did not have adequate safeguards to ensure that children were safe. They contend that Fellowship did not have adequate background checks for prospective children’s ministry volunteers, failed to outline policies and procedures, didn’t adequately train volunteers, or install adequate security measures.
The Does want $22.5 in damages million for Johnny, and $5 million each for the rest of the family. While some have questioned the amount of the requested award, family attorney Kathryn Barnett says that all they want is to ensure that “every child at this church and every church is safe.”
Fellowship senior pastor Bill Wellons fired off a letter to church members adamantly denying the allegations. Wellons said that when the Does notified church officials about the incident, they immediately reported it to the police and the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. According to Wellons, the teenager and his mother, who was a volunteer teacher in the children’s ministry, were relieved of their duties soon after the investigation was underway.
Soon after charges were filed, Wellons says church officials met with every parent whose child was in the teen’s classroom, and got no indication that this “heinous crime” was anything more than “a one-time, isolated event.” They claim that they reached out to the Does, only to get this lawsuit as a reply.
Simply put, this is horrifying and outrageous if true. Having seen my fair share of abusive churches, it would come as no surprise if Fellowship did indeed try to sweep this under the rug. Suffice to say that if church officials did try to cover up this outrageous crime, this lawsuit could bring Fellowship crashing down–and with enough seismic force that I’ll be able to feel it here on the other side of I-40.
