In the summer of 2007, a youth worker at Covenant Presbyterian was told by a high school junior-to-be that she had been repeatedly sexually molested by her adopted father when she was a young girl. This youth worker reported the allegations of abuse to a pastor at Covenant Presbyterian and confirms that pastoral staff at Covenant knew of the abuse allegations in 2007. For several months the adopted father of the girl, a man who happened to be a church officer at Covenant and the owner of 'the safe house' where the pastors placed the four children of Greg Lurie in the spring of 2002 without Greg Lurie's knowledge, repeatedly denied that he had sexually molested his minor adopted daughter.
(They deliberatlely broke up this guy Lurie's home by convincing his wife to leave him and put his kids under the care of a molester in their "safe house" If you think this is crazy, you haven't researched calvinist churches enough, because it happens. See the Truth about New Calvinism by Paul Dohse)
However, at some point in early 2008, around the time Austin Davis was willing 'for the sake of peace' to sign a statement that he would "never challenge ... or dissent with (Covenant Presbyterian) leadership again," the father of the girl 'confessed' to church officers his acts of child molestation. The confessed child molester was assisted by Covenant leadership to enter a sexual treatment clinic. Upon returning home from treatment, the wife of the confessed child molester filed for separation. Nearly a year later, on March 13, 2009, the wife of the confessed child abuser filed for divorce, giving one of the reasons for the filing as:
"The past acts of abuse and molestation of the parties' minor child." (Allegation #8)
Ironically, in the summer of 2007, when Covenant leadership became aware of the allegations of molestation against one of their church officers, I stepped to the microphone at the Southern Baptist Convention and made a motion that ...
"A database be developed containing the names of all Southern Baptist ministers who have been credibly accused of, personally confessed to, or legally been convicted of sexual harassment or abuse, and that such a database be accessible to Southern Baptist churches."
Though I am not a Presbyterian, my motion was rooted in the knowledge that there is a tendency within religious denominations to 'conceal and cover' sexual abuse by church officers and ministers out of concern for the "reputation" of the church. TIME Magazine declared that the failure of my motion was 'one of the Top 10 most underreported stories in the nation that year.'
When the church officer at Covenant Presbyterian 'confessed' to his molestations in the spring of 2008, there seems to have been no effort by Covenant Presbyterian leadership to 'make known' or 'reveal' the sins of their church officer. There is no police report. There is no public record. There are no discovered church court minutes recording his sins. The Tennessee Department of Child Services, the Davidson County District Attorney's Office, the Tennessee Attorney General's Office, and other civil authorities can produce no record that they were ever notified by the Covenant Session in 2007, 2008, 2009, or 2010 of the child molestations.
In addition, the child molester continued to attend Covenant Presbyterian without notification of the church body of his confessed actions, meaning there were no boundaries in place to protect children.
What does happen at Covenant Presbyterian Church after the confession of the child molester from April 2008 to July 2008 seems shocking, and it forms the basis for the lawsuit by Austin Davis against Covenant Presbyterian, the Nashville Presbytery, and the National PCA.
At that same Session meeting, the 'resignation of a man from the Diaconate was 'accepted.'
That man is the one who confessed to child sexual molestation. The minutes of the Session record no background being given on that man.
For two additional years (2008 - 2010), that confessed child molester is allowed to walk freely through the buildings, halls, and classrooms of Covenant Presbyterian Church and The Covenant School.
For those same two years (2008 -2010) Austin Davis is under perpetual 'threat of arrest' for harassment of the leaders of Covenant Presbyterian Church.
Finally, in June 2010, Covenant Presbyterian Church "excommunicates" the confessed child molester. The 'ex-communication' occurs during the same summer Austin Davis, after 15 months of silence due to intimidation from church officials, and with the encouragement of a helpful FBI agent, begins to again ask questions of the Session. When the child molester is excommunicated from the church, the official stated reason is that he has been:
"...committing a heinous and repetitive sin against his family and has not shown evidence of repentance."
In the summer of 2007, a youth worker at Covenant Presbyterian was told by a high school junior-to-be that she had been repeatedly sexually molested by her adopted father when she was a young girl. This youth worker reported the allegations of abuse to a pastor at Covenant Presbyterian and confirms that pastoral staff at Covenant knew of the abuse allegations in 2007. For several months the adopted father of the girl, a man who happened to be a church officer at Covenant and the owner of 'the safe house' where the pastors placed the four children of Greg Lurie in the spring of 2002 without Greg Lurie's knowledge, repeatedly denied that he had sexually molested his minor adopted daughter.
(They deliberatlely broke up this guy Lurie's home by convincing his wife to leave him and put his kids under the care of a molester in their "safe house" If you think this is crazy, you haven't researched calvinist churches enough, because it happens. See the Truth about New Calvinism by Paul Dohse)
However, at some point in early 2008, around the time Austin Davis was willing 'for the sake of peace' to sign a statement that he would "never challenge ... or dissent with (Covenant Presbyterian) leadership again," the father of the girl 'confessed' to church officers his acts of child molestation. The confessed child molester was assisted by Covenant leadership to enter a sexual treatment clinic. Upon returning home from treatment, the wife of the confessed child molester filed for separation. Nearly a year later, on March 13, 2009, the wife of the confessed child abuser filed for divorce, giving one of the reasons for the filing as: "The past acts of abuse and molestation of the parties' minor child." (Allegation #8) Ironically, in the summer of 2007, when Covenant leadership became aware of the allegations of molestation against one of their church officers, I stepped to the microphone at the Southern Baptist Convention and made a motion that ... "A database be developed containing the names of all Southern Baptist ministers who have been credibly accused of, personally confessed to, or legally been convicted of sexual harassment or abuse, and that such a database be accessible to Southern Baptist churches." Though I am not a Presbyterian, my motion was rooted in the knowledge that there is a tendency within religious denominations to 'conceal and cover' sexual abuse by church officers and ministers out of concern for the "reputation" of the church. TIME Magazine declared that the failure of my motion was 'one of the Top 10 most underreported stories in the nation that year.'
When the church officer at Covenant Presbyterian 'confessed' to his molestations in the spring of 2008, there seems to have been no effort by Covenant Presbyterian leadership to 'make known' or 'reveal' the sins of their church officer. There is no police report. There is no public record. There are no discovered church court minutes recording his sins. The Tennessee Department of Child Services, the Davidson County District Attorney's Office, the Tennessee Attorney General's Office, and other civil authorities can produce no record that they were ever notified by the Covenant Session in 2007, 2008, 2009, or 2010 of the child molestations.
In addition, the child molester continued to attend Covenant Presbyterian without notification of the church body of his confessed actions, meaning there were no boundaries in place to protect children.
What does happen at Covenant Presbyterian Church after the confession of the child molester from April 2008 to July 2008 seems shocking, and it forms the basis for the lawsuit by Austin Davis against Covenant Presbyterian, the Nashville Presbytery, and the National PCA.
At that same Session meeting, the 'resignation of a man from the Diaconate was 'accepted.'
That man is the one who confessed to child sexual molestation. The minutes of the Session record no background being given on that man.
For two additional years (2008 - 2010), that confessed child molester is allowed to walk freely through the buildings, halls, and classrooms of Covenant Presbyterian Church and The Covenant School.
For those same two years (2008 -2010) Austin Davis is under perpetual 'threat of arrest' for harassment of the leaders of Covenant Presbyterian Church.
Finally, in June 2010, Covenant Presbyterian Church "excommunicates" the confessed child molester. The 'ex-communication' occurs during the same summer Austin Davis, after 15 months of silence due to intimidation from church officials, and with the encouragement of a helpful FBI agent, begins to again ask questions of the Session. When the child molester is excommunicated from the church, the official stated reason is that he has been:
"...committing a heinous and repetitive sin against his family and has not shown evidence of repentance."
And who knows what else was going on there?