# Lawsuit filed against SGM ( Mahaney's group)



## lynnie (Oct 17, 2012)

Lawsuit claims evangelical church group concealed sex abuse allegations in Md., Va - The Washington Post

I've been following to some extent the whole SGM thing since we used to go to one of their churches in the 90s ( Dave Harvey was the pastor) before they moved far to the south of us. Hubby did the book table ministry back then; it was nice to see charismatics get interested in Reformed theology. 

I guess the moral of the story is that if it is a felony, go to the authorities.


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## Rufus (Oct 17, 2012)

If its true, it's disgusting, and brings utter shame to the church.


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## Tyrese (Oct 17, 2012)

Wow, this is really bad for SGM. Im not sure what to think.


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## lynnie (Oct 17, 2012)

I read the mediator's (Ambassadors of Reconcilation) report last spring and it referred to these cases and that they were not handled well. I forget the exact wording. I don't think there was ever a satisfactory apology from the pastors who bungled the cases. I wonder if this civil suit would have been filed had Mahaney or his pastors issued a strong apology and maybe offered to pay for counseling. 

Just in case somebody does not click the link, nobody is accusing SGM pastors themselves of any immorality. The problem is it happened with fathers or teenage boys, and they allegedly dealt with it very badly.

King David had to make restitution for how Saul treated the Gibeonites, and it wasn't his fault and happened a while before he became the leader. A lesson there I suppose.


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## Marrow Man (Oct 17, 2012)

If true, it is terrible. There are some other factors that need to be carefully thought out -- the role of the magistrate in Romans 13, church members suing one another in 1 Corinthians 7, etc. This was also an eye-opening paragraph:



> The lawsuit faults the church’s “Home Group” structure, in which children are provided with day care so their parents can attend services, as fostering a poorly supervised environment that enabled the abuse to occur.



I am not in favor of dividing the congregation in this way, but for those churches that do, this is something to keep in mind.


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## FenderPriest (Oct 18, 2012)

Of relevance to the thread, and something to keep in mind on these matters: Statement on Reported Lawsuit. Let us not be hasty to jump to conclusions where information is lacking and the internet is our only source of knowledge.



> Please be aware of the following press release.
> 
> October 17, 2012
> 
> ...


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## Jack K (Oct 18, 2012)

Today it's increasingly considered standard practice for churches to have safeguards and procedures in place that make it hard for the sort of thing alleged here to happen. Back in the 80s and 90s, it wasn't. In those days, I taught kids at church with the classroom door closed and no other adult in the room. At one church, I even served alone in the nursery, where bathroom visits had to be supervised. No one said anything about it and I didn't consider it unusual.

Today I would never teach in such a setting; not because I doubt myself to behave properly, but because I want to show that everything is out in the open. It protects me from accusation as much as it protects the kids.

If the charges are correct... given the sensibilities of the 80s, I doubt church leaders were as clearly negligent before the fact as they might appear to be from our perspective and our sensibilities today. My chief concern would be the alleged behavior of the leaders _after_ it became clear a crime had been committed.


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## Jeff Burns (Oct 18, 2012)

*Longer AP Article*

For reference sake, the original AP article is apparently a good bit longer than the one now showing on the Washington Post's website. See below:



> HUFFINGTON POST
> 
> WASHINGTON -- Three female plaintiffs claim an evangelical church group covered up allegations of sexual abuse against children, failed to report accusations to the police and discouraged its members from cooperating with law enforcement, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
> 
> ...



A lot more is at stake here than just what would've been acceptable to contemporary sensibilities of the 1980s and early 90s. There are support groups for folks who've left SGM churches (I'm not endorsing said groups, just noting they exist) whose primary complaint is the authoritarian leadership methods that protect the big names at the expense of the members. That's what they see as the big deal in this case: circumventing the church authorities and going straight to the secular authorities: establishing real accountability where there previously was none, or very little. SGM has already lost a number of churches in the past 14 months during the AoR review and lost another as recently as last week. Time will tell what skeletons come out of the closet as a result of this lawsuit and there's clearly a lot of ramifications yet to be seen.


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## lynnie (Oct 19, 2012)

When we were there in the 90s ( where Fender Priest goes) it was a good church experience for the most part, and I don't think any of the allegations happened at the church we were in. 

However- and this is mentioned in the lawsuit- ( http://www.sgmsurvivors.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/sgmsuit.pdf) where it says that parents were enouraged not to seek outside help or counsel........

......CJ Mahaney did speak regularly at my old church back then, and he had such a strong antipathy towards psychobabble self esteem counseling that there was an atmosphere where people were discouraged from any outside counseling, except for maybe CCEF. Not that he was entirely wrong or even a lot wrong, as in fact the modern therapeutic movement does not have room for sin, guilt, repentance, God, etc. 

But I do think, from many stories I have heard over the years, and I don't mean SGM in particular, that rape and sexual crimes are devastating and the average pastor really should refer the children and familes to outside help, and many of them just don't get what is happening with the cutting, suicidal bent, self hatred, etc. We are a many membered body and a lot of pastors ( especially young ones, and SGM thrives on young pastors) may not realize their own limitations. Plus they just do not have the time for years of working with the victims. Plus depending on the girl it might be better if she talks to a woman until she gets past not trusting men. It is complicated.

Perhaps last year when the whole thing was being mediated, an honest statement from SGM about being young and clueless and botching these cases due to inexperience and inept understanding might have stopped this lawsuit. People just want to hear "I am sorry". I did read online that some victims testified to the mediators and hoped for a resolution, but didn't get it. ( AoR said the sex abuse cases were complicated and outside their field of expertise). So the answer is, in my opinion, find the experts, bring them in and settle it if your mediator can't! Perhaps if SGM had gone that route and said that if AoR can't settle these cases then they will bring in some sex abuse experts and get it settled ( hopefully Christian ones exist), it would not have gone to the civil courts.

Scary, eh? It makes me personally want to be sure I have nothing unsettled with anybody, ever. Deal with things while they are private and don't let them become public.


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## Jeff Burns (Oct 22, 2012)

Does it bother anyone else that there's no mention of this at all from the major neo-calvinist sites representing folks w/in C.J.'s circle? Not a word from The Gospel Coalition, not a word from Challies (though he's just posted an article recommending a talk from CJ), nothing from Mohler, nothing from Lig Duncon or anyone else from T4G... But several of the same have mentinoed the Dinesh D'Souza kerfuffel.. I don't have any vested interest in any of these organizations, but I do have a problem when we only aim our attention at those outside our clique and those inside are immune to scrutiny (think back when Thabiti was the _only _voice from TGC to speak up and criticism over the Elephant Room 2 and MacDonald inviting TD Jakes...) 

Thoughts? Does this bother anyone else?


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## Zach (Oct 22, 2012)

Jeff Burns said:


> Does it bother anyone else that there's no mention of this at all from the major neo-calvinist sites representing folks w/in C.J.'s circle? Not a word from The Gospel Coalition, not a word from Challies (though he's just posted an article recommending a talk from CJ), nothing from Mohler, nothing from Lig Duncon or anyone else from T4G... But several of the same have mentinoed the Dinesh D'Souza kerfuffel.. I don't have any vested interest in any of these organizations, but I do have a problem when we only aim our attention at those outside our clique and those inside are immune to scrutiny (think back when Thabiti was the _only _voice from TGC to speak up and criticism over the Elephant Room 2 and MacDonald inviting TD Jakes...)
> 
> Thoughts? Does this bother anyone else?



I'm not defending them for not mentioning it, but I think something in the line of reasoning is that the D'Souza kurfluffle does not involve any criminal matter that is under investigation.


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## tangleword (Oct 23, 2012)

RE: Jeff Burns:
Thank you for that comment, and I agree completely. That has been the most distressing part of all of the SGM controversies that have been going on. People who are so quick to speak about those outside of their circle, especially those who have made a name pointing out the errors problems within the emergent church and other semi-heretical christian movements, have been either silent about the CJ and SGM issues which are both problems in ethics and theology, or have supported CJ and SGM blindly, even while they are doing things/taking theological stands that would not be tolerated at their own churches and in their own denominations. I can't tell you how many people have such a distorted view of being reformed now because of how SGM is, and how none of the reformed leaders have stood up publicly at all (though some have done so behind closed doors.) Pastors need to be willing to speak the truth, even with those who are nominally in the same movement, or who endorse their books and have conferences to speak at.


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