On February 2, the 236th District Court judge dismissed the case against the church in the Sherman Allen trial. In a rather stunning (and brief) ruling Judge Lowe granted the church’s motion for “evidentiary summary judgement and motion for no-evidence summary judgment”. Click graphic for larger version of the judgment.

The ruling left open the option to appeal. Attorneys for the plaintiff will appeal the case. The case had experienced multiple delays as motions were filed back and forth and ruled on. Darian Kelley, husband of the plaintiff said that he was “shocked” at the ruling. We hope to have a fuller interview with Mr. Kelley in the near future.

In the second trial overseen by Washington State’s King County Superior Court,  four women had sued COGIC, Inc. for 10 million dollars. The church settled the case out of court for an estimated 1.6 million dollars.  GCM Watch was told the case was settled literally right before it was about to go to trial. The money had to be paid within 60 days of the ruling.

Sources close to the case from Washington told us that the national church footed the bill for the entire judgment but “loaned” part to the jurisdiction headed by Bishop TL Westbrook.  Washington State churches (about 25-30 in number) would be responsible for repaying some $650,000. But the “assessment” has caused some controversy among local pastors. According to our source,  “Bishop Westbrook believes COGIC should pay the debt not the WA Jurisdiction.  Most of the churches in WA are incorporated.  Although he disagrees he still assessed the credential holders in his jurisdiction.  People are very angry and some refuse to pay.”

The man at the center of the case Pastor Charles Smith is now deceased, but here he is in 2007 denying everything to a news reporter.

Related stories:
Sherman Allen abuse trial date looms

Enoch Perry III is a man on a mission. A dubious one no doubt, but a mission nonetheless. He’s lethal against people who accuse COGIC leaders of sexual abuse because he used to be a judge so he is keen to how the “system” works. Currently, the seemingly unbridled sycophant is pulling the Church of God in Christ into legal, moral and ethical quicksand. But the top brass in COGIC apparently like him and his advice. So our job is to document the proceedings as a witness to such reckless folly.

Perry has been COGIC’s chief behind-the-scenes architect of sexual abuse “policy” in the last few years. He’s navigated church leadership though numerous legal waters with ubiquitous ease, donning different faces depending on which court room he happened to find himself in. In November 2009,  when Bishop Charles Blake dropped a bombshell announcement that his denomination spent on a yearly average $800,000 to settle sexual abuse claims against the church,  he actually thanked Perry for his cacophony of supporting distortions.

But Perry does have one major fear. He fears the media connecting the dots to the sordid events perpetrated by sexual predators in COGIC (44 and counting) and like the current Catholic church debacle,  putting all the dirty business on NBC nightly news, FOX, ABC and other outlets. To that end, he tells COGIC pastors to keep attention away from sexual abuse cases.

“Media coverage of any sexual oriented event and the church will have a negative slant. The pessimistic coverage will have a direct impact on the overall public perception of the church involved, its corporate body and its membership. Additionally, this negativity will directly affect new membership and outside donations.”

Perry is still miffed at the excellent reporting the Dallas Observer did on Sherman Allen which led to a reopening of the case and a potential PR nightmare for COGIC.  In his deposition, he called blogs who reported the story “gossip rags”.  The problem was the reporting on real facts threatened the flow of donor money the church was getting from corporations. And who cares about victims when money is at stake?

If anyone ever doubted that COGIC leadership has an intentional strategy of  diversion on clergy sexual abuse cases, perhaps this is the smoking gun.  And all of it can be attributed to the devious counsel of Enoch Perry. His heartless crusade to paint victims of clergy abuse out of the picture or as “problems” for the church is evident in this presentation given to the church’s “General Assembly” last November. You can read or download the 16 page presentation here.

The above statement is so dizzying that we have to break it down so that you see its elements. Notice that Perry pitches media coverage, not the crimes committed by clergy, as the church’s “vulnerability”.

Perry: “Media coverage of any sexual oriented event will have a negative slant.”

The negativity doesn’t come because the media invents it, it comes because a grown man sexually violated a young woman or a young man. Perry’s perspective helps the criminals look like victims of media bias rather than the lowlife criminals they really are.

Perry: “The pessimistic coverage will have direct impact on public perception…”

Why label coverage as “pessimistic” (meaning  seeing the worst in a situation) when it is the actions of sexually deviant leaders who are causing the “pessimism”?  And just what does Perry expect the secular media to say or think about a church who claims to be the “greatest church in the world” with preachers raping boys and girls? Is there something positive in this we are missing? This is just another way of saying that COGIC’s “name, image and assets” must be protected at all cost, including at the expense of victims.

Perry: “This negativity will directly affect new membership and outside donations.”

There’s the money quote. The BIG reason why COGIC must keep clergy sex abuse cases quiet. Translation: Keep up the lies and charade in order to fool people into thinking that all is well. If we let the media find out we have sexual predators in positions of authority people wont join and money wont come into the church’s bank account. After all what’s more important than keeping the money flowing and deceiving people on the outside of the church? Perry should be arrested for encouraging such blatant deception when people’s lives are in the balance.

The numbers game

Pastor Harvey Burnett took a look at the numbers and came to some conclusions that are almost unbelievable. Stay with me on this.

“He (Judge Enoch Perry) reported that in over 100 years, there have been 20-25 processed cases of sexual misconduct. He stated statistically the numbers are significantly small; however, there should not be one case among us. Judge perry reported there has not been one successful lawsuit against the church; cases have either been settled or dismissed. He further stated that Bishop Blake supports the church’s zero tolerance policy against sexual misconduct.” ~ [2009 COGIC General Assembly Minutes Pg. 2 Para. 2 parenthesis added]

Later, Presiding Bishop Charles Blake remarks included the following:

“Presiding Bishop Blake thanked Judge Perry for his remarks regarding the church’s policy in relationship to sexual misconduct. he pointed out that, on average, the church spends about $800,000 to settle legal matters many of which have to do with accusations of sexual misconduct. (Who made the comment? and that one singe lawsuit has the potential to bankrupt the church.)” ~ [2009 COGIC General Assembly Minutes Pg. 3 Para. 2 as it is in the minutes]

Now it seems to be somewhat of a disconnect. How can a settled lawsuit be unsuccessful when $800,000 on average is paid toward the settlement and legal matters regarding it? According to Perry’s numbers,  this would mean that about $16,000,000 to $20,000,000 dollars (almost $200,000 per year over 100 years) have been paid out to adjudicate matters of this kind and this is only from the national church perspective. I believe these numbers don’t even begin to tell the real story however, because the fact is that it has been documented that over the last 20 years there have been over 35 visible cases of clergy sexual misconduct and abuse among COGIC clergy. Some of these cases were highly publicized and ended in incarceration.

If we condense even Perry’s numbers (which are more than likely understated) into the 20 to 25 year period of time in which we can document publicized cases of abuse and misconduct, that would mean that the church has paid an average of approximately $1,000,000 per year toward the adjudication of sexual misconduct cases. Remember this is $1,000,000 per year of national report and auxillary fund dollars collected and paid to defend and or settle sexual abuse, misuse, harassment, and other sexual misconduct cases.

If you find this at all disturbing, its because it really is. The “presentation” given by Perry to the denominational leaders encouraged duplicity, equivocation, and unethical if not downright illegal activity among so called holiness leaders. Maybe they are already used to operating this way, that’s why no one has called for his resignation. Per the presentation, victims of clergy sexual abuse can expect to receive no mercy, no compassion and no help from Church of God in Christ leaders which is just another reason why they really should drop the “God in Christ” from their name. Perhaps a more suitable name  would be Church of Name, Image and Assets (CONIA).

Other stories on Enoch Perry:
Under oath, COGIC legal counsel Enoch Perry makes stunning admissions
Surveying COGIC’s “justice system”

We are barely two months into the year 2010, and already four clergy sexual abuse/misconduct cases involving Church of God in Christ (COGIC) clergy have come to light. But as before, we find that Bishop Charles Blake and his so-named team of professionals are unresponsive and missing in action.  And the alleged “zero tolerance” policy that has become the COGIC’s closet secret is once again proven to be little more than a deflective media sound bite.

Just last week  Pastor Edwin House and his wife Louvenia were arrested by police in Crescent, Oklahoma  and charged with five counts of lewd molestation allegedly perpetrated on two underage foster girls under their care. House is pastor of the Lighthouse COGIC north of Oklahoma City. The Oklahoman reported that the two were released on bail the following day. But the allegations are troubling.

Edwin House is accused of sexually abusing two 14-year-old girls in his home. Lovenia House is accused of not doing enough to protect the children.

One of the girls attempted suicide in July by overdosing on pills, court affidavits state. She told counselors she was molested by Edwin House and was depressed. She said the abuse started when she was 7, with the latest incident occurring when she was 9.

She told investigators Edwin House laid on top of her while she was sleeping and put his hand down her shirt. He also put his hands on her chest while she was in his car, she reported.

The girl was removed from the home and taken into protective custody, court records show.

Lovenia House told investigators her husband touched the girl’s chest to teach her how boys might act if she continued to dress provocatively.

A female foster child who lived with the couple from November 2003 to December 2004 told investigators Edwin House would lay on top of her after he tucked her into bed at night.

House is a member of the Oklahoma NW jurisdiction with Bishop Lee Vicker Broom.  But upon his release, House made an unusually defiant statement to the media. Was it to the media or to his denominational leaders?

Edwin House said Wednesday that his church is aware of the allegations against him and his wife. He is pastor of the Light House Church of God in Christ in Crescent.

According to the church’s Web site, Edwin House started the church in 1984. He also ran a Christian school for three years for children in grades 1-8. House closed the school in 2007.

“Nothing is going to change at the church,” Edwin House said. He said congregation members and friends have rallied to support him.

We sincerely hope that all of the allegations against the Houses are false, but that has to be determined in a court of law.  Its is strange per his wife that she would condone her husband’s touching the young girls to “teach them a lesson”. Why couldnt she simply do what the Bible tells older women to do with younger women in Titus 2:4? Surely, there were better ways to teach young girls not to dress provocatively than to simulate “what boys might do to them”.

However, unless something has been lost in the interpretation of the word “zero” as in “zero tolerance”, House should have been removed from pastoring until he and his wife are cleared of wrongdoing. But can that happen when House literally declared he wont be stepping down? Secondly, are COGIC leaders in his jurisdiction going to enact the “zero tolerance” policy? The most serious issue with Bishop Blake’s zero tolerance policy is that it has never been used publicly. But the Bishop stated again in the denomination’s 2009 meeting that he “supported” the policy.

COGIC’s self preservation attitude continues to create more victims

With all of the layers of proposed and actual departments COGIC leadership claims is in place to deal with clergy sexual abuse, its still unclear how people like Prince Woolfolk of Kentucky could continue pastoring two churches for an entire year after he was cited in a juvenile rape case. Woolfolk was convicted January 30th and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Again, no zero tolerance policy was enacted. Woolfork wasn’t removed from office, he resigned at will with no known punitive action from COGIC.

In Shreveport, Louisiana, Rev. Bruce Goss, pastor of the New Birth Temple COGIC was arrested after police discovered him in a car partially unclothed with a 13 year old girl. The Shreveport Times reported on the story.

A Shreveport man who claimed to be a pastor today was convicted of molestation of a juvenile. A Caddo District Court jury deliberated for roughly a half hour then returned the guilty verdict against Bruce Lee Goss, 52, according to the district attorney’s office. Judge Leon Emanuel set a hearing Nov. 23 for further proceedings. Goss could be sentenced sometime in December, a news release states.
Goss was arrested in December 2007 when Shreveport police responded to a report of a vehicle backed into the driveway of a vacant dwelling in the 2600 block of Waggoner Avenue. Officers said they found Goss in the back seat with a partially clothed 13-year-old girl. “We’re pleased to see another predator off our streets,” Caddo District Attorney Charles Rex Scott says in the release. “I am very proud of our prosecution team and of the Shreveport police officers who pursued this case.”

As we reported earlier, Presiding Bishop Blake said COGIC spends on average $800,000 to defend or settle clergy sexual abuse claims while chief lawyer Enoch Perry claimed that in the last 100 years, COGIC had only had “20-25″ processed cases of clergy sexual abuse. He did not define what constitutes a “processed case”. [source: 2009 COGIC General Assembly Minutes]

A grand jury has indicted a former western Kentucky preacher on charges that he raped a teenager nearly 25 years ago.

Owensboro police Sgt. Randy Boling the family of the alleged victim filed a complaint against 75-year-old Prince Wilbert Woolfolk in July. No criminal charges were filed at the time, but the case was presented to the grand jury on this week.

Woolfolk gave an interview to the Messenger-Inquirer in which he denies a rape occurred. But he acknowledges having some sexual contact with the then 17-year-old girl.

Woolfolk resigned in June as pastor the Seventh Street Church of God in Christ in Owensboro and the Branch Street Church of God in Christ in Madisonville.

The Owensboro Message-Inquirer also reported that the victim’s mother told the court Woolfork used scriptures to discourage her from notifying the police about the rape. Very typical of these wolves to cloak themselves in scripture to hide their crimes.

Its not clear why COGIC leadership didn’t enact its so-called zero tolerance policy and remove the rapist from the two churches he pastored. But then again, we all know zero tolerance is just a window dressing rule COGIC leadership conveniently refers to when questioned about the frequency of clergy sexual abuse in the denomination.

Only 20-25 cases of sexual abuse in COGIC?

In November 2009, Presiding Bishop Charles Blake told 1, 592 delegates to the 6.5 million member church’s General Assembly that COGIC spent on average $800, 000 on clergy sexual abuse cases.

According to official minutes of the meeting, both Blake and Enoch Perry, the denomination’s lawyer-in-chief addressed what they called “significantly small” number of sexual ” misconduct” cases.

Judge Enoch Perry, Chief Counsel, gave a brief status report on the topic of sexual misconduct and legal matters of the church. He reported that in over 100 years, there have been 20-25 processed cases of sexual misconduct. He stated statistically the numbers are significantly small; however there should not be one case among us. Judge Perry reported there has not been one successful lawsuit against the church; cases either have been settled or dismissed. He further stated that Bishop Blake supports the church’s zero tolerance policy against sexual misconduct. The delegates were encouraged to purchase the book entitled, “The Church of God in Christ’s Continued Stand Against Sexual Misconduct”. He reminded delegates that there was no statue of limitations for sexual misconduct.

Bishop Blake thanked Judge Perry for his remarks regarding the church’s policy in relationship to sexual misconduct. He pointed out that, on average, the church spends about $800,000 to settle legal matters many of which have to do with accusations of sexual misconduct. (Who made this comment? And that one single lawsuit has the potential to bankrupt the church.) Our bold.

If we’re seeing this correctly, Bishop Blake is saying that the nearly 1 million dollars per year is spent on sexual abuse cases, yet Enoch Perry, using a 100 year time construct,  is saying that its a significantly small number?   The report showed COGIC’s 2008-2009 budget  just over 10 million dollars in expenditures. Report COGIC Abuse has tracked over 30 cases in just the last 30 years. Most of the cases are not small errors in judgment, but heinous crimes rivaling those of serial rapists. Something just doesn’t add up.

There’s much to be said about these comments (and we will fully review them later) but here are some unavoidable questions delegates should demand specific answers to in the upcoming April Call Meeting.

1. What’s the definition of a “processed case”? Is COGIC leadership using the most restrictive definition possible in order to make cases against the church appear “significantly small”?

2. If the church has settled sexual abuse lawsuits, just how many have been settled in comparison to those won in a court of law? What what the settlement amount and who authorized it?

3.  How does the church effectively conduct and ratify such serious matters when a whopping two thirds of the delegates are missing from the meeting?

4. From what departmental budget is the 800k deducted from?

5. Why does COGIC continue to present budgets with no actuals at the time new information is introduced?  At best this is unprofessional perhaps even unethical.

6. If the zero tolerance policy is supported by the Presiding Bishop, why was Prince Woolfolk, Larry Weems and others allowed to remain in office?

7. Why should delegates have to purchase to so-called sexual abuse book? Purchasing certainly minimizes the possibility of the book being widely disseminated, unless of course the leadership really doesn’t care about the book being widely seen and read.

In our opinion, this administration is either corrupt to the core with no regard for truthfulness or God is asleep on the throne.

But the few people that showed up were met with an overwhelming show of force at the bequest of COGIC officials.

David Brown, the chapter’s president and chief spokesman told me that four police squad cars with a police captain as well as COGIC’s internal security guards met them.

Brown said SNAP had done similar press conferences many times before and had never encountered  any police presence. The show of force he said was highly unusual but he was told by an official with Memphis police that they [the police] received a call and were asked to come out.

In addition to all the police and security, Brown said he observed what appeared to be COGIC officials standing on the other side of the street on headquarters property watching them.

The press conference was covered by two local media outlets.

I found it highly ironic and hypocritical that COGIC would so quickly call out the police and security against unarmed and peaceful press conference and yet do nothing against the many sexual criminals who have raped and pillaged innocent children and adults in its church.

This is more mounting evidence that the window dressing rhetoric of Bishop Blake proves he is only interested in “the name, image and assets” of the COGIC. Protecting members from predators is low –if any– priority in his administration.

Reporting these types of stories brings no joy, but must be done because the COGIC leadership has not gotten the message that sexual abuse and immorality among its clergy is rampant and the foot dragging must stop. When asked about the website we set up to monitor and advocate for victims, Bishop Blake told a Memphis reporter, “Brother Foster has a flavor of the year he usually focuses on. His flavor this year is sexual harassment and sexual abuse.”

But the facts prove clergy sexual abuse in COGIC is no joking matter.  The Memphis Commercial Appeal broke yet another abuse story early this morning. Minister Dwayne Wilson [myspace page] (pictured), 25 of St Mark COGIC in Memphis was arrested and charged with statutory rape of a 16 year female member of the church’s choir where he served as music minister.

Ronald Rolfe, the church’s pastor refused to remove Wilson from his position saying that the Bible calls for us to love and forgive.

“The word of God teaches us to forgive and to pray,” said Rolfe. “The best thing I can do as a clergyman is to extend God’s hands of forgiveness.”

Apparently, Pastor Rolfe isn’t aware of COGIC’s zero tolerance policy. Through their public relations firm, COGIC officials refused comment until they had more information [source].

Although the Commerical Appeal reported that COGIC  “has had a no-tolerance policy toward sexual misconduct since 1992, and COGIC members adopted additional policies earlier this month”, the Wilson case reveals that information is still vastly unknown to the denomation’s thousands of clergy leaders.

According to an unsourced article posted on cogic.com on November 24th, the denomination did not adopt any new sexual abuse measures. Only a small group of delegates were given an unnamed document to review and consider.

“He [Blake] then went on to discuss the Church’s official stance against sexual misconduct. Over the course of the last year, Bishop Blake has hand-picked a strong team of clergy and legal professionals familiar with addressing sexual misconduct to develop a document that details the responsibility of clergy over the protection of all members and reaffirm the official stance of the church concerning this heinous type of sexual victimization. This document was distributed to delegates for review and consideration.”(our bold)

The article snippet reflects no real sense of change, but rather more of the shell game COGIC leadership has become known for. It doesn’t even take into consideration the highly contradictory statement by COGIC’s PR representative Diedre Malone who said COGIC has been working on a clergy sexual abuse plan for over 15 years. How does that compare against “over the course of the last year” statement? Which one is accurate?

Given the serious and critical nature of clergy sexual abuse in the denomination, why is the document only issued for a “review and consideration” process? After 15 years, shouldnt COGIC have their policies and enforcement of policies in place by now. Who are the members of the “clergy and legal professionals team” allegedly assembled by Bishop Blake? Why all the continued secrecy? After all the damage done, why is Bishop Blake still acting as if this is a motion to add another pulpit seat at Mason Temple?

Will this document be made public for all of COGIC’s alleged 6.5 million members to review or is it only for the eyes of the 1000 attendees? If Bishop Blake and his team of professionals want to be taken seriously, they would be honest with the church’s members. Two sexual abuse cases are still in traction for trial so perhaps this is why there has been no measurable changes in the way COGIC appropriates its so called zero tolerance sexual abuse policy.

The victim’s father seems to speak the sentiments of  many families who have been victimized by clergy sexual abuse. You can hear the anguish in his words.

“There’s so much sexual misconduct going on in COGIC right now, and he’s right in the middle of it,” the girl’s father said. “It’s out of control.”

Additional media coverage:

WMC TV reported the victim’s father (also a minister at the St Mark’s) says that Wilson has “had one sexual relationship after another since he’s been there.” [source]

WREG with video of church members

UPDATE 12.01.09 9:12am eastern

The outrage over the Dwayne Wilson rape case continues to grow. The Tennessee Chapter of SNAP (Survivor Network of Those Abused by Priests) will lead a press conference today in front of COGIC’s International headquarters Mason Temple (930 Mason St) at 1pm to address clergy sexual abuse and openly rebuke COGIC for not removing Wilson from office. SNAP plans to:

• urge anyone who saw, suspected or suffered the man’s crimes to come forward, get help & call police,
• offer to speak to the congregation about how to respond appropriately when child sex charges emerge, and
• prod denominational officials to hold an open public meeting at the church to address the controversy

David Brown, chapter president, spoke with me last night and told me of his plans. Brown will also read a prepared press statement from me on behalf of ReportCOGICAbuse.com.  We fully support these efforts. If you are in Memphis and want to stand with SNAP and ReportCOGICAbuse, please let the church know that change must happen now.

1. Maryland – A woman who filed a 100 million dollar civil lawsuit against COGIC as a result of the case of former Elder Tony Malbrough. Marlbrough was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. A judge dismissed the case because the woman did not show up in court. No reason has been given for the woman’s no show.

2. North Carolina – The families of five victims of former COGIC music minister Leonard Smith sued COGIC, Inc, its member jurisdiction and a local church for civil damages. Smith was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to 16 years in prison. But the civil trial jury returned a verdict exonerating all defendants. Statue of limitation issues, not culpability, may have played a factor in the verdict.

3. Texas – The trial of former COGIC evangelism department vice president Sherman Allen has been delayed once again. Lawyers for COGIC had sought to exclude testimony from the Rev. Al Sharpton. Its not known whether they were successful. Sharpton’s testimony could draw media attention to the trial COGIC officials hope to avoid. After another motion was filed the case was pushed back to December 18th.

4. Washington – A lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court is moving forward despite years of delay tactics by COGIC lawyers. A Jane Doe alleges that Pastor Charles Smith sexually abused her as a child. A significant development in the case: A paternity test on the defendant came back positive. Read a review of the available legal outline.

The Presiding Bishop told the Commercial Appeal the “attention” given the site was out of proportion. He called the 30 odd cases cited on the website “allegations” which didn’t reflect on the “hundreds of thousands” of COGIC clergy.

Bishop Blake erroneously called the information on ReportCOGICAbuse.com “allegations”. The overwhelming majority of the clergy sexual abuse cases cited on website are not allegations, but in fact legally resolved cases with convictions. An allegation is defined as “an assertion unsupported and by implication regarded as unsupportable.”

Blake also said COGIC’s zero tolerance sexual abuse policy has been in place since 1992 and is “enforced” by a sexual misconduct review board.

Equivocation becomes him. One need look no further than Jackson MS and Larry Weems to know that COGIC has no zero tolerance and no enforcement from a “sexual misconduct review board”. If Bishop Blake believed his own words, he would call for the immediate dismissal of Larry Weems, who despite sexually assaulting five women in 2007 is still holds national, jurisdictional and local offices.

“While we are mildly heartened that the bishop is at least commenting publicly, his remarks unfortunately still reflect COGIC’s corporate image posturing which signals an unfriendly climate for victims”, said site founder Pastor DL Foster.

The pastor of St James, William James, Jr. didn’t put the men out of the church, it took legal action against them to stop their predatory activities.

According to Maurice Morris, a former longtime member of the church, James kept two of the pedophiles in position and even sent letters supporting them when they were arrested.

Morris and his wife have been living through a nightmare since he confronted James about increased reports of sexual harassment of underage female members in the church.
Morris, a former police officer with the Lucas County Sheriff’s department worked on the security detail for COGIC’s national meetings under Elder Gerald Harris. Harris allegedly investigated the Sherman Allen case but closed it six months later claiming the plaintiff could not be located.

According to Morris, each of the men were on staff as musicians and one was a minister at St. James. Each committed their crimes as members of the church and subsequently were convicted. Two are currently employees of the same church Mt Pilgrim Baptist Church of Toledo.

The pedophiles who were on payroll at St James are:
James Jones organist
Arthur Bishop saxophonist
Bryan Watkins minister
Nathan Fullove organist

In early March, Morris sent certified letters to Bishop Blake and church legal counsel Enoch Perry explaining in great detail what transpired at the church and the circumstances of his arrest, conviction and imprisonment. He appealed to the Bishop to help him clear his name and financial assistance since he had lost his means of employment attempting to help protect the children of St. James from known predators.

On March 26, 2009 Morris said he received a phone call from Bishop Blake who assured him whatever the wrong the church had committed would be righted.  Blake instructed him to contact Ohio North jurisdictional Bishop Jordan. Perry also called but never returned followup calls from Morris.

Read Mr. Morris’s full testimony here.

YOU NEED TO HEAR THIS WORD! BE STIRRED TO ACTION!
One of the stand out preachers in COGIC that I am very encouraged by all the time. Pastor Patrick Wooden.
Preach Pastor!, cry aloud and spare not! This is a timely WORD in due season. If we preach this gospel with passion and without tricks and favoritism, God’s power would flow and kill the enemy’s plans.

Deidre Malone told Memphis Commercial Appeal that Blake and the church have been working on this plan for “more than 15 years”, but refused to divulge any details. We can only hope this is not another layer of church bureaucracy which will impede justice for future victims.

That would mean that the church has known about its clergy sexual abuse problem since at least 1994, but have failed to act on a number of high profile cases. Its also interesting now that ReportCOGICAbuse has been launched, the plan magically gets finished. Of course the obvious question is does it really take 15 plus years to finish a clergy sexual abuse plan? And why hasnt anyone heard of it prior to now? Perhaps this is why they refused to acknowledge Supt Harvey Barnett’s comprehensive National Victims Advocacy Plan.

Hopefully, Bishop Blake will:
(1) Release the details of the plan to the media
(2) Call for church-wide repentance to past victims of clergy sexual abuse
(3) Acknowledge that COGIC leadership has been unjust in dealing with victims

Malone also told WMC TV in Memphis “presiding Bishop Charles Blake does have an additional initiative that he’s going to announce.”

An additional initiative? Additional to what?

Other developments

Monday, the first day of the Convocation, I will be a guest on the Thaddeus Matthews Show. It airs at 4pm on KWAM 990 AM Memphis. If you want to listen or call in, you can catch the show online here.

Here’s video of the October 12 edition of WMC TV News. Clergy sexual abuse in COGIC was the lead story.