Assemblies of God Draws Attention for Allegations of Abuse Spanning Decades

Denomination claims it properly screens and conducts background checks.

The Assemblies of God has had multiple allegations of protecting abusers and failing to take adequate measures to protect children lodged against its congregations and leadership.

Assemblies of God headquarters in Springfield, Missouri / Photo via Google Street View

In a recent report, NBC News reviewed the history of abuse allegations against Assemblies of God pastors and congregations dating back to the 1970s. The report claims to have identified a pattern of abuse that includes nearly 200 pastors, church employees, and volunteers who have been accused of sexual abuse after searching lawsuit filings, criminal records, and news archives. The report is part of its “Pastors and Prey” series investigating allegations of abuse within the denomination.

MinistryWatch has reported on a number of sexual abuse allegations within the Assemblies of God, including its college ministry Chi Alpha.

Allegations span decades

In 2021, the denomination settled a lawsuit with plaintiffs who claimed they were sexually abused as boys during the 1980s while participating in a scouting-like program called the Royal Rangers, sponsored by the Assemblies of God. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.

The two named abusers in the lawsuit, Ralph Gantt and Todd Clark, were both convicted in 1988 of child sexual abuse, attorney Gilion Dumas told the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

A group of five women has spent decades trying to forget Joseph Campbell, an Assemblies of God preacher they claim began abusing them in the 1980s when they were teenagers. Although allegations of Campbell’s sexual misconduct were reported in 1983, Campbell continued to preach.

“Joe Campbell needs to be in jail,” accuser Cheryl Almond told NBC News. “I just pray one day I can hear a judge tell Joe, ‘You’re guilty, and here’s your sentence.’”

Sexual abuse allegations continue to be lodged against the Assemblies of God. Currently, the denomination is a defendant in a sexual abuse lawsuit in Texas related to alleged abuse by Daniel Savala, who gained access to students participating in Chi Alpha college ministry chapters.

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Last week, Assemblies of God youth pastor Joseph Kemper of Foothill Church in Coarsegold, California, was arrested on charges of sexual abuse involving a 15-year-old female.

In August 2025, Mark Vega, senior pastor of Ignite Life Center — an Assemblies of God congregation — was charged with failure to report suspected child abuse, according to a sworn complaint filed with the 8^th Judicial Circuit Court in Gainesville, Florida.

The allegations include a number of instances involving sexual contact by several young men associated with Ignite against minors, both male and female.

Also in August, Baltimore County Police announced the arrest of Thomas Pinkerton, 52, for multiple sex crimes he allegedly committed between 2006 and 2010 while a youth leader at Central Christian Church, an Assemblies of God church in Baltimore, Maryland. Police suspect he abused his victims with inappropriate touching and kissing at the church and also at his home.

‘Zero tolerance’ policy

Minutes from the 1973 General Council meeting of the Assemblies of God contains a report about “Rehabilitation of Disciplined Ministers,” which states that disciplinary aims are “that God may be honored, that the purity and welfare of the ministry shall be maintained, and that those under discipline may be brought to repentance and restoration.” It allows the termination of credentials for a minister who is found guilty of charges.

In 2002, the denomination released a statement “reemphasizing the church’s long-standing ‘zero tolerance’ policy for ministers found guilty of any sexual conduct with a minor.”

“While Assemblies of God disciplinary measures provide for a minister’s rehabilitation and restoration to the ministry for other causes, the church has never restored credentials to those guilty of these offenses,” the statement read.

A lengthy “Manual for Ministerial Discipline and Restoration” obtained by NBC News contains a section on dealing with sexual misconduct. “The General Presbytery has determined that no restoration should be offered in the following cases: (1) homosexuality; (2) pedophilia; (3) incest; (4) the manufacture, distribution, possession, or use of child pornography.”

However, NBC pointed out that this statement would only apply to credential ministers, not other staff and volunteers.

For instance, in the Ignite Life Center case in Florida, Vega, who was senior pastor of the church, is accused of knowing of credible sexual abuse allegations against Noel Cruz, for whom Vega instituted a “process of restoration” but did not report the allegations to law enforcement.

Resolution 13

In 2019, Resolution 13 was presented to the General Council, urging the body to publish “‘Child Safety Practices and Guidelines’ for local churches, ministers, and ministries associated or affiliated with the Assemblies of God.”

The resolution was referred to executive presbytery so it could confer with attorneys to “ascertain the degree of legal liability for Assemblies of God churches, ministers, and affiliated ministries, if this resolution were to be adopted.”

In 2021, at the General Council meeting, General Secretary Donna Barrett recommended against adopting Resolution 13. She claimed it would have resulted in “our most public document … placing what seemed to be an undefined demand on ministers that was not possible to monitor by districts or the General Council and would have played right into the hands of plaintiff’s attorney, creating legal risk when the intention was to create safety for children.”

According to a testimonial by Mike McCrary of the denomination’s Church Multiplication Network, the Assemblies of God works with MinistrySafe — a safety system for child sexual abuse prevention.

Assemblies of God responds to accusations

In response to the NBC reporting, the Assemblies of God issued a statement saying the article was “peppered with misleading information.”

“The NBC News report appears to have done a survey of court filings and other news articles mentioning the Assemblies of God from the past 50 years and compiled numbers based on those records, but failed to omit unsubstantiated allegations or filings where the Assemblies of God was dismissed or potentially named in error,” the statement said.

“Importantly, the article inaccurately states that the Assemblies of God has resisted background checks, screenings, and mandatory reporting. This is false. Background checks and screenings are a well-established part of the Assemblies of God credentialing process and the General Council voluntarily considers itself a mandatory reporter,” it continued, adding that “[n]o minister may obtain or retain AG credentials if they have been found guilty of sexual misconduct with a minor.”

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