Ep. 387: Gateway Church, Megan Basham, Turning Point USA, and More
On today’s program, Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas, continues to struggle in the aftermath of sexual abuse allegations against its founder Robert Morris—including NEW sexual abuse allegations, the cancellation of its annual Gateway conference, and more. We’ll look at the latest.
And, Megan Basham is under fire from fellow journalists for naming an alleged sexual assault victim in her new book ‘Shepherds for Sale.’ We’ll have details.
Plus, the largest seminaries in the U.S.
But first, election season is in full swing, and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk is urging pastors to mobilize their churches for Trump.
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Tony Mator, Kim Roberts, Zach Rivas, Mallory Challis, Scott Barkley, Chloë-Arizona Fodor, Jeffrey Walton, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell.
Special thanks to Baptist Press, Baptist News Global, and the Institute on Religion & Democracy for contributing material for this week’s podcast.
Until next time, may God bless you.
MANUSCRIPT
FIRST SEGMENT
Warren:
Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Natasha:
And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado. And we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast.
Warren:
On today’s program, Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas, continues to struggle in the aftermath of sexual abuse allegations against its founder Robert Morris—including NEW sexual abuse allegations, the cancellation of its annual Gateway conference, and more. We’ll look at the latest.
And, Megan Basham is under fire from fellow journalists for naming an alleged sexual assault victim in her new book ‘Shepherds for Sale.’ We’ll have details.
Plus, the largest seminaries in the U-S.
Natasha:
But first, election season is in full swing, and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk is urging pastors to mobilize their churches for Trump.
Warren:
Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk pulled no punches in his keynote address to pastors gathered for a July 31-Aug. 2 political training conference in a Dallas, Texas, suburb.
His message: Pastors need to vote for Donald Trump, they need to become activists, and they need to mobilize their congregations to do likewise.
“There is only one way to save this country,” Kirk said. “Awake the beast that is the American church.”
A lot of online commentators said that Kirk had a lot of fun with the unintended irony of Kirk’s statement. They noted that in Scripture, the word “beast” is often used to describe Satan, while the preferred metaphors for describing the church in Scripture is not beast, but Bride of Christ or Body of Christ.
Natasha:
That wasn’t the only irony of this event.
Warren:
While the “Igniting the Remnant Pastors” conference was ostensibly nonpartisan the event provided a receptive audience for Kirk’s overt endorsement of Trump.
Natasha:
Tell us more about Kirk’s talk, I heard he talked tough and hurled some insults.
Warren:
He said, “The American church is a joke in this country,” he said. “It is a church filled with cowards and people that call themselves pastors but are really motivational speakers.
Natasha:
Next, the latest in the ongoing saga of Gateway Church
Warren:
Gateway Church, the Dallas-area megachurch started by Robert Morris, is facing additional sexual abuse allegations in addition to those revealed against Morris earlier this summer that led to his resignation.
Last week, a lawsuit was filed in Tarrant County, Texas, alleging a 17-year-old member of the Gateway Church youth group sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl also attending the church youth group.
The alleged assault took place in 2017.
Natasha:
The lawsuit names Gabriel Reece Snyder, now 25, and Gateway Church as defendants. It asserts that Gateway was negligent in failing to prevent the alleged assaults and is seeking over $1 million in damages.
Warren:
The alleged victim’s parents accuse Gateway of providing “little or no supervision” by the church’s “youth counselors, pastors, leaders, chaperones, or volunteers.”
According to the lawsuit, Snyder used “biblical beliefs and teachings of…Gateway’s pastor and ministers” to convince his alleged victim it was God’s will that she submit to him.
Natasha:
This isn’t the first time Snyder has been accused
Warren:
No, Snyder was convicted on a different offense of sexual assault of a child, and is currently serving prison time at the Hightower Unit in Dayton, Texas, with an anticipated release in October 2024, CBS News Texas reported.
The alleged victim, Julia Long, chose to reveal her identity and make her story public as part of her healing.
Natasha:
Gateway recently settled another, similar lawsuit.
Warren:
That lawsuit accused church leadership of covering up the alleged sexual abuse of a child by a member of the congregation in March 2018. The lawsuit, filed in 2020, also claimed that Gateway pastors encouraged members of the congregation to ostracize her and failed to inform law enforcement about the abuse.
Gateway said the events in the 2020 lawsuit did not occur on any Gateway campus nor at a Gateway event.
Natasha:
In light of the ongoing controversy regarding allegations against Morris, Gateway Church decided to cancel its annual conference.
Warren:
A statement on the confrence’s website reads: “We want to let you know that after much prayer and consideration, we have decided not to hold Gateway Conference in 2024. Our congregation and staff are in the midst of navigating Robert Morris’ resignation and the emotions surrounding it.”
The church apologized for the inconvenience and promised refunds to those already registered.
Natasha:
Warren, what’s our next story?
Warren:
A South Carolina woman faces charges after local police said she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a church in Greenwood County, just south of Greenville.
Shelley Strickland, 54, was arrested Aug. 9 after confessing to stealing $404,414 from First Baptist Church of Ware Shoals, SC. She may face additional charges for theft at other nearby churches.
Natasha:
How’d she get access to the funds?
Warren:
The Ware Shoals Police Department said Strickland worked as the church’s financial secretary since 2017 and began her theft scheme in 2019 to pay for credit cards and personal expenses. Strickland took from many accounts, including the church’s emergency fund.
A pastor became aware of the issue when a new financial secretary reported discrepancies in the church’s finances. The scheme reportedly continued until February 2024.
Strickland’s husband, Mark Strickland, is pastor of First Damascus Baptist church in nearby Bradley, SC. The couple lives in a parsonage owned by the church.
If convicted, Shelley Strickland faces up to 10 years in prison.
Natasha:
Our next story has a similar theme.
Warren:
A former United Methodist pastor in Nebraska was sentenced for embezzling money from the church he pastored.
Joseph Schumacher, 43, was arrested in November for unauthorized use of a financial transaction device and theft by deception, according to KSID-FM.
In June, he pleaded guilty to two reduced charges of attempted theft and was sentenced last week to consecutive 90-day sentences and 12 months of probation. He was also ordered to pay $6,740 in restitution, KHYY reported.
Natasha:
Warren, let’s take a quick break. When we return, Megan Basham named an alleged sexual assault victim in her New York Times bestselling book ‘Shepherds for Sale.’ Fellow journalists are pushing back, calling the move unethical.
I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and we’ll have that story and much more, after this short break.
BREAK
SECOND SEGMENT
Natasha:
Welcome back. I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and you’re listening to the MinistryWatch podcast.
Next, the story we promised before the break. Megan Basham is being criticized for naming Johnny Hunt’s sexual abuse accuser in her new book.
Warren:
Robert Downen, who was a key reporter about the SBC sex abuse scandal when he worked for the Houston Chronicle, criticized Basham for revealing the accuser’s name in her book, Shepherds for Sale”
Downen said that Apparently, Basham found the name in a court document where it was not redacted and chose to publish it.
Natasha:
Are their rules about sharing identity if it’s in a public document?
Warren:
According to the Society of Professional Journalist’s code of ethics, victims of sexual crimes should be “shown compassion” and treated with “heightened sensitivity.” It also calls on journalists to “recognize that legal access to information differs from an ethical justification to publish or broadcast.”
Downen argues that While Basham may have legally found the name of Hunt’s accuser, that doesn’t give her “a greenlight to abandon basic ethics. Nor do you get to abandon basic ethics because you find the allegations questionable, or you’ve decided that a victim is less of a victim than they say.”
Natasha:
How has Basham responded?
Warren:
Basham wrote on X that she had reasons for naming Hunt’s accusers.
She wrote: “I do think when you make public accusations (especially when you aren’t willing to take them to actual authorities like the police or a court) you should be obligated to stand behind them. Then your character and credibility can be evaluated as well. Anything else allows for a system of secret accusers who can enact character assassination while facing no scrutiny themselves.”
Basham did not respond to MinistryWatch’s question about whether she reached out to the Hunt accuser to ask permission or inform her that she’d be named in the book.
Natasha:
Next is the latest for Kanakuk Camps.
Warren:
Logan Yandell’s lawsuit alleging misdeeds by Kanakuk Kamps and other relevant entities, including ACE American Insurance Co., has been amended to include civil conspiracy claims.
Warren:
The amended lawsuit alleges that all defendants named in the lawsuit, including Kanakuk Kamps, ACE Insurance and all relevant entities, conspired individually and together to commit acts of fraud. The lawsuit says each defendant benefitted in some professional or financial way from the choice to make false claims to survivors and their families.
Natasha:
How do they argue that?
Warren:
Yandell alleges he and many other survivors who settled under false pretenses due to this civil conspiracy have suffered long-lasting damages.
Natasha:
Our next story is on a creative way to help refugees.
Warren:
While refugees’ initial days and months in America can be complex and filled with paperwork and immigration meetings, churches have learned there are direct, simple ways to meet needs.
Not long after it began six years ago, Living Hope Church in Columbus was helping deliver donated furniture on behalf of a group of non-profit organizations. It became apparent that the items were going toward a growing migrant population consisting of those from the Middle East and Central America.
Natasha:
And those immigrants have a lot of needs, how did they choose to help meet them?
Warren:
They opened a furniture store next to the church that now serves 12-20 families a month on average, It stays stocked through approximately 12 non- or for-profit groups, so it doesn’t cost the church.
Natasha:
How do they stock the store?
Warren:
Sometimes new mattresses arrive by way of a nonprofit donation. Coffeemakers and toasters get to the shelves through Walmart overstock. Recliners and other furniture items with small scratches or dents that prevent them from making the showroom floor are more than suitable for clients of the Living Hope ministry center.
Natasha:
They’re not the only church using their resources to help refugees.
Warren:
Further east, about 20 members of Pillar Church in Dumfries, Va., help with the English as a Second Language classes that benefit primarily those who have fled Afghanistan since the Taliban retook the country in 2021.
The people that church serves are not believers, but the time together has led to discussions about faith, as well as the creation of a multilingual, multiethnic service at the church.
Natasha:
Warren, we’re going to take another break. When we return, our lightning round of ministry news of the week.
I’m Natasha Cowden, with my co-host Warren Smith. More in a moment.
BREAK
THIRD SEGMENT
Natasha:
Welcome back. I’m Natasha Cowden, with my co-host Warren Smith and you’re listening to the MinistryWatch Podcast.
Warren, we like to use this last segment as a sort of lightning round of shorter news briefs.
Before the break, we shared about churches serving refugees in their own backyard. Now, the Pew Research Center has released data showing that nearly half of the world’s migrants are Christians.
Warren:
The world’s 280 million immigrants have greater shares of Christians than the general population, according to a new Pew Research Center study released Monday (Aug. 19).
While Christians make up about 30% of the world’s population, the world’s migrants are 47% Christian, according to the latest data collected in 2020.
Pew studied data from 270 censuses and surveys, estimating the religious composition of migrants from 95,696 combinations of 232 origin and destination countries and territories.
The most common path for Christian migrants is from Mexico to the U.S., Pew found. They are typically looking for jobs, improved safety or to reunite with family members.
Natasha:
What’s Next?
Warren:
In 2016 Chelsen Vicari reviewed figures collected by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) to compile a list of full-time student enrollment among accredited schools to get a better picture of the largest seminaries in the United States.
Reports from the 2023-24 academic year are now publicly available, prompting this follow-up piece. Some of the rankings have changed, but the trends Chelsen first identified in 2016 have continued.
Natasha:
How have things shifted?
Warren:
Liberty Theological Seminary now ranks largest with 4,050 full-time enrolled students and a headcount of 5,507 (the institution has a sizable online enrollment).
Fuller Theological Seminary, the largest seminary by enrollment in 2016, has dropped by more than half to 657 full-time enrolled students. It no longer ranks in the top 10 for FTE, and ranks 8th largest in headcount (1,614).
Baptist-affiliated schools, including Liberty, continue to have the largest enrollments. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Gateway Seminary all appear in the top 10.
All of the largest seminaries in the country are evangelical, and no mainline Protestant institutions rank in the top 10.
Natasha:
Who is in our Ministry Spotlight this week?
Warren:
This month, Good News Productions, International (GNPI) saw its Transparency Grade change from a C to a D.
The organization, headquartered in Joplin, Missouri, does not release a form 990 to the public.
According to its website, “GNPI creates relevant media to proclaim the Good News and empower Jesus followers to do the same. We do this through a network of international teams, who use all forms of media to reach the hearts of their people and multiply disciples across the globe.”
According to a limited financial profile with the ECFA, GNPI saw a significant jump in revenue between 2021 and 2022. In 2021, the ministry had revenue of $2.2 million; just a year later, its total revenue was $10.7 million.
Its net assets also rose from $1.4 million in 2020 to $10.9 million in 2023.
Tom Nutt, vice president of operations, told MinistryWatch the increase was from an “unexpected estate gift.”
GNPI does not post its financial information publicly.
Natasha:
And who did Christina highlight in her Ministries Making a Difference column?
Warren:
Uncharted Ministries is helping to pay off the debts of Christian families in Pakistan who have become enslaved to brickyard owners who promise freedom but, through high interest rates and deceptive bookkeeping, fail to deliver. So far, the ministry has helped free 21 families. Uncharted Ministries has 5 stars and an “A” transparency grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a donor confidence score of 97.
Outreach Aid to the Americas (OAA) helped lead the International Hurricane Seminar 2024 in Mexico this spring, aimed at equipping airports to respond in natural disasters, including preparing for humanitarian aid reception and developing effective communication chains. The ministry serves “vulnerable communities in Central America and the Caribbean through relief assistance, development programs, and freedom of religion or belief advocacy.” OAA has 5 stars and an “A” transparency grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a donor confidence score of 98.
Natasha:
Warren, any final thoughts before we go?
Warren:
Webinar – How To Read A Form 990.
AI Text to Audio experiment on podcast.
Natasha:
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Tony Mator, Kim Roberts, Zach Rivas, Mallory Challis, Scott Barkley, Chloë-Arizona Fodor, Jeffrey Walton, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell.
Special thanks to Baptist Press, Baptist News Global, and the Institute on Religion & Democracy for contributing material for this week’s podcast.
I’m Natasha Cowden, in Denver, Colorado.
Warren:
And I’m Warren Smith in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Natasha:
You’ve been listening to the MinistryWatch podcast. Until next time,
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