Greater Grace World Outreach Accused of Pattern of Sex Abuse and Coverup

Group of former members conducted their own investigation into allegations at the Baltimore church.

When Matt Veader first learned about a string of child sex abuse allegations involving Greater Grace World Outreach, he was sitting around a fire with friends in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Photo via social media @Greater Grace Church Outreach Baltimore

Greater Grace is a megachurch in East Baltimore, Maryland started in the 1960s by Carl Stevens.

Veader grew up in the church, but had already left based on his own experience revealing his wife’s abuse allegations to leaders at Greater Grace.

So when conversation around the campfire in 2019 seemed to reveal a pattern of abuse, it sparked a four-year investigation involving at least 32 former members, according to a three-part series of articles published in the Baltimore Banner.

Veader and his group of friends, calling themselves the Millstones, followed the evidence and documented allegations of abuse and what they considered concealment by the church.

Greater Grace had been the subject of controversy before. It was featured in a “60 Minutes” segment in 1987 regarding a donation of $6.6 million that a judge ordered it to return.

According to the Baltimore Banner, Greater Grace officials declined to address specific claims of sexual abuse, saying the church “fully cooperates with any investigations conducted by law enforcement or childcare agencies” and abides by laws for reporting “suspected or actual child abuse.”

“We welcome and support their interventions, expertise, and authority to bring perpetrators to justice for the protection of society,” church officials said in a statement to the Baltimore Banner.

Stevens founded the church in the 1960s in Maine.  It then moved to Massachusetts in the 1970s and landed in Baltimore in 1987.

Stevens was ousted in 2005 after concerns arose about his possible addiction to painkillers and alcohol, and allegations of an adulterous affair, the Baltimore Banner reported.

Thomas Schaller took the lead, and church elders agreed to reform church policies to provide greater accountability and pastoral discipline.

But Veader’s experience tells a different story. In 2015, he met with Schaller and asked him to punish the pastor who had groomed his wife.

Schaller told him to forgive the pastor and move on, Veader told the Baltimore Banner.

Another church leader, Steven Scibelli, reportedly vowed to get to the bottom of the sexual abuse allegations and take action to remove the pastor’s ordination. However, no action appeared to be taken—the pastor is still preaching, Veader said.

That pastor denied the allegations, and Scibelli would not speak to reporters, the Baltimore Banner said.

Through their investigation, the Millstones discovered that one family included three alleged abusers: Jesse Anderson, a former youth volunteer; Jonathan Anderson, Jesse’s brother and a former Sunday school teacher; and Pastor Eric Anderson, their father and former head of the Maryland Bible College and Seminary.

Jesse Anderson was accused and convicted of molesting a boy. He escaped prison time after pleading guilty because the family of his accuser, Shane Villeneuve, asked for leniency at his sentencing. The Villeneuve family said Scibelli told them it would be bad for Jesse to go to prison where he would likely become a sexual abuse victim himself.

Jesse received a 10-year suspended sentence and was listed as a registered sex offender. He did not reply to a request for comment, but his mother told reporters he was trying to move forward.

Several other men have accused Jesse of molesting them, including Daniel Rasmussen, Sam Skiles-Rodriguez—a biological man who now presents himself as a woman—and Nathan Alderson.

Erika Slater, who is now 50, said Pastor Eric Anderson groped her in 1980. Through his wife Joycelyn, Anderson told reporters Slater’s claims were “total garbage.”

Access to MinistryWatch content is free.  However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts.  To make a donation, click here.

According to allegations by Abby Cerquitella, Jonathan Anderson groped her in the mid-1990s when she was in early elementary school. Her parents allegedly reported him to the pastors, and Jonathan Anderson stopped teaching Sunday School. He did not reply to a request for comment by the Baltimore Banner.

The sexual abuse cases reached internationally as well, with the Millstones discovering allegations against two pastors in Ghana, John Jason and Henry Nkrumah.

Even leading families like the Heidenreichs, whose father Chuck was a pastor and missionary for Greater Grace, were impacted by sexual abuse. One of the Heidenreich daughters claims she was abused by Jason. Reportedly, Chuck took the accusations to Schaller, Scibelli, and the board of elders, who claimed they had no authority to take action against Jason.

Jason declined to comment when asked, and the Ghanaian church did not reply to a request for comment, the Baltimore Banner reported.

The Millstones met with attorney Boz Tchividjian, who specializes in sexual abuse cases, to discuss their findings. The Millstones say he told them to publicize the results and, “Burn it all down.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Why does MinistryWatch report on sex crimes? These stories are tough to read and sometimes even tougher to report, but we think they are vital to our mission to bring transparency, accountability, and credibility to the evangelical church. To read more about why and how we report these stories, read “Why MinistryWatch Reports On Sex Crimes.” You can find that story here.

TO OUR READERS: Do you have a story idea, or do you want to give us feedback about this or any other story? Please email us: [email protected]