MorningStar Ministries President/CEO Chris Reed Resigns
Sexual misconduct allegations emerge
Chris Reed, president and CEO of MorningStar Ministries in Fort Mill, S.C., tendered his resignation last week because he “didn’t want to be leading the ministry in a case against four victims who were abused as children by a volunteer.”
Chris Reed and his wife explaining his resignation from Morningstar Ministries / YouTube screenshot
A lawsuit filed in South Carolina state court on August 7 alleges that MorningStar Fellowship Church created a youth program involving overnight events and campouts and allowed Erickson Lee, a relative of one of the church youth program leaders, access to minor males who he allegedly sexually exploited and abused.
Reed said in a statement on YouTube that resigning was a tough and painful choice, but that it was “not a fight [he] wanted to fight.”
But after his resignation, The Roys Report learned of alleged sexual misconduct by Reed in 2021 when he was preparing to become leader of MorningStar Ministries.
Reed, who is married and has six children, admitted to sending “terrible texts” and kissing another woman, but that “there was no sexual encounter. She’s never seen me unclothed or touched me unclothed. I’ve never seen her unclothed or touched her unclothed,” Reed said.
According to the woman, Reed initiated contact with her in November 2021 through private Facebook messages. He gave her his personal cell number, which led to texting and meetups in Reed’s van.
“We kissed all the time . . . He said things that a man of honor, even with his wife, should not have said,” the woman, identified as Kathryn, told The Roys Report.
In the wake of Reed’s resignation, Rick Joyner, who founded MorningStar Ministries, is taking over as CEO and president. He said in a statement to the congregation on September 1 that Reed’s resignation came as a shock.
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“In my opinion, it showed no regard for the church, the leaders, or the ministry. It is not a shepherd’s heart to abandon the people,” Joyner said about Reed, expressing regret they had ever placed him as CEO and president.
Joyner also confirmed that he and the board of MorningStar were told about Reed’s “transgression” at the time of his elevation to leadership.
He said both the woman and Reed admitted to wrongdoing, but both said there was no physical contact.
The board believed Reed and “put [him] in a restoration process” for about 18 months before he took the leadership role permanently.
“I now believe Chris lied to us,” Joyner said. He said there appears to be an abundance of evidence that Reed and Kathryn had physical contact.
“I am not at all pleased with Chris’s continuing behavior,” Joyner said.
Speaking about the lawsuit by the young male victims of the church volunteer, Joyner said the board immediately reported the issue to the police when they learned about it, and they want the truth to come out. In examining their processes and procedures, Joyner said the board does not believe there was any negligence in vetting the volunteer.
