SC Church Leaders Failed to Disclose to Members That Pastor Was Registered Sex Offender
Leaders say ‘sexual sin with a minor’ doesn’t permanently disqualify pastor
Community members are stunned and demanding greater transparency from a South Carolina church after learning its pastor is a registered sex offender.
Pastor Don Logan / Video screenshot from 6/23/24
Don Logan, 57, pastor of Eternal Church in Fort Mill since 2015, was convicted of child sex abuse in 1997.
According to Indiana court records, Logan pleaded guilty to a felony charge of sexual misconduct with a minor younger than 16 as part of a plea agreement in 1997. He was sentenced to three years in prison, with an additional three years suspended pending his adherence to probation. According to the South Carolina sex offender registry, the victim in the case was a 14-year-old girl.
As part of the agreement, the court also ruled that Logan “relinquish his minister’s license, that he have no contact with any minor without adult supervision, and his type of employment is approved by the Court and Probation Department.”
Logan was required to be listed for a set number of years on Indiana’s sex offender registry, which elapsed years ago. In April, the pastor registered on South Carolina’s sex offender registry after learning he was legally required to do so, but did not inform church members of his conviction.
Chad Hollowell, executive pastor of Eternal Church, told The Wartburg Watch last week that church leaders “do not feel that sexual sin with a minor permanently disqualifies Logan from the pulpit.”
Still, the church announced on Sunday Logan will step aside as pastor at least until September. During Sunday services, Discipleship Pastor Jacob Collins and Elder Lorne James explained the pastor’s crime, the church’s decision to hire him, and their failure to plan if his past was ever revealed.
Dawn Harrington, who formerly attended Eternal Church, expressed shock when she recently found out about Logan’s conviction.
“He used his position to take sexual advantage of a minor,” she told the Fort Mill Sun. “This should permanently disqualify him from having access to children or anyone vulnerable. Yes the Bible and God calls us to forgive and not judge. So let him attend church and find a career where he can’t use his position to take advantage of someone again. They hid this from the voting members when he was hired, they minimized it today in the message to the church and they are not even considering the victim in all of this.”
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James said the leaders should have been prepared for revelation of Logan’s crimes to the public. “We should have been ready to make sure that if at some point if it does come up in the media, that it wasn’t such a surprise. I repent that we failed in this oversight. I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry. I am not going to let it continue.”
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.
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