Vince Bantu Accused of Secret Marriage

Covenant Seminary acknowledged a Title IX complaint against him.

Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, the denominational seminary for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), acknowledged that former professor Vince Bantu engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student during his tenure there.

Vince Bantu / Video screenshot via Fuller Studio

The incident arose because of an investigative article published in Christianity Today about Bantu’s alleged secret marriage.

Covenant said after the student filed a Title IX complaint against Bantu, the seminary confronted him, he confessed to the relationship, and he resigned from his position in 2018.

The Covenant student said Bantu befriended her, then began to push for more physical affection. Eventually, he professed his love for her and asked her to be in an extramarital romantic relationship.

Bantu was “immediately suspended from teaching classes while the Seminary conducted a thorough Title IX investigation into the matter, during which Dr. Bantu confessed his sin and repented of what he had done,” the school said in a statement provided to byFaith. “In light of his repentance, we allowed Dr. Bantu to resign his position, ending his relationship with the Seminary. We also shared this information with Dr. Bantu’s church at the time, who had begun a process of church discipline.”

Bantu joined the faculty of Fuller Seminary in 2019 as an associate professor of church history and black church studies.

Covenant said they were contacted by Fuller about the reason for his departure and they “shared with Fuller Seminary all the details of what had happened in 2018. Our goal was to be as open as possible for the sake of all involved.”

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Bantu left his co-pastoring position at Outpour Community Church shortly after the Covenant complaint, and founded a new church, Beloved Community Church. He also began meeting with two other pastors as part of an accountability group.

Those pastors, Darren Young and Thurman Williams, met with Bantu regularly to provide moral support and mutual discipleship. Young and Williams told CT about Bantu’s alleged secret marriage to a second wife based on conversations with him during accountability meetings. They said he argued that one way for him to avoid sexual temptation was to marry multiple women.

They claim he had an extramarital affair with a student at Meachum School of Haymanot, where he also serves as president, then later married her.

“I was just dumbfounded,” Williams, who pastors a PCA congregation and directs the homiletics program at Covenant Theological Seminary, told CT.

Bantu and the student deny the accusations.

Bishop Paulea Mooney-McCoy, who had oversight over Beloved Community Church, found the allegations against Bantu “consistent and credible,” and was unsatisfied with Bantu’s answers. She resigned her oversight position earlier this year, CT reported.

In an effort to get Bantu to repent, Young and Williams said they brought in another pastor, Michael Byrd, a Southern Baptist.

Byrd and the two accountability partners claim they tried to get Bantu to confess his sin and repent but were rebuffed, they told CT.

“‘We’re not talking about this,’” Byrd claims Bantu said. “And ‘If you tell anybody my business, I’m suing y’all for defamation.’”

Byrd, Williams, and Young reached out to Fuller Seminary about the allegations.

“Fuller Seminary is committed to thoroughly investigating any allegations of inappropriate conduct,” General Counsel Lance Griffin said in a statement. “We are aware of these allegations and can confirm an internal investigation is underway.”

The three also contacted Meachum School with their concerns. In response, the board chair C. Jeffrey Wright wrote, “I wish to advise you that if necessary we will seek legal recourse and damages from each of you to the fullest extent of the law. Defamation is a serious matter.”

There is now a statement on Meachum’s website saying the board is meeting in the next few days to discuss next steps.

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