Man accuses former Clinton music minister of molestation (John Langworthy, Prestonwood, Sex Abuse)

It looks like the first alleged victim of John Langworthy has stepped forward. From an article by Ruth Ingram:




"A former metro-area resident has lodged a complaint with the Clinton Police Department accusing former Clinton High choir teacher John Langworthy of sexually molesting him when he was a child."

Man accuses former Clinton music minister of molestation ‎

Why does Bob Allen at the Associated Baptist Press call confessed child sexual molestation "inappropriate behavior with boys"

Why does Bob Allen at the Associated Baptist Press call confessed child sexual molestation "inappropriate behavior with boys?"

Also, the editor of the Associated Baptist Press  initially refused to cover this story.

Prestonwood Baptist Church did not report known child molester to authorities?

http://bit.ly/qM8mxp

All credit for this story finally being broken goes to a lady named Amy Smith who in the face of great personal cost to herself, refused to remain silent about the cover up at Prestonwood Baptist Church and the lies of pastor Jack Graham. 

Picture Jack Graham posted of himself on Twitter

What Jack Graham really looks like

Jack Graham, Pastor Prestonwood Baptist,  April 2011

"In 2008 Graham, a former SBC president, said in 40 years of ministry “never have I had one moral problem with a staff member, until now.” But Smith says Graham, who began his ministry at Prestonwood in 1989, was head pastor when Langworthy was asked to leave. She says Langworthy admitted guilt and begged to stay on through the summer for a youth choir trip....." http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/6634/53/ (Quote from article by Bob Allen.)




Amy Smith
Houston SNAP
http://www.snapnetwork.org/
spacecitysnap@gmail.com

1. Abuse confession raises questions of cover-up by Baptist mega-church ‎ Associated Baptist Press - Bob Allen - 3 days ago The admission culminated a year-long campaign by a former close friend of Langworthy who was on staff as a college intern at Prestonwood Baptist Church in ...

1. Clinton minister quits over allegations ‎ Jackson Clarion Ledger - Dustin Barnes - 1 day ago John Langworthy, a Morris Heights Baptist Church member, ... Mississippi because of the sexual indiscretions at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. ...

   ►

2. Ex-music minister admits past sexual misconduct ‎ Hattiesburg American - 1 day ago John Langworthy of Clinton told the congregation the contact occurred before ... known as SNAP, said she attended the Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, ...

3. No Criminal Complaints Filed Against Former Minister ‎ WAPT Jackson - 1 day ago Langworthy was fired from Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, after claims were made against him. No criminal charges were filed in Texas. ...

4. Ex-music minister admits past sexual misconduct ‎ Washington Examiner - 1 day ago John Langworthy of Clinton told the congregation the contact occurred before ... known as SNAP, said she attended the Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, ...

5. Recently resigned music minister admits long-ago sexual misconduct ... ‎ The Republic - 2 days ago John Langworthy of Clinton told the congregation the contact occurred before ... known as SNAP, said she attended the Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, ...

6. Clinton music minister makes eye-opening confession ‎ WLOX - Howard Ballou - 2 days ago Langworthy was immediately fired from Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas but no charges were ever filed. A representative from Morrison Heights told ...

7. Clinton minister quits over allegations ‎ Clinton News - Dustin Barnes - 2 days ago John Langworthy, who also had resigned as Clinton High School's choir teacher ... of the sexual indiscretions at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. ...

8. Clinton minister quits over allegations ‎ Jackson Clarion Ledger - Dustin Barnes - 2 days ago John Langworthy, who also had resigned as Clinton High School's choir teacher ... of the sexual indiscretions at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. ...

9. Clinton music minister makes eye-opening confession ‎ WLBT-TV - Howard Ballou - 2 days ago Langworthy was immediately fired from Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas but no charges were ever filed. A representative from Morrison Heights told ...

10. Former Youth Minister, Teacher Makes Startling Admission ‎ WAPT Jackson - 2 days ago Langworthy served at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, before moving to Clinton 21 years ago. A former staffer at that Texas church has worked to ...

11. Clinton music minister confesses to 'sexual indiscretions' ‎ Jackson Clarion Ledger - Dustin Barnes - 2 days ago After the 1989 discovery of an alleged inappropriate sexual contact with a music student atPrestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, Langworthy was fired ... ► Former Prestonwood minister admits to 'sexual indiscretions' with ... ‎ Dallas Morning News (subscription) (blog) - Tom Benning - 3 days ago A former youth minister at Prestonwood Baptist Church confessed this weekend ... JohnLangworthy, most recently a youth music minister at Morrison Heights ...

Southern Baptist music & children's pastor arrested for soliciting a minor over the internet, Senior pastor expresses support for Jonathan Rose, none for victims

Edenton Children Minister Charged In Internet Sex Crimes Case, Congregation In Shock

Aug 3, 2011 - 

An Edenton children minister has been charged with internet sex crimes involving children.

Jonathan Rose was arrested Monday by the S.B.I. and the North Carolina Internet Crimes against Children Task Force.

Cumberland County deputies say the 35-year-old Rose engaged in illegal conversations with children via his computer.

Deputies say they had been looking for him for a couple of weeks, and on Monday went to his Dakota Trail home in Edenton and found out he was taking children from his church to a camp in Black Mountain, which is in the western part of the state. Rose was arrested as he stepped off the bus at the Ridgecrest Boys Camp.

Cumberland County deputies say Rose is a minister at Rocky Hock Baptist Church in Edenton. (More here: 

http://watchmansecurityconsulting.com/category/sex-crimes/ Rodney Pires.)

 From Senior Pastor Dr. James E. Horton:

"We further make it known that we will support, pray, and minister to Pastor Rose and his family to assist through this difficult time in his life and in the lives of the members of Rocky Hock Baptist Church.

 

Dr. James E. Horton

Senior Pastor

Rhttp://rockyhockbaptistchurch.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=50909&PID=878387

Rick Ousley, what are you up to now? If you are reading this, people still care about you

Dear Mr. Rick Ousley,

You don't know me and we only met once, which wasn't really even a proper meeting. You were eating lunch with a group of fellow pastors planning the launch of Riverside Baptist Church.  I was sitting nearby and overheard your conversation. You might remember that I approached your table in tears imploring your group of pastors to please re-think promoting rock music in your churches.

Your group's pleasure at being asked if you were all pastors quickly faded when your heard my plea, and it of course fell on deaf ears. If memory serves, that was about 12 years ago.

I still feel the same way about the tragic decline of sacred music in Southern Baptist Churches, but for the purposes of this blog post, that's neither here nor there. I only mention the event so that if you read this, you might have a frame of reference for who I am.

I know that we'd differ on a lot of things. I'm an unabashed independent Baptist, a fundamentalist and yes I believe that the King James Bible is the only one you or anyone else ought to be using. (Get a KJV Bible here, for free!)

But I'm writing this post to somehow try and get a message to you that people still care about you. Besides Ray Boltz, the majority of hits on this website come from searches asking about you. They want to know what you're doing now. They want to know how you are. They wonder if you are preaching anywhere.

And the searches come from all over the US. Mostly from the Southeast, but plenty from out West as well. There was one from Maryland a few days ago.

 I don't know where you are in life, but I wanted to tell you this, that people still care about you. And tell you that there is a balm in Gilead. 

God bless you.

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." 

Galatians 6:1-3

The Ministry of Rescue and Recovery

This is a free eight lesson study designed by ordained Baptist pastor Mike Althaus to help those who've fallen by the wayside and need restoration. You may e-mail Mike Althaus at: malt55 (AT) juno.com

Note: Yes comments are welcome, but I do moderate comments and if you'd like your comment to stay unpublished, just make a note of that.

Edited 7/20/11 to add: There is a video interview with Rick Ousley located at CBS 42.

Another Southern Baptist Pastor arrested for sexting a minor - Joseph Leal

Okla. Pastor Arrested, Accused Of 'Sexting' Teen

Joseph Leal Turns Self In To Authorities http://www.koco.com/r/28484951/detail.html

Southern Baptist deacon and daughter allegedly steal church

Judge ponders verdict in Mt. Zion Baptist Church case

COVINGTON — Closing arguments have been filed in the case involving members of Mt. Zion Baptist Church who accuse a fellow member of improperly giving away the church’s property and assets.

Posted: 9:59 PM Jun 16, 2011
Reporter: By Aimee Jones, Staff Correspondent


In August, Clayton “Skeet” Dial and his daughter, Angela Ballard, conveyed all Mt. Zion’s property and assets to a nonprofit organization, God’s Hope Builders Inc., in Conyers. Dial served as the church’s only deacon and Ballard served in various functions at Mt. Zion, including as church clerk.



The congregation of Mt. Zion, including its pastor, learned of the conveyance only after arriving to church as usual one day to find no trespassing signs on the property and the doors locked. The church members then sued Dial, Ballard and God’s Hope Builders Inc., alleging the transaction was illegal.
After three days of testimony in May, Newton County Superior Court Judge Samuel Ozburn permitted attorneys in the case to
submit their closing arguments in writing by June 10.

Defendants’ position
Robert Stansfield, the attorney representing the defendants, laid out in his closing arguments the reasons why Dial was legally permitted to give away the church’s assets. He further argued that most of the plaintiffs in the case — members of Mt. Zion, including Pastor Chris Allen and his family — are not, in fact, members, and, therefore, have no standing to bring the action against Dial and Ballard.

One of the claims made by Dial during testimony was that he feared Pastor Allen was attempting to move the historically Southern Baptist church toward an independent Baptist doctrine.

Stansfield stated Allen took several steps in this direction, such as recruiting only independent preachers for stewardship events and a revival; promoting a summer camp sponsored by an independent church; making no efforts to communicate with the Stone Mountain Baptist Association or Larry Cheek, its associational missionary; and failing to participate in any mission activities of the Georgia Baptist Convention or Stone Mountain Baptist Association.
Because of these actions, Stansfield stated, “the transfer of property was in the usual and regular course of the (church’s) activities.”

Indeed, the conveyance was made to Clarence Hall, principal in God’s Hope Builders, not as the ultimate act of control by Dial and Ballard, as the plaintiffs argue, but instead was made to ensure the Mt. Zion property be maintained as a Southern Baptist institution, Stansfield argued.

“The transfer was made to a trustee, God’s Hope Builders Inc. to ensure that the property was to be used by and for a Southern Baptist congregation consistent with (Mt. Zion’s) articles and the bylaws,” Stansfield stated.
Furthermore, Stansfield argued, many of the “members” in the church are not members at all, having been improperly admitted to the church by Allen.

Stansfield delineated several examples to show that Pastor Allen failed to properly admit new members to the church, and acted instead in contradiction to the church’s bylaws. For example, Stansfield asserts that no specially called meetings were held to admit new members. Indeed, Stansfield argues that this violation extends to Allen and his family, who were also not properly admitted as members of the church despite his being hired in March 2010 as pastor of Mt. Zion.

Stansfield also claims that Allen failed to ask for votes for membership on several occasions when people presented themselves for membership, negating the claims of many plaintiffs that they are indeed members of the church.
Stansfield said these actions were not merely oversights by Allen, but rather were calculated to take the church away from its Southern Baptist roots.

The attorney wrote that two witnesses associated with the Stone Mountain Baptist Association testified, “the strategy in insuring that a weak Southern Baptist church is transformed into (an) independent church is to add enough members who are of the independent Baptist tradition or enough new members who are not connected to the Southern Baptist tradition is to outvote the old members.”

Plaintiffs’ side
Michael Waldrop, who represents Mount Zion Baptist Church of Oxford, Georgia Inc., argued in his closing arguments brief that the claim by Dial that he gave away the church property and assets to protect its Southern Baptist tradition is a “red herring.”

Waldrop stated that Dial testified that he never heard the pastor say his plan was to take the church independent, and in fact, it was Dial who authored a letter in 2009 to the Stone Mountain Baptist Association stating that Mt. Zion was withdrawing from the association.

Even if Dial were concerned about the direction Pastor Allen was taking the church, Waldrop continued, he never asked Allen to become more involved with the Stone Mountain Baptist Association.

Dial also never raised a concern about the way new members were admitted to the church under Allen’s leadership nor did he ever voice an objection to an applicant becoming a member. Furthermore, Dial did not object to these new members’ participation in church meetings reserved for members.

“Any of those actions might have been reasonable,” Waldrop stated. “Defendant Dial acted far outside the usual and regular course of the church’s activities when the only course of action that he considered was to give away all the church’s assets.”
Waldrop countered Stansfield’s interpretation of Mt. Zion’s bylaws governing new members. Waldrop argued in his brief that “specially called business meetings” can be called by the chairman of the deacons or the pastor with no advance notice, including during a regular church service. Votes on membership are to be taken during regular church services.
Waldrop concluded that when Allen presented new applicants for membership at the end of worship services, that action satisfied both provisions.

“Defendant Dial cannot now, when it is convenient and strategically advantageous to do so, claim that the plaintiffs are not members of the church,” Waldrop stated.

With regard to the conveyance of the property to God’s Hope Builders, Waldrop challenges Dial’s assertion that he was protecting the church’s Southern Baptist heritage.

“Both Defendant Dial and Clarence Hall of Defendant GHB admitted that … Dial and Ballard gave all the church’s assets to Defendant GHB with no strings attached,” Waldrop wrote. “Defendant Dial admitted that he did not know any of the directors of Defendant GHB, and he did not even know of Defendant GHB until a few weeks before he transferred all of the church’s assets.”

Waldrop concluded his closing arguments by stating that the conveyance of the church’s land, buildings, contents and approximately $50,000 in the bank, “totally bankrupted” the church and “completely and totally disenfranchised each member of the church.”

“Likewise, the corporate church itself was not protected by Defendant Dial’s actions, but instead was divested of over half a million dollars in assets for which it received absolutely nothing in return,” Waldrop said.

Another Southern Baptist Pastor charged with child rape

KOMO news is reporting that Dirk Johnson, a Southern Baptist Convention pastor with First Baptist Church in Port Orchard, WA has confessed to raping a 12 year old girl in 2003. She was a student at Manchester Christian Academy in Manchester, Wash. where Dirk Jackson was her teacher. The girl reports that she told her family when it was happening, but they did nothing.

The rape victim, now 21, recently visited a church where Dirk Jackson is now the assistant pastor, First Baptist Church of Port Orchard, and was alarmed to see her rapist had access to children. She then reported the crime to law enforcement officials. (This church is not affiliated with the school and at the present time, there are no allegations that anything untoward took place at this church. Jackson is currently serving as the pastor of discipleship and evangelism for the First Baptist Church)

In spite of the taped confession, Dirk Jackson still has his supporters.  Jackson's father, Donn Jackson said, ""This is not a pattern," said Donn Jackson. "His life has absolutely been a contribution to our community. He won't go nowhere. We'll see to that." 

The pastor of First Baptist in Port Orchard, Jamie Greening, has this to say. 

""We're just shocked, surprised, confused," said Pastor Jamie Greening, who works alongside Jackson. "This does not match. These allegations do not match the man we've known for eight years."

(Greening has been blogging about this arrest, his blog is here: http://jdgreening.wordpress.com/ On thing I personally felt alarmed over was the fact when Pastor Greening announced the fact that his assistant pastor had been arrested, he asked for prayers for the perpetrator's family but did not ask his readers to pray for the rape victim.)

Pastor Jamie Greening, First Baptist Church, Port Orchard, WA

Greening is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Beeson Divinity School.

(Additional details may be found at http://www.oregonherald.com/oregon/local.cfm?id=371&Business-News=Port-Orchard-Pastor-Charged-With-Raping-12-Year-Old-Girl.htm)

[See also: Why I am not a Southern Baptist]


Update: Dirk Jackson pleads guilty: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/kitsap/poi/news/126771258.html

Beer and the Bible at Southern Baptist Emerging Church

In a back room at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, about 50 people gathered on a recent Wednesday night to talk rock 'n' roll.

Why are Bob Marley and Kurt Cobain considered by some to be messiahs? When did rock music lose its edge and become another product manufactured and marketed by huge conglomerates such as Viacom?

It was a conversation perfectly suited to the setting. Beer-stained wooden tables and the smell of hops complemented a free-flowing, spirited debate among hip young people in scruffy beards and T-shirts.

In 2007, this is church.

Theology at the Bottleworks is run by a wildly successful congregation of young St. Louisans called The Journey. The Schlafly program is part of the church's outreach ministry. And it works.

Every month dozens show up at the brewpub to drink beer and talk about issues ranging from racism in St. Louis to modern art controversies to the debate about embryonic stem cell research.
The Rev. Darrin Patrick, The Journey's founder and lead pastor, says its nontraditional approach is aimed at those who are not likely to attend church.

"We want to go where people are," he said. "We don't expect them to come to us."

(Snip, article at link)
By Tim Townsend
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

"Homosexual Friendly Authors Populate SBC's LifeWay Site"

Bob Allen
01-29-07
In 2005 the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution urging churches to be on guard against homosexual influences in public schools. But a conservative Web site says the nation's largest Protestant body might first want to get its own house in order by checking out shelves of the SBC's publisher, LifeWay Christian Resources.


Baptist Press last week bemoaned that Wal-Mart is "still dabbling" in support of "the homosexual agenda," despite warnings of a boycott by religious conservatives. A writer challenged readers to type the word "gay" into the search engine for Wal-Mart's online bookstore, reporting that more than 1,000 titles turn up.



On Friday Paul Proctor at NewsWithViews.com followed two earlier columns warning about Christian book sites that promote authors who are "heretics and false teachers" with a similar challenge.



"[I]f you go to the ChristianResearchService.com website, click on the Master List, scroll down to the section subtitled, 'Homosexual/Lesbian/ Transgendered/Pro-gay,' and enter each of the names listed there into the Southern Baptist Convention's LifeWaystores.com search engine, (select keyword: 'author')," Proctor said, "you will find numerous examples of the double-standard that continues unabated in the online Christian bookstore industry."

EthicsDaily.com did just that, counting 13 of 32 authors on the Christian Research Service list in LifeWay's product database. (Snip, more at link)

Samford University President, Dr. Andrew Westmoreland welcomes Baptist/Catholic ecumenical group to campus of SBC supported school

"In Birmingham Alabama, the buckle on the US Bible Belt, is being held the inaugural session in the International Baptist-Catholic Conversation from December 11-15. Hosted by the Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, this will be the first in a planned five-year series of meetings that have been called by the Baptist World Alliance and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity."

Pictured:Westmoreland president@samford.edu



The joint commission was welcomed by Samford University President, Dr. Andrew Westmoreland, and Beeson Divinity School Dean, Dr. Timothy George. The joint commission was also welcomed by a number of faculty and administrators of both Beeson Divinity School and Samford University .



Other Baptist participants included Dr. Denton Lotz, General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, Rev. Dr. Neville Callam of Jamaica, Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe, Calvary Baptist Church, of Ghana, Dr. Lilian Lim, President of Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary of Singapore, Dr. Nora Lozano, Baptist University of the Americas of Texas, Professor Dr. Tomás Mackey, Baptist Seminary of Argentina, Dr. Fausto Vasconcelos, Director of the BWA Division of Study and Research, and Professor Tadeusz Zielinski, Christian Academy of Theology of Poland. Also present as observers were Dr. Curtis Freeman, Duke University Divinity School, North Carolina, and Dr. Alan Stanford, General Secretary, of the North American Baptist Fellowship.

More Southern Baptist Apostasy

Beeson Divinity School will host a meeting of the International Baptist-Catholic Conversation on the Samford University campus, Dec. 11-15.

It's the first meeting in a five-year plan for dialogue between the Baptist World Alliance and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The team will include 10 Catholic leaders and 10 Baptist quislings from around the world. They will discuss theology, shared beliefs and ecclesiastical differences and seek "greater mutual understanding on a variety of issues," said Beeson Divinity Dean Timothy George.

Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, a Baptist college in Birmingham, Ala., wrote recently that "it is time for evangelicals to recover a fully biblical appreciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her role in the history of salvation, and to do so precisely as evangelicals." George's comments appeared in the December 2003 issue of Christianity Today and in a 2004 collection of essays by various theologians, "Mary: Mother of God."

2 Corinthians 6:14

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?