Ep. 475: Sean Feucht, Doug Wilson’s Empire, Christianity Today, and Robert Morris

On today’s program, ministry leader Sean Feucht is being accused of moral, ethical, and financial failure by former leaders of his various nonprofits. The accusers issued a formal statement this week detailing their accusations and are calling for an independent investigation. And, with the construction of a new school campus, Pastor Doug Wilson’s empire continues to grow in Idaho. We’ll take a look. Plus, Tim Dalrymple is leaving his role at Christianity Today to take the helm of the John Templeton Foundation. But first, Robert Morris is pushing back on Gateway Church’s claims that they didn’t know the details of his sexual abuse of Cindy Clemishire. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Kim Roberts, Yonat Shimron, Jack Jenkins, Tracy Simmons, Bob Smietana, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell. Until next time, may God bless you.   MANUSCRIPT:    FIRST SEGMENT Warren: Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha: And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado, and we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren: On today’s program, ministry leader Sean Feucht is being accused of moral, ethical, and financial failure by former leaders of his various nonprofits. The accusers issued a formal statement this week detailing their accusations and are calling for an independent investigation. And, with the construction of a new school campus, Pastor Doug Wilson’s empire continues to grow in Idaho. We’ll take a look. Plus, Tim Dalrymple is leaving his role at Christianity Today to take the helm of the John Templeton Foundation. Natasha: But first, Robert Morris is pushing back on Gateway Church’s claims that they didn’t know the details of his sexual abuse of Cindy Clemishire. Warren: According to court documents filed by Morris in Tarrant County, Morris asserted that Gateway elders “knew the facts pertaining to Pastor Morris’s admittedly highly inappropriate relationship with [Clemishire] as early as 2005 and most certainly by August of 2007.” The court documents are part of his effort to seek Christian arbitration in settling the dispute over his retirement benefits. Natasha: One of the issues of contention between Gateway and Morris has been whether they knew Clemishire was just 12 years old when Morris began abusing her. Warren: Morris pointed to a demand letter written by Clemishire’s attorney, now Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, in 2007 that referred to the sexual assaults beginning when Clemishire was just 12 years old. He said the board of elders received a copy of the letter at the time it was written. Drummond secured an indictment against Morris in Oklahoma for five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. Natasha: So why is Morris bringing all of this up now? Warren: In his court filings, Morris said he was bringing this documentation of Gateway’s knowledge to light due to the church’s “repeatedly and misleadingly accusing Pastor Morris of lacking transparency” and “public blame shifting.” In his most recent court filing, Morris says he still stands ready to mediate and sent such an offer on May 19, stating, “Morris will agree to mediate the case in Tarrant County provided that such mediation take place with all due haste.” He asked the court to order the parties to mediation and to grant his request to compel the parties to arbitration before the Institute for Christian Conciliation. Natasha: Next, a musician and ministry leader has been accused by former employees. Warren: Five former leaders of groups associated with Sean Feucht have issued a formal statement bringing to light what they call “longstanding and serious moral, ethical, financial,