The Allegations, the Harm Done, and What You Can Do
From Episode 3.11 (dated April 26, 2022) of the Uncertain podcast:
Katherine Spearing: “What would you say to someone who just wakes up and discovers that they are in an abusive system?”
Dr. Diane Langberg: “Well, number one, I would encourage them not to spend the next two hours talking themselves out of that observation.”
As the saying goes, “It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up.”
Here’s the shortest I can summarize what we now know is true about Steve Morgan, who is the founder and President of The Network, as well as Lead Pastor at Joshua Church in Austin, Texas:
Allegation:
1. In 1986, Steve Morgan feloniously sodomized a 15-year-old boy.
2. The Network helped keep it hidden.
3. Many were harmed in the process.
You may have a number of reactions:
You may say, “That was 35 years ago, isn’t there grace?”.
Yes, but it doesn’t mean someone should have the highest authority in a Network of 26 churches.
You may say, “but no one wants all their old sins out in the open.”
As long as this can be done without harming people, I mostly agree.
But as Christians we cannot justify actively harming people in order to keep a secret. That is “bearing false witness.”
The rest of the article will explain further.
Much of the below is sourced from the main story or Andrew Lumpe’s story on Leaving the Network (LTN). I suggest reading them — this is meant to be a short-form summary.
This article has three sections:
A summary of the alleged sexual abuse committed by Steve Morgan and evidence that it occurred.
A partial list of those harmed by the cover-up
Some ideas for what you can do now
Feedback or corrections always welcome at not.overcome@outlook.com.
Alleged Sexual Abuse
Court Records
Morgan was 22 at the time of the assault which court records show (see on Leaving the Network) was in 1986. The case reached an Order of Diversion in July 1987, with Morgan ordered to do the following for up to 36-months, among other things:
Attend counseling with a therapist with expertise in sexual abuse, at his own expense.
Pay for counseling for the victim and his family.
Avoid work for youth organizations.
After the 36-months, the case was dismissed. Steve Morgan never legally admitted guilt, nor was he found guilty. But the diversion agreement carried significant costs and states that the District Attorney’s office feels that he did commit the crime. Morgan chose to enter into the agreement rather than fight the charge in court.
If you are not familiar with Diversion Agreements and their use, Jessica Poppe shares her story here.
Here are the full court records obtained. I’ve added the highlights, and preserved the redactions done by LTN. I also included a copy KSA 21-3506, which is the statute referenced, as the last image in this gallery. It outlines the definition of “Aggravated Criminal Sodomy” at the time. Relevant here is that it includes “Sodomy with a child who is not married to the offender and who is under 16 years of age.” (The screenshot is from LTN).
Disclosure to Andrew Lumpe and others
Andrew Lumpe was an overseer at Blue Sky Church, and was a Small Group Leader at Vista Church in San Luis Obispo. He reported that he was informed of this incident by two individuals who approached him in June, 2007.
Larry Anderson — former overseer at Vine Church (Anderson passed away in early 2021).
James Chidester — former overseer at Blue Sky Church, now overseer at Joshua Church. Currently employed by The Network as a counselor for pastors.
Importantly, they told him that Morgan had verbally apologized to the victim’s parents, and also that they felt that Steve was “forgiven.” These are marks of the crime actually having been committed.
According to Lumpe, Morgan briefly discussed the incident with Lumpe in July 2007, and further revealed that he had Larry Anderson do a search to try to find the arrest record, and that Anderson had not been able to find it, which Lumpe says that Morgan was relieved about.
Neither Morgan, Anderson, or Chidester appears to have denied the crime to Lumpe.
Morgan appears to have believed that if the information got out, it would damage his ability to be a pastor, and I agree with that instinct. It should.
An Email from Steve Morgan
After Andrew Lumpe emailed Steve Morgan about the incident in 2020, Lumpe received an email back from Morgan which reads in part:
If Jesus hadn’t saved me and forgiven me over 30 years ago, I would have had no hope at all. I have lived in purity before God and people since that time and I am so grateful for the mercy that has been shown to me.
Again, there is no denial in the email, and Steve indicates that he was saved and forgiven. He asserts that he has lived in purity “since that time.”
Disclosure to Pastors
In or around September, 2020, Steve Morgan is reported by Andrew Lumpe to have confessed the alleged crime to all Lead Pastors in The Network:
Don said he could tell me that Steve confessed before all the Network Lead Pastors to the alleged sex assualt (sic) crime. It was not clear what level of detail Steve provided to the pastors.
Two Missing Pieces
It appears that throughout this, the narrative was that the victim was 17. Given that no one had found the court records, it’s possible that Steve Morgan simply told the story this way. It’s also possible that he said “minor” and then others assumed the highest age possible for that.
It also appears that Morgan did not disclose having lived in Johnson County, Kansas, which made the record difficult to find.
The Harm of the Cover-Up
The court records are real. Steve Morgan himself has not denied it and it appears that he has confessed the incident to individuals, albeit perhaps with some details omitted or different than the arrest record. But the incident has never been made publicly known.
“But the Apostle Paul persecuted Christians! Isn’t there grace?” I can hear you asking this, because I have asked it. And yes, there is grace. But how do we know that Paul persecuted Christians (probably overseeing the murder of at least one)? Because Paul said so.
Philippians 3:6, listing his qualifications: “a persecutor of the church”
1 Corinthians 15:8-10 — Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.
And Paul’s friend Luke wrote the book of Acts which describes Paul’s persecution of the church (Acts 7:58-8:3, 9:1-2).
Instead of covering it up, Paul makes this a central part of his testimony of Christ’s power and grace to save sinners.
And instead of following that example, Steve Morgan has not been open with the churches about this, and has harmed many in the process of trying to keep it quiet.
The harm done
This list is non-exhaustive. Much can and has been said about each of these and more.
Jessica Poppe has written a similar thread on Reddit, and it’s worth reading…
Blue Sky Church’s early years
From “almost the moment we landed in Seattle and continuing into the early part of 2007,” those who were at Blue Sky Church had a leader who was “facing an increasing time of personal distress.” This culminated at a 2007 conference:
Steve was having an increasingly difficult time during this conference displaying outwards signs of distress and anguish during his teaching and interactions with people.
Larry Anderson and James Chidester blamed it on the alleged crime:
They told me that Steve sent them to share information with me as an explanation for his current condition.
People deserve a good shepherd. While there’s grace for bad days, a pastor who is in distress over a covered up crime is not a good servant of them.
Andrew Lumpe (and family)
Andrew Lumpe was pressured to keep a secret, even from his wife, for ~12 years (2007-2019). In the end, some of his close friends were apparently told to end their relationship with him. The Lumpes and their friends lost relationships that they had previously valued.
Luke Williams (Lead Pastor, Vista Church, San Luis Obispo, CA. Also, member of the Network Leadership Team) badly misled or outright lied to the Small Group Leaders at Vista Church and encouraged them to no longer communicate with Lumpe. Mark Guiles (Overseer, Vista Church) encouraged me to warn another member about Lumpe.
The accountability structures in the Network
In 2008, Steve Morgan taught the overseers of The Network that their job in “accountability” was to trust and protect their fellow leaders from accusations by members (audio, transcript via LTN). This is exactly the approach you would take if you were a leader with something to hide.
The hierarchical structure has enabled myriad abuses of power across The Network, as reported here, on LTN, and on the r/leavingthenetwork subreddit. These abuses are enabled by the governance structure that was required in order to keep Steve’s past a secret.
The 2018 sermon (audio, transcript via LTN) by Sándor Paull (lead pastor, Christland Church, College Station, Texas, and also reported to be the Vice President of The Network) on “Unity” insists on following your leader in everything, even if you know they are wrong.
This view has been refuted by Jeff Miller and another anonymous blog.
Partiality in Leader Selection
Pastors in The Network are mostly selected in their 20’s. Many have limited church background, and many have strained relationships with family. They’re moldable loyalists. Small Group Leader training says that loyalty is the pinnacle of relationship (via LTN).
Avoiding leaders with experience has created theological atrophy, wherein leaders have insufficient knowledge of the Bible and make some basic errors (series ongoing).
Partiality in Accountability for Pastors
Sándor Paull appears to have committed a felony (evading police) and remained a Pastor at Vine Church. Contrast this with the removal of Landon Nagata as a Staff Pastor, for, apparently, failing to follow his leaders instructions not to drink alcohol on two occasions. Paull apparently committed a felony, and was fine. Nagata disobeyed his leaders on an extra-biblical rule and was removed as a pastor. Why?
A failure to investigate abuses
I suspect the lack of investigation so far has been, at least in part, because Steve Morgan knew what else the investigators would find.
Child Safety
As reported a few weeks ago, the Network’s policies on keeping kids safe are insufficient. Alex Dieckmann (Lead Pastor, Rock River Church) seems to have allowed a child sex abuser to work in the kids program, and failed in his duty as a mandated reporter (Rock River has not responded to my emails regarding this).
What can we do?
You have full agency to do whatever you believe is best. No one can force you to do anything. But here are some ideas:
If you are in The Network, you can do any of these, but it’s up to you!
Take a deep breath. Or fifty. Get some sleep tonight. This is jarring, and possibly devastating news. You need to be able to “be sober-minded” (1 Peter 1:12) and set your hope on the grace of Christ. Pray. Get grounded in the fact that Christ is your King, not any church leader. Christ is still on his throne. It’s ok.
Wrestle with the news that your lead pastor knew this and has known it for nearly two years (three if part of the Network Leadership team, fifteen if Sándor Paull, and thirty-five if Steve Morgan).
If this is all new to you, remember that dozens of stories of abuse have come out in the last year. Check-in with those you know who have left The Network, even if it’s been years. They might have been hurt and always wondering why you haven’t reached out (if you haven’t), so you may need to apologize. But I bet many would be excited to hear from you.
Read the stories on this site (mostly under “blog”), and on Leaving the Network. If you’ve been told that this is a “witch hunt” or something, reading these will help you (hopefully) to see that it is not. These are people who loved The Network deeply, and were hurt badly by it, and don’t want to see others suffer the same way.
Learn about The Network. Read about its history and governance structure on LTN.
Pace yourself - this stuff has been written by dozens of people over almost a year. It’s a lot. Take care of yourself. Go for walks. Breathe.
Learn about spiritual abuse and unhealthy church systems. It’s really hard to see on your own, but once you see it, it will make sense. Read “Something’s Not Right” or “A Church Called Tov”. Listen to the Untangled Faith Podcast. Watch “Narcissism and the System it Breeds” by Dr. Diane Langberg (she’s amazing). I’ve got a whole list of resources here: Resources — Not Overcome. And you can email me for more. I have so so many. Read your Bible, maybe Matthew 23 and see how Jesus interacted with Pharisees.
Sign the petition on change.org. Making your name and comment public really help.
Contact your leader and do any of the following (or variations of them!):
Ask questions - but be careful about too much trust or trusting vague statements like “oh there’s a lot of false things there” - ok, what? How do you know? Or “they’re just out to get Steve.” Really? Why? And have they said anything false? But specifics are good, and hopefully they can provide some on what will happen next.
Demand an independent investigation (see petition)
Tell them you will reduce your tithes or stop altogether until an investigation is started
Tell them you will stop placing your kids in the kids program until better policies are adopted for safeguarding
Tell them you will not attend again until an investigation is started
Tell them you are leaving the church
Talk with people
I’m here for any questions (not.overcome@outlook.com), and will help any way I can.
Ask questions on the r/leavingthenetwork subreddit (it’s easy to make an anonymous account). Any question is usually respected as long as it’s not combative of trivializing/denying abuses people have experienced.
Talk with your friends and see if they would talk to your leader with you.
Keep listening - understand that this is a process and
Any of the above are fine. Seriously. You really can do any of those things. Or not. It’s up to you.
If nothing else, I strongly recommend learning as much as you can. Truth is good. Light is good. I’d never want someone to do something rash because they didn’t learn much.
Talk to people outside The Network if you can. Friends, family, former pastors if you have them (though I will note that pastors rarely want to weigh in on other churches).
Take care of yourself. Breathe. Pray. Don’t forget to eat, drink, and disengage from this at times if you can. Find a safe way to process.
But please, please don’t forget that there are real victims in all of this, well beyond the victim of Steve Morgan’s alleged crime. Even if you’ve had nothing but good times in The Network, others have not. Don’t turn your back on them.
I’m praying for you, and wishing you well, and hoping you’ll find a way to safely and wisely navigate all of this. Here for you if you need anything - not.overcome@outlook.com.