MorningStar Ministries recently released a statement defending itself as the church is embattled in controversy following sexual abuse allegations against a former volunteer at the organization. Former volunteer and ex-police officer Erickson Douglas Lee allegedly committed multiple acts of abuse against minors who were involved in the ministry’s programs. MorningStar Ministries, founded by Rick Joyner, now faces multiple lawsuits.
A statement given to The Christian Post by ministry officials addressing the lawsuits suggested that the ministry was not responsible for Lee’s actions while volunteering for the organization, claiming to have thoroughly vetted him.
We are aware that several young men have filed lawsuits against the ministry. While we don’t know at this point what more we could have done to have vetted Officer Lee in advance to ensure that he would not have taken advantage of these young men, we hold no malice or anger towards the young men or their parents who have chosen to file suit,” the statement read. “Some of these families remained active in our church even for months after Officer Lee’s arrest, and they are always welcome at MorningStar,” it added.
The Christian Tribune recently reported on the legal action being taken against MorningStar, which accused Joyner and several other leaders at the organization of gross negligence in an alleged coverup of sexual abuse under the ministry.
The lawsuit claimed, “The negligent, grossly negligent, reckless, willful, or wanton acts, omissions, and liability of Defendants includes that of their agents, principals, employees, and/or servants, both directly and vicariously, pursuant to principals of non-delegable duty, corporate liability, apparent authority, agency, ostensible agency, and/or respondent superior,”
As the controversy surrounding the ministry unfolded, former CEO Chris Reed, who also faced allegations of behavioral misconduct with a student in the ministry, resigned from his position at MorningStar. Reed put out a statement claiming that he did not want to lead a ministry that was facing such legal trouble.
“I did not want to be leading the ministry that would be in a case against four victims who were abused as children by a former volunteer of the ministry who is a policeman as well. This happened before I came to MorningStar, and I could not [defend the lawsuit] because I know the families,” Reed said. “I know the victims. Many of them we’ve got to know them. I made a tough, painful, painful choice, and I just didn’t care.”
Following the resignation Joyner spoke out against Reed for the manner in which he resigned from the ministry. “What alarmed me even more was that in this [resignation] letter, there was almost no regard for the church, no regard for the ministry, no regard for a lot of people. It was all about him and his future and what he needed to do,” Joyner said.
“I want him to have the brightest future he could have, but I did not feel that that there was a shepherd’s heart revealed. A shepherd lays down their life for the sheep and certainly has regard for them. I didn’t feel like there was regard for me, for our board, any of this stuff. We had entrusted a lot to him. I don’t think to just quit like that is what we ever need to do with anyone with no notice,” he added.
Featured image credit: MorningStar Ministries, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rick_Joyner_speaking_from_the_Podium_at_MorningStar_Ministries_in_Fort_Mill,_South_Carolina_in_2013..jpg