Prestonwood Baptist: a Heroic Stand Amidst Parental and Church Betrayal
Wartbuurg Watch
New Page: To the left of the home page, you will see a link to a page at TWW called "My Comment Was Deleted." Please feel free to write those comments there as well as mentioning them in our regular comment section. Let's see how this goes. Approximately 1 year ago, TWW post a story on a noteworthy pedophile, John Langworthy called Does the SBC Fear Women Pastors More Than Their Kids Getting Molested? Link I heartily suggest that you read that post first for some background. In it, you will be introduced to Amy Smith, the heroine of this story. In this post, we congratulated her for her dogged determination to uncover the truth. John Langworthy, now awaiting trial for pedophilia, was serving on staff at Prestonwood Baptist Church, Dallas,in 1989 when he was abruptly, and quietly dismissed, due to an allegation of impropriety. Langworthy would go on to allegedly molest other children in subsequent ministries in Mississippi. This is a mammoth church.I used to be able to see it's green roof from miles away. I lived within two blocks of the main campus for many years. From Wikipedia : "Prestonwood Baptist Church, in Plano, Texas, is one of the largest megachurches in North America and one of America's 50 Most Influential Churches.The Plano campus covers an area of 140 acres and includes a 7,000-seat worship center, a school offering Pre- Kindergarten through Grade 12, a fitness center, a sports stadium, sports fields, a large cafe, a library, and two bookstores. In 2006, the church expanded to include a second "North" campus of nearly 128 acres in Prosper, Texas. In 2011 the church again expanding adding a "Dallas" campus near LBJ Freeway and Hillcrest." (ed. note: This one should cut into FBC-Dallas' population base. It is a game, folks!) Amy Smith, who grew up in the youth ministry at Prestonwood, and whose family are still “overly” devoted members (you will see why), became concerned when she was made aware of the conviction of a pedophile at Camp Kanakuk, the MIssouri summer camp that is favored by the well-heeled Dallas Christian set. (My daughters went there a few times. When you go to pick them up, the conversation centers around who the kids are that have really famous parents. Dee did not fit-especially when she started laughing.) Amy began to consider that there may have been a cover up of John Langworthy’s alleged offense(s) by the well known lead pastor Jack Graham. If you read the post I wrote at the previous link, you will understand my superficial connection to this story. But, there was more to this story than I could have imagined. Amy, now the Houston leader for Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (and other clergy-SNAP) paid a terrible price for her determination to seek the truth. There are two types of Christians in Dallas. One type is the sincere Christian that you find in many churches. The second, however, is the socialite Christian who goes to the big, very rich and very “in” churches in order to network and be seen. I can speak to this because I spent 10 years in this environment. There is a pecking order to which one must adhere. If a person is not one of the very, very wealthy, one must be a friend of the very, very wealthy. One attends their Bible studies and country club gatherings. (They can be one and the same). Their pastors live in mansions and kowtow to the rich, knowing that they will give a bunch of money to continue the obviously elite status of the church which involves a continual building frenzy. See the Wikipedia description above. They live by the motto: "My church is bigger than your church and we have more famous people than you do! God must loooooove us." I have recently finished reading Joel Gregory’s book, Too Great a Temptation- The Seductive Power of America's Super Church in which he mentions that First Baptist Church, Dallas, became concerned as the young and wealthy headed to Prestonwood Baptist. However, all is well. FBC Dallas, under the able fundraiser (and occasional pastor) Robert Jeffress, just out did Prestonwood with their $120 million addition.(Prophesy: Prestonwood will not be outdone. It's all a game.) Here is the problem. Being associated with the “Christian rich and powerful” is seductive. Some are even willing to turn their backs on family to keep up the image. There is a book that raised the hackles of the Dallas social Christians called (forgive the term) Rich Christian Bitches. I lived there, I knew them and that book is far closer to the truth than one might imagine. Deb and I know quite a bit about SNAP. They were of tremendous support and offered us valuable advice when we had our little run in with a church. We highly recommend them to anyone who is dealing with a pedophile incident inside of a church. To Amy’s parents: If Amy were my daughter, I would be bragging about her to everyone I meet. You, and Prestonwood, raised her to know that there is a greater good than rich friends and comfortable social interactions. Jesus said that He is the Truth. Did she learn that from you or in spite of you? Never forget that, at the end of life, the ones who surround you aren’t your well-dressed friends but your family. Are you really willing to go on with your life without her? I can only hope that one day you will realize what a terrible mistake you have made. I pray it will not be too late to say, “I’m sorry.” To Amy: My family is your family. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, whatever, you are welcome. If you are in need, contact us. Our door, and I bet the door of many of our readers, is always open to you. I am so proud of you. Remember, in the Christian body we are all related. We are all your sisters, mothers and fathers, etc. One day, you will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant ” from your Father and He will never turn his back on you. I will be in the background, cheering. You are one awesome woman! So, here is Amy’s Story from her blog called Watchkeep. Link. This is my story This is my story of how I came to be an advocate for survivors of child sexual abuse and the personal price I would pay as a result. But I would do it again. I loved my church, Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas. I spent my years in high school as a dedicated member of the youth ministry, and while attending Baylor University, I spent my summers as an intern on the youth staff at Prestonwood. It was there I met my then youth music minister, John Langworthy. John soon became a close friend of our family, even living in our home for a while in the mid 1980s while on staff at Prestonwood and attending seminary. I was in his wedding in Mississippi. He was a friend and mentor. The person that I knew though was not reality. The reality was a wolf masquerading in sheep's clothing, albeit a very talented, charming, magnetic, charismatic one. The entire time I knew him, he was sexually molesting boys at Prestonwood, some of them my friends. Some of the abuse took place in the church building, the former Prestonwood location on Hillcrest at Arapaho in Dallas. This came as a shock to all of us when he was suddenly fired in June of 1989 and packed up quickly and moved back to his home state of Mississippi. I heard the rumors like many in the youth group then. I was 20 and on staff as an intern. I did not know exactly who the victims were at the time. The Prestonwood executive staff, headed by Dr. Jack Graham, heard Langworthy confess to these child sex crimes, along with Neal Jeffrey, then youth pastor, but no one reported these crimes to the police as required by Texas state law. They even had a few of the victims that they knew sit down with church attorneys to give statements, but none of this information was reported to the police. The church congregation was not informed of the reason for Langworthy's departure. Parents were not notified so that other victims could be found. From my understanding, having talked to victims since then, a call came in to Prestonwood in 1989 warning them of John's past in Mississippi, of alleged child sexual abuse there. In August of 2010, after hearing about the conviction of Pete Newman, former Kanakuk Christian camp director, I decided speak out and not leave it up to someone else to warn about Langworthy. I was someone else. I had to get someone to listen, anyone who could shine the light of truth on this admitted child molester. I began to search online for Langworthy and found him working at a church and public high school in Clinton, MS. Here is the timeline of my efforts to warn about Langworthy. After my interview on WFAA in Dallas, the story began airing in Jackson, MS. One brave survivor of abuse as a child by John Langworthy came forward to the police in Clinton, MS, and then several more after that. John was arrested and indicted in September 2011 on 8 counts of felony gratification of lust for 5 victims, boys between the ages of 8-12. This abuse took place between 1980-84 while Langworthy was serving at First Baptist Church of Jackson and Daniel Memorial Baptist Church in Mississippi. He is awaiting a criminal trial on these charges set for Nov. 26, 2012 in Hinds County in Jackson, Mississippi. When I first began to question and seek out information to warn about Langworthy, I informed my parents about what I was doing, and that I was concerned that more kids were at risk. They expressed disapproval. I knew I was doing the right thing though. I called the Dallas police myself to report what I knew. I was told that the victims I knew, now adults, would have to report the abuse, or the Prestonwood staff who fired Langworthy. I communicated this information with Dr. Jack Graham, via Mike Buster, executive pastor. To my knowledge, they have yet to report the child sex crimes that took place at Prestonwood by Langworthy from 1984-1989 that constituted the reason for his dismissal. I have also heard from and and about victims of two other former Prestonwood youth ministers and one adult youth ministry volunteer that the staff knew about but have not reported to the police. Looking back, it seems that a culture of abuse reigned there unchecked. Recently, my parents stated in writing that they are going on with their lives without me and want no more contact with me. In their own words, they insist that I went on a "witch hunt." They still stand by and defend John Langworthy saying "he didn't molest anybody," though he has confessed publicly from the pulpit at Morrison Heights Baptist Church in August 2011. They have also demanded that I apologize to Jack Graham and Neal Jeffrey at Prestonwood. I will not apologize for the truth. It is the light of truth and knowledge that is our greatest tool to protect kids. We need more people like Alex Green, a student editor at Bryan College in Tennessee, who defied the school administration to report and publish a story on a professor's alleged child sex crimes: Had one individual in the Penn State program stepped up and revealed the truth about the actions of Jerry Sandusky, there would have been no fallout 14 years later. Joe Paterno would have died a hero. Instead, he died a goat. Penn State could have been praised. Instead, they are broken. Bryan College is not Penn State because there are people here that will not attempt to save face by dusting over the arrest of Dr. David Morgan. Printing this story will not cause a Penn State situation for Bryan. I believe it will prevent one. That’s why I’m dispensing it. Well done, Alex Green. Child sexual abuse ravages war on every aspect of the life of a child. Where are the warriors to fight for these children? It's past time to stop protecting and enabling the predators who prey on kids. If you have been a victim of sexual abuse at Prestonwood Baptist Church by John Langworthy or others, or have information about these crimes, please call and make a report to the Dallas Police Child Exploitation Unit at 214-671-4211. Your call will be answered by a trained counselor with 20 years experience. If you need to leave a message, your call will be returned. If you have suffered Langworthy's child sex crimes in Mississippi or have information about these crimes, please contact Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Jamie McBride at 601-968-6568. Silence only benefits the predators. Coming forward shatters the silence of sexual abuse, helps survivors heal and protects others. "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And that which I can do, by the grace of God, I will do." ~ Dwight L. Moody
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