Group Protests At Calvary Temple Church In Sterling, Alleges Abuse

By Jonathan Hunley
Leesburg Today
March 30, 2015

http://www.leesburgtoday.com/news/group-protests-at-calvary-temple-church-in-sterling-alleges-abuse/article_e8dd41d2-d64f-11e4-aa94-cb46020ed90a.html

Michelle Freeman was one of 92 people who came to a protest Sunday across the street from Calvary Temple in Sterling. Freeman says that the church "destroyed" her family after one of her sons decided to leave the congregation.

A crowd of 92 protesters demonstrated across the street from Calvary Temple in Sterling on Sunday. They call the church a cult and allege that sexual abuse and other misdeeds have been carried out in connection with the ministry. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is investigating the claims.

Almost 100 people protested Sunday across the street from a Sterling church that they claim is really the home of a cult that has allowed misdeeds including sexual abuse.

Members of the group held signs and were encouraged by the honking of horns from passing cars. They said that Senior Pastor Star R. Scott operates a controlling ministry at Calvary Temple that doesn’t allow criticism and attempts to besmirch the character of anyone who speaks up.

When asked if the church wanted to respond, a representative of the congregation said that Calvary Temple would issue a statement soon.

The church has faced scrutiny before—there are websites and at least one Facebook page that denounce it—but the controversy surrounding it has increased in recent days, and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office last week announced that it was investigating and wanted to speak with anyone who might have information.

“We understand the concerns of the public, and we want to ensure everyone that we take all allegations of abuse seriously and these crimes will be investigated to their fullest extent,” Loudoun Sheriff Mike Chapman said in a prepared statement Thursday that noted that the agency’s Juvenile Sex Crimes Unit was looking into the matter.

Sunday’s demonstration saw a high of 92 participants at its most active time, protesters said. It began about 8:30 a.m. and stretched past noon.

It included former Calvary Temple members such as Michelle Freeman, who began attending the church in 1995 and stopped in 2007, her marriage ending along the way.

“My family was destroyed,” Freeman said, holding aloft a sign bearing the image of a cracked red heart and the words, “No more broken families!”

Freeman said her two sons not only attended services at Calvary Temple but also went to school there, prompting the family to move from western Loudoun to be closer to the parish.

“I moved to Sterling for this place,” she said.

But when one of her offspring decided to leave the congregation halfway through 10th grade, Freeman said, church leaders instructed her to shun him, treat him like he was “dead.”

This was 2006, she said, and the ordeal made her question the leaders and caused her divorce.

Freeman said Scott has a charismatic style that hooks church members but also twists scripture and brainwashes his followers.

“I view this as a cult,” she said.

When the church learned of her criticism, Freeman said, it proclaimed her a “daughter of Satan” and members shunned her, believing what she calls Scott’s “spin.”

But she hopes that criminal charges soon will be brought against the preacher and other church leaders.

“They’re not above the law,” she said.

The allegations of sexual abuse are what have caused criticism of Calvary Temple to rise to the level where the media and others outside the church are taking notice, said Andrew Lawrence, like Freeman a former congregant in Sterling.

“Sexual abuse is where people really are appalled,” Lawrence said.

He said he grew up in the church and that his parents still go there.

Also attending services, Lawrence said, are his daughters, ages 1 and 4.

That’s because after he decided to leave the church, he said, his wife sided with Calvary Temple and took off with the kids.

“Five days later, she left me,” Lawrence said.

Since then, for almost a year, he’s been fighting to be able to see his children.