TEXAS
Divorce Minister
As promised in yesterday’s post on the Duggar situation, today I am covering another story that deals with pedophilia and the evangelical church. The focus of this post will not be on the pedophilia per se but on how The Village Church treated the (then) wife of the admitted pedophile when she decided to obtain a marriage annulment. It is illustrative of poor pastoral care and poor divorce theology at work in the evangelical world.
As the quote from Karen states above, the facts of this situation really are not in dispute as it comes to this former missionary couple (for further reading click here). Her former husband, Jordan Root, admitted the sexual appetite of a pedophile and gratifying that appetite by viewing child porn. In fact, their sending missionary organization, SIM, took this so seriously that they expelled Jordan Root from its membership.
How does The Village Church figure into the story?
Karen and Jordan Root’s home and supporting church was The Village Church in Dallas, Texas. The family came back from the mission field amid this story breaking about Jordan’s pedophilia. They were both members of this church.
For those who do not know, The Village Church is the flagship megachurch of the Acts 29 church planting network. It boasts 11,000 members with multiple campuses in Texas. Pastor Matt Chandler is a lead pastor at The Village Church and the pastoral personality that arguably helped this church explode in membership. He is a very gifted teacher, and I have appreciated learning from his teachings–i.e. online and in print–in the past.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.