As the appeal goes to trial and the criminal investigations proceed, we can only pray justice prevails and that moving forward, churches and ministries will do all in their power to protect children from violation.

Since my last report on the Sovereign Grace Ministries lawsuit in May, more developments have unfolded in this horrific ordeal. For an in-depth overview of the situation, see my last article on the topic. To sum up the events though, back in October 2012 three women represented by attorney Susan Burke filed a civil lawsuit in Montgomery County, MD accusing SGM and various of its leaders and churches of covering up and failing to report child sex abuse crimes through the 1980s and 90s.

In May 2013 eleven plaintiffs signed onto the second amendment of the lawsuit and Burke stated there were even more. The civil suit was largely dismissed for the expired statute of limitations, but criminal investigations are in the works and the plaintiffs have filed an appeal.

SGM is a network of about 80 “evangelical, Reformed, and charismatic” churches led, until a few months, ago by C.J. Mahaney. SGM was headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD until their recent relocation to Louisville, KY.

A major concern in this situation was the silence of well-known pastors and leaders close to Mahaney and SGM. Very little was said concerning the lawsuit outside the rumblings of lesser known bloggers. Shortly after the lawsuit was dismissed, two major evangelical organizations with close ties to SGM and its leader C.J. Mahaney (who is among the defendants in the lawsuit) commented. Within hours of each other, Together for the Gospel (T4G) and members of The Gospel Coalition (TGC) issued statements explaining their silence resulted from hesitation due to the complex nature of the lawsuit and their close friendship with Mahaney.

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