Ep. 401: Steve Lawson, Steve Morgan and The Network, and Vince Bantu

On today’s program, longtime pastor Steve Lawson was removed as pastor of Trinity Bible Church in Dallas over an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a woman...now, ministries are dropping the author and teaching fellow as ripples of his affair spread. We’ll take a look. And, devastated families share stories of being cut off by adult children involved in The Network—an association of churches started by Steve Morgan. We’ll have details. Plus, two prominent pastors announce their plans for retirement. But first, Fuller Seminary Professor Vince Bantu is being accused of a secret second marriage. Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, the denominational seminary for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), acknowledged that former professor Vince Bantu engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student during his tenure there. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Kim Roberts, Jessica Eturralde, Tony Mator, Mallory Challis, G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Daniel Ritchie, Marci Seither, Aaron Earls, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell. A special thanks to Baptist News Global for contributing material for this week’s podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.   MANUSCRIPT   FIRST SEGMENT Warren: Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha: And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado. And we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren: On today’s program, longtime pastor Steve Lawson was removed as pastor of Trinity Bible Church in Dallas over an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a woman...now, ministries are dropping the author and teaching fellow as ripples of his affair spread. We’ll take a look. And, devastated families share stories of being cut off by adult children involved in The Network—an association of churches started by Steve Morgan. We’ll have details. Plus, two prominent pastors announce their plans for retirement. Natasha: But first, Fuller Seminary Professor Vince Bantu is being accused of a secret second marriage. Warren: Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, the denominational seminary for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), acknowledged that former professor Vince Bantu engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student during his tenure there. The incident arose because of an investigative article published in Christianity Today about Bantu’s alleged secret marriage. Covenant said after the student filed a Title IX complaint against Bantu, the seminary confronted him, he confessed to the relationship, and he resigned from his position in 2018. Natasha: But he didn’t stop teaching. Warren: That’s right, Bantu joined the faculty of Fuller Seminary in 2019 as an associate professor of church history and black church studies. Covenant said they were contacted by Fuller about the reason for his departure and they “shared with Fuller Seminary all the details of what had happened in 2018. Natasha: He doesn’t just teach at Fuller, he’s also a pastor. Warren: Bantu left his co-pastoring position at Outpour Community Church shortly after the Covenant complaint, and founded a new church, Beloved Community Church. He also began meeting with two other pastors as part of an accountability group. Those pastors, Darren Young and Thurman Williams, met with Bantu regularly to provide moral support and mutual discipleship. Young and Williams told CT about Bantu’s alleged secret marriage to a second wife based on conversations with him during accountability meetings. They said he argued that one way for him to avoid sexual temptation was to marry multiple women. Natasha: Is Fuller doing anything about these allegations? Warren: General Counsel Lance Griffin said in a statement.“Fuller Seminary is committed to thoroughly investigating any allegations of inappropriate conduct,We are aware of these allegations and can confirm an internal investigation is underway.” Natasha: Along similar lines, leaders respond to Steven Lawson’s moral disqualification. Warren: Last week, MinistryWatch reported that Trinity Bible Church of Dallas had “indefinitely removed” its lead pastor Steven J. Lawson “from all ministry activities" due to an "inappropriate relationship" with a woman. Lawson has been a leading figure in evangelical circles. In addition to pastoring at Trinity, Lawson is the founder of OnePassion Ministries. He was professor of preaching and dean of D.Min. studies at The Master’s Seminary (TMS), and frequently preached for John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church (GCC) and its conferences. Shortly following Trinity’s announcement (Sept. 20), both GCC and TMS scrubbed Lawson from their websites, but have yet to formally address Lawson’s moral failure. Natasha: How has the church responded? Warren: On Sunday, Trinity Bible Church of Dallas Elder Mark Becker ​​addressed his congregation for the first time since Lawson's dismissal. He acknowledged the emotional and difficult week following Lawson's removal, and noted that while questions persist, the focus will be on how the church will move forward. He gave no further information on the nature of Lawson’s moral failure. Natasha: Lets look at one more story before we take our first break, what do you have? Warren: Less than two months ago, Pastor Rodney Finch told his Calvary Chapel Cary congregation in Apex, North Carolina, “The time for me to go is now.” Finch’s resignation came amid an uproar over the discovery he had listed the church property for sale without telling anyone—the latest in a long string of alleged scandals, lies, secrets and financial missteps. But on Sept. 22, Finch was back in the pulpit. And the pastors he’d tapped to replace him were gone, having announced their own resignations the previous Sunday. Natasha: What happened? Warren: In audio obtained by MinistryWatch, Finch addressed church members after the service to explain his return. He admitted that, behind closed doors, he had made a deal with the other pastors, Ralf Stores and Scott Burrell, that he would not relinquish his authority until the church agreed to a plan to fund his retirement, using profits from the future sale of the church. Then, when the leadership offered Finch a payout amount, he refused to sign what he called “almost like blackmail,” because the contract required him to simultaneously surrender his authority rather than quit at a later time of his choosing. Natasha: Finch railed against the former board and pastors for suspecting him of attempting to secretly form a limited liability company to steal money from the sale of the church. Their treatment of him, he claimed, had helped push him out the door. Warren: He said, “I had had it, I am not the guy who ever even wanted to be a pastor, to be quite honest with you. I have been serving the Lord in this church for 30 years out of total obedience to God. I don’t need it. I didn’t want it. I don’t need it.” As previously reported by MinistryWatch, those 30 years have been mired by a host of issues, such as soliciting funds for a new church building that was never built and keeping budget information and even the church by-laws hidden from his own team. Another scandal was Finch’s long struggle with a drug addiction he hid from his congregation even as he pushed the board to cover $50,000 of a luxury rehabilitation program—which he then quit without telling the church. Natasha: Warren, let’s take a quick break. When we return, parents devastated when their children cut off contact after getting involved in Network churches. I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and we’ll have that story and much more, after this short break.   BREAK   SECOND SEGMENT Natasha: Welcome back.  I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and you’re listening to the MinistryWatch podcast. Next, the story we promised before the break… Warren: The Network is…well…a network of churches was started by Steve Morgan, a pastor who began his career as part of the Vineyard USA association of churches, but left that group to start The Network in 2006. Until recently, the network had 26 member churches. Morgan is the lead pastor of Joshua Church in Austin, Texas. But a number of churches have recently left The Network, and that has generated scrutiny about Morgan and his organization. Natasha: And you’ve got a specific example of those concerns. Warren, Yes, we heard from one mother who says churches in The Network operate in a cult-like manner. Some of those behaviors resulted in her become estranged from her daughter and son-in-law. This mother, Melanie, began searching online and found similar stories. She wanted to warn others, so Families Against Cults on Campus (FACC) was born and began creating content, including testimonials. The YouTube channel has gotten tens of thousands of views. By the way, we use only Melanie’s first name because she fears retribution. Natasha: An online forum, Leaving the Network, was created to “platform the stories of those who have left Steve Morgan's Network of Churches and to create a public record of the inner workings and history of The Network.” Warren: The Leave the Network group has heard from many families who noticed rapid changes in loved ones who became involved in a Network church. Examples include drastic personality changes, loss of interest in hobbies, significant financial commitment to the church, abrupt priority shifts, Network gatherings prioritized over family celebrations, and increased control of their lives by Network leaders. ...