Pastor Mark Darling-Pastor who abused me

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[blonde]

Nate Swinton some years ago, who is not on this forum by choice now, says that he was scared of Mark Darling. With what is now happening to Susan, in the past, and now, this is even more telling as Nate was very close and worked with National Leaders. One of them being Mark Darling. Thanks Nate for the good and honest word.

And I do agree, spiritual and sexual abuse is very very complex. My prayers are going up for Susan and her family. And proud of her.

Susan is no longer scared of Mark Darling.

Please see: http://forum.gcmwarning.com/the-moribund-equine/nate-swinton-states-he-was-scared-of-mark-darling/

-Blonde

[Scout]

Let's not forget the dismal record of honesty so far in how Evergreen is trying to tell this story about Scout.

Suzanne was fully heard in this matter.  (Against Evergreen's pastor's wishes, since they crossed out stuff they did not like.  That is not listening.)

20 years ago.  (Actually, 17 years ago.  Why is Evergreen rounding up? So it looks a little better?)

No further action steps were required by the Van Dykes or the mediator. (Nope again.  There were 2 steps of action asked for and agreed to.)

The mediator.  (There was no mediator, which is someone who represents both sides. It was Suzanne's counselor.)

Van Dykes received over a million dollar gift to start a church in Berlin. (How sadly laughable. The $ went to GCM, Van Dykes raised support.)

"within a year of the mediation process"  (What? I thought everyone had been heard and satisfied.  A mediation process??)

We have nothing but good will for the Van Dykes.  (If this is how Evergreen treats friends, I would hate to be on their bad side.  Why the Evergreen public meeting where people are told not to talk to the Van Dykes or their siblings? Why the lie about how they are in counseling? Why the insinuation that something is so wrong with them that you can't talk to them? Hmmmm...is something being covered up? And why the mean comment about how they should never have been sent to Germany? Is this considered good will?)

If Suzanne would like another private meeting they would welcome it.  (She already tried that and got nothing.)

We are in the process of hiring a reputable third party investigator.  (Turned out to be a lawyer that was representing only them.)

GodisFaithful,

Thanks for collecting and tracking all of the statements EC has made that are not true. 

Scout

[GraceAndTruth]

I find all of this very hard to believe. I do not know Mark personally, have never been to Evergreen, but have been to the Faith Walkers conference. And I have listened to at least 40 messages given by Mark at his strongdisciple website.

The Bible says we will know a tree by it's fruit. The verifiable fruit I can see from Mark's life is that:

1.  He has been married for 30+ years (not sure the exact number). He speaks highly of his wife and honors her and is a great example to others on how a husband should lay down his life for his wife.

2.  All of his children are still following the Lord and seem to be involved in some type of ministry. Do you know how rare this is? This usually does not happen because kids can see hypocrisy is their parents life, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

3.  God has allowed the churches that Mark has been involved with to flourish. Most churches are on the decline, even many GCC churches I hear. Jesus said " I will build my church", and He seems to be using Mark in that process.

4.  The faith Walkers conference I went to about 10 years ago had just under 1000 people. When I went again few years ago there were over 2,000. And the conference made such a huge impact on me and the other people I went with. It is growing and affecting people's lives for Christ.

5.  I'm sure there are more people who have come to Christ as a result of Mark's life than probably all of the people in this thread combined, into the 1,000's +++ I'm sure.

6. If I knew Mark personally, I could probably keep writing this list for hours.

All I'm saying, is that the fruit of Mark's life and how God has used him does not match up with this allegation. Frankly, my prayers are with Mark, and for healing on the part of Scout.

[GodisFaithful]

There are two sides to every story, GraceAndTruth, and you have every right to see it the way you do. 

On this forum Scout has chosen to tell her story and some of us believe her.

I knew her and her husband back in the day.  The sweetest of people.  Super loyal to Evergreen.  Very giving and kind.  Not the kind of people that you would think are crazy and deluded.  I can verify that. In fact they were sent out as missionaries by Evergreen.

I can also verify that Mark used to hang out and confide in young single pretty  girls.  My husband also says he remembers this.  That is a very dangerous and ill advised practice for a pastor.

I also am suspicious of the way that Evergreen has come out with statements that have been verified to be untrue. It makes me think they are trying very hard to cover this up.

All the good fruit in the world does not take away the sin and damage to Scout's life, if this allegation turns out to be true.  I truly am sad about it, for both sides.  I believe that Evergreen lacks humility and integrity in their leadership. 

[Rebel in a Good Way]

I am posting this here because there are many connections to the current situation with Scout & ECC/GCC.  It is a statement from Rachel Denhollander (one of Larry Nassar's victims).

https://www.facebook.com/notes/rachael-denhollander/response-to-sovereign-grace-churches/1720170721396574/

PROBLEMS WITH AN "INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION"

In the quotes below, CLC is Covenant Life Church, part of Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) now called Sovereign Grace Churches (SGC). 

ECC also chose to take the flawed route of SGM and Rachel explains the problems.  Emphases are mine.

* "The review, called the Thaler-Liebeler report, was conducted by a firm and an attorney with no known or recorded experience in criminal law or investigative work. Rather, the firm specialized in various forms of business litigation and business law, as did the attorney hired to investigate, Mr. Liebeler. Anyone familiar with sexual assault, institutional dynamics, or simply the process for independent investigations, would immediately recognize that this type of firm is not in any way the type of firm normally retained for such endeavors, and that the skill set and expertise necessary for this type of investigation, simply was not present."

* "CLC retained the firm as their attorney, meaning that all information found during the investigation was protected under attorney-client privilege, and was not released. This is the precise tactic used by Michigan State University in the Larry Nassar case, when they retained an attorney to conduct a private review. They rightfully received public scorn for this maneuver and have now submitted to a truly independent review, which has already produced significant incriminating evidence somehow “missed” by the initial review. CLC and Sovereign Grace, by contrast, never have consented to such an investigation. "

* "This review did not examine any claims arising outside of Covenant Life Church. Thus, it never examined the allegations of systemic failures within the denomination to report domestic or sexual abuse."

FLAGSHIP LEADERS

Rachel also recognizes that when foundational leaders of a movement are involved, it carries significance for the entire denomination.  ECC is not the flagship church of GCC, but key leaders have always been involved there and it is a church with a lot of influence in the denomination.  And MAIN, NATIONAL, leaders were involved in the mishandling of the concern 17 years ago, and have obviously been overseeing things since then when more victims have come forward.  Others are better versed at this history than I am, but that information is readily available.

"While the SGC statement simply describes CLC as “a church that was then part of Sovereign Grace,” CLC was in fact the flagship church of the denomination. Furthermore, CJ Mahaney was the lead pastor at the time nearly all the alleged mishandlings of abuse at CLC took place,"


HANDLING PROBLEMS INTERNALLY

"Concurrent with multiple pastor’s statements demonstrating that the method of handling abuse was to conduct their own investigation, to confront the abuser, and to handle the abuse as “an internal spiritual issue,” "

The practices of SGM regarding the reporting of abuse seem similar to those outlined in GCLI manuals regarding handling complaints against pastors.  See page 10.   http://ae32b6f7a6ad6f5ae1f0-a966d7fcbad4fbcd7d1dccf3fbabbb92.r98.cf2.rackcdn.com/uploaded/g/0e6049137_1490129986_gcli-2017-b4-s8-11-persecution-and-the-great-commission-christian.pdf 

I would love to be corrected if I'm wrong, but I see nothing on the GCC website or in their training materials about how to deal with abuse allegations.  Only "criticism" of a pastor or leader.  This demonstrates negligence when it comes to protecting people from abuse. The GCLI materials they choose to highlight (about leaders' authority and their persecution complex) with no priority given to the protection of children and/or other vulnerable people is...concerning.  And, I think, telling.


CONCLUSION

So much of what Rachel writes is worth repeating, but I think this quote about how the institutional church has tried to minimize her is pertinent to Scout and ECC/GCC right now:

"This is institutional and community protectionism. Brothers and sisters, this is it. We need to realize that the reason we are gaining a reputation for handling these situations so poorly is not because people hate the gospel and make up lies about us, but because we have a real problem in how we think about sexual abuse and how we think about our leaders and institutions."

And "Given the standard set in Scripture for what a Christian ought to be and in particular a Christian leader, I would suggest this standard ought to be even higher than we require of, say, state universities."

[GodisFaithful]

So...Is Evergreen going to frame this like a little gnat that needs to be swatted away?

Evergreen says they "take sexual abuse allegations seriously" but they have nothing in place in their organization to actually take it seriously in the event that sexual abuse happens?

Are the pastors at Evergreen so arrogant they don't think it could happen in their church?  (That would sort of be like a school thinking that a school shooting could never happen to them and having to plan in place.  Negligent.)

Is Evergreen somehow squelching this information of more women coming forward to the extent that their followers are not concerned?

Are the grass roots followers at Evergreen being told not to expose themselves to the allegations?

Is the Great Commission Board deeply concerned, or ho hum, this too shall pass?

What IS the accountability among the pastors at Evergreen? Is there ANY?  What if someone teaches something really off?

Are they really going to pass this off as that there must be something terribly wrong with the victim, pray for her?

And that is going to fly with the followers at Evergreen?

Sort of like drink the Koolade and keep singing kum-by-yah and we will make it through this storm of persecution from the nutty people who have listened to Satan and left our church? How  many verses will they have to sing and for how long?

How giant of a carpet is it going to take to sweep the garbage under? 

Does Evergreen think they will come out smelling like a rose? Are they really that arrogant?

Just a few of the questions rattling around in my brain.  Thankful I can ask questions.

[margaret]

About this: "I'm not saying it didn't happen, but that since I've been there Mark has actually been pretty vocal specifically about his refusal to meet with women alone."

Coulee Rock Community Church.
January 14, 2018.
25 minutes into the message.
Mentions giving a woman a ride to work.
Broke the "Never Alone With A Woman" rule unless someone else accompanied him.

Am I missing something? I thought he was removed from ministerial duties until the investigation is complete? Why is he at Coulee Rock Community Church preaching?

[Linda]

Looks like that was January. He was put on a leave of absence in early February.

[Scout]

Evergreen Church is having a town hall meeting tomorrow, March 6, 2018 to update their congregants about the "investigation" into Mark's abuse of me and other women.  In the email invitation sent to their members to, they write that they sent an "ill-advised" tweet response to my original tweet of Mark Darling's abuse of me.  They apologize that it was "misleading".  In the photo on the left I have placed arrows by each of their "misleading" statements.  The photo on the right shows a circle stating they "apologize for this".  Following is my social media post from today, Monday, March 5, 2018.

Evergreen Church,
Since you are having a Town Hall meeting tomorrow (March 6, 2108) to update your congregants about the investigation into pastor Mark Darling's abuse of me (and other women), do you want John van Dyck and I to be there as well?
With us at the Town Hall you could apologize directly to us and in front of the people you mislead in a tweet response back to me [photo on left]. Your congregants, to be sure, appreciated your apology [photo on right] to them about the "misleading" nature of that tweet to me, but I'm certain in the name of Christian repentance and transparency you would welcome the opportunity to apologize to myself and John van Dyck. Thanks and let me know...Suzanne van Dyck

https://twitter.com/notabystandermn/status/970634470046027777

Scout

[GodisFaithful]

Very wise of you, Scout, to ask to be at the "Town Hall Meeting", since presumably they will be talking about you (hopefully not slander) and perhaps they  will wish to show their good will in front of other people instead of just behind closed doors, maybe even "apologize".

Here is how the so called apology hit me.  They are taking the high road now and will not use social media (because they bungled their first attempt so badly and people outside their group were able to examine it and find the holes.) But Scout, you go ahead and use the low road of social media.  Oh, and we got caught telling a lie.  Our bad.  Sorry about that. 

I, God-Is-Faithful, hereby apologize for even reading their apology and having any hope that there is truth in it.

Do we have a leaker? Is that  how we know about this Town Hall meeting.  Better watch out people.  Excommunication could be right around the corner.

I looked up Town Hall Meeting:

"...an informal public meeting at which community members discuss issues and concerns...giving everyone a chance to talk personally in a relaxed environment about the things that matter to them. Typically, the organization and leadership are minimal, encouraging people to settle their differences amicably and with the help of friends.

...people in the group can ask questions or bring issues up, and the officials and other members of the group may respond. When heated issues arise, the atmosphere may become less orderly, but usually members of the group are capable of policing each other to ensure that everyone is heard.  ...participating in a town hall meeting can be an excellent experience."

My prediction:

IF questions are allowed to be asked, they must be submitted ahead of time and parts of them may be blacked out.

Cell phones must be left at the door and no one can take notes.

This will not be an "excellent experience" if members of Evergreen are looking for truth and humility from their leaders.

Everyone will not be heard.

[Janet Easson Martin]

Here are some good insights about how abusive churches handle negative claims from the book, "Twisted Scriptures - Breaking Free from Churches That Abuse" (Zondervan.com on Kindle) by Mary Alice Chrnalogar.  I thought they seemed to apply to nearly all the claims on here as far as GCx and most of their followers are concerned (in keeping with their negative information control practices), and most recently Scout's and Victim C's claims.

She explains the controlled mindset that is taught below:

"...If you refuse to listen to negative information, it may be because your group has instilled in you the fear that you will hear something negative about your leaders or group. They have you believing that, if you listen to such criticism or questioning, you will fall away by committing the sin of doubting the leaders. They are just trying to scare you into not hearing the truth. If these leaders weren’t hiding something, they wouldn’t have to do all this controlling of negative information.

Do you realize that by telling your family or friends they cannot speak negatively to you, you may be telling God He cannot give you any negative information about your group through your family or friends? That is what you are doing. Maybe God wants to use your family or friends as His instruments for shedding light on something that may not be right in your group…"

This paragraph above is exactly what was going on while I was in GCx.  Several family members who were believers were trying to help me from being manipulated by men instead of God.  I loyally had my horse blinders on so I couldn't see the truth in what they told me.  Below is what I was repeatedly told in GCx.

"…INSTILL FEAR OF NEGATIVE INFORMATION TO GAIN CONTROL

Abusive and controlling groups concentrate on these two essential elements: Teach the discipled that any negative or critical words are probably sinful Teach them to fear those “sins” so greatly that they will react forcefully and irrationally toward anyone (family, friend, fellow Christian) who dares suggest that their group might be making a mistake…

…If you consistently denigrate outsiders, labeling them as not committed, demonic, or worldly, you can probably prevent the subject from accepting most information offered by those outsiders. If the information can be prevented from being seen as credible, the subjects will refuse to be informed about the errors you are trying to teach them…”

Be assured the devil wants any believer to be crippled in their daily faith because he cannot take away your eternal saving faith.  He will settle for crippling it or shipwrecking it if possible.  Staying in a church that puts those who leave, or whistle blowers on the "rebellious" list as an enemy of the church puts you in deep darkness and harm.  These churches cripple your personal relationship with Jesus by controlling it.  

The last thing one who knows Jesus and abides in God's Spirit wants to do is report anything negative about another believer or church.  But, if it is truly harmful, we are commanded to expose that evil.  The apostle Paul certainly did.  And Paul warned that there are plenty of faith abusing leaders out there.  They are zealous for their own reputation, not God's.  

GCx always bragged about how HOLY it was. That was supposedly their hallmark as we were told.  Well GCx, what's Holy about the way you continually cover up and whitewash abuse and let sinful leaders go untouched? What's Holy about the way you treat people tragically wounded by those leaders?

Why must you perpetrate lies to control your people's thoughts and actions?  Is it because that is the only way you can get them and keep them.  That's not fruit - that's a bitter root.

[GodisFaithful]

So remember that Evergreen people keep saying that the investigation is an independent third party sort of thing and we were all scratching our heads and could not figure that out??

According to a guy who goes to Evergreen, who claims to be in the know, Evergreen is claiming that THEY are the third party. (This is on FB by the way.) Mark is one party, Suzanne is one party, and Evergreen is one party.  Evergreen, aside from Mark who is being accused, is pure as the wind driven snow so they get to be the third party, and this is where the confusion is coming in.  People are trying to find out who is on the Board of Trustees and it seems to be appointed by the pastors, which they think is just fine because only someone hostile to Evergreen would think the other pastors who appoint the BOT are corrupt. One pastor is usually on the BOT, but supposedly he recused himself.  So they are calling the investigation unbiased because supposedly Evergreen is unbiased, they just want to get to the bottom of whether their employee, Mark Darling, did anything wrong and then at the end the BOT will decide how to discipline him.

The whole thing seems to be a jumbled mess to me. 

No wonder they didn't have a Town Hall Meeting!

If anyone who has tried to call Evergreen to ask questions and get this straight has more information, please inform.

[Rebel in a Good Way]

Yeah, I don't know if that guy truly doesn't understand, or is just so blind he can't see what is obvious to everyone else?  At the very least he (and probably others) are misinformed about how the legal system works in regards to legal liability of boards, client-attorney privilege, conflicts of interest, independent investigations, etc.  I have actually done a lot of reading about that and it's still confusing, because sometimes churches enjoy more freedoms than the average non-profit.  Anyway, I think they just grasp on to whatever ECC tells them and repeats that information.  When I press for any specific details there are no answers.  They will say "look, the attorney's e-mail says INDEPENDENT!" even after people have pointed out several problems with the use of that word.

Actually, the people who come on these boards to defend ECC also choose not to answer the hard questions.  They stick to their agenda and only interact with the talking points they want.  Not one person from ECC has addressed that e-mail where Suzanne was accidentally CC'ed.  It's pretty indefensible.  Other than trusting that because the Board is so unbiased that they should communicate with the attorney through the whole investigation because they just want to find out the truth.  Um...

I'm not sure that one poster who claimed that ECC is the 3rd party represents what ECC is telling people. He could be.  But I think he so wants to believe in the goodness of his church and its leaders that he is trying to rationalize and justify a situation that is not currently going well for them.  Or...I don't know...doesn't like it when things are explained more accurately by multiple women?  Seriously, that thought crosses my mind every time I interact with a GCC male as I think they more easily discount and degrade women.

[GodisFaithful]

Watch out, folks.  The BIG sheriffs are in town!  Keep your heads down and get a look at the fastest guns in the Midwest, here to bring some much needed good old fashioned law and order.

Marvin and Marvin on their hawses.  Pow! Pow! Pow!

"Now folks, we been hearin' that there's a lady down here in SconSIN who's tryin' ta get her phD. Now the sheriff down here says to that idear of this lady, he says No! So no means no, ya hear? And this here lady wants ta do a new fangled online study for her high falutin phD, but no no means no!  Now this here lady unfortunately ended up with cancer and she has a youngen in the hospital.  Now folks, we're tellin' ya, this here can mean only one thing.  There is sin in the camp here in SconSIN. And we been hearin' that this here lady has been bloggin around to her friends and family insteada doin what she should be doin.  And we been hearin' that this here lady has been  complainin bout the sheriff down here. Marvin and Marvin, that's us, from Megalopodisgust, are here to take care o this.  Let me tell ya, folks, as plain as I kin make it. Complainin's the same as murmurin's the same as SLANDERIN!!  So, Marvin, we are here to do some exxxxcomunicatin and some shunnin and some disssssaplinin, aren't we Marvin? Yep, Marvin, youbetcha! Now has everybody been heard? Have you been heard Marvin? Yep, I've been heard, have you been heard Marvin? Yep, I've been heard. So everybody's been heard now, ya hear?"

Clop Clop Clop

"So Marvin, how dya think it went down there in SconSIN? Oh, fine, just fine, Marvin. We cleared some air, didn't we Marvin? But Marvin, did you notice, some o those folks down in SconSIN are dressin like hicks. We need to get back down there for a con-fer-ence and do some reprovin 'cause that's bad bad bad."

"But on to less important matters, Marvin, what if, when we get back home to Megalopodisgust there are allegations of sexxxxual misconduct? What are we gonna do??? Well, Marvin, yer appointed and I'm appointed so we're appointed. What's yer point Marvin? My point is we're appointed. We'll do some investigatin, that's what we'll do, 'cause we're appointed. And we'll have a party. A third party. A fourth party. However many parties we need. And we'll be the life o the party! 'Cause we're appointed. If necessary we'll do what we did in SconSIN, we'll do some exxxxxcomunicatin and some shunnin and some disssssaplinin. But Marvin, that worked in SconSIN but will that work in Megalopodisgust??"

"I've been thinkin Marvin. Let's have somethin in our back pocket.  Let's have a good ol' fashioned Town Hall Meetin!!!  What's a Town Hall Meetin, Marvin? Doncha know, Marvin? A Town Hall Meetin is a Town Hall Meetin. That's a great idea, Marvin, 'cause we been appointed! Right, Marvin? RIGHT!!  Hey, we said that at the same time! Probly 'cause we been appointed!!"

Heehaw

(dedicated to Scout and womanwithaphD in hello section of the forum)

To Scout and Woman:
"In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears." Ps 18

"The eternal God is my refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deut. 33
 

[Rebel in a Good Way]

GodisFaithful, I appreciate your sense of humor!

Wisconsin is NOT known for fitness and svelteness, so...Marvin probably couldn't wait to get out of here.

[GodisFaithful]

Notice there is nothing in the story about being overweight.

In this parody there are a couple of big fat hypocrites.

[Janet Easson Martin]

Did anyone post here yet about the third victim that has come forward on Suzanne's Facebook page?
Victim "A" tells some of her story there.  

[Gladtobegone]

Her Facebook says there are 7. Two have shared their story and the third is in the process.

I would think with all the intimidation and harassment they are afraid to come forward.   I know I would be.

[GretchenGail]

I announced on Twitter last night (January 5, 2018) as part of the MeToo movement, that Mark Darling abused me and some of the other pastors were told of the abuse and nothing was done.  Mark is still in the pulpit and the other pastors that were made aware of the abuse in 2000 are still there as well.
My hope is that there will be justice for me and the other women Mark Darling has abused.   

What is so upsetting is from 2001-2017 why did John Van Dyke not stand up for you? I know you believe you were silenced, however John should have done something and we are all still waiting for him to step up here. My husband would not give up his fight for me if I had been abused.

[GretchenGail]

Dear Scout,

First of all. I want to emphasize that I am so sorry.

I believe you.

I came across this link from the "Faith Trust Institute" about pastoral sexual abuse that really opened my eyes.

http://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/resources/learn-the-basics/ce-faqs#What%20is%20it?

Key points that stuck out to me

1. Sexual abuse can be physical and/or verbal (such as sexual talk, suggestive comments, tales of sexual experiences, questions about intimate details of your relationships, looking for sympathy about his partner's sexual inadequacies)

2. In a situation involving a pastor the pastor is ALWAYS wrong because of the difference in power. The member of the congregation is ALWAYS the victim.

From the article: "Sexual contact or sexualized behavior within the ministerial relationship is a violation of professional ethics. There is a difference in power between a person in a ministerial role and a member of his or her congregation or a counselee. Because of this difference in power, you cannot give meaningful consent to the sexual relationship.
Individuals usually seek counseling or support from their religious leader at times of stress or crisis. During these times, you are emotionally vulnerable and can be taken advantage of by a religious leader."

In the GCC system there is the added component of the constant, heavy handed Hebrews 13:17 teaching on obeying elders.

Remember, 2 ECC pastors sit on the national GCC board. One of them, Brent Knox said: "And so even to give the controls over to God, that's hard, but the real kicker here is God is saying, "Give the controls over to people that I work through, and these people are fallible, these people make mistakes, these people are weak at times. You-outta work through it anyway," that's what God says."

Think of how quickly things can go wrong when congregants are told repeatedly that it's Biblical to "give the controls" of their lives over to fallible pastors who consider themselves the people God "works through". Not only is it unbiblical, it's a disaster waiting to happen.

If there are any current or former ECC members who have experienced abuse, I would encourage you to step forward (you can be anonymous as you tell the Truth about your experience). If there are any pastors who have participated in covering up physical or verbal sexual abuse, it's never too late to do the right thing.

Linda,

Thank you.  As a victim, being believed is comforting.

As I wrote earlier, when I confronted my abuser Mark Darling in the presence of another Evergreen Church pastor, Mark Bowen;  I was made out to be the problem.  I was not believed. 

A different Evergreen Church pastor, Doug Patterson, said I was slandering Mark Darling and in sin.  When is a victim of abuse ever slandering their abuser when they finally have the courage to speak out?  At this same time a pastor's wife said to me, "How could you do this to Mark [Darling] after all he has done for you and your family?".  A victim does not "do" anything to the abuser by speaking out. The abuse was "done" to me.

I have wondered about these other pastors at Evergreen Church who have enabled an abuser to remain in a position of authority at Evergreen. What would they say to their daughter or son if they told them they had been sexually abused?  Would they say, "Be quiet, you're being slanderous?  Would they believe them?  Would they make their child out to be the problem?  Would they demand they apologize to their abuser for making it public knowledge?

Again, thank you, Linda.

Scout

Was your husband raised up to be a GCC pastor, alongside another GCC pastor you claim abused you? Why would your husband continue to stay a part of a movement, pastoring side by side with a pastor who abused you? You said he (your husband) knew you were abused. Why did John Van Dyke not fight for you?