I was assaulted. He was applauded.
Jules Woodson says she was 17 when her youth pastor, Andy Savage, sexually assaulted her. In late 2017, almost two decades later, Ms. Woodson, inspired by the #MeToo movement, emailed Mr. Savage asking whether he remembered what has haunted her for decades. When he didn’t reply, she told her story to a blog for victims of church abuse. Days later, Mr. Savage addressed his congregation at the Highpoint Church in Memphis, where he is a pastor, and the church streamed the service online as usual.
For the last couple of years I’ve have a profound feeling that something is very wrong with the evangelical church in America. Leaders like the “pastor” in Dallas repeatedly excusing a politician’s sex crimes as no big deal were what got me thinking that way. Then, today, I came across this. Church members giving a standing ovation to a sex predator and attacking his victim? What is wrong?! This is NOT the church described in the Bible. This is counterfeit. I have walked away from church, and this video makes me think that was the right thing to do.
My heart goes out to the victim. Her pain in the video is deep and real. She has been carrying that all these years. I want to say something that would provide comfort, but nothing seems adequate.