This will be the first post in I’m not sure how many that regard the Chi Alpha sex abuse scandal. As mentioned in previous posts, I was a part of Sam Houston Chi Alpha (XA) during the 2012-2013 school year and my alma mater, Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, is the epicenter of the sex abuse scandal. So far, three ministers as far as I know, have their credentials revoked as a part of this scandal, but the number could be up to seven.
On Thursday, January 25, a lawsuit1 was filed in Harris County, Texas (Houston is the county seat of Harris County; Houston is also home to the headquarters of the South Texas District of the Assemblies of God) against the General Council of the Assemblies of God, the North Texas District of the Assemblies of God (the district the church I attend is a part of), Mountain Valley Fellowship in College Station, Texas, and Texas A&M Chi Alpha alleging negligence in terms of alleged sexual abuse of a minor. There is a criminal investigation ongoing in this particular case. Here are my reactions to the lawsuit (I will not be discussing liability here even though I have opinions there).
First of all, the allegations are incredibly disturbing. If the allegations against the young men named are true, which I believe they most likely are, then criminal charges should be filed against them and soon. It’s sickening to me that anyone would engage in this kind of behavior with a child. It’s repulsive.
Secondly, Eli Stewart should never be allowed to have credentials in the General Council of the Assemblies of God ever again, or in any denomination for that matter. Stewart was the Chi Alpha director at Texas A&M at the time (when I was at Sam Eli Stewart was the worship leader at First Assembly of God in Huntsville, Texas) and was also the Chi Alpha director for the North Texas District as well and was also the pastor of Moutain Valley Fellowship, which fired him as pastor last spring.2 Stewart also had his AG credentials revoked and rightfully so (I’ll deal more with Eli Stewart’s involvement in the scandal in later posts). Stewart is an alleged victim of Daniel Savala when Savala was in Alaska, and there is no way that he didn’t know about Savala’s alleged sexual abuse in this particular case. It’s likely Eli Stewart did not report alleged sexual abuse to the police, which under Texas law, members of the clergy are not mandated reporters, which is completely ridiculous.
I’m surprised that Eli Stewart was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. He should be a defendant with him being the Chi Alpha director at Texas A&M at the time and the alleged abuse happening with young men under his leadership at A&M. In my view, it’s highly unlikely he didn’t know anything about the alleged abuse in the lawsuit, and it’s likely he was told by someone and failed to take action.
As a lifelong member of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, this scandal makes me angry. It’s something that should make a Christian angry. Any abuse of a child or anyone else for that matter should make a Christian angry because God is angry about it. When will we take a stand against sexual abuse in our churches? It needs to be now.
I’d be surprised to see a trial as a result of this lawsuit. What is likely to happen is there will be some sort of settlement at some point. The case now goes to the discovery phase.
I will have more on the Chi Alpha sex abuse scandal in later posts. When those posts are coming, I’m not quite sure but there’s a good chance that it will be later this year.
I’ll end this post with some scriptural references (all quotations will be from the New King James Version)
Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Psalm 82:3-4
Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; free them from the hand of the wicked.
Zechariah 7:8-10
Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying “Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.
Matthew 23:23-24
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
I pray for the victims in this horrific scandal. I’m appalled by this. May God grant forgiveness to anyone involved in this scandal as He desires to forgive all of us but we must humbly ask for His forgiveness before He can grant it to us.
https://d28lcup14p4e72.cloudfront.net/278504/8559294/2024-01-25%20Plaintiff's%20Original%20Petition.pdf
Josh Sheperd, “Texas Pastor Linked to Chi Alpha Sex Abuse Scandal Dismissed From Church.” The Roys Report. May 24, 2023. Accessed January 26, 2024. https://julieroys.com/texas-pastor-linked-chi-alpha-sex-abuse-scandal-dismissed-church/