Sexual Abuse of Children in the COG
A statement reportedly made previously at a Church of God summer camp—that ministers have higher authority than campers’ parents—should raise serious concerns for any Christian parent. If the intent was simply to explain that camp staff had temporary authority to enforce rules, supervise activities, and ensure safety that might be understandable. Every school and camp operates that way. However, if the statement was meant to imply that ministers possess greater spiritual or moral authority than parents, it directly conflicts with the biblical pattern. Scripture consistently places the primary responsibility for raising children on parents, not church leaders (Deuteronomy 6:6–7; Proverbs 1:8; Ephesians 6:1–4). Church leaders are called to serve and shepherd, not replace or override parental authority (1 Peter 5:2–3).
This matters because child protection experts have long documented how abuse can develop in environments where authority is misunderstood or overstated. Offenders in trusted positions often use authority, influence, and spiritual language to shift a child’s trust away from parents and toward the adult in control. This process is commonly described as grooming. While a statement about authority alone does not prove wrongdoing or intent to harm, it can still create an unhealthy dynamic if children are taught that a minister’s authority supersedes their parents’. That kind of framing can discourage children from speaking openly with their parents or questioning inappropriate behavior.
The history of abuse in many churches (including the COG) makes clarity on this issue essential. Investigations across multiple denominations have shown that harm is more likely to persist when authority is concentrated, unquestioned, or handled internally rather than transparently. For that reason, churches must be careful never to communicate that spiritual leaders outrank parents in a child’s life. Healthy ministry strengthens family trust rather than weakening it.
Parents in all churches should teach children that they can always speak openly about anything that makes them uncomfortable and that no adult—minister, teacher, or counselor—should ever ask them to keep secrets from their parents. If a child raises concerns that may involve abuse or criminal behavior, parents should listen carefully, take it seriously, and report it directly to law enforcement or child protective services. Criminal allegations require independent investigation. Protecting children is not disloyalty to the church; rather it is a basic responsibility of loving parents and an act of obedience to God’s will.
Please email this blog post to all parents that you know in the COG!
Aristophanes
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Resources:
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)
General information on abuse, reporting, and warning signs
https://www.rainn.org/
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)
Child safety, exploitation prevention, reporting resources
https://www.missingkids.org/
GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment)
Independent investigations and abuse prevention in churches
https://www.netgrace.org/
7 comments:
I have always made it clear when my children go to summer camp with a COG that no minister or camp counselor is ever allowed to discipline my child.physically. If they did they would never see the light of day again. I remember at SEP in Orr how counselors took great pleasure in publicly spanking kids in front of the others in the dorm. The church has long had too many deviates in power positions at summer camps, Thankfully, most now require background checks for criminal activity, but that never seems to stop some from still committing horrendous acts.
Bit rich coming from blog commentators/runners/ authors who put young children, including a baby in arms, in a cold storage cupboard during church services in winter.
Having your then superdeacon wait at the church door to announce the alleged new rules to arriving parents.
That children couldn't stay in church services.
Turned out to be all lies.
I never forgot.
If your concern is adults abusing children, the official church camps are some of the safest places for your children. The larger ACOGs all have strict policies in place, governed by their insurance policies, which keep children out of the reach of dangerous adults. Your child is in much greater danger visiting the private home of a "nice old man" in the congregation, where that nice old man has been able to hide his deviant urges behind his church face.
The greatest danger of church camps is not the adults, it is the older children abusing younger ones. Especially if the counselors are the children of ministers, there will be a culture of bullying and shamed silence enforced that the adults won't even see. Whether it is drug use or sexual experimentation, your child at church camp is at risk of being intimidated into silence by older ministerially favoured young people.
In my local area, there was a man who traveled overseas and tried to pay to have sex with the children of church members. The area was very poor, but the character of the locals was not. My understanding is that this predator was kicked out of the church, but then he went back and sucked up to the pastor, who happened to be a member of the council of elders. He was promptly let back in.
This same minister, who swept the incident under the rug, would rant from the podium about violations of his policies (feelings). Apparently that was the real immorality in his eyes. No LCG for me after that. I can't trust them.
Some of the stories I've heard from when Gerald Weston ran the youth camps make it no surprise that young adults don't stick with LCG after attending.
I would not hesitate in the slightest in going to the Police if any minister or member laid a finger on my children. The church can no longer coverup the abuse, I will make sure of that. The ministers and leaders here in LCG did just that over the years. I don't care if it is our pastor, elder, deacon or member, you WILL go to jail. I will make sure of that! No HQ administration/employee or group leader/evangelist will ever stop me. Church government will fly out the door at that point. It will be a very. public and messy humiliation of church leadership.
What’s with the interracial marriage? Why do you continue to force your filth on us? The reprobate mind is a thing to behold.
What in the hell are you talking about?
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