Saturday, December 12, 2009

Pastor Shane Montgomery arrested

And the fever… getting higher
Desire, desire… burning, burning

ShaneMontgomery Police say teen boy was allegedly violated by his pastor. It makes my heart sick to write about it. Apparently Montgomery’s magical Christian moral advantage failed him. Perhaps it was the devil who made him do it? No strike that, the notion of the devil is just as absurd as the notion of God. It was desire.

The former pastor of The River Church is facing felony assault charges. A 16-year-old boy told investigators the former pastor sexually assaulted him when he was 15 years-old. Some of the details are too graphic to repeat.
According to police,

Montgomery admits to oral sex and fondling the teenager, but denies any other allegations.

"The touching and oral, that's just as bad as going the whole way in my opinion," said Cynthia Bonds. "A 15 year old is still a child."

The pastor’s former church, The River,  issued this statement on their website:

The River Church and her leadership is shocked and saddened by the news of this event involving our former church planting pastor who has resigned effective today

We want to express our deep concern to the teenager and his family and are prepared to provide outside, professional counseling to this family as they cope.

We intend to fully cooperate with the investigation by the police as it proceeds.

Again, we express our deep sense of remorse for the situation and our commitment to assist in the help and healing process that is needed.

We have nothing more to add to this statement at this time.

They hit all the right notes. Hurray for them. Fire the pastor, protect the victim, and most importantly, acknowledge the event so that healing can begin.