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The Assemblies of God is facing renewed scrutiny following an NBC News investigation that uncovered decades of systemic failures to address clergy sexual abuse. Survivors and advocates say the denomination repeatedly prioritized the restoration of accused ministers over the safety of children and vulnerable congregants, Baptist News reported yesterday.
NBC reviewed multiple allegations across more than 50 years claiming that ministers credibly accused of abuse were allowed to return to ministry or quietly transferred to new congregations. According to the reporting, the denomination’s governance structure plays a central role in how these cases have been mishandled.
The Assemblies of God describes itself as a voluntary cooperative fellowship. Its 13,000 affiliated churches operate largely independently, a model that the national leadership in Springfield, Missouri often cites as the reason it cannot require certain safety measures or intervene in local decisions. Critics say this autonomy functions as a legal shield. The Southern Baptist Convention has been accused of employing similar arguments to avoid accountability for sexual abuse within its own congregations.
NBC found that the Assemblies of God resisted proposals such as mandatory background checks, universal abuse reporting requirements and the creation of a public database of abusive clergy. Attorneys representing survivors say the denomination was concerned such policies could increase legal liability.
Although the national office is responsible for ministerial credentialing, church autonomy limits oversight after ministers are licensed. Survivors and experts say this system has enabled offenders to remain in ministry even after being reported.
NBC highlighted multiple disturbing examples. In Illinois minister Allen Lehmann was accused of molesting two girls in the 1970s. Instead of contacting law enforcement the district council placed him in a two year restoration program and later declared him rehabilitated. He was transferred to another church where he went on to abuse three more young relatives. Survivors told NBC that pastors sometimes used Scripture to silence them leaving them feeling as though reporting abuse meant challenging divine authority.
Another case involved California worship minister Timothy Scarr who was convicted of molesting two boys. “Five days after his release from prison in 1988” NBC reported “his father the senior pastor threw him a party to welcome him back” and restored him to ministry. Scarr went on to abuse additional boys including one in a church sanctuary. Family members insisted God had healed him and claimed that withholding forgiveness would be a “mortal sin.”
NBC also documented a case involving Arkansas children’s pastor Tony Waller. He was accused of filming girls in a church bathroom using a hidden camera yet church leaders initially treated the matter as a misunderstanding and allowed him to remain serving youth. He was later convicted of raping two sisters who said the abuse continued for years.
Concerns extend beyond local congregations into college ministry networks. Litigation in Texas continues over allegations that campus ministry leaders with Chi Alpha steered students toward a convicted sexual offender who was held up as spiritually gifted. The Assemblies of God General Council recently attempted to prevent the denomination’s general superintendent from being deposed in the case.
Despite widespread calls for accountability the Assemblies of God has not implemented sweeping reforms similar to those seen in other major denominations. In 2021 the General Council rejected child protection proposals citing legal and financial risks. Survivors say the decision signals the denomination’s priorities. As one survivor told NBC “How many more would have to suffer before the Assemblies of God decided that protecting children mattered more than protecting itself?”
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