Sign the Letter to Demand Accountability for John Ortberg and the Leadership of Menlo Church.
To the pastors, elders, and informal leaders of Menlo Church (for list of names, please click here):
We are a group of faith leaders, children’s advocates, and individuals who are united by our concerns regarding the recent revelations about Menlo Church.
We are appalled by the news that a volunteer disclosed to John Ortberg that he was sexually attracted to children and actively pursuing work with them, and John chose not to report this to leadership.
We are appalled by his failure to report this immediately following the disclosure and his failure to report it in the sixteen months that followed, even though he was regularly confronted with the reality of the volunteer’s work with children.
For sixteen months, he chose to leave the most vulnerable members of Menlo Church exposed to the risk of sexual abuse -- clearly demonstrating that he is unfit to lead this church.
We are appalled that the Elder Board of Menlo Church failed to investigate this matter thoroughly when Daniel Lavery brought it to their attention at great personal cost.
We are appalled that Menlo's chosen investigator failed to interview children, parents, volunteers, or even the reported volunteer himself.
We are appalled that this "investigation" was deceptively presented to the congregation as thorough and independent, and as a result, John was returned to senior leadership after only a few months of leave.
We are appalled that no one in Menlo’s leadership questioned this.
We denounce the explicit and implicit transphobia in the church’s comments about Daniel, as well as the transphobic rhetoric used by so many of John’s defenders. Not only is Daniel a person made in God’s image, worthy of respect and dignity, he is also the only reason why the volunteer in question is no longer working with children.
We denounce the transphobia revealed not only in the church’s rhetoric but also its silence in the face of the attacks on Daniel.
We now call on you to take decisive action to show a commitment to integrity and righting the wrongs that have occurred over the past eight months and beyond:
Immediately commission a new, truly independent and qualified investigation that will investigate all aspects of the original complaint, as well as the subsequent cover-up, and the culture that made such a cover-up possible.
This investigation must be conducted by professionals with expertise in child sexual abuse, and it must include interviews with the volunteer, the students with whom he worked, and their families.
While the elders have announced a “supplemental independent investigation into concerns raised about the volunteer,” a narrowly-scoped investigation to alleviate pressure from the community that builds off of the poorly-executed original investigation is not what is warranted here.
The situation demands a broad investigation into not only the volunteer, but also into how John and the elder board handled the situation and misrepresented it to the church.
Remove John Ortberg from leadership, as he has demonstrated an inexcusable lapse in judgment for sixteen months that left children exposed to the risk of sexual abuse, and this lapse stopped only when Daniel intervened.
As long as John is the senior pastor, Menlo Church cannot be taken seriously as a moral authority.
Furthermore, it would be exceedingly difficult for a truly independent investigation to take place while he is still the senior pastor of the church, especially given his relationship with the volunteer.
Elect a new elder board, as the current board has demonstrated that they are not invested in keeping John accountable, and their communication to the congregation about this situation has been deeply misleading.
As long as this elder board is leading Menlo Church, the church cannot be confident that it is fulfilling its responsibility to hold John accountable.
Implement a mandatory LGBTQIA+ competency training for all staff, elders, and volunteers, and extend this training to the congregation as possible. If Menlo claims to love LGBTQIA+ people -- including the LGBTQIA+ people in the congregation -- then a training on how to care for LGBTQIA+ people, and not to speak or act in damaging ways, is the minimum the church could do.
We recognize that fulfilling these requests would mean significant upheaval for the church.
However, given the severity of John’s failure in this instance, as well as the church’s failure to adequately investigate and communicate the full extent of the circumstances to the congregation, we believe that these changes are necessary for the church to regain its integrity and the trust of the community, especially the trust of the students and families most directly impacted.
We are counting on you to do the right thing. We hope that when all of this is past tense, you can look back and know that you chose to prioritize the integrity of the church and the safety of its children above all other concerns.
Sincerely,
We are a group of faith leaders, children’s advocates, and individuals who are united by our concerns regarding the recent revelations about Menlo Church.
We are appalled by the news that a volunteer disclosed to John Ortberg that he was sexually attracted to children and actively pursuing work with them, and John chose not to report this to leadership.
We are appalled by his failure to report this immediately following the disclosure and his failure to report it in the sixteen months that followed, even though he was regularly confronted with the reality of the volunteer’s work with children.
For sixteen months, he chose to leave the most vulnerable members of Menlo Church exposed to the risk of sexual abuse -- clearly demonstrating that he is unfit to lead this church.
We are appalled that the Elder Board of Menlo Church failed to investigate this matter thoroughly when Daniel Lavery brought it to their attention at great personal cost.
We are appalled that Menlo's chosen investigator failed to interview children, parents, volunteers, or even the reported volunteer himself.
We are appalled that this "investigation" was deceptively presented to the congregation as thorough and independent, and as a result, John was returned to senior leadership after only a few months of leave.
We are appalled that no one in Menlo’s leadership questioned this.
We denounce the explicit and implicit transphobia in the church’s comments about Daniel, as well as the transphobic rhetoric used by so many of John’s defenders. Not only is Daniel a person made in God’s image, worthy of respect and dignity, he is also the only reason why the volunteer in question is no longer working with children.
We denounce the transphobia revealed not only in the church’s rhetoric but also its silence in the face of the attacks on Daniel.
We now call on you to take decisive action to show a commitment to integrity and righting the wrongs that have occurred over the past eight months and beyond:
Immediately commission a new, truly independent and qualified investigation that will investigate all aspects of the original complaint, as well as the subsequent cover-up, and the culture that made such a cover-up possible.
This investigation must be conducted by professionals with expertise in child sexual abuse, and it must include interviews with the volunteer, the students with whom he worked, and their families.
While the elders have announced a “supplemental independent investigation into concerns raised about the volunteer,” a narrowly-scoped investigation to alleviate pressure from the community that builds off of the poorly-executed original investigation is not what is warranted here.
The situation demands a broad investigation into not only the volunteer, but also into how John and the elder board handled the situation and misrepresented it to the church.
Remove John Ortberg from leadership, as he has demonstrated an inexcusable lapse in judgment for sixteen months that left children exposed to the risk of sexual abuse, and this lapse stopped only when Daniel intervened.
As long as John is the senior pastor, Menlo Church cannot be taken seriously as a moral authority.
Furthermore, it would be exceedingly difficult for a truly independent investigation to take place while he is still the senior pastor of the church, especially given his relationship with the volunteer.
Elect a new elder board, as the current board has demonstrated that they are not invested in keeping John accountable, and their communication to the congregation about this situation has been deeply misleading.
As long as this elder board is leading Menlo Church, the church cannot be confident that it is fulfilling its responsibility to hold John accountable.
Implement a mandatory LGBTQIA+ competency training for all staff, elders, and volunteers, and extend this training to the congregation as possible. If Menlo claims to love LGBTQIA+ people -- including the LGBTQIA+ people in the congregation -- then a training on how to care for LGBTQIA+ people, and not to speak or act in damaging ways, is the minimum the church could do.
We recognize that fulfilling these requests would mean significant upheaval for the church.
However, given the severity of John’s failure in this instance, as well as the church’s failure to adequately investigate and communicate the full extent of the circumstances to the congregation, we believe that these changes are necessary for the church to regain its integrity and the trust of the community, especially the trust of the students and families most directly impacted.
We are counting on you to do the right thing. We hope that when all of this is past tense, you can look back and know that you chose to prioritize the integrity of the church and the safety of its children above all other concerns.
Sincerely,
Liz Lin, Co-founder, Progressive Asian American Christians
Pastor Nathan Roberts, Director of Community Engagement, First Lutheran Church of Columbia Heights, MN
Stella Won Phelps, Moderator, Progressive Asian American Christians
Gloria Hu, Moderator, Progressive Asian American Christians
Pastor Nathan Roberts, Director of Community Engagement, First Lutheran Church of Columbia Heights, MN
Stella Won Phelps, Moderator, Progressive Asian American Christians
Gloria Hu, Moderator, Progressive Asian American Christians
