An Open Letter Regarding Claims About Our Community - March, 2026
In recent months our community has been confronting the misconduct of a former leader. This has been a deeply difficult and disorienting season for many people connected to this community.
When allegations were brought forward, our leadership confronted these issues which led to his resignation. We then engaged an independent investigative organization to examine both the allegations and the practices of our ministries. At the same time, our community has been doing the biblical work of repentance—honest self-examination, reflection, and soul-searching about our life and practices.
Unfortunately, accusations from the godisacult website and socials have often made that healing harder. Individuals who had no role in any alleged wrongdoing—including students, employees, families, and neighbors—have been publicly criticized or misrepresented simply because of their association, however slight.
Victims deserve dignity and privacy. Students deserve the ability to pursue their education without being treated as villains. Families and employees deserve to live and work without being targeted for public hostility.
Those attempting to define the public narrative about this community through social media have had absolutely no relationship in recent years and had only brief and limited contact with the ministry many years ago. They did not participate in membership, attended our schools only briefly, and were not part of the leadership or accountability structures of this community. While anyone may share personal experiences, presenting such limited involvement as insider knowledge is misleading.
Journalists covering these events play an important role in examining institutions and asking difficult questions, and we remain willing to engage with responsible reporting. Professional standards of journalism call for treating information from unofficial websites and social media with skepticism and independently corroborating claims before repeating them. That standard applies to claims originating from disreputable and misguided websites and social media sites.
Truth matters. Accountability matters. Basic human dignity matters as well. The pursuit of truth should not come at the cost of dehumanizing the very people whose lives have already been terribly affected, including damaging individuals’ ability to make a living or choose their place of worship.
Our community will continue the difficult work of truth, accountability, and rebuilding. We ask that you give us the space and dignity to do so.