From Sojourners-Earlier this month, the New York Times chronicled the Sunday morning that Andy Savage, a Memphis, Tenn., megachurch pastor, stood before his congregation and admitted to having had a regrettable “incident” with a young woman when he was a youth pastor. His admission came days after a woman came forward with her narrative of being assaulted by him as a teenager when she was a student under his pastoral leadership in Houston. She detailed being taken to a remote location and being forced to give him oral sex before he swore her to secrecy. In response to these allegations, Savage offered a cryptic, scripted explanation of his actions, throughout which it is quite clear that his victim has yet to receive the healing, restoration, or justification that she needs to move forward, even though 20 years have passed. Savage received a standing ovation.
Throughout the article, Savage and his counterparts referred to his abuse as “sin,” and opted to “deal with” him internally. What “deal with” meant remains unclear, but what is apparent is that none of the systems and processes for “dealing with” the assault included law enforcement. They did, however, call for the silencing of the alleged victim, Jules Woodson. From the perpetrator to the senior pastor of the church, the victim was repeatedly instructed to be silent in the face of a “sin” that had been committed against her.
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