Thread by @wad3mullen

In 2006, a couple joined the large Vineyard Columbus church, went to a newcomers class and signed up for membership not fully aware they had agreed to waive their 7th amendment right by agreeing to settle disputes according to the Rules of the Institute of Christian Conciliation.

The wife and mother of five, who had been sexually abused as a child by three male authority figures, started counseling with a senior level pastor. A lawsuit states he asked the woman to describe her sexual history to “see how the demonic could possibly be in play.”

The pastor, Steve Robbins, exploited the counseling sessions and began sexually abusing her over the course of 3 months. She eventually told her husband. The church found out and fired the pastor in February 2011. The woman admitted herself to a treatment facility for care.

The couple then filed a lawsuit in 2011. The church filed a motion to stay the case and compel arbitration, arguing that the couple promised not to sue the church when they became members, but the court denied the motion on the grounds that there was no “meeting of the minds.”

18 months later, On July 8, 2012, the senior pastor preached a sermon on restoring fallen leaders and how they were not like “other institutions that spin and cover.”

After the sermon, Rollins was embraced on stage to a standing ovation from the church.

vimeo.com/45504198

The church appealed the decision in 2014, again arguing the couple signed an application agreeing they were “committed to Vineyard Columbus’ statements, our strategy, and Vineyard’s disciplinary and dispute resolution process.”

As a condition for membership, they had to attend a newcomers class where they were given a booklet containing a written “dispute resolution” policy in an appendix that referenced the “Rules of Procedure for Christian Conciliation” - rules they could get by contacting the ICC.

Interestingly, the church could only provide the court with an updated 2012 booklet and did not have any earlier copies. (I’ve seen this before btw).

Remember, the couple attended the class back in 2006.

The senior pastor, Rich Nathan, said in an affidavit he personally conducted the class the couple attended, distributed the booklet, and discussed the dispute policy, but then during a hearing admitted he didn’t lead all of the classes and had no memory of their attendance.

The church was represented by Charles Curley, partner in a large legal firm named Weston Hurd LLP. Curley has also represented a church sued in 2013 by a woman who was forcibly raped by her pastor during a counseling session in his office when she was 15. westonhurd.com/professionals/…

In that case, the woman sued the church because they were aware of at least two prior incidents before he was hired. Church leadership felt those prior incidents were resolved after the pastor read a prepared written letter of apology. law.justia.com/cases/ohio/fif…

The jury (God bless them) found the church should award 3,651,378.86 to the woman and 75,000 to her father.

But the church, represented by Curley, were able to get damages reduced to $350,000, essentially disregarding the jury.

yourohiolegalhelp.com/3-5-million-aw…

Curley now highlights that successful appeal on the law firm’s website.

You can read the appeal case here. The arguments made for reducing the money are shameful and nothing to boast about. casetext.com/case/https://w…

Now back to Vineyard Columbus:

The Vineyard pastor, Steve Robbins, was represented by Eric Rosenberg, an attorney known for representing those claiming to be falsely accused of sexual assault and wanting to sue for defamation. buzzfeednews.com/article/tylerk…

The court of appeals ruled in favor of the couple, due in part to the inconsistent testimony of Nathan, so the lawsuit could now move forward.

But later that year the couple filed bankruptcy and nothing new has been reported since (to my knowledge).

law.justia.com/cases/ohio/ten…

The woman’s attorney said the church never reached out in any meaningful way and the family does not attend a “church of any faith because they no longer trust people who claim to do God’s work.”

Last words on the case from the Senior Pastor, Rich Nathan:

“We would love to submit this to a mediator and to have both sides fairly heard, and we remain hopeful that the plaintiff would be healed.”

(Dear @DispatchAlerts, it’s not an affair)

dispatch.com/article/201406…

Here’s what one of the long-time influential conciliators of the ICC said about the case:

“One wonders why the family is so reluctant to resolve this in a private Christian mediation or arbitration process. The matter could have been resolved long ago.”

abfifer.com/blog/2014/09/e…

What was the couple asking for?

Punitive damages in “excess of $25,000” and compensatory damages in “excess of $25,000” to cover, in part, expenses for her care.

Just this past Spring the church raised 13 million in 6 weeks to open 5 new campuses.

dispatch.com/news/20190427/…