Pastor Samuel D. Renihan of Trinity Reformed Baptist Church in La Mirada, CA has resigned from ministry after admitting to an adulterous affair.
Along with pastoring, he is author of The Mystery of Christ, His Covenant, and His Kingdom, Crux, Mors, Inferi: A Primer and Reader on the Descent of Christ, and Deity and Decree. He also contributed to several Christian ministries, including TGC, Ligonier, and Founders.
Rehinan himself shared the news on his website, Petty France:
I have sinned in an exceedingly wicked way. This past week it was discovered that I have committed adultery. The Lord, whose Spirit yearns jealously for his people (James 4:5), the Lord, who is an avenger in these things (1 Thess. 4:6), exposed my sin. To my great shame, I did not bring it to light.
While Renihan does not disclose how it came to light, sources have shared with us that Renihan, who is married, was having an adulterous affair with a woman from his congregation for 8 months when he was exposed.
He further writes:
As a minister, I should have set an example in holiness, but by my unholiness I have made myself unfruitful and ineffective…I was the greatest of fools..while I acted in hardhearted rebellion, God, who is a faithful Father, in his merciful kindness stopped me in my sin, that I might escape it and thus find safety for my soul in Jesus Christ. I am deeply ashamed of my sin. All sin deserves damnation, but some sins are far worse than others, and mine is exceedingly wicked.
He adds:
I must give to Jesus Christ an account of my ministry (Heb. 13:17). What a terrible account it is. “What is required of a steward is that he is found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2), and by my unfaithfulness I have brought dishonor and disgrace upon my Master’s name, upon my office, upon my family, upon my church, and upon others. My one and only hope is the precious blood and perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ who loved me and gave his life for me (Gal. 2:20) and promises to forgive my iniquity and remember my transgression no more (Jer. 31:34).
As a result of his sin, he reveals he has “read a letter of confession to my church, resigned from the office of pastor, and submitted myself to the judgment and discipline of the church.
Then concludes:
The consequences and effects of my sin will be far-reaching. The fault is entirely mine, and it grieves my heart that many others will suffer for my sin. I have confessed my sin to various institutions and organizations with which I was affiliated, that their good names may not be sullied by my sin. I have also unpublished my self-published theological works.
I thank God that my wife has graciously forgiven me. I have humbled myself before God as a wicked sinner, praying that he would lift me up. And now I humble myself before a broader audience, asking only that you forgive me my hypocrisy and give glory to the Good Shepherd who will never leave or forsake his flock. By his grace, may my repentance be as notorious as my sin.
Though I will never hear my Master say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” as a minister, yet I pray that by his mercy and grace I will hear him say those words to me, as a repentant sheep.
