Reggie Joiner, the disgraced founder of the Orange Conference, the biggest family ministry conference in the world geared towards kids ministers, youth ministry, and “next-gen ministry leaders,” engaged in at least six extramarital sexual affairs, according to a third-party law firm tasked with the year-long investigation.
Following the revelation that Reggie Joiner (who co-founded North Point Community Church with Andy Stanley before moving on to the Christian curriculum giant) had an extramarital affair with CEO Kristen Ivy, ReThink, Orange’s parent company, hired third-party law firm Castañeda + Heidelman LLP (C+H) to investigate further allegations of sexual misconduct and “clergy sexual abuse.”
While Ivy initially characterized the adulterous affair to Joiner as “an inappropriate relationship, she later decided to retract her confession of having had an “inappropriate relationship” and instead insisted it was actually an abusive relationship that she could not possibly consent to, and as a result was a victim of his manipulations and machinations.
As far as the report goes, investigators reviewed thousands of documents over a span of 14 months, covering “several decades, and conducted interviews with more than 40 individuals.”
The final C+H report is, as they describe it, “heartbreaking,” with a summary explaining:
The investigation made it clear that Joiner engaged in serious personal misconduct, starting before reThink’s inception. Joiner acknowledged six extramarital sexual relationships with adult women over a span of decades, including two that began while he was a pastor before joining reThink. (Editor’s. note, while he was a pastor at North Point Community Church)
In interviews, Joiner said he did not view these relationships as nonconsensual or abusive. However, with respect to the relationship with a 19-year-old woman which began while Joiner was a pastor, Joiner admitted to investigators that this relationship was “obviously an abuse of [his] role” and the investigation noted the extreme improprieties created by the age, power, and spiritual dynamics.
The report continues:
“Joiner actively concealed all his sexual relationships, including the one with Ivy.
We believed Ivy when she initially told the Board the relationship was consensual. We acknowledge Ivy revised her account after she resigned and claimed she was abused by Joiner and that he sexually groomed her. The investigation was unable to ascertain which account is accurate, in part, because Ivy declined to be interviewed, and her personal writings stored on company computers provided conflicting accounts. Ivy provided investigators with an extensive written statement but later withdrew it.
Ivy’s personal writings made it clear she was aware of Joiner’s other sexual relationships, including two prior to him joining reThink. Joiner and Ivy also deleted or did not provide pertinent electronic data and hard drives in their possession that might have given investigators more insight. ‘
Notably, however, ReThink is not releasing the full report or even a redacted version, saying
“Protecting the confidentiality of participants was central to the investigation, and even a redacted version of the full report would reveal details that could clearly identify individuals who do not wish their stories to be public. For this reason, releasing the full report is not appropriate.”
