Elevation Church Fires Youth Pastor Over Allegations of Sexual Abuse With Students
Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC, the 17,000-member multisite campus with 20 locations led by pastor Steven Furtick, has dismissed youth pastor Tim Somers after allegations emerged that he sexually abused at least one student a decade earlier at a previous church, according to Amy Smith of Watchkeep, who broke the story.
Last month, it was reported that pastor Jerry Nickerson of Hope Fellowship’s Frisco West Campus was terminated after he confessed to having inappropriate contact with a minor 10 years earlier at Oaks Church.
This prompted the Oaks church to conduct an investigation of the situation, looking for further victims, when allegations emerged that Somers, who also pastored here prior to joining Elevation, was engaging in similar conduct with former students.
At present, no charges have been filed against Somers.
A spokesperson for Elevation Church told The Christian Post:
“Recently, allegations were brought forward about Tim Somers’ conduct while serving at a church in Texas approximately 12 years ago. As soon as Elevation learned about these allegations, we reached out to local Texas authorities and immediately placed Tim on leave. No charges have been filed. But Tim understands how impactful these allegations are for his role in ministry and we have agreed he will no longer serve on staff.”
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One of MANY reasons why mega churches are disasters. In a smaller church, a pastor gone wrong does not devastate thousands of members and destroys their faith. The left hand often doesn’t know what the right hand is doing, because accountability is just too big. What is the right size church? I say about 300 to 500 hundred, and certainly no more than 1,000. If they keep growing, plant another church in a new community. Mega churches have pastors who prefer building nickels and noses and creating monuments to themselves. Spiritually speaking, if you want spiritual growth and accountability (and if you don’t, why go to church), the. Mega churches are always a big red flag.
Breaks my heart to hear this. But it’s a symptom of the shallowness of the Mega Churches. there’s just too many people who sneak in.
I agree with you, Glee. One of the (many) worse things the “seeker-sensitive’ a la Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Robert Schuller, Peter Drucker and others swept into the churches were these mega churches. Ministers were elevated to god like status, paid ridiculous salaries, have bloated staffs so no one knew what they other was doing except putting on good shows or keeping the children and teenagers happy. Last pre-ss church I served had one pastor, one music minister, education minister and so call “youth” minister (those aren’t real – they just plan games and trips to keep the kiddos happy). Before I left, the pastor was re-assigned (UMC church). Staff then became bloated where it took over 3 people to do each job. I was just the organist/children’s choir coordinator and it took 3 people do to what I did which was crazy.
I think we are going to have a big gulf between the mega church and the 50-150 size churches. The middle ones are climbing a mountain trying to be a mega church and the others are taking the remnant in to keep preaching, teaching and believing the Bible. The megas wll always be there. Someone has to worship the anti-christ one day. They are all set up for it. How anyone can sit and listen to Furtick or Osteen beyond 30 seconds is beyond me. Both give me the CREEPS. That happens and I run away from people like that.
Another wolf in sheep’s clothing exposed. “By their fruit you shall know them.” However, those who lose their faith on account of them show that they also had no root. See the parable of the sower. This is what happens when people “choose” Jesus instead of being given to him by his father. Jesus will say to them, “I never knew YOU. Depart from me into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”