Immanuel Baptist pastor apologizes for not telling

Immanuel Baptist Church Pastor Steven Smith, reading from a prepared statement, apologized Sunday morning to members for failing to inform them about an accusation that a former ministry staffer had sexually abused a child.

Smith, who had known about the abuse allegations for more than five years, said he was now sharing the details about Patrick Stephen Miller’s criminal case “in the spirit of transparency.”

Smith spoke after instructing all “guests” to leave the sanctuary, saying it was time for the congregation to have a “family meeting.”

Noting that he is “not an expert in crisis communications or, of course, in legal matters,” Smith told congregants that he had prayed and relied on “counsel from wise members of our church and others” before deciding to “publicly discuss this tragedy.”

The abuse was reported to have occurred in 2015, when Miller was Immanuel’s assistant director of children’s ministry. He left the job in January 2016, the year before Smith became lead pastor.

Immanuel officials first learned in March 2016 of a claim that Miller had touched a child inappropriately. They promptly called the state child abuse hotline and notified their insurance company, police records show.

In 2018, when the child revealed additional details, they called the hotline again and a police investigation commenced.

Until Sunday, Smith had opted not to share any details with the congregation at any step in the process.

He informed the congregation hours after the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published an article about the case.

Smith said the timing of his disclosures was linked to the court filing.

“I wish we would have told you about these crimes sooner,” Smith said, according to a recording of the remarks provided to the Democrat-Gazette by church members.

Miller, now 37, was accused of taking a child into a dark closet, sitting her on his lap, placing his hands down her pants and beneath her shirt, and sexually assaulting her.

He was arrested in December 2018 and charged in January 2019 with second-degree sexual assault, a felony.

In January 2022, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor harassment, which can occur when a defendant “strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise touches a person, subjects that person to offensive physical contact or attempts or threatens to do so.”

He was given a one-year suspended sentence, with 19 days’ credit for time already served, and wasn’t required to register as a sex offender, according to court documents.

Later in the year, when a second child stepped forward to accuse Miller of abusing her, members of the pastoral staff again informed law enforcement officials but withheld the news from the congregation.

After learning that Miller was attempting to have his criminal record permanently sealed, the victim and the second accuser and their families filed a response with the court, objecting to the move, citing the ongoing police investigation.

The state of Arkansas has also opposed Miller’s petition.

A hearing has been set for Feb. 1.

In a letter filed in court, 6th Judicial District Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Adrienne M. Griffis said she is prepared to “present clear and convincing evidence that this case should not be sealed.”

Reached Thursday, Miller and his attorney, Alex A. Morphis, of Little Rock, declined to comment.

Smith told members Sunday the church is taking steps to heighten safety.

Recently, a policy review team was formed and “looked at all of our existing policies that were previously in place to try to make sure that they could be strong. They recommended that our policies be updated and, of course, I wholeheartedly agree with this,” he said.

The new policies will be implemented at the first of the year, Smith said.

A Caring Well team has also been formed and a Caring Well coordinator has been hired, he said.

“The Caring Well team exists as a standing team that is formed and will focus on care and prevention,” Smith said. “In cases of abuse, the team looks at this and makes recommendations to the church. They’ve already began to meet.”

Attorney Joseph Gates, an Immanuel member and Sunday School teacher with three young daughters, is representing both accusers who have come forward.

According to a “victims’ response to defendant Patrick Miller’s motion to seal” submitted on their behalf by Gates on Nov. 9, Miller was responsible for teaching children while the adults were gathered elsewhere.

“During Sunday night and Wednesday night services, he routinely played ‘hide and seek’ with his class. This would include Defendant Miller hiding in a darkened and locked closet with one of the students. During these ‘hiding’ sessions in a darkened and locked closet, Defendant Miller would tickle, grope, and molest the young adolescents he was charged to teach,” the response stated.

Gates stated in the response that there is a high likelihood that Miller “has reoffended or will reoffend again.”

“The average offender of young women will offend at least 50 victims,” Gates said in the response, pointing to statistics cited by MinistrySafe, an organization that helps congregations protect children.

In a letter Friday to the church’s deacons, ministers, financial and personnel teams and Sunday School leaders, Gates stated that the first victim’s parents had asked Immanuel’s leadership in 2018 to notify the parents of other “potentially affected girls” about the assault, but that church officials failed to do so.

When the second accuser informed Smith and Executive Pastor Doug Pigg in the summer of 2022 about her own mistreatment by Miller, she “was met with disbelief despite both having knowledge of what Patrick Miller did to Victim 1,” Gates wrote.

Smith not only withheld the truth from congregants but also gave them false assurances about their children’s safety, Gates said.

Four months after Miller’s conviction, with stories circulating about abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention, Smith wrote members a letter declaring that Immanuel will “stand with the abused to provide a church where people can heal and find shelter.”

“We have had, for many years, protocols in place that, by God’s grace, have proven effective in the prevention of abuse,” Smith stated in the letter.

“I submit,” Gates wrote, “that neither declaration is true.”

In his remarks Sunday, Smith said the congregation is “working with national experts to create even more safeguards to protect the people in our church.”

He also emphasized his commitment to creating a safe environment and to aiding victims.

“We recognize the importance of treating abuse behavior seriously. We intend to honor Christ in the way we care for anyone who’s experienced past abuse,” Smith said Sunday. “If you have knowledge of any inappropriate behavior with children at Immanuel or anywhere else, please call the abuse hotline of the Little Rock Police Department,” he said.