Tempers flare amid search for answers at Highpoint
Highpoint Church, the Memphis megachurch thrust into the spotlight in January over the Andy Savage sexual assault case, is wrestling with how to move forward in the aftermath of founding pastor Chris Conlee’s Trump says Sessions should end Mueller investigation.
Moving to Collierville
Popular restaurant Raven & Lily is now open in new location.
Weather
High 89° Low 69° Sunny. Forecast,
abrupt departure.
Church leaders declined comment, but the story trickling out on social media and in religious publications shows a congregation in turmoil as it attempts to sort out the meaning behind Conlee’s exit, how the Savage case plays into it and where the church goes from here.
Audio posted from a July 17 “family meeting” at the church indicates the meeting ended in chaos, with some in attendance shouting near the end because they were unhappy the session was broken into an individual questionand-answer period with church trustees rather than addressing answers to everyone. Guards were called in to quell the crowd.
Critics say the current upheaval is the result of years of failing to deal properly with the Savage situation, even though church leaders knew about it. Others say it’s about more than Savage.
Brad McDaniel, a counselor who attended the July 17 meeting but says he is not a Highpoint member, described the meeting in a Facebook video that appears to have since been made private.
McDaniel says he sees “really hurt and very confused people” at Highpoint because they aren’t getting “straight answers” from church leadership. He also says the decision to remove Conlee could “backfire” if church leaders don’t have honest conversations with members.
Publications including Pulpit & Pen and The Christian Post have reported on the tumultuous meeting and McDaniel’s comments.
Contacted for further comment, McDaniel said only: “Soon.”
Also, in a video clip on Facebook that has been removed, church administrator Jim Pritchard is shown telling someone off camera that about 1,000 people have left the church since January.
Pritchard did not respond to an email asking for comment on the meeting or on the clip showing him discussing the number of people who have left.
And a Facebook group called A Unified Highpoint seeks to provide “a safe place to get caught up on what’s going on, begin the process of healing & share ideas for moving forward so that the HP family can find a unified voice.” McDaniel’s description of the July 17 family meeting was posted in the group, which is now a closed group.
“I see no signs of repentance or remorse for this failure ...” Amy Smith
The Andy Savage factor
While a Highpoint trustee, identified in reports as Erick Martin, told those at the July 17 meeting that the session was not about the Savage scandal, that event is clearly where the current problems facing Highpoint, at least in the public eye, began taking shape.
A woman, Jules Woodson, came forward in January with her story of how Savage, then her youth pastor at a Baptist church in suburban Houston, Texas, drove her to a secluded area in 1998, when she was 17 years old, and asked her to perform oral sex.
Savage left the church after the episode and returned to Memphis, where he eventually became teaching pastor at Highpoint. Conlee said Highpoint leadership knew about the Texas case when they hired Savage, who received a standing ovation from Highpoint members when he addressed the allegations after they became public.
In his comments to church members and in a January radio interview — the only other time he has spoken publicly about it — Savage disputed the characterization as sexual assault and said he remembered it as a consensual encounter.
Following an investigation into his ministry at Highpoint by a Fort Worth, Texas, attorney, Savage resigned in March.
Then, in early July, Highpoint announced in a letter to church members that leadership and Conlee had agreed to part ways. No explanation was given for the departure.
At the July 17 meeting, Erick Martin, the Highpoint trustee, said Conlee’s departure wasn’t about Savage or sexual immorality. He said it also was not about financial impropriety, according to McDaniel.
Instead, Martin told the 1,000 to 2,000 at the meeting that “flaws” in church governance had been exposed, adding that church members expressed concerns about other issues, including theology, leadership, governance.
Chaotic finish
The meeting devolved into chaos near the end.
After a closing prayer, a speaker tells the audience church trustees would take individual questions down front.
“No, no, no,” people can be heard shouting on the recording. They wanted questions and answers to be public so everyone could hear.
“Listen, we’re all Christians here,” a speaker who sounds like Pritchard, the church administrator, can be heard saying in an effort to calm the crowd. “We need to handle ourselves in a responsible manner. The trustees are going to be down front — if you want to come down and ask some more questions, feel free to do that.”
“We all need to hear it,” someone from the audience responds.
Audience members continue to voice grievances as the sense of unrest heightens.
“Where is the diversity on the staff,” someone shouts at one point.
Eventually, someone calls for security. As the recording ends, an audience member who is apparently being escorted out yells: “I’ve been here every Sunday for 2 years.”
The fallout
Amy Smith, who writes the Watch Keep blog and is an advocate for sexual abuse victims, has followed the Savage case at Highpoint since the story broke in January.
Smith said she thinks the current situation at the church is the direct result of the Savage case.
“We’re seeing the fallout from years of failure to admit and address the truth at Highpoint, beginning with Conlee’s partnering with Andy Savage to lead the church when he knew about Andy’s sexual assault of Jules Woodson ...” Smith said.
She said she has seen no indication of true remorse and sees anger among church members.
“I see no signs of repentance or remorse for this failure ...” Smith added. “I sense anger and resentment that their church lost their celebrity pastors that branded Highpoint Church.”