OPC Accused in Child Abuse Lawsuit

A civil lawsuit names Dr. Gregory Bahnsen and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church

On April 4, 2020, I published an Open Letter to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) outlining abusive situations that had been overlooked, mismanaged, or covered up. These involved child abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence, primarily against me. In response, my Houston OPC pastor and elders put me under church discipline. I was blackballed by my pastor and fellow congregants. However, following the first meeting of my trial I was absolved of all false accusations, and this letter was published by my new pastor and elders in Long Island.

My Open Letter was the tip of a very large iceberg. I am aware of numerous cases throughout the OPC, PCA, RPCNA, and other NAPARC denominations. I rarely speak publicly about these cases because I feel it isn’t my place. I believe that the victims deserve to tell their own stories if and when and how they choose. Meanwhile, I report what I can to law enforcement and privately encourage church leaders to do the same.

On Wednesday, February 14, a civil lawsuit was filed in Orange County, California alleging child abuse, rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence covered up in the OPC. Defendants in the case include:

• Gregory L. Bahnsen [deceased]

• [redacted because accused was a minor]

• Grace OPC

• James Andruss [deceased]

• Plymouth Congregational Church

• The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Dr. Greg Bahnsen (1948 –1995) was a theologian, OPC pastor, and Scholar in Residence for the Southern California Center for Christian Studies (SCCCS). He was a leading proponent of theonomy, postmillennialism, and presuppositional apologetics who published numerous sermons, lectures, articles, and books. Many look up to him as a philosopher and role model, and news of this lawsuit is no doubt shattering.

In 1978, the Plaintiff was adopted by Greg and Cathie Bahnsen. She was a Korean girl of five years old. Out of respect for the Plaintiff, I will not share the more graphic details outlined in this document. It is enough to say that the lawsuit alleges severe abuse at the hands of her father, Greg Bahnsen and [minor child]. It further alleges that James “Jim” Andruss and Greg were both aware that [minor] was abusing the victim, but they did nothing, and the abuse continued.

As a young girl, the Plaintiff is said to have been treated as a slave. It says she was routinely beaten in front of other family members, with her bottom exposed, with a leather belt or wooden paddle, leaving injuries. On one occasion, she is said to have been struck 50 times, “on her back and bare buttocks,” with a wooden paddle while other family members watched. As he was beating her, her father is said to have recited Colossians 3:20, “Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is pleasing unto the Lord.”

The lawsuit further alleges that several churches and the OPC denomination were aware of incidents but covered up child abuse. Church leaders are said to have demanded that the Plaintiff “keep quiet and even apologize and repent for ever telling anyone about assaults.”

Defendants are said to have defamed the Plaintiff by “falsely accusing her to church members of being ‘promiscuous’ and implicitly unworthy of belief. Remarkably, Defendant Churches even formally excommunicated Plaintiff from the church, an action sanctioned by Gregory and Jim individually.”

Jim Andruss was an elder at Grace OPC in Costa Mesa, California.

Meanwhile, the OPC has posted on their denominational website:

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Public Announcement of a Civil Lawsuit Filed against the OPC

Below is a statement approved by the Trustees of the OPC regarding a civil lawsuit filed against the OPC.

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church has just been named in a civil lawsuit against certain individuals and churches who have been accused of enabling and covering up a situation in the mid-1980s involving the sexual abuse of a child. An investigation is underway.

God’s heart is for the vulnerable in our midst. We are deeply concerned about and take seriously any accusation of abusive behavior in our churches and any accusation of a failure to deal openly and thoroughly with that abuse. We are committed to responding with transparency in the pursuit of justice in this matter. We are committed to pray for the grace of God toward all persons involved.

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

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I have many feelings about all the above.

Unfortunately, surprise isn’t one of them.

It’s true that God’s heart is for the vulnerable. As for the hearts of some OPC leaders, I am less certain. I know firsthand that there are godly pastors and loving congregations in our denomination. However, if the OPC truly cares about victims, they really ought to stop putting them under church discipline and excommunicating them.

But this isn’t merely an OPC pattern. My family was in both OPC and PCA churches that were aware of my father’s abuse yet did nothing. Eventually, the police kicked my dad out of the house, and a PCA church excommunicated my mom for refusing to let him move back in.

Since then, her local PCA presbytery has taken some action to correct the injustice, but none of the pastors or elders who knew about child abuse at the time have ever apologized to me. They could have spared me and my siblings years of suffering and trauma, but they didn’t. Upon reviewing old emails and court documents, one godly PCA pastor did report my dad to law enforcement. He was the first church leader to ever do so. That was in 2021.

While this Bahnsen-OPC lawsuit and investigation are still underway, I cannot ignore the patterns described. I don’t know the accuser or the accused, but I know the OPC, and I know these patterns firsthand. Abuse occurs. Abuse is covered up. Abuse continues. And if you talk about it, you’re falsely accused, blackballed, and excommunicated. This is how the OPC treats child abuse victims. This is how they treated me.

Is there an instruction manual somewhere that these folks are pulling from? Because it’s the same underhanded tactics over and over and over again. I half expect, Silencing Child Abuse Victims for Church Leaders, to be an actual publication. Or maybe it’s called, The Book of Church Disorder. The Catholics and Southern Baptists get all the bad press, but only because the OPC is too small to get clicks.

I will be praying that in this case truth is established, justice prevails, victims are honored, and the guilty receive justice.

I am also praying that the OPC wakes up.

Because children deserve better.

Jesus demands better.

Social media preview image by Teresa Howes.