It is with deep sorrow that Mr. Haman Cross and the Rosedale Park Baptist Church have at this point failed to provide the necessary information for any continued communications and hope for Godly repentance and reconciliation.  Our "Telling it to the Church" continues.

12/10/02 From Haman Cross
Regarding your requests

I want to first clarify my "ought" with you .Your communications have been most helpful, My desire is to not rebuke but restoration .I wish to express my feelings in this matter & have you my Christian brother help me work through to where I ought to be, I realized that I may be misunderstanding & over reacting not having heard from you directly, This dialogue facilitates peace, I need you to hear me as your brother & not a case tried, exposed & characterized in the media. In my opinion [PMI: about ten words are omitted due to statement about other parties]. The possible ought against the church is secondary. I do find it interesting that you would become involve publicly prior to this without investigating or requesting our official records, I believe you have ample reasons for taking that position. My expressing to you that  I feel I have been offended is official & Biblical, I have no plans or intentions to air our situation publicly because I believe it can be cleared up between us. I have never gone public about my sin in this area other than to our elders & the total congregation . I have never talked with "World Magazine" I have simply stated I sinned. Our elders know the details of my sin repentance, restitution & restoration .I  limit what I because my desire to not have the "Evil One" get more bang from my sin
 Peacemakers Role

Your insight & perspective f regarding the need to hear from our leadership records would have served the body of Christ better, & have been most helpful back when you contacted CCCI if these questions had been posed to me or our elder ship then, I wonder if publicizing that information yet no one from Peacemakers thought to approach me or our church leadership.

I have a better understanding, of what you were doing ,I realize that parties without all the facts are left to limited perspectives & conclusions. For you to summarize that CCCI suspension was because of me not being above reproach is not what they communicated privately or publicly in my opinion. If you are convinced that CCCI acted righteously toward me without you asking for official records seems prejudicially , why not assume that our elders who have all the facts acted righteously & those with limited facts World Magazine & others who hold to the position that I should be removed did not act righteously because they failed to research the facts or were limited to the facts.

The public record states that all parties settled with each being awarded [this is stated from the article you reference].If I was awarded & the church was awarded were we not sinned against. To be accused of one thing but found guilty of something different does not minimized the sin therefore I own my responsibility in the matter, & will never attempt to defend or clarify publicly, it would require accusing the other parties involved & would not benefit the body.

Proverbs 18
13 He who answers before listening-
that is his folly and his shame.
Proverbs 16
20 He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he
Proverbs 252 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter;
to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

12/09/02
Mr. Cross,
First, as I stated all communications are public "telling it to the Church", and the board of PeaceMakers is being copied in all our correspondence as stewards of Christ's authority.

Second, I ask again, for the contact information of at least three of the Elders who had/have stewardship of Christ's authority in this case-for they must give an account / witness.

Third, I again ask for the official record of this case to establish if any grounds exist that we've acted unbiblical toward you or the Rosedale Park Baptist Church and Christ's Body at large.  The failure of any of these requirements will end our communications.

To attempt to answer your last email in which you wrote on 12/09/02

"I may be misunderstanding your position ,What was meant ,It has been reported and come to our attention (May 2002) that Campus Crusade For Christ has now acted biblically in a Clergy Sexual Abuse case .Do you feel that exposing the information regarding my conflict with Mrs. Scott, from "World Magazine bent align you with their conclusions ,Would it have possibly changed things if you had   involved our church in your role, I'm not sure what  I understand your role to be,. If it is reconciliation, please explain. Or perhaps it was the need for exposure, I would hope that it was not slander, because the impact feels that way."

PMI Answer...

Originally, when we were contacted about your case there were the witness of news reports, etc. and we contacted Campus Crusade to see if they had acted Biblically toward you and your church-as they've published ...[Those of us responsible for publishing this article in no way wish to imply that we always practice the principles you'll read here. We are publishing this in the hope that you can address these issues in your life as we continue to address them in ours. Campus Crusade]  so our first attempt was to establish if CCCI was acting Biblically.  As our record demonstrates...

"PeaceMakers asked CCCI for their witness by asking to speak with Mr. Crawford Loritts-I was referred to Mr. James White in the Communications Dept. and here's their response...it looks like not everyone's got the word yet...

May 6, 2002, 9:59 am CDT

Hello Bill,

At this time it would be inappropriate for me to respond to the  details concerning this situation. I am a personal friend of both Pastor Cross and Crawford Loritts. In order to receive the appropriate answer concerning this situation it would be best for you to contact Pastor Cross or Mr. Loritts personally. I am sure their administrative assistants can give you the appropriate information regarding this situation.

Walking With The King,
James White
Campus Crusade For Christ Communications Dept.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from: Wayne and Gerri Stowman (http://www.advocateweb.org)
May 6, 2002 11:43 am CDT

 Apparently CCCI has suspended Haman Cross, Jr. as a speaker for their organization.

That information is contained in Lynn Vincent's subsequent article on this issue.

http://www.worldmag.com/world/issue/04-13-02/opening_8.asp.
mirrored on our site at:
http://www.peacemakers.net/clergysexualabuse/protestantsfacesexabuse.htm#crusade2

We [PMI] also received a phone call from a CCCI representative saying that Haman Cross Jr. will NEVER again be speaking for CCCI. So it appears that the organization HAS done some follow up in this area."

There are now multiple witnesses to a very public case-there are no Biblical grounds for each organization, individual, church, etc. to begin a Matthew 18 step one and two process-this was/is "telling it to the church".  The report on our site is an echo of "telling it to the church". The Bible has many examples of those being named "telling it to the Church", who are NOT treated as believers, to other distant Body of Believers.

So what began as an assurance that CCCI was acting righteously toward you, confirmed they in fact had established that you were no longer above reproach and therefore unacceptable and unapproved as a speaker for them.

Our role to this point is to establish if you're rebuke of PeaceMakers is valid-at this point that has NOT been established.  Questions that we will search for answers in your responses will include...

What biblical process was used to establish the validity of any claims of sin?
Did a Biblical process, and/or the secular court, establish that you sinned/broke the law?
If YES, then you are Biblically disqualified as no-longer above reproach as a Pastor and should have removed yourself or been removed by the Elders.

Additional questions might be asked following our review of your case...

Are you saying that CCCI has sinned against you?
Are you asking PeaceMakers to act as judge in a dispute with CCCI?

I hope this answers your questions and we look forward to hearing from your Elders and reviewing the official records to confront any possible sin in our camp.

cc:PeaceMakers Board
Bill Fields

12/09/02 From Haman Cross

"I may be misunderstanding your position ,What was meant ,It has been reported and come to our attention (May 2002) that Campus Crusade For Christ has now acted biblically in a Clergy Sexual Abuse case .Do you feel that exposing the information regarding my conflict with Mrs. Scott, from "World Magazine bent align you with their conclusions ,Would it have possibly changed things if you had   involved our church in your role, I'm not sure what  I understand your role to be,. If it is reconciliation, please explain. Or perhaps it was the need for exposure, I would hope that it was not slander, because the impact feels that way."

12/07/02 from Haman Cross

I am encouraged with your response & I will send with their permission

12/07/02 PMI

Thank you for writing-we would not want to sin against God nor our family in Christ. In that light, Please send us at least three Elder's/Deacon's email addresses and the official Church record of this situation for our review.  With what has been reported, what issues do you have?  What scripture do you believe we've violated?  How do you think God would have us make any corrections?

Since you've addressed what you believe is our public sin-then your rebuke will be made public and also all our communications, before Christ's Body.

12/07/02
HamanCross507@msn.com wrote...

"As members of Christ's Body-The CHURCH, PeaceMakers is empowered by God's Holy Spirit in practicing a dynamic witness for Jesus Christ that builds the Body of Christ and attracts the attention of a lost world through; Biblical Community, Biblical Instruction; Biblical Counseling and Biblical Peacemaking; that invites reconciliation of  mankind to God, mankind to themselves and mankind to others...

How are you practicing this when it comes to my situation, you have never attempted to talk with [m]e or the elders in our church, yet you seem to have drawn some conclusions, you have sinned against some of your family memers.

Pastor Haman Cross Jr"

Bill Fields

http://www.peacemakers.net
http://www.christiancourt.org

Excerpts from http://www.peacemakers.net/clergysexualabuse/protestantsfacesexabuse.htm

In Detroit, Haman Cross Jr., pastor of Rosedale Park Baptist Church and a nationally known speaker on sexual purity, begins counseling parishioner Donna Scott, first for marital sexual troubles, then for problems related to childhood sexual abuse. According to Mrs. Scott's testimony, Mr. Cross gives her pornography, convinces her that "phone sex" with him will improve her marital sex life, and convinces her that sexual contact with him will help heal her incest wounds. In deposition testimony, Mr. Cross denies saying that the sexual contact was therapy and instead claims the relationship was a consensual affair.

******************************
In 1995, Donna Scott emerged as "the wicked woman" in the minds of some members of Detroit's Rosedale Park Baptist Church. Pastor Haman Cross Jr., however, never left his pulpit, though church leaders learned details of his behavior during a 1997 lawsuit brought by Mrs. Scott and her husband Bertram. Mr. Cross also continued to speak on behalf of Campus Crusade for Christ, even though Crawford Loritts, Crusade's associate director of U.S. Ministries, was told in 1997 of Mr. Cross's relationship with Mrs. Scott.

In 1988, Bertram and Donna Scott began attending Rosedale Park Baptist, where Mr. Cross, a fiery preacher, nurtured a growing congregation. In 1989, Mrs. Scott lost interest in marital relations following the birth of the couple's son. Mr. Scott sought counseling with Pastor Cross. Mrs. Scott didn't like the idea of counseling since she thought she would be blamed for the trouble in her marriage, but she relented.

In the beginning, Mr. Cross counseled the Scotts together, giving them what he called "resources" that he said would help them overcome bedroom troubles. Early "resources" seemed just clinical enough to be credible, but rank pornography followed: a photo-illustrated guide to oral sex, at least one hardcore video, and a brochure touting films featuring "raunchy girl-girl sex" and a "full blown orgy."

That Mr. Cross would counsel them on sexual technique did not seem out of the ordinary to the Scotts. He had previously taught "Improving Your Love Life" church seminars. In them he coached parishioners about erogenous zones.

By 1990 Mrs. Scott says she was having some individual counseling sessions with Mr. Cross that started to end in what she calls an "extended full-body hug." Although Mrs. Scott says she was somewhat uncomfortable at first, she decided to trust that her pastor's intentions were pure.

Psychologist Elizabeth Horst, author of Shame-Healing for Victims of Clergy Abuse, said pastors who intend to sexualize a counseling relationship often break the ice with an innocent-seeming embrace. "Most of us would be able to say 'no' to a pastor who outright requested sex in the first meeting," Ms. Horst said. Therefore, offending pastors sometimes engage in a process known clinically as "grooming."

Grooming progresses from touch that seems innocent to touch that is more recognizably sexual, such as sensuous massage or a kiss on the lips. "The offender may still insist that this behavior is not sexual, by labeling it 'healthy exploration' ... or emphasizing the elevated spiritual nature of the relationship," Ms. Horst said. Further, women with a history of childhood sexual trauma may be unsure of what contact is appropriate with a male authority figure. During depositions in 1997, Mrs. Scott said that her father had sexually abused her, and that as an adult she was raped twice.

Focus on the Family director of counseling Willy Wooten compares the sexual vulnerability of such women to the human immune system: If continually attacked, it becomes run down and unable to fight off incursions. "The same thing happens psychologically," he says: "Previously abused women are more vulnerable to expecting that behavior from male authority figures. They may not like it, but if they were always treated that way, they may believe that's the way the world is, or at least that's the way it is for them."

Whether a counselee is responsible for resisting such behavior is a matter of hot debate. Some groups, such as the Collegeville, Minn.-based Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute, hold that the counselee is innocent of wrongdoing. The pastor-offender, trusted and often imbued in the woman's eyes with godly authority (however unscriptural), is privy to intimate details of her life. He can exploit that information to make her think he is the only person she can trust—even above her husband. From that point, some clergy-counselors manipulate the client into believing that sex with him is therapeutic, even sanctified by God. The resulting liaison, particularly in the case of a childhood abuse survivor, is like incest, ISTI maintains: The father-figure is the perpetrator and the victim is blameless.

But George Scipione, director of the Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship in La Mesa, Calif., points out that childhood sexual abuse manifests itself in ways other than sexual immaturity, such as lesbianism, eating disorders, or substance abuse. "We don't tell the drug addict she is not responsible for her drug use because she was abused," he says. "Instead, we show her the freedom available in Christ and help her take responsibility for her own actions."

Mr. Scipione emphasizes that the woman's responsibility doesn't shave a scintilla of blame from the pastor. He is 100 percent to blame—before God, the victim, involved families, his congregation, and sometimes the law—for abusing his positional power and harming the woman: "This is real evil in which pastors should be thrown out of the pastorate," Mr. Scipione said. Still, he notes that the woman, as an adult, also is responsible before God for her actions, in line with the biblical principle of personal responsibility on the part of those attacked. Deuteronomy 22:23-27 gives an example: A woman who is raped is innocent before God if she is attacked in a place where no potential help is near—but if she is in the city, she is innocent only if she cries out for help.

Donna Scott says she believed Mr. Cross's attempts to "instruct" her sexually were meant to help her—particularly in light of his sex seminars. Her marital sex life did improve. In addition, Mr. Cross moved very slowly. According to Mrs. Scott's deposition, during 1991 and 1992, under the guise of improving her sexual relationship with her husband, Mr. Cross made very suggestive remarks to her, talked with her on the phone about sexual positions, and ultimately engaged her in "phone sex." In his 1998 deposition, Mr. Cross admitted having given the Scotts the pornographic material and talking on the telephone with Mrs. Scott about sex. He acknowledged that in 1993 and 1994 he penetrated Mrs. Scott's private parts with his fingers, and she fondled and kissed his private parts.

Throughout the duration of Mr. Cross's sexual contact with Mrs. Scott, the Scotts were very active at Rosedale Park Baptist, and considered the pastor their close friend. Mr. Scott often met Mr. Cross for breakfast and accompanied him on speaking trips. Mrs. Scott, a self-employed writer who had earned a master's degree in radio, television, and film, worked with the pastor co-authoring books on such topics as Islam and biblical manhood. One book, Wild Thing: Let's Talk About Sex, was based on Mr. Cross's pastoral teaching about biblically approved sex; the book counsels young people to avoid sex that is not thus "sanctified."

Mrs. Scott alleges that Mr. Cross at times quoted Scripture, assuring her that God approved of their sexual contact. She provided considerable specific, graphic detail about those alleged instances in deposition Exhibit No. 1. In a January 2002 interview with WORLD, Mr. Cross denied having told Mrs. Scott that God approved of their sexual contact. During his 1998 deposition he insisted that he was engaged in an "affair" and was responding to Mrs. Scott's desires. He also maintains that the physical relationship began after he terminated counseling with Mrs. Scott. Mrs. Scott disputes that claim.

Still, Mr. Cross told WORLD he had "contributed to the problem of immoral clergy behavior. I feel [Mrs. Scott] has some responsibility.... But part of my repentance is to totally focus on my responsibility, my sin. I failed the Lord, I failed my congregation, I failed the Scotts, I failed my wife, I failed my children: I sinned against them."

Ultimately, Mr. Cross's female secretary exposed his behavior in June 1995, secretly taping voice-mail messages that revealed Mr. Cross was having inappropriate contact with at least two women, including Mrs. Scott. Later he would testify that he'd also touched that secretary's breasts, and had counseled all three women. The secretary gave her tapes to Rosedale Park's associate pastor Gregory Alexander.

Initially, Mr. Alexander said he thought that Pastor Cross might have to step down from the pulpit. He confronted Mr. Cross, who admitted that he had had inappropriate contact—but no intercourse—with the three women. But the senior pastor refused to provide more details, and Mr. Alexander didn't press. When Mr. Alexander questioned her in June 1995, Donna Scott told him there had been no inappropriate contact. She told WORLD she said that because she did not believe at the time that the contact had been inappropriate, but believed instead Mr. Cross's alleged claim to be helping her. Further, the Scotts did not learn immediately of Mr. Cross's contact with the other women. And since they believed their pastor was their close friend and marital savior, they interpreted the secretary's secret tapes as an attempt to ruin a great man. "We even sent him cards saying we were praying for him," Mrs. Scott remembers.

But Mr. Alexander and the Rosedale deacon board ultimately decided that Mr. Cross need not give up preaching. Instead, he would have a window cut into his door, no longer counsel women alone, have no further contact with the Scotts, and undergo counseling. Mr. Cross later testified that he attended at least seven counseling sessions. Mr. Alexander told WORLD he feels Rosedale's leaders acted properly based on the information they had.

Writing to the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul ordered tougher sanctions for sexual immorality: "I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality.... Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? ... Purge the evil person from among you."

Rosedale Park Baptist's weak response to serial pastoral sexual misconduct may well have been a foregone conclusion. The makeup of the church's leadership raises serious questions about its ability—or motivation—to exact substantive discipline. Mr. Alexander is Mr. Cross's brother-in-law. Together, they appointed all five deacons, including Mr. Cross's father-in-law, Robert Alexander.

Such leadership arrangements can create a dangerous accountability vacuum, according to authors Mosgofian and Ohlschlager. Churches with a charismatic leader, who need not report to others outside the church, may foster a lack of accountability and information. In such churches, the congregation is likely to rally to the side of the sexually offending pastor, label the woman a Jezebel, and cast her out of the church. But churches that are aware of this danger can require greater information flow. The Texas Baptist General Convention (BGC), for example, recently adopted a CSA policy that requires confrontation with the minister, full disclosure of charges and any investigation to the church body, a formal hearing, and follow-up counseling for all involved.

Rev. Mark Laaser is a former CSA perpetrator who now works to prevent the problem. He recommends that seminaries train prospective pastors more carefully in counseling ethics, and also in the intense emotional dynamics involved in counseling —dynamics that if not carefully managed can lead to sexual sin.

Groups such as the Texas BGC and the Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute suggest that churches educate laity about CSA, publish written guidelines for reporting and investigating it, and perform background checks on prospective pastors. A background check on Grace Christian Ministries pastor Michael Altman would have revealed that he had served prison time for falsifying a $50,000 loan application. It also would have shown that he was asked to resign by two former congregations amid serious charges, according to John Cooper, treasurer of the First Christian Church of Dothan, Ala., and an elder at an Ontario, Canada, Church of Christ.

Marcia Bezak's civil suit against Mr. Altman is still pending in federal court. He also faces a jury trial next month on criminal charges. But Mrs. Bezak will not testify: In April 2001, facing a divorce from her husband, she hanged herself.

After a criminal trial in Minnesota last year, Nazarene pastor Mervin Kelley served a year in prison for sexually exploiting his female parishioner. He was released from jail in February, but faces 14 years' probation and must register as a sex offender. The parishioner has filed a civil suit against Mr. Kelley and his former church.

Haman Cross Jr., however, was never held substantially accountable for his serial misconduct, though his secretary was fired after her tapes revealed it. Some church members heard rumors of "an affair" with Donna Scott, but church leaders did not formally reveal the pastor's behavior to the congregation, according to two former Rosedale members, one of whom said she waited a year for church leaders to make a statement or apology to the congregation. Those former members say that they, their families, and about 20 other families, left the church.

In June 1995, the Scotts also left Rosedale; both testified that Pastors Cross and Alexander had urged them to do so, a charge the pastors deny. Mrs. Scott says she felt depressed and confused after leaving the church, abandoned when she thought Mr. Cross had been helping her improve her marriage. She sought counseling for depression with Christian therapist Marie Heitkamp. Though she believed she and her husband had been unfairly "forced out" of the church, she still believed Mr. Cross's disputed claim that his sexual contact with her had been God's way of helping her overcome sexual dysfunction. In late 1996, her new pastor explained to her, after Mrs. Scott confided in him, that Mr. Cross's behavior was abusive. The realization, she says, triggered nightmares and suicidal thoughts; she did not feel safe in church and avoided the Bible.

In 1997, the Scotts filed suit against Mr. Cross and Rosedale Park Baptist Church. They charged clergy malpractice, negligent supervision, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud. In addition, they sued for breach of implied contract, since Mrs. Scott believed she was owed money for books and tapes she had worked on for Mr. Cross and the church. The pastor and church countersued, alleging defamation. According to the counter-complaint, Mrs. Scott had damaged the church's reputation and also caused Mr. Cross to lose speaking opportunities. Pursuant to Michigan law, mediators stepped in to settle the case. They awarded the church $3,500, Mr. Cross $5,000, and the Scotts $15,000.

But even after the lawsuit revealed to Rosedale Park leaders the details of Mr. Cross's sexual misconduct with three parishioners, and that he had violated the church's disciplinary order not to contact the Scotts, they took no further disciplinary action. He continued as senior pastor at the church, and also continued speaking at Campus Crusade events.

In 1997, Mrs. Scott telephoned Crawford Loritts, Crusade's associate director of U.S. Ministries. She told him of her relationship with Mr. Cross and overnight-mailed to him a version of what would become the lawsuit's "Exhibit No. 1"—that detailed and sometimes graphic listing of alleged sexual contacts between Mr. Cross and Mrs. Scott. The document lists several instances in which Mr. Cross allegedly told Mrs. Scott that sex with him would heal her incest wounds, and that God approved of their relationship.

In 1999, Mrs. Scott says she called Mr. Loritts again and told him she believed Mr. Cross had lied during depositions in 1998. She says she offered to send Mr. Loritts material about clergy sexual abuse, but that Mr. Loritts refused and questioned her motives.

WORLD called Mr. Loritts to ask if Mrs. Scott's statements were true. At first he refused to comment, then issued a written statement: "In 1997 I received communication containing allegations against Rev. Cross. As I looked into the matter my inquiry led me to conclude that Rev. Cross' church was not only aware of the allegations but they had or were addressing them and that Rev. Cross continued to serve in his role as pastor of the church. Since the local church, the body most familiar with the facts surrounding the allegations against Rev. Cross, had not acted to remove him from his position as pastor, Campus Crusade for Christ had no reason to alter its occasional use of Rev. Cross as a speaker."

Certainly, Campus Crusade for Christ is a ministry known for its integrity—and the integrity of its speakers. In the case of Haman Cross Jr., Mr. Loritts declined to reveal the details of his inquiry with Rosedale Park Baptist Church, or how he resolved questions over Mrs. Scott's detailed allegations. He also declined to comment on the 1999 follow-up conversation alleged by Mrs. Scott. Mr. Cross is scheduled to speak in June at Crusade's Student Venture Conference in Colorado, an event for high-school students.

Meanwhile, the Scotts have moved on with their lives. From 1996 to 1999, Donna Scott saw four different nonpastoral counselors and attended a support group for victims of sexual abuse. By 1999 she felt ready to speak out on behalf of other CSA victims. That year, she worked with the Michigan legislature to make that state another where it is illegal for licensed counselors to have sexual contact with clients and former clients.

"When I was raped, I fought back, and ran half naked out of my apartment and hid in the bushes," she told lawmakers during official testimony. "When my pastor deceived me, how could I fight back, when he was saying ... this was part of God's plan to heal me? I knew what the rapist did was rape.... But my pastor, my counselor said this was help."

'Breaking faith' update
Campus Crusade suspends speaker after scandal report
By Lynn Vincent

Campus Crusade for Christ last week suspended Pastor Haman Cross Jr. from its roster of speakers following a WORLD report on clergy sexual abuse ("Breaking faith," published March 22, cover date March 30). The story reported that Mr. Cross had been involved in inappropriate physical relationships with three parishioners. In an internal memo dated April 2 Crusade President Steve Douglass wrote, "Rev. Cross has been suspended as a speaker for Student Venture and any of the other ministries of Campus Crusade for Christ, until such a time that an investigation can be completed."

Mr. Cross is senior pastor at Detroit's Rosedale Park Baptist Church, and has been a well-known speaker on sexual purity for Crusade and other evangelical ministries. During a 1997 lawsuit, he admitted to having various levels of sexual contact with three women whom he also had counseled, and also to giving pornographic materials to one woman, Donna Scott. Mrs. Scott said she contacted Campus Crusade associate director of U.S. ministries Crawford Loritts in 1997 and 1999, and informed him of Mr. Cross's sexual contact with her. Still, Mr. Cross continued to speak at Crusade events, most recently in January 2001.

Mr. Douglass's April 2 memo elaborates on Mr. Loritts's 1997 response to Mrs. Scott's allegations: "Upon hearing of the initial charges made against Rev. Cross ... [Mr. Loritts] immediately looked into the matter. [Mr. Loritts] was assured by Rev. Cross and others that Rev. Cross did not commit what was alleged. Only recently did [Mr. Loritts] become aware that there may be additional facts regarding this situation."

"Recently" means Feb. 14, 2002, according to Crusade spokesman Mark DeMoss. That's when WORLD contacted Mr. Loritts and U.S. ministries director Chuck Price about Mrs. Scott's relationship with Mr. Cross, and Mr. Loritts's knowledge of that relationship. On March 19, WORLD learned that Mr. Cross was scheduled to speak in June at a conference for Student Venture, Crusade's high-school ministry. As of March 25, three days after WORLD's report on clergy sexual abuse was published, Mr. Cross was still listed as a speaker for the June Student Venture event.

The reason Crusade did not "move quicker or more decisively on this," Mr. DeMoss said, "was that, given their relationship with Haman, they owed it to Haman to verify information, to talk to Haman, to look for this public record that [WORLD] referred to ... and not just to make this decision." As of April 2, Mr. DeMoss said, "Crusade has been able to learn enough to comfortably make this decision about Haman's speaking."

******************************

In 1995, Donna Scott emerged as "the wicked woman" in the minds of some members of Detroit's Rosedale Park Baptist Church. Pastor Haman Cross Jr., however, never left his pulpit, though church leaders learned details of his behavior during a 1997 lawsuit brought by Mrs. Scott and her husband Bertram. Mr. Cross also continued to speak on behalf of Campus Crusade for Christ, even though Crawford Loritts, Crusade's associate director of U.S. Ministries, was told in 1997 of Mr. Cross's relationship with Mrs. Scott.

In 1988, Bertram and Donna Scott began attending Rosedale Park Baptist, where Mr. Cross, a fiery preacher, nurtured a growing congregation. In 1989, Mrs. Scott lost interest in marital relations following the birth of the couple's son. Mr. Scott sought counseling with Pastor Cross. Mrs. Scott didn't like the idea of counseling since she thought she would be blamed for the trouble in her marriage, but she relented.

In the beginning, Mr. Cross counseled the Scotts together, giving them what he called "resources" that he said would help them overcome bedroom troubles. Early "resources" seemed just clinical enough to be credible, but rank pornography followed: a photo-illustrated guide to oral sex, at least one hardcore video, and a brochure touting films featuring "raunchy girl-girl sex" and a "full blown orgy."

That Mr. Cross would counsel them on sexual technique did not seem out of the ordinary to the Scotts. He had previously taught "Improving Your Love Life" church seminars. In them he coached parishioners about erogenous zones.

By 1990 Mrs. Scott says she was having some individual counseling sessions with Mr. Cross that started to end in what she calls an "extended full-body hug." Although Mrs. Scott says she was somewhat uncomfortable at first, she decided to trust that her pastor's intentions were pure.

Psychologist Elizabeth Horst, author of Shame-Healing for Victims of Clergy Abuse, said pastors who intend to sexualize a counseling relationship often break the ice with an innocent-seeming embrace. "Most of us would be able to say 'no' to a pastor who outright requested sex in the first meeting," Ms. Horst said. Therefore, offending pastors sometimes engage in a process known clinically as "grooming."

Grooming progresses from touch that seems innocent to touch that is more recognizably sexual, such as sensuous massage or a kiss on the lips. "The offender may still insist that this behavior is not sexual, by labeling it 'healthy exploration' ... or emphasizing the elevated spiritual nature of the relationship," Ms. Horst said. Further, women with a history of childhood sexual trauma may be unsure of what contact is appropriate with a male authority figure. During depositions in 1997, Mrs. Scott said that her father had sexually abused her, and that as an adult she was raped twice.

Focus on the Family director of counseling Willy Wooten compares the sexual vulnerability of such women to the human immune system: If continually attacked, it becomes run down and unable to fight off incursions. "The same thing happens psychologically," he says: "Previously abused women are more vulnerable to expecting that behavior from male authority figures. They may not like it, but if they were always treated that way, they may believe that's the way the world is, or at least that's the way it is for them."

Whether a counselee is responsible for resisting such behavior is a matter of hot debate. Some groups, such as the Collegeville, Minn.-based Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute, hold that the counselee is innocent of wrongdoing. The pastor-offender, trusted and often imbued in the woman's eyes with godly authority (however unscriptural), is privy to intimate details of her life. He can exploit that information to make her think he is the only person she can trust—even above her husband. From that point, some clergy-counselors manipulate the client into believing that sex with him is therapeutic, even sanctified by God. The resulting liaison, particularly in the case of a childhood abuse survivor, is like incest, ISTI maintains: The father-figure is the perpetrator and the victim is blameless.

But George Scipione, director of the Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship in La Mesa, Calif., points out that childhood sexual abuse manifests itself in ways other than sexual immaturity, such as lesbianism, eating disorders, or substance abuse. "We don't tell the drug addict she is not responsible for her drug use because she was abused," he says. "Instead, we show her the freedom available in Christ and help her take responsibility for her own actions."

Mr. Scipione emphasizes that the woman's responsibility doesn't shave a scintilla of blame from the pastor. He is 100 percent to blame—before God, the victim, involved families, his congregation, and sometimes the law—for abusing his positional power and harming the woman: "This is real evil in which pastors should be thrown out of the pastorate," Mr. Scipione said. Still, he notes that the woman, as an adult, also is responsible before God for her actions, in line with the biblical principle of personal responsibility on the part of those attacked. Deuteronomy 22:23-27 gives an example: A woman who is raped is innocent before God if she is attacked in a place where no potential help is near—but if she is in the city, she is innocent only if she cries out for help.

Donna Scott says she believed Mr. Cross's attempts to "instruct" her sexually were meant to help her—particularly in light of his sex seminars. Her marital sex life did improve. In addition, Mr. Cross moved very slowly. According to Mrs. Scott's deposition, during 1991 and 1992, under the guise of improving her sexual relationship with her husband, Mr. Cross made very suggestive remarks to her, talked with her on the phone about sexual positions, and ultimately engaged her in "phone sex." In his 1998 deposition, Mr. Cross admitted having given the Scotts the pornographic material and talking on the telephone with Mrs. Scott about sex. He acknowledged that in 1993 and 1994 he penetrated Mrs. Scott's private parts with his fingers, and she fondled and kissed his private parts.

Throughout the duration of Mr. Cross's sexual contact with Mrs. Scott, the Scotts were very active at Rosedale Park Baptist, and considered the pastor their close friend. Mr. Scott often met Mr. Cross for breakfast and accompanied him on speaking trips. Mrs. Scott, a self-employed writer who had earned a master's degree in radio, television, and film, worked with the pastor co-authoring books on such topics as Islam and biblical manhood. One book, Wild Thing: Let's Talk About Sex, was based on Mr. Cross's pastoral teaching about biblically approved sex; the book counsels young people to avoid sex that is not thus "sanctified."

Mrs. Scott alleges that Mr. Cross at times quoted Scripture, assuring her that God approved of their sexual contact. She provided considerable specific, graphic detail about those alleged instances in deposition Exhibit No. 1. In a January 2002 interview with WORLD, Mr. Cross denied having told Mrs. Scott that God approved of their sexual contact. During his 1998 deposition he insisted that he was engaged in an "affair" and was responding to Mrs. Scott's desires. He also maintains that the physical relationship began after he terminated counseling with Mrs. Scott. Mrs. Scott disputes that claim.

Still, Mr. Cross told WORLD he had "contributed to the problem of immoral clergy behavior. I feel [Mrs. Scott] has some responsibility.... But part of my repentance is to totally focus on my responsibility, my sin. I failed the Lord, I failed my congregation, I failed the Scotts, I failed my wife, I failed my children: I sinned against them."

Ultimately, Mr. Cross's female secretary exposed his behavior in June 1995, secretly taping voice-mail messages that revealed Mr. Cross was having inappropriate contact with at least two women, including Mrs. Scott. Later he would testify that he'd also touched that secretary's breasts, and had counseled all three women. The secretary gave her tapes to Rosedale Park's associate pastor Gregory Alexander.

Initially, Mr. Alexander said he thought that Pastor Cross might have to step down from the pulpit. He confronted Mr. Cross, who admitted that he had had inappropriate contact—but no intercourse—with the three women. But the senior pastor refused to provide more details, and Mr. Alexander didn't press. When Mr. Alexander questioned her in June 1995, Donna Scott told him there had been no inappropriate contact. She told WORLD she said that because she did not believe at the time that the contact had been inappropriate, but believed instead Mr. Cross's alleged claim to be helping her. Further, the Scotts did not learn immediately of Mr. Cross's contact with the other women. And since they believed their pastor was their close friend and marital savior, they interpreted the secretary's secret tapes as an attempt to ruin a great man. "We even sent him cards saying we were praying for him," Mrs. Scott remembers.

But Mr. Alexander and the Rosedale deacon board ultimately decided that Mr. Cross need not give up preaching. Instead, he would have a window cut into his door, no longer counsel women alone, have no further contact with the Scotts, and undergo counseling. Mr. Cross later testified that he attended at least seven counseling sessions. Mr. Alexander told WORLD he feels Rosedale's leaders acted properly based on the information they had.

Writing to the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul ordered tougher sanctions for sexual immorality: "I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality.... Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? ... Purge the evil person from among you."

Rosedale Park Baptist's weak response to serial pastoral sexual misconduct may well have been a foregone conclusion. The makeup of the church's leadership raises serious questions about its ability—or motivation—to exact substantive discipline. Mr. Alexander is Mr. Cross's brother-in-law. Together, they appointed all five deacons, including Mr. Cross's father-in-law, Robert Alexander.

Such leadership arrangements can create a dangerous accountability vacuum, according to authors Mosgofian and Ohlschlager. Churches with a charismatic leader, who need not report to others outside the church, may foster a lack of accountability and information. In such churches, the congregation is likely to rally to the side of the sexually offending pastor, label the woman a Jezebel, and cast her out of the church. But churches that are aware of this danger can require greater information flow. The Texas Baptist General Convention (BGC), for example, recently adopted a CSA policy that requires confrontation with the minister, full disclosure of charges and any investigation to the church body, a formal hearing, and follow-up counseling for all involved.

Rev. Mark Laaser is a former CSA perpetrator who now works to prevent the problem. He recommends that seminaries train prospective pastors more carefully in counseling ethics, and also in the intense emotional dynamics involved in counseling —dynamics that if not carefully managed can lead to sexual sin.

Groups such as the Texas BGC and the Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute suggest that churches educate laity about CSA, publish written guidelines for reporting and investigating it, and perform background checks on prospective pastors. A background check on Grace Christian Ministries pastor Michael Altman would have revealed that he had served prison time for falsifying a $50,000 loan application. It also would have shown that he was asked to resign by two former congregations amid serious charges, according to John Cooper, treasurer of the First Christian Church of Dothan, Ala., and an elder at an Ontario, Canada, Church of Christ.

Marcia Bezak's civil suit against Mr. Altman is still pending in federal court. He also faces a jury trial next month on criminal charges. But Mrs. Bezak will not testify: In April 2001, facing a divorce from her husband, she hanged herself.

After a criminal trial in Minnesota last year, Nazarene pastor Mervin Kelley served a year in prison for sexually exploiting his female parishioner. He was released from jail in February, but faces 14 years' probation and must register as a sex offender. The parishioner has filed a civil suit against Mr. Kelley and his former church.

Haman Cross Jr., however, was never held substantially accountable for his serial misconduct, though his secretary was fired after her tapes revealed it. Some church members heard rumors of "an affair" with Donna Scott, but church leaders did not formally reveal the pastor's behavior to the congregation, according to two former Rosedale members, one of whom said she waited a year for church leaders to make a statement or apology to the congregation. Those former members say that they, their families, and about 20 other families, left the church.

In June 1995, the Scotts also left Rosedale; both testified that Pastors Cross and Alexander had urged them to do so, a charge the pastors deny. Mrs. Scott says she felt depressed and confused after leaving the church, abandoned when she thought Mr. Cross had been helping her improve her marriage. She sought counseling for depression with Christian therapist Marie Heitkamp. Though she believed she and her husband had been unfairly "forced out" of the church, she still believed Mr. Cross's disputed claim that his sexual contact with her had been God's way of helping her overcome sexual dysfunction. In late 1996, her new pastor explained to her, after Mrs. Scott confided in him, that Mr. Cross's behavior was abusive. The realization, she says, triggered nightmares and suicidal thoughts; she did not feel safe in church and avoided the Bible.

In 1997, the Scotts filed suit against Mr. Cross and Rosedale Park Baptist Church. They charged clergy malpractice, negligent supervision, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud. In addition, they sued for breach of implied contract, since Mrs. Scott believed she was owed money for books and tapes she had worked on for Mr. Cross and the church. The pastor and church countersued, alleging defamation. According to the counter-complaint, Mrs. Scott had damaged the church's reputation and also caused Mr. Cross to lose speaking opportunities. Pursuant to Michigan law, mediators stepped in to settle the case. They awarded the church $3,500, Mr. Cross $5,000, and the Scotts $15,000.

But even after the lawsuit revealed to Rosedale Park leaders the details of Mr. Cross's sexual misconduct with three parishioners, and that he had violated the church's disciplinary order not to contact the Scotts, they took no further disciplinary action. He continued as senior pastor at the church, and also continued speaking at Campus Crusade events.

In 1997, Mrs. Scott telephoned Crawford Loritts, Crusade's associate director of U.S. Ministries. She told him of her relationship with Mr. Cross and overnight-mailed to him a version of what would become the lawsuit's "Exhibit No. 1"—that detailed and sometimes graphic listing of alleged sexual contacts between Mr. Cross and Mrs. Scott. The document lists several instances in which Mr. Cross allegedly told Mrs. Scott that sex with him would heal her incest wounds, and that God approved of their relationship.

In 1999, Mrs. Scott says she called Mr. Loritts again and told him she believed Mr. Cross had lied during depositions in 1998. She says she offered to send Mr. Loritts material about clergy sexual abuse, but that Mr. Loritts refused and questioned her motives.

WORLD called Mr. Loritts to ask if Mrs. Scott's statements were true. At first he refused to comment, then issued a written statement: "In 1997 I received communication containing allegations against Rev. Cross. As I looked into the matter my inquiry led me to conclude that Rev. Cross' church was not only aware of the allegations but they had or were addressing them and that Rev. Cross continued to serve in his role as pastor of the church. Since the local church, the body most familiar with the facts surrounding the allegations against Rev. Cross, had not acted to remove him from his position as pastor, Campus Crusade for Christ had no reason to alter its occasional use of Rev. Cross as a speaker."

Certainly, Campus Crusade for Christ is a ministry known for its integrity—and the integrity of its speakers. In the case of Haman Cross Jr., Mr. Loritts declined to reveal the details of his inquiry with Rosedale Park Baptist Church, or how he resolved questions over Mrs. Scott's detailed allegations. He also declined to comment on the 1999 follow-up conversation alleged by Mrs. Scott. Mr. Cross is scheduled to speak in June at Crusade's Student Venture Conference in Colorado, an event for high-school students.

Meanwhile, the Scotts have moved on with their lives. From 1996 to 1999, Donna Scott saw four different nonpastoral counselors and attended a support group for victims of sexual abuse. By 1999 she felt ready to speak out on behalf of other CSA victims. That year, she worked with the Michigan legislature to make that state another where it is illegal for licensed counselors to have sexual contact with clients and former clients.

"When I was raped, I fought back, and ran half naked out of my apartment and hid in the bushes," she told lawmakers during official testimony. "When my pastor deceived me, how could I fight back, when he was saying ... this was part of God's plan to heal me? I knew what the rapist did was rape.... But my pastor, my counselor said this was help."

'Breaking faith' update
Campus Crusade suspends speaker after scandal report
By Lynn Vincent

Campus Crusade for Christ last week suspended Pastor Haman Cross Jr. from its roster of speakers following a WORLD report on clergy sexual abuse ("Breaking faith," published March 22, cover date March 30). The story reported that Mr. Cross had been involved in inappropriate physical relationships with three parishioners. In an internal memo dated April 2 Crusade President Steve Douglass wrote, "Rev. Cross has been suspended as a speaker for Student Venture and any of the other ministries of Campus Crusade for Christ, until such a time that an investigation can be completed."

Mr. Cross is senior pastor at Detroit's Rosedale Park Baptist Church, and has been a well-known speaker on sexual purity for Crusade and other evangelical ministries. During a 1997 lawsuit, he admitted to having various levels of sexual contact with three women whom he also had counseled, and also to giving pornographic materials to one woman, Donna Scott. Mrs. Scott said she contacted Campus Crusade associate director of U.S. ministries Crawford Loritts in 1997 and 1999, and informed him of Mr. Cross's sexual contact with her. Still, Mr. Cross continued to speak at Crusade events, most recently in January 2001.

Mr. Douglass's April 2 memo elaborates on Mr. Loritts's 1997 response to Mrs. Scott's allegations: "Upon hearing of the initial charges made against Rev. Cross ... [Mr. Loritts] immediately looked into the matter. [Mr. Loritts] was assured by Rev. Cross and others that Rev. Cross did not commit what was alleged. Only recently did [Mr. Loritts] become aware that there may be additional facts regarding this situation."

"Recently" means Feb. 14, 2002, according to Crusade spokesman Mark DeMoss. That's when WORLD contacted Mr. Loritts and U.S. ministries director Chuck Price about Mrs. Scott's relationship with Mr. Cross, and Mr. Loritts's knowledge of that relationship. On March 19, WORLD learned that Mr. Cross was scheduled to speak in June at a conference for Student Venture, Crusade's high-school ministry. As of March 25, three days after WORLD's report on clergy sexual abuse was published, Mr. Cross was still listed as a speaker for the June Student Venture event.

The reason Crusade did not "move quicker or more decisively on this," Mr. DeMoss said, "was that, given their relationship with Haman, they owed it to Haman to verify information, to talk to Haman, to look for this public record that [WORLD] referred to ... and not just to make this decision." As of April 2, Mr. DeMoss said, "Crusade has been able to learn enough to comfortably make this decision about Haman's speaking."

Index of articles about clergy sexual abuse
recommended reading about clergy sexual abuse