Yesterday C.J. Mahaney let the world know via Twitter that he is now a member of the Advisory Board of Speak for the Unborn. I find it ironic that Speak for the Unborn utilizes Proverbs 31:8-9 on their logo; this is the same passage I have included on many of my emails to various individuals I have written urging them to not speak at Mahaney’s run-away church plant in Louisville, KY, or to quit selling C.J. Mahaney’s books because of his involvement in a conspiracy to cover-up the sexual abuse of children in the church he pastored, as well as other Sovereign Grace Churches. The sordid details of this sexual abuse scandal can be found on Brent Detwiler’s blog.
Below is the vision statement of Speak for the Unborn. I am pro-life and do not doubt that Speak for the Unborn is a good organization with a noble cause. However I must question the wisdom and discernment of whoever thought it was a good idea to place C.J. Mahaney on the Advisory Board.
Advisory Board of Speak For the Unborn.
Friends don’t let friends cover up sexual abuse of children… or do they?
As I was checking out the website of Speak for the Unborn I found a clue as to who may have been influential in getting Mahaney a slot on the Advisory Board. I ran across this banner – I assume 9Marx is financially supporting Speak for the Unborn. Could it be that the “good old boy” network is alive and well? Could Mahaney’s good friend, Mark Dever, be attempting to restore Mahaney to his former celebrity status among the gospel glitterati by slowly allowing him to regain some semblance of integrity through serving on the Advisory Board of Speak for the Unborn?
Andrew King is the director of Speak for the Unborn and apparently he made the selections for the Advisory Board. King is on staff at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS). Albert Mohler is a good friend of C.J. Mahaney. Mohler also happens to be president of SBTS. Mahaney has donated in excess of $100,000 of his own money and $100,000 of Sovereign Grace Ministries money to SBTS. Perhaps Mohler exercised some influence on the selection of C.J. Mahaney to the advisory board?
What I have trouble understanding is how anyone could think Mahaney would be a good choice for the Advisory Board of this ministry. What are they thinking – the guy covers up sexual abuse of children in his church so therefore he would be a great choice to protect unborn children in the womb?
Remember the story of Charlie Llewllyn? Read the story in detail on Brent Detwiler’s blog here. The quick version is Charlie Llewellyn reportedly was physically and sexually abusing his children. A housekeeper reported the abuse to Covenant Life Pastors. The pastors did not report the abuse to law enforcement, but instead alerted Llewllyn to the fact that his housekeeper ratted him out. The housekeeper was fired, the abuse grew worse and Charlie Llewllyn sent the Mahaney, Ricucci and Layman families to the Kiawah Islands in South Carolina on an expensive vacation. He covered the costs.
I could add many more horrific accounts of sexual abuse which occurred under Mahaney’s watch, but it belabors my point.
Did Mahaney know about the sexual abuse occurring on his watch and choose to cover it up? Mahaney says he did not. Others, including lawyers for the defendants in the civil suit say say he did. After studying the facts of this case it would, in my opinion, be very tough to believe Mahaney’s claim.
This from Tulian Tchividjian:
And this from attorney Bill Oneil:
The bottom line is that C.J. Mahaney is a terrible choice for an Advisory Board member of a ministry whose task is to protect unborn children. He has shown he had no concern for children in his church, so why does anyone believe he would have any concern for unborn children? I have submitted the email below and would urge you to do the same. Here is the link to the page. I am not hopeful that Mahaney will be removed from the Advisory Board. I would hope a Christian organization would do the right thing in this case. My experience is that people and organizations are influenced by those with money and power, us little guys are generally ignored unless our complaints become so numerous they can’t afford to ignore us. So please write!
Further Information:
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