Bethel megachurch pastor on leave after abuse claims

Leaders of the Bethel megachurch in Redding, Calif., on Sunday said they placed pastor Ben Armstrong on administrative leave while a third-party organization probed sexual abuse claims against him. Armstrong, who served as the church’s overseer of prophetic ministry, would not be ministering during the investigation, leaders said. The allegations, which came from a video, were previously unknown and were brought to leaders’ attention late Friday night, according to the statement. The church was contacting the people who brought the allegations, it said. The statement did not include Armstrong’s response to the claims.

The statement came after the release of a YouTube video in which a woman claimed that he sexually harassed her multiple times in 2009 while serving as her mentor. The church previously said it was aware of a moral failure in 2009, for which Armstrong was temporarily removed from ministry and restored following a repentance process.

Are church leaders investigating other claims against Armstrong? They said Friday that they were investigating an abuse allegation against him dating back to 2008. A person who was a student at the church’s Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry brought the claim. Leaders learned of that allegation in early February, they said. The Friday statement affirmed the church’s connection to Armstrong and said that leaders were seeking counsel, but did not make changes to Armstrong’s role.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s story on Bethel leaders’ recent admission of errors in handling false prophecy and abuse allegations against another minister.