Michael L. Brown could return to ministry after probe

An elder accountability team at Brown’s Line of Fire Ministries this week recommended that the pastor should be allowed to return to public ministry after a third-party investigation wrapped up. The ministry asked Brown to step back from the ministry after allegations resurfaced in November. In January it commissioned Firefly to look into the allegations of sexual misconduct, which were supposed to have taken place in the early 2000s. 

In his report, investigator Jim Holler concluded that Brown engaged in sexually abusive misconduct with a former office worker who WORLD is choosing not to name. Holler found that Brown separately had another inappropriate relationship with a married woman who has since died.

After reviewing the report, the elder team reframed the alleged sexual abuse as leadership misconduct and moral indiscretion. The team wrote that Brown’s actions did show a lapse in wisdom and good judgment. It wasn’t clear from the accountability team’s report when a final decision would be made. 

What actions did the Firefly report recommend? Firefly urged that Line of Fire Ministries consistently apply the guidelines outlined in the student policy manual, and noted that violations of the guidelines could involve severe consequences, including expulsion from the school. It also recommended that the organization establish clear policies to prevent and address sexual abuse and harassment. 

What else did the elders say? The elder accountability team wrote that Firefly had not included Brown’s own rebuttal to the claims or the testimony of his wife Nancy in the investigation. In their letter, the elders said the allegations should have been handled systematically and discreetly when they initially surfaced five years ago, by following the steps laid out in a Bible passage in the Gospel of Matthew. The team said the accusations have instead been scrutinized on social media and have caused irreparable damage to Brown's credibility and ministry. 

Brown fulfilled his Biblical requirement to confess and repent publicly by posting a video in December, the elders said, and he answered questions repeatedly about the incidents. In the video, Brown admitted to forming an inappropriate emotional tie with another married woman but insisted physical adultery never occurred. The team said the matter should be put to rest and recommended that Brown offer to meet with the office worker and the husband of the other woman involved in the claims.

Has Brown himself responded? Brown as of noon Wednesday had yet to make a public statement about the investigation or the elder’s recommendation. His wife, Nancy, on Tuesday defended him in a statement online. She said her husband has apologized for every accusation brought against him and that he is truly repentant for his failures.

What else did the Firefly report find? The report detailed the former office worker’s claims that Brown kissed her, touched her inappropriately, and allowed her to sit on his lap. The behavior allegedly occurred while she was working at the FIRE School of Ministry in Pensacola, Fla. Investigators interviewed both supporters of Brown and individuals who corroborated the office worker’s account. The investigation did not find evidence of any additional incidents involving Brown after 2002, suggesting the situations were isolated and not part of a larger pattern of behavior.

Dig deeper: Read my report about Firefly’s investigation into IHOPKC founder Mike Bickle.