Shabbat Shalom: IHOPKC Investigation Update
Shabbat Shalom!
Last week, I let you know about the grand opening of my daughter Yael’s restaurant Susie’s Delicatessen. She had a great grand opening last Saturday night for investors and family, and then last night was by invitation only for friends—and it was packed. Tonight is the grand opening for the public. She’s done an amazing job creating a following online. The post of her team on Instagram has 1300 likes just from this morning. (I hope they’re all from Richmond!)
All the sandwiches are named after family members. The Sharona seems to be the favorite. In Israel, a schnitzel is a thin piece of chicken breast, breaded, and fried. Yael adds spices and turns it into a sandwich. I was told last night that The Ronnie sold out! The brisket sandwich (The Tony) yes, from my mother’s famous brisket recipe. It really is the best brisket you’ve ever had. She also makes matzoh ball soup, potato latkes, thinly sliced fried eggplant and delicious salad.
Yael’s Team (Yael is in the middle)
We shared a report this week online regarding the progress of the IHOPKC investigation. I would not have imagined that I would have been spending the better part of six months serving with other Tikkun leaders in initiating an investigation like this. It has been grueling. People are angry. People are happy. It has been a learning process. I understand more about investigations into sexual assaults than I ever would’ve imagined—what kind of investigator you need, learning the correct terminology, engaging with the survivor community, and why it is particularly sinful when the perpetrator is a pastor.
Despite all the difficulties, over 130 people have come and given interviews to our investigator. His work is done apart from us, meaning we have no idea what he has uncovered, and we will not know until he produces his final report at the beginning of 2025. But the number of people coming forward shows the level of trust that people have developed in this investigation.
We have put together our Pastor Recommendation Team and released the names. The group is made up of five pastors and three experts in sexual abuse, all with PhDs. This team will go through the findings and make recommendations for discipline where there is evidence of sexual abuse or a cover-up.
When we agreed to do this, we knew we needed $100,000 at least. Between Messiah’s Mandate and we gave the first $10,000. And it did not look like the 90,000 was coming very quickly. And then, in late October, over a 10-day period, all the funds came in. God has provided.
You might wonder, why in the world are you doing this?
I saw on social media that a very famous minister chastised a friend of mine. He told him that he was obsessing over ministers who fall into sexual sin with people in their congregations. That seems to be a theme. Many people in authority simply don’t care. Personally, I cannot help but care for victims. When young women are manipulated by powerful men, I can’t be silent. I’m sorry. That’s who God made me to be. It’s not courage. It hurts me to be quiet.
Someone might say, it sounds like you have prejudged the situation. No, not at all. I’m speaking in generalities—things that we are all seeing come to light in many different corners of the church. Regarding IHOPKC, all we have done is raise the funds and hire an investigator. I will have no voice in the result of the investigation or the recommendations for discipline—that is left to the investigator and the Pastoral Recommendation Team. The responsibility of the five of us overseers is simply to make sure the process goes forward.
Please pray for all of us. I doubt the enemy is happy about this. And I know there are more than a few humans—yes, believers—who distrust the process. But I can guarantee you that this process is entirely impartial.
What will the results be?
I believe that a few good things can come out of this that could be life-changing for both potential perpetrators and victims.
1. What if every church and congregation had a clear protocol to report all allegations of sexual abuse? This process would not demand that a victim go to the Pastor or the elders—but a third party. Why third-party? Sadly, sometimes, the pastor or one of the elders is the alleged perpetrator. If every congregation has a trusted third party that would receive the allegations, victims would feel safe coming forward.
2. If potential perpetrators understood that victims would not be silent and there was a straightforward way for them to bring forth their allegations, they would think twice. This would not necessarily result in a change of their character, but it would protect potential victims.
3. The more there is an emphasis on integrity, the more young leaders will embrace integrity. When I graduated from Bible school, I was full of myself. I knew that I was God’s gift to the world. But I joined a congregation and movement (that would become Tikkun) that emphasized: character, plural of leaders, standards for leaders, humility, covenant relationships between leaders, etc. This helped frame me. If I had landed somewhere else where they were only focused on my gifting and not my character, it scares me who I could have become.
OK, my friends. Have a great Sabbath.
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