It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.
CS Lewis
We’re not ready to check out of the Heartbreak Hotel yet because there’s still more to understand about the tragedy at Bellevue Baptist Church. What we fear is that Bellevue's lax attitude toward having a pedophile on staff is from some sort of playbook. Now that egregious situations like this one are receiving national attention, the rules of the game have changed! We hope congregants will start to protest the poor handling of pedophile pastors.
Let’s go through this disgusting situation one more time. Paul Williams confessed to SEXUALLY MOLESTING his adolescent son for at least ONE YEAR (maybe even a year and a half). As we stated yesterday, we don’t understand why the time frame is not more precise. That is troublesome… Williams claims that he became convicted of his sin and stopped. He supposedly asked for his son’s forgiveness and never engaged in this egregious sexual activity again.
The guilt must have really been getting to Paul Williams, who claims to have been molested himself when he was young. He informed his wife of his sin against his son and consulted with a former Bellevue staff member who had retired.
Paul Williams allegedly claims he had been checking with his son on a yearly basis regarding whether everything was O.K. between them. It appears the son said things were fine.
The tipping point seems to have occurred in November 2005, which happens to be the month Adrian Rogers passed away. During that pivotal month, Williams was informed by his son that the problem HAD NOT been resolved. In fact, the son told his father that he and his family needed to distance themselves for a time.
Williams’ son (who was likely in his mid-twenties) and his wife began seeking help from a psychologist who was not affiliated with Bellevue Baptist Church. This is when others outside of the tight circle began to discover that Paul Williams had raped his son when he was an adolescent.
Toward the end of 2005, Williams’ son and his wife, along with Paul Williams and his wife, sought professional counseling together. It was during this time that other members of Bellevue began to learn of the illicit activity that took place seventeen years prior. At least ten people (including Paul Williams and his wife) knew of this “moral failure” prior to December 7, 2006.
It was on that anniversary of D-Day that Williams’ son met with Pastor Steve Gaines, along with two friends/witnesses (Matthew 18), to inquire as to why his father was still on the church staff in light of scriptural qualifications for ministers. Williams’ son obviously believed his father had disqualified himself from serving in the pastorate. We are VERY PROUD of Paul Williams' son for having he courage to come forward. Only then can true healing take place.
Paul was placed on a leave of absence on December 15, 2006, pending the outcome of an investigation into the matter. The Bellevue congregation was informed on December 17, 2006. Imagine how these members must have felt… They were probably still mourning the death of Adrian Rogers which happened on November 15, 2005. Now tragedy suddenly struck again! A little over a month later, Paul Williams was terminated without severance, although he had been on paid administrative leave.
In the years that followed his crime, Paul Williams seems to have been concerned about only two things: staying out of jail and remaining on staff at Bellevue. Actually, he really had only one concern and that was HIMSELF! Neither he nor anyone who found out about his illicit activity seems to have cared about the safety and well-being of the Bellevue congregation.
What’s worse, Paul Williams’ position sometimes involved counseling congregants on sensitive matters. Some of those whom he counseled wondered why he would ask them probing and provocative questions. When some of them learned he had molested his son, they felt violated and requested professional counseling. Upon reflection of their prior conversations with Williams, some church members felt as though they had been revictimized because of the questions Paul Williams asked.
When Steve Gaines found out about this situation over six months before Williams was put on administrative leave, we believe he and the others who knew put the church at great risk by allowing a pedophile pastor to remain on staff. We wonder what the church’s insurance company now thinks about their poor decision. Imagine Bellevue's tremendous exposure… Can you even comprehend what would have happened if Williams had been molesting children at Bellevue and the church had been sued?
With regard to Pastor Adrian Rogers, everyone likely wants to know whether he knew that Paul Williams had molested his son. After all, they had served together at Bellevue for over 30 years! Based on reliable information that has been obtained, he DID NOT know.
Tomorrow, we will wrap up this extremely sad segment of the Bellevue tragedy and check out of Heartbreak Hotel. However, there’s much more to discuss about Bellevue, so plan to stay with us in Memphis for AT LEAST another week.
We leave you with a touching song by Elvis. We hope he had a good relationship with his only child although it didn’t last very long because of Elvis' untimely death at the age of 42.
I’LL REMEMBER YOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRY0zVbq1a4