“To be a minister means above all to become powerless, or in more precise terms, to speak with our powerlessness to the condition of powerlessness which is so keenly felt but so seldom expressed by the people of our age.” Henri Nouwen

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Special thanks to Anglican Watch. You sure know how to find “stuff.”

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The past posts on Tenth Presbyterian Chuch.

My! How a few years have changed the view and adjectives of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. On New Year’s Eve of 2018, I wrote What In the World is Going On With the Lawsuit at 10th Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia. I wrote about Phil Snyder’s excommunication for simply asking some difficult questions about the abuse of young men by the music minister and the alleged rape of a young woman by a pastor. Snyder didn’t take it lying down and began a protest in front of the church. He also sued Liam Goligher, and so it went. The church then threatened to sue him for libel. Liam Goligher was behind this effort, and his “tiptoe through the tulips” partner, Susan Elzey, allegedly assisted.

Hoo boy, did I get in trouble for that post. TWW was inundated with messages that Snyder was nuts, and I was accused of being a third-rate journalist. I always agree with the journalism part. I would categorize myself as a nag dedicated to bringing to light abuse in the church and doing something about it.

Then, in December of 2023, I wrote (Update) What in the World Happened to Pastor Liam Goligher, Pastor Carroll Wynne, and Others at Tenth Presbyterian Church? My friend at Anglican Watch had found evidence that Liam Goligher and his good buddy and deaconess, Susan Elzey, were convicted of having some sexual encounter in a public park. Yikes!

At the same time, GRACE investigated the church and found further evidence of hinky behavior. Here is a link to that GRACE report hosted on the Anglican Watch site. From my post:

Carroll Wynne was the Associate Minister for Pastoral Care. He was also supposed to be the pastoral liaison with the GRACE team. Unfortunately, he was investigated, and things didn’t go well. GRACE asked for him to be removed from that position and would recommend that he no longer be a pastor.

What are some of his actions that caused this to be written?

The section on Wynne begins on page 44. He slapped the buttocks of students, was accused of having porn on his computer during a church event, placed his hand on the shoulder of a mother to subdue her and who told him to remove his hand, and he did not report an instance of child porn (which is abuse) when it was said to him.

GRACE not only had him removed as Tenth’s liaison to them but suggested some church disciplinary measure, which, in his case, was a firm “See ya later.”

There were others mentioned as potential problems in the report.

Then there were the others…Read the report:

Carl Staico
Royson Duvin
Lucas Saenz
Pat Canavan
Unnamed Offenders 1 and 2.
Bruce Garner
I saved Garner’s name for the end. Carroll Wynne wrote a letter to the judge and asked for leniency for Garner, which can be seen on page 21. This demonstrates that Wynne had no understanding, or even worse, understood but defended an abuser. This hurt the victims who testified. Who were the elders/trustees who observed all this and pretended all was well?

Finally, I wrote on December 10, 2023 (Update) Liam Goligher Resigns! Guess Those “Personal Conduct Citations” Were Spot on. I was personally relieved regarding this because Goligher paparazzi were claiming that the encounter in the park was merely a mistaken understanding of what was going on,

This just in. Liam Goligher, Pastor of Philadelphia’s Historic Tenth Presbyterian Church, Resigns. “Liam Goligher gone nine years after pleading guilty to “personal conduct” charges in Lancaster PA city park.” According to Ministry Watch:

The administrator of Tenth Presbyterian Church, Jim Hess, provided the following statement to MinistryWatch:

Dr. Liam Goligher resigned as Senior Minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church on Friday, December 1, 2023. This has been difficult news for the Tenth community. The formal dissolution of the pastoral relationship will be conducted according to the polity of the Presbyterian Church in America. Tenth Church has no further information regarding the 2014 citations of Dr. Goligher and Susan Elzey other than what is publicly available. Our denomination also has a process for addressing questions which the citations could raise. Concerns related to Dr. Goligher will be referred to the Philadelphia Presbytery and those pertaining to Susan Elzey to Tenth’s Session.

Susan Elzey’s name is blanked out on Tenth’s website.

This is just a short post to say the following:

• There is no difference between a citation and an arrest in the eye of the church. This citation is given for sexual activity not singing hymns too loudly in a city park. It’s time to accept that Goligher did not love his church enough to tell them the truth yet demanded such transparency from others.
• It is also probable that Goligher pursues risky behavior. Few people would choose to break their wedding vows by having sex in a city park.

Fast forward to May 2024.

Carroll Wynne decides to resign from the church.

He sure hung on despite a myriad of allegations in the GRACE report. It must have been the benefits. Anglican watch posted Update: Alleged child sex abuser Carroll Wynne resigns from Tenth Presbyterian.

The GRACE report identifies a slew of ugly allegations against Carroll Wynne, including:

Sexual abuse of minors.
Keeping pornography on church computers.
Inappropriate and sexualized comments.
Failing to report the distribution of child pornography among church members.
Assault and battery.
Spiritual and relational abuse.

Anglican Watch (AW) points out an additional issue with Wynne. Did he run interference for a pedophile within Tenth Presby?

One particularly troubling incident cited in the GRACE report was Carroll Wynne’s effort to run interference for convicted pedophile and Tenth member George Garner. In his letter, visible on page 21 of the GRACE report, Carroll Wynne told the court:

During the last three years I have known Bruce Garner as one of his pastors and fellow elder at our church. As he was taking up duties as a leader, we would meet from time to time to share about specific concerns in our fellowship and how we may pray, alleviate financial stresses, and be present with them in their spiritual struggles. Bruce has a compassionate heart and is knowledgeable of the Bible. It is why this contradiction in his behavior is so difficult to understand.

Due to his age and weakened health, I would plead for mercy from the court in his sentencing. His shame and guilt weigh heavily upon him and his family, who have stood beside him as do we as church fellowship.

Yet the GRACE report reveals that Carroll Wynne scarcely knew Garner.

Yikes! Then, he attempted to “rehabilitate” Garner so he could return to church after his release.

Even worse, Tenth, at least at the time of the GRACE report, was attempting to rehabilitate Garner, with an apparent goal of allowing him to return to the church once his incarceration is over. And Garner has permission to worship at another area PCA church, thus putting youth at that church at heightened risk of abuse.

AW sounded a bit like Dee when they said:

PCA, what on this green earth are you thinking? Have you lost your minds?

AW included his resignation letter.

AW asks:

Why is Carroll Wynne still around? The findings of child sexual abuse in the GRACE report warranted that he be immediately banned from church property and referred to law enforcement.

I would love to hear this excuse from one of the elders.

AW has some advice for parents:

In other words, corruption at Tenth has gone on far too long. It is time to clean house, remove corrupt persons, repent, and make restitution. Part of that is reporting abuse to law enforcement.

Until these things happen, Tenth is NOT “Exalting His Name, Proclaiming His Word,” as falsely claimed on its website. And we urge parents NOT to bring their children to a church that covers-up child sexual abuse and refuses to fulfill its legal obligations as a mandated reporter.

Why is Liam Goligher finally getting the boot from the Philly Presbytery (PCA?)

Remember that old saw: “You can’t fire me; I quit?” AW posted Adulterous perjurer Liam Goligher suspended by PCA’s Philadelphia Presbytery. This was written on May 25, 2024. But the dude quit in December 2023.

The Presbytery called him contumacious, a great word that, in PCA terminology, appears to mean “a refusal to repent” or a “refusal to cooperate with lawful proceedings.” I take this to mean that Liam Goligher said “adios” in December and then refused to cooperate with the Presbytery getting their two cents in on the matter. The following is from a statement found at AW.

The accused objectively hindered the proceedings of this court, and acted against the peace, unity and purity of the Church, and the honor and majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the King and Head thereof.

Because of TE Goligher’s refusal to comply with the lawful proceedings of this court in defiance of BCO 32-6b, these proceedings are hindered and continuing without due repentance from TE Goligher for his contumacy poses a serious risk to the wellbeing of witnesses and victims named in these proceedings.

In accord with BCO 34-4, TE Liam Goligher is:

• “Immediately suspended from the sacraments and his office for his contumacy.”

This censure:

• “Shall be made public.”
• “Shall in no case be removed until the offender has not only repented of his contumacy, but has also given satisfaction in relation to the charges against him.”

Almighty God, we humbly ask that you would follow this act of discipline with your blessing.

Executed this day, May 20, 2024

Apparently, this is a slap upside the head. If he doesn’t cooperate, they will excommunicate him. The wheels of the Presbytery sure roll slowly. It would seem to me that at this point, Goligher doesn’t care a whit about Philly Presby’s threats.

At times like these, I would love to get a drink with Goligher and ask how a lifetime of toeing the PCA line ends on a note like this. He has preached repentance, but he doesn’t appear repentant. So I want to hear from some of you what you think is happening in his head.

And from the legal front comes a quiz:

What is wrong with this statement from a lawyer who wrote a note to AW? Why did AW write the last two lines?

Earlier, an attorney for Goligher untruthfully claimed our discovery that he had engaged in sex in a public park with parishioner Susan Elzey was false, defamatory, and, laughably, “solacious.”

We can assure all involved that our assertions are not only accurate, but at no point in time have we attempted to offer comfort or support to perjuring pastor Liam Goligher.

OK. We’re all caught up on Tenth for now. On the other hand, the mess at  Park Street Church continues and grows. When I attended PSC, friends who moved to the Philly area went to Tenth. I never understood since the theology was different. However, both churches used to have the words historical and venerable applied to them. Sadly, we only apply historical unless they get sold to developers for impressive condos, as one TWW wag considered.