CHRISTIAN BREAKING NEWS: Who is Don Logan? Teaching Pastor, Eternal Church, Fort Mill, SC Taking ‘Time to Rest’ After Sex Offense Disclosure [#DonLogan #PastorDonLogan]
Don Logan (TAKING TIME TO REST)
Teaching Pastor
Preacher. Teacher. Husband and father. Loves to fish, Ohio State, and God’s Word.
Pastor Don Logan of Eternal Church will step aside until at least September following news that he is a registered sex offender, the Fort Mill church announced Sunday.
During services Sunday morning, Discipleship Pastor Jacob Collins and Elder Lorne James explained the pastor’s sex crime, the decision to hire him and the church’s failure to plan if his past was ever revealed.
They also announced that Pastor Don will enter a “time of rest,” citing the attention surrounding his criminal record as well as his previous cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Collins stated that until at least September 1, the teaching pastor “will not be preaching, shepherding staff, or having administrative responsibilities.”
Pastor Don did not preach on Sunday.
Collins read the following statement from Pastor Don and his wife Heather:
“We are taking time to heal and seek emotional restoration and peace while we discern if we can bear the cost of continued ministry for me, my family and the church.”
The discipleship pastor and elder both reaffirmed the church’s acceptance of Pastor Don as its teaching pastor.
They expressed their hope that he will stay for many years at the growing nondenominational church on O’Henry Road.
The pastor’s past has been mentioned on non-local websites in recent months, according to Collins, but the Fort Mill Sun broke the story locally on Tuesday.
The story revolved around a local couple who were attending Eternal until they found about Pastor Don’s background and quit.
Collins addressed the sex offense directly and confirmed the specifics during worship on Sunday.
He stated that Pastor Don pleaded guilty to a felony in Indiana 27 years ago for sexual misconduct with a child, a 14-year-old girl.
He was 29 years old when he committed the crime.
Don received a 3-year sentence and served 18 months before being freed on parole.
“During his time in prison, Pastor Don had a profound encounter with Jesus, repented and was transformed,” according to Collins.
Don was obliged to be registered on an Indiana sex offenders registry for a specific number of years, which has long since expired.
However, in April, the pastor registered in South Carolina after finding that it was legally needed.
After 10 years at Eternal, the church has only recently addressed the crime with the congregation.
“This information has triggered past wounds of abuse and eroded trust in church leadership,” according to Collins.
Collins stated that the church is facing numerous questions from the congregation.
Was trust broken?
Can trust be restored?
Is Pastor Don qualified to continue preaching?.
Are the elders qualified to continue leading?
He stated that he would be unable to answer them all day Sunday.
During his address to the congregation, Elder Lorne James stated that Pastor Don visited the church a decade ago and proactively informed them of his conviction.
However, church officials did not share his conviction with the rest of the voting members.
James asked members for forgiveness for failing to see the disclosure coming.
“We should have seen it coming. I am sorry that we did not. We should have been ready to make sure that if at some point if it does come up in the media, that it wasn’t such a surprise. This inaction has been exploited by us not being proactive. It’s allowed Satan to have a foothold here. And I want that to end, and I want that to end now, I repent that we failed in this oversight. I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry. I am not going to let it continue.”
– Elder Lorne James
Still, he stated that the church believes in redemption and forgiveness.
According to James, Pastor Don’s teaching has had “tons” of good fruit at the church.
“I have a hard time with these societal Scarlet letters that people put on (them.) It breaks my heart that the laws in this state are such that Don had go and register with the State of South Carolina. I hate it. I don’t like what it was done to his family, I don’t like the way it has hurt my brother and sister, and to see it used against them. This has always been fully adjudicated in the legal system, it was in public record. It was Don’s story to share.”
“It should have been a beautiful story of redemption to be told (and it) gets turned into something that is to be ashamed of.”
– Elder Lorne James
The reaction from people connected to the church or pastor has been mixed, with a variety of comments.
NEWS SOURCE & LINKS:
Fort Mill Sun
Who is Don Logan? Teaching Pastor, Eternal Church TAKING ‘TIME TO REST’ AFTER SEX OFFENSE DISCLOSURE | Christian Breaking News!