A Tennessee pastor was showered in praise this past weekend after confessing to the sexual assault of a minor. Yes, you read that right: Andy Savage, pastor and co-founder of Highpoint Church in Memphis, vaguely confessed his sins onstage (and YouTube livestream), and churchgoers leapt to their feet. Watch it for yourself, if you’ve got a strong stomach.
Savage came under fire last week after Jules Woodson wrote a blog accusing him of oral rape in 1998, when she was 17 and he was a youth pastor in her hometown of The Woodlands, Texas. Woodson says she decided to go public after Savage ignored an email she’d sent him last month.
On December 1, 2017, the following email was sent by Jules Woodson to Andy Savage, co-founder and teaching pastor at Highpoint Church in Memphis, Tennessee. The church has three locations throughout the Memphis area.
From: Jules Woodson .
Date: 12/1/17 9:21 AM (GMT-07:00)
To: Andy Savage
Subject: Do you remember?
Do you remember that night that you were supposed to drive me home from church and instead drove me to a deserted back road and sexually assaulted me?
Do you remember how you acted like you loved me and cared about me in order for me to cooperate in such acts, only to run out of the vehicle later and fall to your knees begging for forgiveness and for me not to tell anyone what had just happened?
Well, I REMEMBER.
#me-too
In his public apology, Pastor Savage, now married and a father of five, claimed he thought the situation had been “dealt with” at the time, as though he was surprised that a victim of sexual assault hadn’t just gotten over it and moved on, like he did. As brave as Savage’s mea culpa may seem to his followers at Highpoint Church, it’s important to note two things that make it clear that Savage is no hero. First, the good pastor only went public when he had no choice. He ignored Woodson’s email for over a month.
Ms. Woodson thought he would respond. She thought he might apologize. More than a month later, when there was still no reply, she decided to go public with her story.
Secondly, the statute of limitations on his crimes has long run out, so he faces zero consequences in the justice system. Woodson is absolutely disgusted by it all.
At least his publisher pulled his book, though. At least.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t Highpoint’s first sex abuse scandal. In late 2016, another worship leader was outed as a convicted statutory rapist.
Friday, Jan 12, 2018 · 4:37:44 PM +00:00 · JessicaSutherland
CNN reports that Pastor Savage was put on leave Thursday evening.
Highpoint Church issued a leave of absence for Savage to begin immediately, Chris Conlee, the church's lead pastor, said in a statement Thursday night.
Conlee said the church is asking "a qualified, independent, third-party organization to do a full audit of our church processes and Andy's ministry."
"We want to maintain trust in both Andy and our church leadership that we are not only doing things right, but we are doing right things."
Conlee said that when the audit is finished, "we will continue to support Andy and his family."
It gets worse: Savage appeared on conservative talk radio yesterday where he spent over an hour chuckling about the allegations with Ben Ferguson.
