Four more pastors at The Meeting House have been accused of sexual misconduct, two of which have been convicted of sex crimes.
Just one week after The Meeting House former pastor Bruxy Cavey was arrested and charged with sexual assault, the Canadian megachurch's leadership reported that up to four of its former pastors were accused of sexual abuse. Two of the four pastors were convicted of sex crimes.
The Meeting House held a church town hall-style meeting last week, during which church leadership reported that a third-party victims' advocate hired by the Canadian megachuch in March received 38 reports of sexual misconduct that were unreported to the congregation. Most cases occurred years ago.
"We are deeply sorry for the abuse and harm that has occurred," The Meeting House Board of Overseers member Jennifer Hryniw said during the town hall meeting on June 7, Religion News Service reported. "We are deeply sorry for how many of these stories have been handled in the past. We continue to be humbled to now be the stewards of those stories."
Victims Advocate Collected Stories of Abuse at the Hands of Pastors at The Meeting House
Hryniw said that the Canadian megachurch "owns this" and are now looking to address issues of abuse by leadership at The Meeting House. Reports of the sexual misconduct allegatiosn were submitted to victims' advocate Melodie Bisell, who had been tasked by the Canadian Megachurch to receive and document each sexual misconduct case and advocate for the victims, Anabaptist World reported.
Hryniw said that the reports they received represent allegations and disclosures linked primarily to clergy sexual misconduct. She added that reports also related to the alleged harrassment and abuse by four former pastors, which include Cavey, who had already been arrested and charged with sexual assault, and Tim Day, who served as senior pastor at the Canadian megachurch for 14 years.
Bisell reported that she received stories about other leaders and staff who performed sexual misconduct, adultery, and "troubling" emotional abuse on their victims. Hryniw admitted that they heard stories of "brave individuals who tried to address the culture of immorality in the past," who also "felt shut down and alienated by the church."
Canadian Megachurch Forms Subcommittees To Address Misconduct Reports
To address the misconduct reports on The Meeting House's former pastors, the Canadian megachurch established a subcommittee to respond to every case of misconduct. Another subcommittee was lso established to update church policies to outline clear guidelines on accountability, supervision, and best practices in dealing with sexual misconduct and abuse. Hryniw acknowledged that in the past, The Meeting House had focused on the offender before dealing with the victim.
Aside from Cavey and Day, two other pastors who were accused of sexual misconduct were David Churchill, a former youth pastor who was charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation in 2014. Another accsued is former youth pastor Kieran Nadoo, who was arrested and charged following a large-scale child pornography investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police back in 2012.
In 2021, CTV News reported that Naidoo was charged with sexual exploitation after it was found that between 2002 and 2005, he had "established a rapport with a young female parishioner" and later engaged in "inappropriate sexual comments" in online conversations and sent the girl "explicit videos and invited her to engage in sexual activity with him."
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