Tim Somers, a youth pastor with Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church in North Carolina, was fired from his position after he was accused of participating in inappropriate conduct with former college students at Oaks Church in Texas, the place he served as an intern and workers member greater than 10 years in the past.
“Recently, allegations were brought forward about Tim Somers’ conduct while serving at a church in Texas approximately 12 years ago,” a spokesperson for Elevation Church informed The Christian Publish Monday.
“As soon as Elevation learned about these allegations, we reached out to local Texas authorities and immediately placed Tim on leave. No charges have been filed. But Tim understands how impactful these allegations are for his role in ministry and we have agreed he will no longer serve on staff.”
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In a press release to CP Monday, Pink Oaks Police Division Chief of Police Garland Wolf confirmed that no expenses have but been filed towards Somers, however he has been named of their ongoing investigation of “serious allegations that can or will impact a person’s life for many years.”
“We are still attempting to narrow down the timeline of events, the actual location of the offense(s), who may have been involved as suspects, and who may have been involved as victims. Further, the investigation is being conducted to determine what and if anything occurred on church property or in the jurisdiction of Red Oak, Texas,” Wolf stated.
CP reached out to Somers for touch upon the allegations. A response is pending.
The investigation of Somers is linked to final month’s firing of Jerry Nickerson from his position as the coed pastor of Hope Fellowship’s Frisco West Campus after he voluntarily confessed to participating in “inappropriate contact with a minor” 10 years earlier at Oaks Church.
Shortly after Nickerson’s confession, Oaks Church confirmed in an e mail despatched to congregants on Jan. 11 that Nickerson’s abuse was linked to his time with the congregation.
“This week, we became aware of a situation that was disclosed by a former youth ministry intern who served at Oaks Church,” stated an e mail to the church from pastors Chris and Cara Railey.
“[T]his former intern, who was serving as youth pastor at another church, disclosed to that church’s leadership that he had inappropriate contact with a minor who attended Oaks Youth at the time,” the e-mail continued. “To ensure the matter is properly investigated, we quickly reported the matter to the Red Oak Police Department.”
Lt. Jason Esquibel, public info officer for the Pink Oak Police Division, informed The Dallas Morning Information final month {that a} consultant from Oaks Church made a report back to his division. Following Nickerson’s confession and their Jan. 11 e mail to Oaks Church congregants, pastors Chris and Cara Railey shared extra concerning the abuse allegations throughout a worship service on Jan. 19.
“We were devastated to learn this. Since that time (Nickerson’s confession) additional students have come forward to share their experiences from the same time period approximately 10 years ago. The experiences they shared with us range from inappropriate text messages to inappropriate contact between youth leaders and youth students and we immediately reported this to the authorities,” Cara Railey stated. “To the Red Oak Police Department, we are very grateful for the thoroughness and the dedication that the police department has shown as we’ve given them this information.”
An Oaks Church spokesperson confirmed with CP that Somers served as an intern on the church from 2009-2011 after which labored on workers from 2011 to 2013.
Following the extra allegations after Nickerson’s confession, a supply who requested to not be recognized informed CP that Somers had been accused of inappropriate conduct and the police had been notified. Survivor advocate Amy Smith reported final Thursday that Somers had been fired for allegations of sexual abuse.
Whereas noting that they anticipate to maneuver ahead with their case quickly, Chief Wolf made it clear that the investigation stays ongoing and they are going to be “thorough.”
“Mr. Tim Somers’s name has come up but no charges against him have been filed at this time, and as previously stated, this is an ongoing investigation,” he stated.
“Our detectives are working and have been working diligently to gather facts and statements to further our investigation which we hope will lead to an ultimate resolution of the allegations against several persons. I cannot speak to what information the Oaks Church is putting out to their congregation or the public or where they have derived their information,” he added.
“These are serious allegations that can or will impact a person’s life for many years. We are doing what we need to do to seek justice for the victims, prosecute the offenders, and exonerate the innocent as maybe the case. We are scheduling meetings with persons who have come forward and we are conducting interviews and taking statements from those who want to cooperate with our investigation. We hope to move forward soon.”
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