The woman who was reportedly publicly shamed at John MacArthur’s church is telling her side of the story.
In 2002, Eileen Gray was turned out of her church for deciding to separate from her husband who had been accused — and was later convicted — of aggravated child abuse, corporeal injury to a child, and child abuse. When Gray was shamed, she had already reported her husband’s abuse of her and her children to the church leadership, although not to the police. During her separation, her husband reportedly used suicidal ideation to coerce her, and she had to get a restraining order due to stalking and continue abuse.
Gray says the church leadership shamed her publicly, and subjected her to abusive “counseling.” She was told she needed to model Jesus’ suffering to her children, and that she should welcome her husband home and submit to his leadership as the head of the home.
During this time, she was counseled by an associate pastor whose counsel was abusive, and contrary to even California law regarding abuse of children. She was bullied to accept “biblical mandates” and was accused of making up the abuse she’d suffered at her husband’s hands. Julie Roys of the Roys Report writes:
“For all this time, Eileen has remained silent about her ordeal out of concern for her minor children. She added that she feared backlash from Christians in her community, who revere MacArthur and GCC.But now, Eileen’s children are adults. And for the sake of vulnerable women and children at GCC—and at the many churches and institutions influenced by MacArthur—she’s speaking now. Despite being mandated by California law to report child abuse, GCC never reported David Gray’s abuse to authorities, according to Nancy Nelson, a retired Los Angeles Police Department Detective (LAPD) who investigated David Gray’s case. Nelson told The Roys Report that Eileen Gray reported David Gray’s abuse to LAPD in 2003, leading to David’s trial and conviction in 2005. In 2004, two staff pastors at GCC were written up by LAPD for their alleged mishandling of David Gray’s abuse. Carey Hardy was charged with two misdemeanors—failing to report child abuse and intimidating a witness—Eileen Gray. The other pastor, Bill Shannon, who currently leads GCC’s biblical counseling ministry, was not charged but ordered to appear at a city attorney hearing. Court records show Hardy’s case was “dismissed or not prosecuted” in February 2005.
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