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James's sermon - and a letter detailing the situation for the congregation's more than 2,500 members in Northern Virginia's affluent suburbs - comes as the church reels from the recent discovery that as many as a dozen teenage girls may have suffered sexual, emotional and spiritual abuse at the hands of a youth director who worked there from 2001 to 2005. 'Some of you felt uncared for, neglected and even blamed for this abuse. 'We failed as leaders to extend the compassion and mercy that you needed,' James said, publicly acknowledging the church's failings for the first time. A row of young women sat in a back pew as James apologized for just recently learning that their ordeal was 'far more devastating and horrific than we had imagined.' and paused before giving one of the most difficult sermons of his life (.pdf).įramed by the light coming through the sanctuary's huge windows, James spoke of sexual abuse by a youth director, of the church's shortcomings and of the tormenting darkness that has been eating away at the church for nearly six years. Pastor Peter James stood before his congregation at Vienna Presbyterian Church. I'll try to keep this as short as possible, but we do need to start with the opening scene:

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Maybe this was a job for professional religion writers? In other words, it is a religion story that is hollow when it comes to religion and, in some cases, it ignores major details or gets them wrong. However, after reading all 4,000-plus words of this report and cannot figure out why the editors believed that the report needed to be so vague about the role of religion in this crisis and the beliefs of the people involved. It is also about the leaders of a wealthy, powerful church in the high-rent Northern Virginia suburbs outside of Washington, D.C., and their struggles to realize the seriousness of the scandal that quietly unfolded in their midst. The story is, of course, about sex and, to be specific, sexual abuse of teens by an adult. This was certainly the case with the recent story that ran under the headline, 'Vienna Presbyterian Church seeks forgiveness, redemption in wake of abuse scandal.' They said he drew them in as a trusted mentor, friend and Christian role model before professing his love, saying that he wanted to marry them, imploring them to keep the relationship secret and then progressively increasing sexual contact as they approached adulthood.In this day of tight budgets and a shrinking supply of space in major newspapers, it says something when the editors of the Washington Post devote a giant chunk of A1 turf to a story about a church controversy. But Vienna Presbyterian leaders hope that shining light on their failings will lead to redemption, education and healing.Ĭoncerned church elders approached The Washington Post recently as details of abuse began to emerge privately, and they have cooperated with a two-month Post investigation.įive women and their families said in separate interviews that former youth director Eric DeVries infiltrated their lives and manipulated the girls into what they thought were mutual romantic relationships.

Vienna presbyterian church how to#

It is the kind of tragedy that has affected churches across the country, and there’s no formula for how to deal with it.

Vienna presbyterian church full#

The breadth of the accusations and the nature of them have shocked the relatively staid congregation and laid bare the kind of damage that can result from a combination of secretive predation, blind trust and a desire to move on without a full exploration of what really happened.

James’s sermons – and a letter detailing the situation for the congregation’s more than 2,500 members in Northern Virginia’s affluent suburbs - comes as the church reels from the recent discovery that as many as a dozen teenage girls may have suffered sexual, emotional and spiritual abuse at the hands of a youth director who worked there from 2001 to 2005. “Some of you felt uncared for, neglected and even blamed for this abuse. “We failed as leaders to extend the compassion and mercy that you needed,” James said, publicly acknowledging the church’s failings for the first time. Framed by the light coming through the sanctuary’s huge windows, James spoke of sexual abuse by a youth director, of the church’s shortcomings and of the tormenting darkness that has been eating away at the church for nearly six years.Ī row of young women sat in a back pew as James apologized for just recently learning that their ordeal was “far more devastating and horrific than we had imagined.” Pastor Peter James stood before his congregation at Vienna Presbyterian Church last Sunday and paused before giving one of the most difficult sermons of his life.