The Unlovely Truth

Latest Episodes:

The Best and Worst Part of Church: Community S6E15 Jul 16, 2024

Show notes

I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime here at The Unlovely Truth. Security issues are hiding in every church - do you know where to look for them? I’m your host, church safety coach Lori Morrison. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission here is to find actionable steps that will make our churches sanctuaries of physical, emotional, and spiritual safety. To give you tools to help make that happen in your church, we’re going to investigate real crime stories from real churches. I’ve got three cases for us to investigate today, so let’s dive right in.

Highlights from this episode include:

Woman stalked by a man from church
Gateway Church allegedly covered up other abuse
Man facing charges after spraying water on protesters at his church

Proverbs 27:12 GNT

Sensible people will see trouble coming and avoid it,

but an unthinking person will walk right into it and regret it later.

I’m not doing any victim-blaming here. I just love quoting Proverbs because they state things in such a memorable way. There are so many verses in the Bible that show God’s compassion for people who have been taken advantage of by others. He doesn’t blame them and neither do I. But I do want us to think about being proactive rather than reactive when it comes to safety in our churches.

How many times does a man have to behave inappropriately in a church setting before we say enough is enough? I’ve heard plenty of stories about confronting women for how they dress, or actions from their past but what about confronting inappropriately aggressive behavior in men? I’m also not slamming men. Some of the Godliest people I know are faithful and upright men. But the vast majority of the time they are the perpetrators in the cases we discuss. Let’s be more sensible like Proverbs says and avoid the trouble they cause by confronting the behavior they display.

It’s time to stop making excuses. It’s time to elevate the protection of innocents. It’s time to speak up and it has to start with the people in the pews. We’ve given decades to the people in positions of power to get it right, and too many of them have failed us. We need true shepherds, not shifty influencers. Not flashy speakers. Not charming snakes. Are you ready to demand that leaders in your church be true shepherds?

Let me know what you think of this episode! Send me an email at lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have hard, but impactful conversations that strengthen physical, emotional, and spiritual safety at the intersection of faith and true crime.

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.

Ways you can support the work of The Unlovely Truth:

Share the episode

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.

Church stalker

More trouble for Gateway Church

Man assaulted protesters

Create In Us a Clean Heart: S6E14 Jul 09, 2024

Show notes

I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime here at The Unlovely Truth. Security issues are hiding in every church - do you know where to look for them? I’m your host, church safety advocate Lori Morrison. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission here is to find actionable steps that will make our churches sanctuaries of physical, emotional, and spiritual safety. To give you tools to help make that happen in your church, we’re going to investigate real crime stories from real churches. I’ve got three cases for us to investigate today, so let’s dive right in.

Highlights from this episode include:

Watch out for what gets posted on your church’s website
Church employee arrested on child porn charges
The Episcopal Church gets it right

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.

Ways you can support the work of The Unlovely Truth:

Share the episode

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.

Church website publishes application for militia

Church worker arrested for possessing child porn

Go Episcopalian Church!

Hebrews 4:12-13 (CEV)

God's word is alive and powerful! It is sharper than any double-edged sword.

His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow,

until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. Nothing is hidden from God!

He sees through everything, and we will have to tell him the truth.

I was so happy to happy a good story to share today! Even so, it occurred to me that each of our three cases had something in common. Each one pointed to the heart condition of each of our main characters. In the first two cases, it was a heart full of evil intent disguised by an association with a religious group. In the last, it was a man with a heart bent towards justice and a willingness to actually do something.

I’d like to think that God’s word is the deciding factor here. His Word itself describes the power that it has, even the power to discover what is in our hearts. We can’t know for sure what is in these people’s hearts, but God can, and we can certainly evaluate the fruit they are producing. If you are seeing the kind of fruit our first two cases brought to light, I hope you’ll speak up. That will show amazingly good fruit being produced in your life,

Let me know what you thought of this episode! Send me an email a lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have hard, but impactful conversations that strengthen physical, emotional, and spiritual safety at the intersection of faith and true crime.

Truth, Lies, and Insurance: S6E13 Jul 02, 2024

Show notes

I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime here at The Unlovely Truth. Security issues are hiding in every church - do you know where to look for them? I’m your host, church safety advocate Lori Morrison. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission here is to find actionable steps that will make our churches sanctuaries of physical, emotional, and spiritual safety. To give you tools to help make that happen in your church, we’re going to investigate real crime stories from real churches. I’ve got three cases for us to investigate today, so let’s dive right in.

Highlights from this episode include:

A very practical problem churches can encounter when they aren’t doing to enough to respond to and prevent abuse by leaders and volunteers
An artist behaving badly still has works displayed by Catholic Church
Why was a man charged with multiple violent felonies still listed as a church staff member 5 months later?

Ephesians 5:1-3 NIrV

You are the children that God dearly loves. So follow his example. Lead a life of love, just as Christ did. He loved us. He gave himself up for us. He was a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God. There should not be even a hint of sexual sin among you.

Don’t do anything impure. And do not always want more and more.

These are not the things God’s holy people should do.

Paul spent chapter 4 describing how Christians should live our lives. He continues this in chapter 5, and really boils it down here. God loves us enough to die for is in the person of Christ, and that should be enough to make us want to be like him. Then the first thing Paul tells us NOT to do as we try to lead this life of love is to be sure there is no sexual sin among God’s people. Yet as I research crimes connected to our churches, the vast majority of cases are about sexual sins by leaders within the church

Maybe that’s what the media focuses on because of its gossipy appeal, its “see, I told you they were all hypocrites” vibe - but whatever the reason, it’s a self-inflicted wound. The truth is that, as a whole, churches don’t screen leaders well enough. We don’t confront early red flags with great enough speed or diligence. And we continue to cover up for abusers and try to make victims just go away.

I hope your church is doing everything right in this area. My concern is that most churches think they are doing a great job, only to have a scandal erupt that leaves everyone wondering “How did this happen”. Don’t be afraid to ask your church leaders what policies and procedures they have in place so that your church isn’t going to be mentioned on my podcast.

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.

Ways you can support the work of The Unlovely Truth:

Share the episode

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.

Loss of insurance halts ministry and worship services

Should a man accused of multiple rapes have his art displayed by the Catholic church?

Tip: don't list accused pedophiles as staff members

Moral Failure or Crime? S6E12 Jun 25, 2024

Show notes

Highlights from this episode include:

Texas mega-church pastor Robert Morris’s resignation
Judge criticizes church over their handling of predatory volunteer
A different church has a wonderful response to handling predatory pastor

Act 14:8-11 NIV

In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth

and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him,

saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!”

At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done,

they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

I’ll bet most of you recognize this story, and some of you even have the kid’s Sunday School song about it running through your head now. I want us to focus less on the healing and more on what the people’s reactions are. They immediately wanted to worship Paul, and Barnabas who was with Paul, as gods themselves instead of praising the God Paul and Barnabas served.

Don’t we still do that today? I see and share so many stories of leaders in the church who have fallen, and yet they are treated like they are the ones who are victims. They need to be held accountable. But what about us? So here is a question I think we all should ask ourselves: do we bear some responsibility when we place leaders on pedestals and refuse to believe they could commit evil and even predatory acts?

I hope you’ll email me or reach out on social media to let me know what you think! I love it when people are willing to have hard, but impactful conversations that strengthen physical, emotional, and spiritual safety at the intersection of faith and true crime

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.

Ways you can support the work of The Unlovley Truth:

Share the episode

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.

Robert Morris resigns, church leader responds

Judge takes pastor to task

Story where church get it right

The Yeast of the Pharisees: S611 Jun 18, 2024

Show notes

I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime here at The Unlovely Truth. Security issues are hiding in every church - do you know where to look for them? I’m your host, church safety advocate Lori Morrison. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission here is to find actionable steps that will make our churches sanctuaries of physical, emotional, and spiritual safety. To give you tools to help make that happen in your church, we’re going to investigate real crime stories from real churches. I’ve got three cases for us to investigate today, so let’s dive right in.

Highlights from this episode include:

Former Christian School teacher arrested, charged with several kidnappings, armed robberies and a carjacking
Church treasurer steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from church
Pastor steals churches. Not FROM churches, but steals actual churches

Our Scripture passage for this episode:

Luke 12:1b-3

“Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy. The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!”

Jesus had just spent the last part of the preceding chapter reminding his disciples how Israel’s religious leader had rejected their long awaited Messiah. He pronounces several “woes” on these leaders - one being that they tithe but neglect justice. Sometimes we do the same thing, don’t we? We give our money to the church but we’d rather not look to closely at things that make us uneasy. When we do that, are we being hypocrites just like the Pharisses? Will we be held to account when secrets are eventually revealed and we could’ve done something to stop injustice but we didn’t? That’s a little scary to me - no, actually it’s a lot scary. Scarier than stepping up to call out injustices we see. I’m ready to speak up more - are you with me?

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.

Ways you can support the work of The Unlovley Truth:

Share the episode

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.

Former church school teacher turned felon

Church treasurer helps himself

Pastor steals churches

What Does Your Safety Leadership Team Look Like? S6E10 Jun 11, 2024

Show notes

Highlights from this episode include:

How teamwork solved a church burglary
A man’s battle to address his clergy abusers’ actions
How SBC churches can more effectively combat abuse

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.

Ways you can support the work of The Unlovley Truth:

Share the episode

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.

Teamwork solves a church burglary

Man writes a memoir about his abuse by a priest

What's up with the SBC sexual abuse task force?

Let’s look at some wisdom from the Book of Proverbs this week.

Proverbs 11:14 NLT

“Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers.”

Proverbs chapter 11 has a lot to say about people who reject wisdom, and things generally don’t go well for them. But those who seek righteousness gain blessings and are a blessing to others. When it comes to keeping your environment safe, whether it’s an entire nation or just your congregation, it’s best to have a lot of input when making policies and procedures for how you will protect your flock.

Are you including advisors of different ages, from different ministries in the church? Are you asking for help from professionals in the church safety arena? Are you working together to make decisions as a group, or does a very small number of people - or maybe even just one person - wield all of the power? If you’re not sure, I hope you’ll ask how your church does things and maybe even volunteer to help make it the safest place in your community.

Church Should Be a Safe Place for Victims - Not Perps: S6E9 Jun 04, 2024

Show notes

Highlights from this episode include:

According to LifeWay Research, barely half of churches run background checks on staff members who work with the church’s kids
Leaders at a church admit that one of their staff members engaged in behavior that was “inappropriate.” Yet they have kept him on staff.
A former administrator at Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas stands accused of attempting to interfere with a grand jury investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention’s handling of sexual abuse

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.

Ways you can support the work of The Unlovley Truth:

Share the episode

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.

How many churches do background checks on staff and people who work woth kids?

Why is this guy still on a church staff?

Former seminary admin indicted on federal charges

Can You Trust Your Church Leaders? S6E8 May 28, 2024

Show notes

I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime here at The Unlovely Truth. Security issues are hiding in every church - do you know where to look for them? I’m your host, church safety advocate Lori Morrison. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission here is to find actionable steps that will make our churches sanctuaries of physical, emotional, and spiritual safety. To give you tools to help make that happen in your church, we’re going to investigate real crime stories from real churches. I’ve got three cases for us to investigate today, so let’s dive right in.

Highlights from this episode include:

Churches aren’t immune to being targeted by scammers
Priest alledgedly used $40,000 of church’s money to play online games
Pastor accused of using money he obtained by fraud to remodel home

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.

Ways you can support the work of The Unlovley Truth:

Share the episode

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.

Churches face texting scam

More texting scam info

Priest accused of using church money for online gaming addiction

Pastor says he did what God told him, authorities call it fraud