Preface: John Finley, former pastor at Bartlett Hills Baptist Church, has been accused of sexually abusing two female teens while he worked as a youth pastor in Texas many years ago. His accusers said they were 15 and 17 at the time, and they said they have been trying unsuccessfully to communicate with church leaders for years to ask them to look into their child safety concerns about Finley. On April 3, 2018, the women sent simultaneous letters to six of the Bartlett church‘s staff members and leaders.
Without agreeing with the women’s allegations, Finley faced questions from church leaders and resigned voluntarily on April 8. His statement was, “I made some poor choices and was involved with two females in inappropriate behavior. There was no sex. Both ladies were over 18. In the best interest of our church, I choose to resign immediately.”
Finley declined an offer by The Bartlett Express for him to comment further on the allegations.
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
Am I the only one so tired of hearing about the sexual behavior among the religious, famous and political that they ignore everything the media puts out about these groups?
Five pages in your paper containing John Finley’s alleged misdoings? How many paragraphs of that did I read? Try zero.
Can we just agree with the Bible that we’re all sinners? Better yet, can we try to obey Philippians 4.8, which tells us to dwell on that which is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report?
Lynn Stephens
Bartlett
