Earlier this week, the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) suspended one of its ordained elders, Rev. Stephanie Remington, after learning that she worked for Jeffrey Epstein from 2018-2019.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender and suspected sex trafficker, died in his jail cell on Aug. 10, 2019, in what officials ruled a suicide by hanging. The high-profile financier was arrested a month earlier and charged with sex trafficking.
Remington worked for Epstein as an administrative assistant and later as a temporary property manager for his private island.
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She began serving as a UMC pastor in 2001 but stopped pastoring in 2016 following a divorce from her husband, who was also a UMC pastor.
According to the procedures listed in the UMC’s Book of Discipline, Remington was placed on “suspension while the episcopal office reviews the matter.”
“The Missouri Conference had no knowledge of the individual’s association with Mr. Epstein,” a statement released by the Missouri Conference said. “Clergy serving in extension ministry operate outside a local church appointment and report their ministry setting through annual paperwork submitted to the Conference.”
“No information indicating this association was disclosed in any of those reports,” the conference said. “The Bishop or district superintendent were not contacted about the individual’s interest in or acceptance of the Epstein-related position.”
The conference also shared that resident bishop of the Missouri Episcopal Area, Robert Farr, carried out the decision to suspend Remington. The suspension will last for a period of 90 days from March 12 as the supervisory response process unfolds.
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“Clergy are called to uphold the highest standards of spiritual and moral leadership,” the conference said. “Concerns of this nature are taken seriously and require careful review. We recognize the deep harm connected to Mr. Epstein’s crimes and remain in prayer for survivors who deserve healing and justice.”
According to UM News, Remington’s name appears in more than 1,800 records in the Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice. Remington told UM News that she never witnessed any wrongdoing during her time working with Epstein.
“I never saw anything. I knew him for the last nine months of his life, well after he served time for the things that he was accused of doing,” she said.
