Cunningham went on to say that although they are thankful the survivors felt cared for by TCPC’s actions after reporting Rice’s abuse, the church is not without fault.
“I want to begin by publicly confessing our institutional failures that surfaced,” the pastor said. “Specifically, we believe there were two issues that need to be owned by us—the first is about policy, the second is about culture.” Stating that TCPC didn’t have any “protective polices” in place while Rice led worship at their youth and college retreats, Cunningham said, “This is unacceptable, and we are heartbroken at the thought that formalized policies and procedures could have prevented what has been alleged.”
Cunningham expressed the church leadership’s shame that it took a public scandal for them to focus on their policies and procedures, apologizing to survivors and asking for forgiveness.
The pastor also shared that the church failed in creating a “culture of awareness” at TCPC, which would have given those serving in the church an “understanding of abuse,” thereby helping them to recognize abusive situations. “We believe that if our people understood the nature of grooming behavior, particularly from those with spiritual authority, it could have been identified and prevented.”
This wasn’t the case regarding Rice, Cunningham said, which in turn led to the Christian music star grooming and acting sexually inappropriately toward members of TCPC’s youth group. “It’s our fault, not theirs. Again, we are deeply sorry and ask forgiveness.”
Most of GRACE’s recommendations to TCPC have already been implemented, Cunningham said. Specifically, he focused on recommendation number 12, which said, “With consideration to the wishes of Alan Doe, TCPC determine the best plan for additional communication and distribution of this report, especially considering any ministry partners and others who may provide Rice with access to children, youth, and others who are vulnerable.”
Cunningham said the church desires to do “everything we can to honor the wishes of [the survivor].” The church has made the report public in the attempt to urge anyone who has dealt with Rice to be aware of his behaviors. The pastor said he hopes and prays that Rice’s grooming and abuse was isolated to what was discovered at TCPC, but encouraged others who were have ever been involved with Rice to take any allegations regarding the singer seriously.
Charging churches and ministries to learn from their past failures, Cunningham pleaded with others to be “proactive in creating a safe ministry context guarded against potential abuse.”
Law Enforcement’s Involvement
Cunningham reported the incidents involving Rice to the Kentucky State Police as soon as Rice’s survivor told the pastor what had happened to him. The GRACE report shared that an investigation by the local law enforcement will not take place, “due to the current preference of the reporting survivor,” and because “the expectation that the appropriate jurisdiction for further reporting and prosecution would be in Tennessee.”
