Community members are calling for greater transparency after it became more widely known that the pastor of Eternal Church in Fort Mill, South Carolina, is a registered sex offender. Don Logan, who has been pastor of the non-denominational church since 2015, was convicted of a child sex abuse charge in 1997.
The church had been associated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) but left the denomination in 2009.
Dana Cummings, who formerly attended the church, told Fort Mill Sun that she and her husband became aware of Logan’s status as a sex offender after receiving a cryptic email about a meeting to discuss Logan’s past.
“I realized something must be very wrong,” Cummings said. “My husband jokingly made the comment, ‘Is he a sex offender?’”
Shortly after a brief online search of sex offenders, the couple was looking for a new church.
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According to Indiana court records, Logan pleaded guilty to a felony charge of sexual misconduct with a minor younger than age 16 as part of a plea agreement in 1997. He was sentenced to three years imprisonment, with an additional three years suspended pending his adherence to probation.
As part of the agreement, the court also ruled that Logan “relinquish his minister’s license, that he have no contact with any minor without adult supervision, and his type of employment is approved by the Court and Probation Department.”
Logan was 30 years old at the time.
According to the sex offender registry in Lexington County, South Carolina, the victim was a 14-year-old girl.
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“I feel like people who walk in that door and make the decision to be a member and give your time and money and effort need to know who is preaching to them. He is a wonderful preacher,” Cummings said. “But it really takes away all the credibility when I feel like this past is being hidden with the understanding that only the right people know.”