A Southern Baptist pastor who has been indicted on a rape charge has yet to step down out of the pulpit at the Metro Grace Community Church in Pearl, Mississippi. He’s also a staff member (still) at the Rankin County Baptist Association.
The pastor’s name is Joe Floyd Steverson. He was indicted for “willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously having forcible sexual intercourse with a female human being, without her consent,” in August of 2018. A grand jury believed there was enough evidence to prosecute.
Oddly enough, the pastor admitted to having sex with the alleged victim but insists that it was not rape. According to the pastor’s attorney, he is “fully supported in his denial by his church members, trustees and a deacon.”
His attorney told the Baptist Press, “He denies the charge. He’s not denying that they engaged in sex. His church, the board of trustees, the deacon at his church unanimously voted to support him in this … within the past couple of weeks.”
The RCBA, in defense of Steverson, claims that the alleged victim is his former spouse. It appears to have been – best-case scenario – the accusation of a jilted former spouse. Worst case scenario, he raped his wife.
Bizarrely, neither the church nor the association terminated Steverson’s employment due to the divorce.
The Bible teaches that an elder has to have his household in order.
He must manage his own household well…(1 Timothy 3:4)
To be fair, in the age of #MeToo it’s not hard to be “Brett Kavanaughed,” especially by someone with an ax to grind and there’s that whole “innocent until proven guilty thing.” But the “household in order” clause is kinda hard to get around.
