Bethel Church is taking further steps to address sexual abuse allegations against Pastor Ben Armstrong, announcing a comprehensive review of its internal practices. The church aims to enhance its accountability and governance by hiring an external firm for an independent investigation into the allegations.
In an April 2 update, Bethel leaders revealed they are involving an outside expert to assess the church’s governance and leadership culture. This initiative expands the church’s response to the accusations facing Armstrong, who previously served as the director of Prophetic Ministry and pastor at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry.
Armstrong was placed on administrative leave two months ago after a former student posted a YouTube video alleging clergy sexual abuse dating back to 2009.
“As a broader leadership team, we want to understand and address how we can do better in the future by bringing in a third-party expert to review our governance, leadership structure, and culture,” the church stated. “We want to ensure we have established clear accountability structures [and] prioritized the safety of all those engaging with Bethel, and upheld the standards that Scripture calls our leadership and culture to reflect.”
Bethel disclosed that Sintra Group Investigations is conducting the inquiry into the allegations. The organization, known for its trauma-informed investigative protocols, has over two decades of experience.
The church emphasized that the investigation is ongoing and additional governance review steps will be announced in the coming weeks.
“We believe this kind of accountability isn’t just right, but necessary,” the statement said, highlighting ongoing dialogue with affected individuals, current and former students, staff, and external advisors.
“As we have said before, we do not take the pain that those who have spoken up are experiencing lightly, and we are not moving past it quickly — this process matters deeply to us, but more importantly, to the heart of God.”
The update also emphasized Bethel’s use of “Safe Church,” a confidential reporting system managed by Mitratech, a third-party provider. This tool allows individuals to report misconduct anonymously, ensuring reports remain unchanged.
With Bill Johnson at the helm, Bethel Church has gained international influence through its worship music, conferences, and ministry school. The recent developments come amid scrutiny over the church’s handling of previous allegations and leadership accountability.
In February, Bethel acknowledged it was revisiting its response to the 2009 incident involving Armstrong, citing the need for better awareness of power dynamics and pastoral duties.
The church stated they learned about “a video containing serious allegations of clergy sexual abuse pertaining to Ben Armstrong and events that took place in 2009” on February 13.
“Earlier that day at 1:30 pm PT, we released a statement on our website based on the information that we were aware of at that time, and our understanding of Ben’s lived repentance since that time,” the church said in a February announcement. “However, in light of these new and previously unknown allegations, we have placed Ben Armstrong on administrative leave. He will not be ministering while an independent third-party investigation takes place.”
In the video, “Bethel Survivor Sarah Shares Her Experience of Clergy SA by Ben Armstrong,” a woman named Sarah claimed she was a 23-year-old intern when Armstrong, acting as a mentor, groomed her under the pretense of spiritual guidance, eventually crossing sexual boundaries.
Armstrong had previously described the 2009 incident as an affair, stating he “had an affair” and was “getting my emotional needs met and then it turned physical with a woman I worked with” outside his marriage before repenting.
Sarah, however, contested this narrative, asserting she never viewed the relationship as consensual and felt pressured within a culture that emphasized spiritual authority.
“It has been extremely confusing to deconstruct what happened and figure it out,” she said in the video.
In recent months, Bethel has also faced criticism for platforming Shawn Bolz, later accused of fraudulent prophetic practices. Bethel admitted failures in addressing concerns related to Bolz, acknowledging insufficient clarity and transparency.
In its April 2 statement, Bethel reiterated its commitment to addressing the situation with “sobriety and care” and emphasized the importance of the process.
“We do not take the pain that those who have spoken up are experiencing lightly, and we are not moving past it quickly,” the statement said. “This process matters deeply to us, but more importantly, to the heart of God.”
The church has not provided a timeline for the conclusion of the investigation.
Amid these challenges, Jenn Johnson, senior worship pastor at Bethel, told podcaster Alex Enfiedjian that Bethel is a “very big organization” with diverse beliefs and good intentions, though not all actions are endorsed by leadership.
“I definitely have seen a beautiful, healthy correction along the years,” she said, commending the church’s leaders as “very good, trustworthy people who are very human and are trying to live their lives according to the Bible and run the good race and shepherd an insane amount of people.”
“We definitely don’t all believe the same things at Bethel,” she continued, “and there are definitely some very weird things that have happened from people who are in lower levels, especially of leadership, but also higher, [myself] included, because we’re all human.”
This article was originally written by www.christiantoday.com
