On Tuesday, Andy Savage, the pastor of a Tennessee megachurch who had previously admitted to having a “sexual incident” with a high schools student 20 years ago, announced his resignation and said he would “step away from ministry.”
Savage, 42, received a standing ovation from the congregation of Highpoint Church in January when he confirmed the encounter with Jules Woodson in 1998.
Not only has my abusive pastor @andysavage started his own church, but the pastor that hired him and supported him (and was subsequently fired), Chris Conlee, is coming back to Memphis to start a new church. Where and when does the madness end? #ChurchToo
— Jules Woodson (@juleswoodson11) August 10, 2020
Highpoint Church is a nondenominational congregation attended by around 2,000 worshippers each week across three campuses in the Memphis area.
Andy Savage step away from his position
Savage, then 22 years old, was the youth preacher at the then-Woodlands Parkway Baptist Church, now called Stonebridge Church, when Woodson was a teenager.
However, the opposition to Savage’s continued membership in the Church persisted unabated. In a statement released Tuesday, Savage acknowledged the “passionate opinions” the case had sparked.
He said he had “come to get Jules’ vantage point betters and to appreciate the courage it took for her to speak up.”
Savage, who admitted for the first time that he took advantage of Woodson without her consent in what he called an “abuse of power,” elaborated on his admission, saying.
“When Jules cried out for justice, I carelessly turned the topic to my own story of moral evolve, as if getting my own life in order should help to make up for what she proceeded through and continues to go through.”
Andy Savage said, “After much prayer and counsel, I am now convinced it’s appropriate for me to quit my staff established at Highpoint Church and step away from ministry to do everything I can to right the wrongs of the past.” Savage agreed with Jules that the Church, of all places, should be getting this right.
Victim Jules Woodson speaks about the incident
In January, Woodson went public with her experience on Watch Keep, a blog for abuse victims, saying that the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment encouraged her to speak out.
Andy Savage, after sexually assaulting her on a remote back road, Savage begged for forgiveness and begged her “not to tell anyone what had just happened.”
While “trying to process” the news of Savage’s departure, Woodson told the Memphis Daily Commercial-Appeal on Tuesday that she could issue a comment later.
In January, Highpoint’s senior pastor, Chris Conlee, told the Houston Chronicle that despite knowing about the 1998 event, the church still recruited Savage because of their “total confidence in the healing process Andy went through under his supervision in Texas.”
On Tuesday, however, the church issued a new statement admitting that its initial defense of Savage was “defensive rather than sensitive in its initial reaction to Ms. Jules Woodson’s message.
“Highpoint declared the church’s intent to “develop a deeper understanding of an appropriate, more compassionate approach to dealing with victims of abuse.”
Highpoint stated that it had requested an investigation into its training, rules, screening practices, and supervision in ministries affecting minors by MinistrySafe, a legal institute in Fort Worth, Texas, that collaborates with churches to address child sexual abuse situations.
Andy Savage started his own church after 2 years of accepting his mistake.
One of the victims of sexual abuse Andy Savage has spoken out about the pastor who is launching a new church after resigning just over two years ago for supporting him.
“Not only has my abusive pastor @andysavage started his church,” Jules Woodson tweeted on August 9th, “but the pastor that hired him supported him (and was subsequently fired), Chris Conlee, has returned to Memphis to start a new church.”
When will this craziness stop, and where? When Highpoint Church’s then-teaching pastor Andy Savage was accused in 2018 of sexually assaulting a teenager while serving as youth pastor 20 years prior, Chris Conlee was the senior pastor in Memphis, Tennessee.
The victim speaks out again on the news that Andy Savage is starting a new church
In 1998, when Jules Woodson was 17 and 21-year-old Savage offered her a lift home, she claimed that he stopped the car and forced her to engage in oral sex with him. Afterward, he demanded that she “take this to the grave” with her.
At the time, Savage served as a student pastor in a church in Texas. Woodson claims she informed the church’s leadership, who assured her they would see to it.
No criminal complaints were lodged. Savage had quit the church, so members celebrated his departure with a celebration.
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Woodson contacted the Montgomery County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office about the incident in January 2018, during the height of the #churchtoo movement. The time deadline for filing charges against Savage has long since expired.
Savage claimed he was sorry, and Conlee was aware of the assault allegation when he hired Savage. Conlee rushed to Savage’s vigorous defense when Woodson went public in 2018, telling The Christian Post of his “total confidence in the redemptive process Andy went through” after the assault.
Savage resigned from Highpoint in March 2018 following an investigation and media uproar. A few months later, in July, he resigned after Conlee had led the church for 16 years.
We regret to inform you that Chris [Conlee] has resigned as Lead Pastor of Highpoint. The church announced then, “We have come to the point of respectfully agreeing to go in various paths for the Kingdom.”
Conlee and his wife, Karin Conlee, had been living in another city for two years before she announced last week on her blog that they were moving back to Memphis to launch a new church. In addition, they will be releasing Race for Reconciliation, a “local race and national education platform.”
Regarding the church’s place in the city’s recovery, “we can’t shake from our hearts,” Karin Conlee wrote. We might find other ways to make a living, but our calling is to be pastors. So, with renewed trust, we begin again.
The “little apprehension” she has about coming back is her sole reference to the controversy. I consider Satan’s preferred method of operation. He likes to use silence, half-truths, and division as weapons. We tend to fill silence with suspicion in relationships,” she remarked.
After Woodson’s tweet over the weekend, sexual assault survivor Rachel Denhollander, well-known for her role in prosecuting USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, replied, “I stand with @juleswoodson11.”
