A 65-year-old Indiana church pastor has told his congregation he sinned by committing adultery about two decades ago, in a shocking confession that prompted a woman to cry. move on and reveal that she was his victim when she was just 16 years old.
“I committed adultery. That was almost 20 years ago,” Pastor John Lowe II said at the end of services at New Life Christian Church and World Outreach in Warsaw, Fox News reported.
“To put it plainly, I didn’t make a mistake, I didn’t have a problem, I didn’t have an affair, I didn’t make an error in judgment – I sinned I have to say it, and you deserve to hear it,” he said.
The pastor asked the congregation to forgive him for the ‘deep hurt’ he said he caused – explaining there was ‘no good reason’ why it took him so long to cleanse himself.
“If I could go back and do it all over again, I would. I can’t. All I can do is ask you to forgive me,” Lowe said from the podium.
“To my wife and family, whom I have deeply hurt, I confessed my sin, and they graciously forgave me and expressed their love to me,” he added.
He then announced he was leaving the ministry – and received a round of applause from the congregation.
But things got much more awkward moments later when a woman walked up to the microphone with a man who identified himself as her husband.
“For 27 years, I lived in a prison. It wasn’t 20… I was only 16 when you took my virginity off your office floor. Do you remember that? I know you know that,” the woman, now in her 40s, told Lowe.
“I lived in a prison of lies and pain. Lying to protect the Lowe family. I thought I was a horrible person having suicidal thoughts, not realizing what had really been done to me,” she said.
“The Church deserves to know the truth. This church was built on lies, but no more. The lies must stop,” she said.
The woman said her older brother recently confronted her about seeing her lying in bed with their pastor while wearing a t-shirt and underwear as a teenager.
“You did things to my teenage body that never had and never should have been done,” she said. “If you cannot admit the truth, you must answer for it before God. You are not the victim here. People knew but were too afraid to come forward.
“I was a prisoner and you kept me in your prison. I’m no longer a prisoner,” the woman added before turning to Lowe’s adult son and saying, “Your father is not the victim here – a partial truth is not true.
When a devotee mentioned the age at which the woman said Lowe started his relationship with her, the pastor mumbled, “Sixteen, OK. It was wrong.”
The woman’s husband then confronted Lowe directly.
“It’s not just adultery. It’s another level when you’re a teenager and I won’t let that man talk about my wife like that. It happened for nine years…People need to be held accountable,” he said, according to Fox News.
“They can’t just deceive people and say, ‘I just committed adultery.’ It was way beyond adultery,” he added.
The surreal exchange between the pastor and the congregation was captured in a 14 minute video posted this morning on Facebook.
In a statementNew Life Christian Church and World Outreach said “this long-standing secret was first revealed when a woman from the church came forward and disclosed the relationship to various people within the church.
“When confronted with other church leaders regarding this report, Pastor Lowe privately confessed that the adultery did indeed occur,” he said, adding that the relationship between Lowe and the woman continued until she was in her twenties.
“As a result of what has just been revealed, we are hurt and broken for a woman who lovingly attended and served the church for many years, as well as for her husband and family,” continued the church.
“It is our deepest prayer and our commitment to love, support, encourage and help her through a healing process in any way we can,” he said.
“New Life is also dedicated to ministering to all of our members during this difficult season, so that we can not only survive this, but together experience abundant grace, unity healing – all for the glory of God and preservation of his church,” the statement read.
The church also expressed support for the former pastor and his family.
“As healing occurs in their hearts, marriages and families, we pledge to demonstrate the same support, encouragement, guidance and forgiveness that has come to define the collective heart and ministry of this body. “, did he declare.
“On Monday, May 23, 2022, Pastor John B. Lowe II tendered his resignation with New Life Christian Church and World Outreach,” the church also announced.
Meanwhile, the Kosciusko County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the case, WANE-TV reported. So far, no charges have been brought against the former pastor.
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