MAP is highlighting and excerpting from this GRACE investigative report to support survivors and to provide accurate information and education for the broader Anabaptist community.
View the full report
“Independent Investigation of United Bethel Mennonite Church: Final Report & Recommendations” by GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), released on August 14, 2024.
Introduction from the report
The leadership at United Bethel Mennonite Church (“UBMC”) engaged Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (“GRACE”) after public criminal cases of one member and his brother, a former member, revealed they had engaged in years of sexual abuse of a younger, female relative. Since those allegations emerged, conflict among members, former members, and leadership of UBMC grew over how UBMC handled those and other allegations of abuse.
Over the course of GRACE’s investigation, GRACE identified a total of ten reported offenders who were members or regularly attended UBMC while they allegedly committed misconduct, often against other members. Ultimately, fourteen reporting or reported victims were identified through GRACE’s investigation.
This Final Report and Recommendations (“Final Report” or “Report”) presents the scope and methodology of the GRACE process (Section II) and the investigative team’s findings and analysis (Section III). This Summary also includes an analysis of themes observed during the investigation and their relationship to UBMC’s response, protocols, and culture (Section IV). Finally, this Summary concludes with GRACE’s recommendations (Section V).
It is our sincere desire that this Report will serve as a means of providing transparency and factual clarity, through which all parties involved can process and grieve harm, and ultimately find steps towards accountability and healing. It is also our hope that this Report can be used as a tool to evaluate leadership structures and policies, develop best practices to promote safety and ultimately an ongoing dedication to cultivating a congregational culture centered on trust and mutuality under the headship of Christ.
Reported offenders
GRACE evaluated allegations of sexual misconduct against ten reported offenders currently or formerly affiliated with UBMC. The report evaluated each allegation for credibility and made determinations as to whether each allegation met the GRACE burden of proof for evidence that sexual misconduct or grooming behavior has occurred. The report detailed credible allegations against eight men:
- David George
- Paul Edwin George
- Shawn Miller
- Manny Prado
- Danny Kramer
- Jerod Corbin
- Richard Gingerich
- Doran Gingerich
Sexual misconduct
Sexual misconduct refers to any verbal, nonverbal and/or physical acts of an immoral, indecent, improper, or sexual nature that are 1) unwelcome or 2) performed without consent or 3) committed by one in a position of authority upon a subordinate or 4) committed by an adult upon someone under the age of 18 regardless of consent. Examples include, but are not limited to, derogatory or indecent statements about a person’s body; slurs, epithets, anecdotes, jokes, or innuendos of a sexual or intimate nature; verbal advances, propositions, or invitations of a sexual or intimate nature; suggestive or obscene gestures or communications; unwanted attention such as leering or staring; ‘groping’ or any unwanted touches of a sexual or intimate nature, adult sexual assault, and sexual abuse of a minor.
‘Without consent’ means that consent is not freely given or obtained, and is accomplished through force, intimidation, violence, manipulation, coercion, threat, deception, aggressive come-on, disregard for nonverbal cues of discomfort, or misuse of authority or power.
Grooming
Grooming, in the context of sexual abuse, refers to the manipulative tactics employed to deceive a victim, encouraging compliance with sexual abuse while preventing disclosure. While not all behaviors associated with grooming are necessarily, considered by themselves, sexual misconduct, various forms of boundary-crossing and the frequency and persistent practice of these behaviors can be a “red flag,” possibly showing intent to sexually abuse a child or vulnerable adult. This harmful process has three main objectives: establishing conditions for easier perpetration of sexual abuse, enabling future acts against the victim, and reducing the likelihood of disclosure. [continued in the full report]
Burden of proof and the GRACE evidentiary standard
GRACE adopts a holistic approach to conducting its investigations and writing its reports and recommendations. While GRACE does not consider its work purely or primarily through a legal lens, it does apply certain fundamentals and principles of U.S. legal theory to inform its investigations and reports. One such fundamental is the application of a “burden of proof.”
A common burden of proof used in U.S. legal proceedings is called “preponderance of the evidence” or “the greater weight of the evidence.” This burden of proof imposes a much less stringent standard than a “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard typically used in criminal proceedings. A common analogy for this burden is a two-sided scale; if evidence is produced to tip the scales ever so slightly in the direction of the party with the responsibility to prove the wrongdoing, this burden of proof has been met.
GRACE understands that it is not a judicial body; similarly, GRACE is not a charging party or plaintiff. However, in order to thoroughly analyze the credibility of allegations based on the evidence collected, GRACE finds it useful to impose an evidentiary standard on its investigation. GRACE closely considers all evidence collected and finds credible only those allegations that GRACE feels are supported by evidence sufficient to exceed a simple “greater weight” test. Conversely, GRACE is not so stringent as to find credible only those allegations that are proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Throughout this Report, this evidentiary standard may be referred to as the “GRACE evidentiary standard.”
From “Assessment of UBMC’s Culture, Protocols, and Response to Allegations”
Numerous actions taken by UBMC leadership indicate a gap in understanding of trauma informed principles as described in subsection B, as well as certain principles within Scripture. Key concerns raised during the investigation warrant individual analysis, and will be discussed in the subsections below:
- Power differentials
- Vulnerable parties
- Grooming and pushing boundaries
- Failure to recognize and name abuse
- Reporting obligations and cooperation with investigations
- Cheap grace vs. genuine repentance
- Misuse of spiritual authority
- Public support of offenders by the church
As the following analysis is considered by UBMC leaders, it is important to keep in mind that a thorough understanding of past wrongs, while painful and sorrow-laden, is necessary to achieve accountability, true repentance, and an informed path forward. By examining these issues and by working to rectify past harms and prevent future harm, UBMC may enable themselves to promote the healing of those affected and to create a safe, nurturing, and trusted environment.
View the full report
“Independent Investigation of United Bethel Mennonite Church: Final Report & Recommendations” by GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), released on August 14, 2024.
UBMC leadership team response to the GRACE investigation report
(This statement was posted on the UBMC website from September 10, 2024 through February 2025.)
In late 2021, United Bethel Mennonite Church pastors were made aware of allegations of rape by two brothers, one of whom was regularly attending our church and one who was a member of our church, but had been living in another state for 7 years. In March 2023, these men were ultimately sentenced to 5 years in prison on two counts of gross sexual imposition. In the meantime, statements were made on social media and in a public blog alleging that the UBMC pastors were covering up abuse, had not properly responded to past instances of abuse in our congregation, and had neglected to care for victims and protect the vulnerable.
To help the current UBMC Leadership team and our church understand accurately what abuse has happened in the past, and how we could and should have better responded to those instances of abuse, we engaged an independent third party, GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in Christian Environments), to do an investigation and report on incidents of abuse that have happened since 1995.
We have recently received this report and have made it available to all of our church members and regular attenders. This report outlines a number of instances from 1999 to 2016 in which individuals, mostly within our congregation including young children, were sexually abused and mistreated by individuals within our congregation. It outlines which cases were known, and not known, by anyone in church leadership. The report informs us of ways the situations that were known by us as church leaders were not handled adequately. These include but are not limited to:
- A lack of adequate care and concern for the victims.
- Failure to adequately question and find out the extent or the severity of the abuse.
- Failure to inform those who should have been made aware, whether the congregation or others who were exposed to risk.
To those who were harmed, we deeply regret the wrongs you experienced by the sins of individuals among us. We are sorry for our lack of care, concern, and protection. We pray that our holy and gracious God would grant you healing, and that God would forgive us for the ways we failed you during very difficult times. We thank you for sharing with GRACE recognizing it may have been difficult. We would like to continue communicating with you about ways we can help.
This report also details ways that we as leaders, as well as our church can improve awareness and prevention of sexual and other abuse. It gives us direction on how to best respond to abuse, when it does happen, including reporting to authorities, and best practices in caring for the victims of abuse. It details dynamics that hinder open communication to authorities and relationship dynamics that are factors in abuse and disclosure, or lack thereof. We as leaders of UBMC are firmly committed to making changes that minimize the risk and increase awareness of abuse. We are also committed to responding to any future abuse and sexual misconduct in the best way possible for everyone, especially the victims.