Michael Brown Faces Sexual Misconduct Allegations, Ministry Hires Investigator

 

Line of Fire radio program host Michael Brown has agreed to a third-party investigation after allegations of sexual impropriety surfaced this week. He acknowledged a “lack of judgment,” but denied any sexual misconduct.

According to an article published by The Roys Report, an accuser going by the pseudonym Erin claims Brown crossed physical boundaries when she was working as a 21-year-old secretary at Brown’s FIRE School of Ministry in 2002. The Roys Report said it had confirmed her identity with others.

Erin says she looked up to Brown as a father figure and that his alleged actions have compromised her faith.

Brown, 69, admits he and his wife Nancy had a close relationship with the accuser, even treating her like family, but that it was “totally non-sexual in every way.”

In a statement on the Line of Fire website, Brown said, “Both Nancy and I were shocked and horrified by the mix of accusations, allegations, false statements, and mischaracterizations. That’s why we wholeheartedly supported our board’s immediate decision to launch a thorough third-party investigation.”

The Line of Fire board has engaged the law firm of Mitchell, Stein, Carey and Chapman to conduct a third-party investigation into the allegations. Board member Jonathan Bernis said a report will be released after the investigation is complete.

Erin said she attended the Brownsville School of Revival where Brown was president in 1999 when she was 18 years old. When Brown was fired from that school and started the FIRE School of Ministry, she moved with him.

Having grown up with a difficult home life, Erin claims that having a close relationship with Brown was a blessing to her. She said Brown asked her to call her “Dad,” and they would exchange endearing notes, which he signed as Dad.

Erin said Brown would hold hands with her, ask for her to kiss him on the lips, and would slap her on the rear end. This contact made Erin uncomfortable, but she said she didn’t feel like she could stop it.

Once when house sitting for the Browns, Erin said she went to leave one of the encouraging notes to Brown in his night stand. There she found a letter where Brown confessed to an inappropriate relationship with a married woman.

“The letter basically stated that they were having a talking relationship and how they would dream about having sexual relations with each other and what they wanted to do with each other,” Erin said.

Reading the letter made Erin realize her own interactions with Brown were wrong. “When I found the note, I was like, ‘This is wrong. Everything’s wrong,’” she said.

According to The Roys Report, Brown acknowledged an emotional affair with a married woman that he had confessed to his wife, but denied there was any adultery.

“I can categorically state that in my 53 years in the Lord and more than 50 years with Nancy, I have never committed adultery or been sexually intimate with another woman, nor do the charges allege that,” he wrote in his statement.

Brown said before Erin left her employment at FIRE, she shared her concerns about their interactions.

“Nancy and I met with her immediately in the spirit of Matthew 18, I apologized to her from the heart, we talked things through together, after which, to our knowledge, she wanted to move forward in peace,” Brown said in the statement.

He claims that at least until 2015, Erin remained in contact with Brown and his wife, sharing family updates, prayer requests, and checking in.

“Naturally, we thought that everything was fine between us,” he said.

Brown claims he’d like to meet with Erin in a “setting acceptable to her and bring healing, where I can take full responsibility for the things which apparently hurt her so deeply, things which I thought we addressed 23 years ago.”

While he maintains that his actions toward Erin were not “sexual or amorous in any way,” he recognizes that he bears some responsibility for behaving in a “foolish and irresponsible” way.

“[I]f it’s true that for 23 years she has carried this pain and I am responsible for it, I am beyond mortified and would plead forgiveness and the opportunity to bring healing and restoration. Her wellbeing remains our priority,” Brown said.

Erin said she initially spoke up for the sake of the FIRE community. “At first, it was to help those who needed healing,” she said. “Then speaking with leaders and those who have been my support, I realize it was for my healing I needed to speak about it.”

Brown’s personal testimony is that he came to believe in Christ in 1971 as a “16-year-old, heroin-shooting, LSD-using Jewish rock drummer.”

He has a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages from New York University, has served as a visiting or adjunct professor at multiple seminaries and divinity schools, and has authored more than 40 books. According to his website, “he is widely considered to be the world’s foremost Messianic Jewish apologist.”

Editor’s note: Dr. Michael Brown’s column has appeared regularly at Religion Unplugged in the past.

This article has been republished with permission from Ministry Watch.


Kim Roberts is a freelance writer who holds a Juris Doctorate with honors from Baylor University and an undergraduate degree in government from Angelo State University. She has three young adult children who were home schooled and is happily married to her husband of 28 years.