Andy Stanley Responds to Abuse Allegations against Orange Founder
North megachurch pastor Andy Stanley has denied the allegation that he knew Orange Founder Reggie Joiner had a pattern of sexually abusing women 19 years ago. Earlier this month, Christian podcaster Danielle Strickland published a statement from a survivor claiming she was groomed and sexually abused by Orange's founder Reggie Joiner, who voluntarily resigned on April 17, 2024, after admitting to "past inappropriate adult relationships," including with former Orange CEO Kristen Ivy. Ivy later admitted that the relationship was sexual abuse and noted that she wasn't the "only one."
"I am one of multiple survivors of Reggie's past inappropriate adult relationships," the survivor who posted about Joiner on April 10 stated. "I was fifteen years old when Reggie began grooming me for a relationship, which later became sexualized when I was legally an adult."
She also alleged that the ReThink board "downplayed the reality of what occurred in my life and in the lives of the other survivors of Reggie's abuse."
Regarding Stanley, who is the son of the late pastor and In Touch Ministries founder, Charles Stanley, she said that Joiner began abusing her when she was a teenager and when he served on staff at Atlanta-area North Point Community Church, where Stanley pastors.
The woman further claimed Stanley became aware of Joiner's "cell phone record" in 2006, "which showed evidence of stalker-like behavior toward me," and that Stanley told her "to run as far as I could from the Joiner family" at a meeting that year.
She claimed that Stanley "allowed Reggie to resign from North Point with honor and a public celebration" rather than holding Joiner responsible and that he "made no attempt to name what he knows to be true: Reggie is and has been a sexual predator for decades."
In a video posted last week, Stanley, who was speaking with North Point's Kendra Fleming (executive director of Family Ministries) and licensed counselor Debbie Causey (care director) regarding the allegations, stated he believes the survivor's account; he denied that he was aware of the abuse at the time.
“(The woman’s account) leaves the impression that we . . . were accessories to her abuse,” Stanley said. "It appears we covered for Reggie and then sent him on to his next ministry assignment . . . That's not the case."
Stanley also noted that he and Causey, who had mentored the woman for years, met Sunday with the woman at her house for two-and-a-half hours.
"We believe her, and we feel like the relationship is being restored," Stanley told The Roys Report. Regarding their 2006 meeting, Stanley said the woman never mentioned any abuse by Joiner.
"She just didn't tell us the truth," Stanley said. "And we understand why she didn't, and we don't fault her for that. But if we had known then what we know now, we would have taken immediate action."
Stanley expressed that his "primary frustration" is with Strickland for publishing the women's statement without giving North Point an opportunity to read and respond to her first.
"She has my cell phone number," Stanley said. "She should have called me and said, 'Andy, we're going to release a story'—not to get permission to release it, but to let us know ahead of time. And if she had . . . we would have been able to address some of the specifics of that encounter . . . And that's unfortunately why we're having to do some of this cleanup."
WATCH: Andy Stanley Response to Reggie Joiner Allegations
Photo Credit: ©YouTube/Julie Roys
Originally published April 22, 2025.
