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Michael Brown Addresses Misconduct Allegation Admitting to ‘Lack of Judgment’
- Milton Quintanilla Crosswalk Headlines Contributor
- Updated Dec 04, 2024
Dr. Michael Brown, host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program, admitted to having a “lack of judgment” in his interactions with a former female staffer, who accused him of sexual misconduct 23 years ago, which he denies. The woman in question, identified by her pseudonym, Erin, told The Roys Report (TRR) that she quit working at the FIRE School of Ministry, led by Brown in 2002 after Brown frequently slapped her buttocks, kissed her on the lips, and held her hands.
In a statement shared with The Christian Post and TRR, Brown, who is also president, founder, and professor of practical theology at FIRE School of Ministry, acknowledged that he and his wife knew Erin and that she was considered like “a family member” but denied that there was any sexual misconduct.
“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,” Brown said.
“Nancy and I did have a relationship with the woman in question and considered her to be like a family member, and she conducted herself as one who viewed our relationship the same way. But she was not a family member, and aspects of my interaction with her, although totally non-sexual in every way, reflected a definite lack of judgment on my part,” Brown added.
Speaking with TRR, Erin explained that when she was 18, she attended the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry in 1999. At the time, Brown served as the school’s president until he was fired in 2000. Brown then launched the FIRE School of Ministry in Pensacola, Florida until the school relocated to North Carolina in 2003.
“He was supposed to be a spiritual father,” Erin told TRR regarding Brown. “He was supposed to look after me.”
She added that she followed Brown when he opened the new school and that she agreed to call him “dad” at his own request.
Erin initially appreciated Brown’s attention to her as she had a difficult home life growing up. She noted that they sent written notes to each other expressing their endearment.
“I looked at it as a blessing because of the respect that we all have for him,” Erin’s sister told TRR.
In less than a year of her working at the new school, Erin said that Brown — who was involved with providing guidance to the International House of Prayer Kansas City as they navigated founder Mike Bickle’s sexual misconduct scandal — started holding her hands.
“He lifted it up in the truck ... and he’s like, ‘You all know that I think of (Erin) as my daughter,’ and said, ‘That’s why we’re holding hands because she’s like a daughter to me,’” she said.
Erin also noted that the handholding eventually progressed to other contact, including kissing. One day, while she was alone in Brown’s office, Brown asked her to kiss him on the lips. Although she initially refused, she ended up giving a peck that day. Meanwhile, kisses on the lips would become a part of their goodbyes when they spent time alone.
“It was no longer (Brown) was asking for a kiss,” she recalled. “It was (Brown) leaning down to get a kiss. ... I knew I couldn’t stop it, or I felt I couldn’t stop it.”
She added that Brown later began slapping Erin’s buttocks on a frequent basis.
According to TRR, multiple former employees of the ministry reportedly witnessed some of the misconduct between Brown and Erin, including Erin sitting in his lap.
Erin also told the publication that she discovered a letter while house-sitting for Brown and his wife Nancy, in which he confessed to having 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, how she wanted to wrap her legs around him, how he played into it,” Erin said.
Brown, however, denied ever committing adultery but said he had previously confessed to the emotional affair and that the matter has since been resolved.
“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 told CP in his statement on Monday. “Yet I must ask, in all humility and in the fear of the Lord, if an article on the Roys Report is the best way to address these allegations and accusations,” Brown said. “Does this glorify the Lord, edify the Body, bring healing and restoration, or advance the cause of truth?”
Regardless of Brown’s denial, the Line of Fire Board reportedly hired the law firm Mitchell, Stein, Carey, and Chapman two weeks ago to conduct a third-party investigation and will release the results to the public upon completion.
Erin said her experience with Brown has made her mistrustful of ministry leaders. Meanwhile, Brown maintained he was unaware of the impact his behavior had on her and asked for her forgiveness and the opportunity to make amends for healing to take place.
“The fact is that my actions towards her were certainly foolish and irresponsible — but neither sexual nor amorous in any way — and my highest priority, as well as Nancy’s, is to have the opportunity to meet together 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,” Brown said.
“Unfortunately, when Nancy and I learned through the Roys Report that there was an offense towards me in this woman’s heart, we were not allowed to follow the mandate of Jesus in Matthew 5:23-26, but only given the option of offering a response to an article that would be released online. What happened to biblical process?” he asked.
“That being said, if 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.”
Photo Credit: ©Facebook/Dave Pellowe
