Last February, elders at Highlands Community Church in Renton, Wash., listened with disbelief as former Discipleship Pastor Alex Johnson recounted the trauma he had experienced due to the church’s mishandling of pastoral misconduct.

Several elders apologized. Some even wept with remorse.

“The sense of shock and sadness in the room was palpable,” Johnson told The Roys Report (TRR).

Three years earlier, Johnson had privately confronted former HCC Lead Pastor Jesse Campbell, who was hiding his DUI arrest. Although Campbell had disclosed a version of his arrest to elders—the board agreed to keep his crime a secret. And when Campbell spoke harshly about Johnson to staff members, the elders reportedly did nothing.

Then, three months later, two male staff members came forward with allegations that HCC Executive Pastor Derek Nelson had sexually abused them. Johnson urged the elders to commission an independent investigation. Instead, they quietly dismissed Nelson and assured Johnson that their investigation was sufficient.

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So, in August 2020, Johnson resigned, broken and raw.

Since that time, the church has lost at least 15 staff members, attendance has shrunk from 2,000 to 900, and a new board is wrestling with the church’s past transgressions. Yet, in the past two-and-a-half...

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