Church Leadership Conversations

Aram Roston has been one of the most important reporters on this story.

Jim Rutenberg and Frances Robles also wrote an important summary of the timeline:

It will be interesting to see if @doug_hanks and @jkbjournalist of the Miami Herald can get in touch with Jesus Fernandez Sr. and Jr. who have changed their names to Jett and Gordon Bello for comment.

https://twitter.com/jkbjournalist/status/1141392842490707968

The other person who received a risqué photo of Becki Falwell was Ben Crosswhite as described by @BrandonAmbro in Sept 2019:
politico.com/magazine/story…

See also the Aug 2019 reporting by
@AramRoston @jschney about the financial deal with Crosswhite.

There is a group photo in the Miami Herald story by @jkbjournalist and @doug_hanks about Giancarlo Granda that also features Ben Crosswhite in the dark blue shirt in the middle.
From left: Trey, Granda, Crosswhite, unknown, Becki, Jerry.
miamiherald.com/news/politics-…

Jerry Falwell Jr. is still sticking to his story that his wife had an affair and he is the innocent victim.

Some are wondering whether people should stop looking into this story. The answer is no.
Above in this thread is possible corroborating evidence. 

Audio from @AramRoston story:

Is this the photo (tweeted by four people below) that Jerry Falwell Jr sent to Ben Crosswhite as reported in the @BrandonAmbro Politico story? Source?
politico.com/magazine/story…

https://twitter.com/riotwomennn/status/1297940760319467520

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Here was the story from last night (Sunday). By 5:00 pm Eastern Time Monday, Jerry Falwell Jr. had resigned according to Jack Jenkins of RNS.

More confirmation from Susan Svluga, @spulliam, and @mboorstein of the Washington Post that Falwell has resigned.

My motivation has been that because Jerry Falwell Jr. has been one of the most famous "Christian leaders" in the U.S., it should be made clear when his harsh, greedy, vindictive, secretive, and corrupt acts are not consistent with Christian behavior or good leadership. 

On Liberty University's enrollment:

This is why it has been important for white evangelicals to call out Jerry Falwell Jr.'s behavior over the years.

RNS reports Jerry Falwell Jr. says he has not resigned (7:15 pm Eastern Time Monday). At 5:00 pm reports came out that he had resigned.

More reports that Jerry Falwell has not resigned. It is about 7:15 pm Eastern Time and reports of his resigning were at about 5:00 pm.

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The latest reporting is that the Liberty University trustees have no agreement yet with Jerry Falwell Jr. to resign but hope to have a statement on Tues.

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I am not feeling magnanimous toward the Liberty University trustees or Falwell. He has been constantly involved in morally questionable behavior for years. When Liberty threatened one reporter in October, I made a list of stories by other journalists:

https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1186915172369096707?s=19

Okay. Update 10:30 pm Eastern Time:

See also my thread above for the whole saga of the last 24 hours starting with Jerry claiming his wife had an affair and this morning Giancarlo Granda giving his side of the story including recorded audio. 

Update 11:50 pm Eastern Time Monday. Wall Street Journal reporter says Falwell says he has resigned.

ABC News is also reporting that after 11 pm Eastern Time Falwell says he did submit a resignation letter.

2016:

2018:

If I was a reporter, I would interview:
@BozT and @KSPrior (as former faculty there) about Jerry Falwell Jr.'s influence on Liberty University. Ask for institutional abuse and literary comparisons from them respectively. 

I would also be interested in interviewing @wilsonhartgrove and @plattdavid and @drmoore who have been criticized by Falwell and understand southern, Baptist, evangelicals. 

I would also be interested in hearing from alumni of Liberty whether they have been embarrassed by Jerry's behavior the last few years and whether they recommend the school to their kids. 

It would be interesting to ask historians / sociologists about what significance Falwell has for evangelicals. @kkdumez @JohnFea1 @anelsona @robertpjones @JemarTisby @kathsstewart @socofthesacred @ndrewwhitehead @ryanburge @jncthehistorian @praxishabitus @LivedTheology 

I also think the work on narcissism by @chuckdegroat and abusive institutions by @wademullen would be interesting.

@HoogstraShirley on higher ed.

Would also be interested in hearing from @leithanderson @timkellernyc @edstetzer @jdgreear @AndyStanley about evangelicals. 

It would also be interesting to ask @Franklin_Graham @ericmetaxas @drjamescdobson @robertjeffress @waynegrudem @rdland @jackngraham @JohnnieM @nhclc @albertmohler @greglaurie about personal moral character and leadership as Trump supporters. 

More details from Giancarlo Granda in a new interview published Tuesday morning at 7 am from @MaggieSeverns
and @BrandonAmbro of Politico:

Phil Vischer comments on nepotism.

Jonathan Merritt did too:

Here is a tweet from my thread on nepotism:

https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1215698512861528065?s=20

More historical perspective recommendations here:

Staggering parallels between the Jim Bakker and Jerry Falwell Jr. scandals. (And Jim Bakker is still in business today or was until a few months ago).

https://twitter.com/danielsilliman/status/1298257151664635905

Some of us in evangelicalism are angry about the moral corruption within and sick of it.

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It should not have taken a sex scandal for Jerry Falwell Jr. to be fired.

I called for the Trustees to do it three times about other lesser known matters:

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Update 12:30 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday and wow, there will be some vicious quote tweets on this one.

https://twitter.com/RichChumney/status/1298296881550942214?s=19

Tuesday 1:30 pm

More confirmation from NPR

And the Washington Post that Falwell has resigned.

Lawyer and expert in response and prevention of institutional abuse and a former professor at Liberty University:

Tuesday 3:00 pm Eastern Time.
Liberty University announces they have accepted Jerry Falwell Jr.'s resignation.

More quotes from Jerry Falwell Jr.
"watching his wife have sex with another. He called that story '90 percent false'"

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“I never broke a single rule"

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"They're honoring my contract, I have a good contract."

Tuesday 7:50 pm Eastern Time

Giancarlo Granda gives a new angry statement to NPR about Jerry and Becki Falwell.

Karen Swallow Prior @KSPrior unsurprisingly spoke out with courage and clarity that there were many indications over the years that Jerry Falwell Jr. was irresponsible and callous.

Tuesday 9 pm Eastern Time
@iglovett and Andrea Fuller of the Wall Street Journal report on the money Liberty University will pay Jerry Falwell Jr. according to his contract.

This Twitter account is by Liberty alumni:

Tuesday 10 pm Eastern Time

Audio from NPR interview with Jerry Falwell Jr.

Tuesday 11 pm
A very well written account by @spulliam of an interview with Jerry Falwell Jr. responding to the latest developments about a photo of a Liberty student sent to Granda and his contract that the trustees did not contest.

Alumni of Liberty University suggest names of new trustees so that the corruption of the Jerry Falwell Jr. era is rooted out and not repeated in order to ensure the future health of the school.

Money is one way boards and supervisors—who lack the courage or authority to fire a destructive employee— persuade them to go away. It makes the parting much warmer for those involved. But an outrageous payoff indicates the governance has been very sick.

Rachael Denhollander, lawyer and victim, stopped the USA gymnastics doctor abusing young girls. She calls for someone to look into who else at Liberty University was involved in and turned a blind eye to Jerry Jr. and Becki Falwell's sexual predation.

Johnnie Moore runs a public relations firm, the Kairos Company. Literally, that is his job. He began with Jerry Falwell Jr., and then Paula White-Cain, James MacDonald, and Donald Trump. His niche is defending those without integrity.

Jerry Falwell Jr. says he did not break a rule so he gets his $10 million. But Giancarlo Granda released audio of Jerry, Becki, and Granda talking about the adultery. Also Reuters (@AramRoston) saw FaceTime screenshots of Becki naked with Jerry watching.

"I heard over and over about their worries young people would walk away from their relationship with Christ, yet they placed blame for that almost exclusively on secular professors and the liberal media. They shouldn’t."
– Sociologist Jeff Guhin

"When I was at Liberty University, from 2012 to 2016, I had to take 'Christian worldview' class … Yet the more powerful education we received was through thrice-weekly 'convocations' — that frequently featured Republican pundits and politicians."

Ruth Graham picked up on a subtext of moral outrage from Jonathan Falwell, the pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church and Jerry's brother at the convocation.

But this is bleak:

Christianity Today podcast @CTPodcasts with @tedolsen @Mepaynl interviews Bob Andriga about board governance. "Evaluating the CEO is a primary function of the board . . . non-profits are not supposed to endorse candidates . . . there were warnings."

Another knowledgeable person on non-profit governance, Warren Cole Smith, agrees that the trustees of Liberty University failed here in not firing Jerry Falwell Jr. for cause.

It is Thursday and Liberty University announced the resignation of Jerry Falwell Jr. on Tuesday after the revelations Sunday and Monday.

David Nasser addressed the Liberty student body and later Jerry called him and asked Nasser how he had sinned.

Thursday evening (after the Jerry Falwell Jr. resignation was accepted on Tuesday).
Politico story from reporter @BrandonAmbro:
A new allegation that Becki Falwell seduced a student in 2008.

https://twitter.com/politico/status/1299114616216334342?s=19

Miami Herald by @doug_hanks:
Jesus Fernandez Jr., a close friend of Giancarlo Granda, had photos of Becki (and Jerry Jr.?) Falwell. Michael Cohen's involvement (intimidation?) in 2016 led to changing his name to Gordon Bello. Bello says Granda knows more.

Former Liberty law professor wonders whether a former student at Liberty University will file a Title IX complaint.

Allegations so far: Jerry Falwell Jr. sent an inappropriate photo to Giancarlo Granda. Becki sexually harassed a student.

Liberty University graduate and Senior Class President in 2013 calls for an independent investigation into Jerry Jr. and Becki Falwell's time at Liberty University in the Wall Street Journal.

Giancarlo Granda gives interview with George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America. (His testimony fits with all existing evidence that I know of).

Jerry Falwell III (Trey)
– Liberty VP
– owns the hostel with Giancarlo Granda.
– Liberty failed to disclose when they sold a house to him.
– He makes money from managing a Liberty-owned shopping center.
– He needs to go.
politico.com/magazine/story…
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Note these photos with Jerry Falwell Jr. and Trey at the hostel.

Samantha Bee tried to figure out the scandal a year ago.

Remaining questions:
Where did Fernandez get the photos of Becki? What did Michael Cohen do to Fernandez so that he changed his name to Bello? Will Cohen say?
Why did Granda/Jerry buy a gay hostel? 

Barry Bowen, who has some expertise in this area, begins in this thread to set out what he know about the legality of the $10 million golden parachute that Jerry Falwell Jr. is so happy about. He also asks for others to weigh in.

If it is true that Jerry Falwell Jr. signed a new contract in 2019, and if it did not have a clause protecting the school from paying millions if he embarrassed the school with gross immoral actions, the trustees failed to protect Liberty University.

Friday night update.

Lingering questions:
– Why did Falwell / Granda / Fernandez buy a "gay-friendly hostel" for their investment?
– How did Jesus Fernandez get the photos of Becki Falwell?
– What did Michael Cohen do that made Fernandez change his name to Gordon Bello? 

The Fernandez father and son changed their names to Bello after Michael Cohen got involved. "There were obviously major concerns based on threats."
Cohen claims it was a personal favor for Jerry Jr. and Becki but it was intimidation and perhaps extortion.