Part 3: All Hell Breaks Loose
On September 7th, the following letter (e-mail) was sent to the entire staff at Chesapeake Church: (These are not their real names. But the people are real. What happened is real.)
Subject: Regarding Robert Hahn’s Treatment of the Lafferty Family
Nearly two weeks ago, my brother-in-law, Ron Lafferty, the lead teaching pastor at Chesapeake Church, flew to Honduras to discuss the tendering of his resignation with Robert Hahn, his senior pastor, and friend. Ron understood that his actions disqualified him from current leadership within the church. What happened next is nothing short of appalling. Mr. Hahn spewed hateful words and then purposefully waited until Ron’s plane was in the sky to send an email detailing the nature of Ron’s indiscretions. He sent this email to the entire Chesapeake Church staff, which I understand consists of 40+ individuals. He paid no regard to the collateral damage this would incur. When my sister, Sara Lafferty, learned about the existence of this email, she scrambled to contact her children before they heard the news from somebody else. Abby, who has attended Chesapeake Church since infancy and who has served in a number of capacities for many years, learned of her father’s affair while standing in the middle of a Target.
These kids’ lives have revolved around this church. Their friends are there. Their faith and values were developed there. There was no consideration of their well-being. The second that email was sent, Robert Hahn stripped them of their dignity, privacy, and the chance for a proper resolution. Their church home was supposed to be a safe place. You can imagine their feelings of abandonment, compiled atop the hurt stemming from their father’s actions.
Robert Hahn’s actions were a grievous mishandling of the situation. As you are aware, Mr. Hahn’s vindictive behavior has continued these past two weeks. Galatians 6:1 says, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” Reclaiming the lost to Christ should be a pastor’s first priority. In fact, you have a process that acknowledges this practice in your Book of Order. Gentleness and restoration were thrown out the window in exchange for hatred and vengefulness.
But I have come to understand that this sort of erratic, abusive behavior is the norm for Robert Hahn. I know, for instance, that a cover-up of domestic abuse among two former staff members is part of this greater story. I fear that the elders of Chesapeake, the ones responsible for holding their leadership to the highest standards of behavior, have continually allowed Robert Hahn to rule with dictatorial authority, either turning a blind eye or believing that his position within the church entitles him to act as he wishes.
Let me be clear. His position does not entitle him to act as he wishes.
The Bible makes clear the characteristics we should see within the leadership of the church:
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint[a] elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe[b] and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. (Titus 1:5-9)
I ask you to consider whether your senior pastor fits the above description.
I believe you must understand that what has occurred in the past two weeks puts your church at fault. Otherwise, you would not have reached out and offered Sarah continued healthcare coverage and further financial assistance. To reach out to her in love and then rescind that offer because of a lawyer’s advice seems heartless and, quite honestly, unbiblical. 1 Corinthians 6 makes it clear that going outside of the church for counsel on such matters is shameful. Taking a combative stance upon the advice of an attorney in order to protect an immoral pastor and the “institution” rather than caring for your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ is wrong.
7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. (1 Corinthians 6:7-8)
Perhaps some of you have been listening to the popular Christian Today podcast, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” Mark Driscoll built an evangelical empire in one of America’s most secular cities. It took years to grow a tiny church plant to a multi-state, 29-church ministry. It took years to build and mere days to fall. One of Driscoll’s most infamous statements speaks to his narcissism and wholly unbiblical mission: to achieve mega-church status no matter the consequences. Driscoll stated, “There is a pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus, and by God's grace, it'll be a mountain by the time we're done.”
Anyone who disagreed with Driscoll, no matter how trivial the matter, was run over by the proverbial bus. After the church’s collapse, a majority of the elders released a letter of confession to two of the pastors wrongly terminated back in 2007. The elders wrote, “By failing to intervene, we enabled a growing trend of misuses and abuses of power and authority that would be feared and tolerated by the rest of the church’s eldership.”
I am aware of other incidents where Robert Hahn’s behavior caused significant harm. There are stories that go back years - stories that have been buried, silenced, forgotten.
I pray that the leadership at Chesapeake does not believe that the victims of Robert Hahn’s abuse are simply not important in light of the “greater mission.” There are wonderful, kind, Christian people within your staff and within your congregation. Many of you know that what transpired these past two weeks (and in the months and years passed), was wrong. You ache for my sister and her kids. Perhaps you’re afraid of retaliation if you speak out. But you have to speak out. I am imploring you to do the right thing.
Churches built upon corrupt and abusive practices are doomed to collapse. Don’t continue to worship in a house of cards. Because unfortunately, when the house falls, the ones who suffer are the ones who live in it - not the ones who built it. They are innocents. They are kids like Abby and Jack. Your blameless congregants are the ones who will be crushed. (See Matthew 7:25-29)
I am writing to ask you to make things right. I am writing to ask you to consider doing the following:
Hire an outside investigation team to thoroughly examine the abuse and mistreatment of those who were under the authority of Robert Hahn. An outside investigation offers objectivity and discretion. You should be willing to accept their conclusion and make any organizational changes recommended.
Here is one such organization:
Robert Hahn should be asked to step down from his position pending a thorough investigation from an outside team.
Apologies are owed to Jack, Abby, and Sara Lafferty. Restitution should be discussed and offered.
The church must make a commitment to complete transparency, to humility within its leadership, and to restoration among those who have been hurt by Robert Hahn’s toxic leadership. The authoritarian model of leadership must change to one of accountability.
I want to remind you what you have publicly stated are your procedures for the restoration of church members and staff. These quotes are taken directly from The Chesapeake Book of Order, a document that tells the world what your church stands for.
“When a pastor elects to resign his pastoral duties, he will tender his resignation to the Session. If the church desires to be relieved of a pastor, such action is the responsibility of the Session. But whether the minister or the church initiates proceedings for a dissolution of his pastoral duties, the congregation will be informed. In any case, the pastor is expected to continue to serve until the Session finally acts and an effective date is set. If the action is initiated by the pastor, the terms of the departure or retirement can be settled by the Session. If the action is otherwise initiated, affirmation of a change in the calling must be made by the congregation. The Session needs to determine if the dissolution of the pastoral relationship with a pastor was brought about in Christian love and good order on the part of the parties concerned.” (The Chesapeake Book of Order, 2009, p 25)
28-4. The authority which Christ has given the church is for building up, and not for destruction. It is to be exercised under a dispensation of mercy and not of wrath. As in the preaching of the Word, the wicked are doctrinally separated from the good, so by discipline the church authoritatively separates the holy from the profane. In this it acts the part of a tender mother, correcting her children for their good, that every one of them may be presented faultless in the day of the Lord Jesus. (The Chesapeake Book of Order, 2009, p 40)
28-5. Scriptural law is the basis of all discipline because it is the revelation of God's Holy will. Proper disciplinary principles are set forth in the Scriptures and are to be followed. They are: a. Instruction in the Word for the glorification of God. Chesapeake Church should resist and reject the sinful desire to talk about the offense with others; known as gossip (Proverbs 26:20). Gossip represents a separate offense to a person or the church body and is of itself subject to discipline. Ephesians 4:29 should be used as a filter to protect against gossip and slander; b. Individual responsibility to examine one’s motives to ensure that any admonishment of another is driven by love for that person and the protection of the church (Matthew 7:5); c. Individual responsibility to admonish one another (Matthew 18:15, Galatians 6:1). This responsibility is not restricted to one attempt to restore a relationship to be followed by the calling of one or more witness. If the first act of love to admonish another is not received it is the responsibility of the offended individual to re-examine his or her heart and words to determine the purity of motives (Matthew 7:5) before attempting to gently restore the brother or sister; d. If the admonition is rejected, then the calling of one or more witnesses (Matthew 18:16) is appropriate. Only after a heartfelt reflection should the offended individual call on one or more witnesses to be able to affirm that the offense had been appropriately expressed and subsequently rejected. These witnesses are not to be secondary accusers. These witnesses priSarah role is to pray for the reconciliation of the relationship and the glorification of God. The offended party should honor God by not gossiping with the witnesses thus circumventing the ability of the Holy Spirit to convict all parties involved of their individual wrongs; 41 e. If personal and informal attempts to resolve an offense are unsuccessful, Jesus says in Matthew 18:17 to “Tell it to the church.” At Chesapeake Church “telling it to the church” is defined as telling the church elders and requesting their direct assistance in resolving the offense. In some cases one or more elders may repeat the previous attempts directed by the Holy Scripture and try to talk personally and informally with the offender. Each officer of the church has an individual Christian responsibility to pursue reconciliation of offenses. An Elder should not act unilaterally as a representative of the Session unless directed by the Session. If rejection persists, then the Church must act through her court unto admonition, suspension, excommunication and deposition (see BOCO Chapter 31). Steps (a) through (e) must be followed in proper order for the proper exercise of discipline. (The Chesapeake Book of Order, 2009, pp 40-41)
31-1. The censures which may be inflicted by church courts are admonition, suspension from the Sacraments, excommunication, suspension from office, and deposition from office. In all cases of censure the goal is to reclaim a wayward or a delinquent believer. The censure of admonition or censure of definite suspension from office will be administered to an accused upon conviction. Censure remains in effect until the person satisfies the court as to his/her repentance and makes such restitution as is appropriate. Such censure concludes the judicial process. The censure of indefinite suspension or censure of excommunication will be administered to an accused upon conviction that remains impenitent. (The Chesapeake Book of Order, 2009, p 42)
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I hope you will prayerfully consider how to proceed. I pray that, collectively, your actions will glorify God, uphold the integrity of the church, and bring some healing to the emotional trauma inflicted upon my sister, nephew, and niece.
Further information, learned after this email was sent:
Remember, Sara Lafferty was entirely unaware of her husband’s affair, as were her children. Robert Hahn knew this.
Robert Hahn flew home from Honduras shortly after meeting with Ron. Before Ron was able to clean out his office, Robert Hahn went through his things, found a personal journal, and read it. Then, he carried it around the church, showing parts of it to the staff. This has been confirmed by several sources.
Neither Sara Lafferty or her children have received an apology from Robert Hahn or staff leadership. Two offers of financial assistance to Sarah were made – and both were abruptly rescinded.
The author of the above email never received a response from anybody on the Chesapeake staff. She was blocked from commenting on the Chesapeake Church Facebook page, though she’d never commented there before.
You can access Chesapeake Church’s Book of Order here.