Mountainbrook pastor touched women inappropriately and drank excessively, church says
Mountainbrook Church on Saturday revealed the specific findings that led to the resignation of former Pastor Thom O’Leary last month.
And the pastor himself responded to the accusations for the first time, releasing a letter dated Jan. 11 that essentially confirms the details while offering explanation and asking for forgiveness.
In a letter to the church family, members of the board of directors said a private investigator had “identified a pattern of sexual harassment and misconduct from Pastor Thom O’Learly.”
“Specifically, inappropriate touching of three female staff members and another woman, privately texting women for an extended period of time to a point where it made them feel uncomfortable, excessive drinking, and credit card charges that appeared to be for personal expenses,” the church said.
After conducting the outside investigation, the leaders followed up with an inquiry by a team from its parent organization, Vineyard USA.
“They came to the same conclusion as the board that resignation was necessary,” the board members said in their letter.
O’Leary and his wife, Executive Pastor Sherri O’Leary, both resigned from the church on Jan. 31.
In his letter, O’Leary said “three overall sins” were raised to him on Nov. 4, 2019: “(1) excessive drinking in social settings, (2) overly hugging and touching the butt of three female staff members, and (3) conversationally texting women privately for an extended length of time.”
“In that moment and without excuse, I repented,” he wrote, adding he was “profoundly repentant to the women and their families who I offended.”
“I have sent letters of apology to them. I am so sorry for the hurt I caused to the Mountainbrook staff, and you the Mountainbrook Church family. Since that time, I have continued to be broken, contrite, embarrassed and humbled by the offenses,” he added.
The letter continues:
“Now I turn to you, my Mountainbrook family, to likewise confess, repent and ask your forgiveness as well. I confess that I drank too much at times and that is unacceptable and not the way to medicate pain. I was wrong and am seriously sorry. I have been in professional counseling addressing this. I vow to all of you to never abuse alcohol again.
“I am also deeply sorry that I made three women on staff uncomfortable. They did not deserve that. It was not my intention to act inappropriately on any of these occasions. For clarity, although I understand that my actions could very well be perceived otherwise, I was being friendly and never seeking to make a sexual advancement.
“Additionally, I confess that I privately texted various women over the past decade. To be clear, there was never any sexual content. The texting began as pastoral and became more frequent and conversational thereafter. This was inappropriate. As a married man, I realize that I should not be privately texting other women and vow to my wife to never do that again.
“A fourth, and more recent inquiry, is that I may have spent money on personal expenses with a church issued card. In all good conscience, I do not believe this is accurate and certainly is not my understanding. If any discrepancies are discovered, I will immediately resolve them.”
O’Leary said he as asked for forgiveness from his wife, “which she has graciously extended.”
While taking responsibility for his actions, he also pointed to challenging issues in his personal life, including his son’s injury in a car crash, his daughter undergoing an emergency C-section that left her and her baby in the hospital for two months, and a flood at his home.
O’Leary finishes the letter by clarifying what he says he didn’t do.
“I did not have an adulterous affair. I did not embezzle money. And to be clear, I did not ‘grope,’ nor touch any person for sexual pleasure. I also did not come to church intoxicated,” he wrote.
For its part, the church is looking to move forward and said it has offered counseling, put the staff through sexual harassment prevention training in December and updated its protocols for reporting and responding to incidents like this one.
“We commend the women who came forward to share their stories of experiencing sexual harassment and the effect it has had on them. It takes incredible courage to speak up. Support and counseling are continuing to be provided for the individuals involved. We stand with them and are committed to their healing and recovery,” the board members wrote.
The church has scheduled a meeting on March 8 at 3 p.m. to review its finances with the congregation in the interest of improving transparency.
This story was originally published February 8, 2020 at 11:37 AM.
