Restorative Work

Since Neely McQueen and Pat Swanson became the Co-Lead Pastors in November 2020, they have been confronted with painful stories about various forms of harm and abuse spanning OCC’s 54-year history. These stories were caused by individuals in power and/or the result of unhealthy cultures across eras of leadership . Some were previously known, others were not. Responses from previous leadership ranged from being faithful to God’s heart, to responding in fear, the latter creating further harm and deferring healing. We are grateful to those who have bravely shared their stories. Our hearts are sad, angry, and overwhelmed – and our desire is to do what is right.

It became clear to the Elder Board that there was hard, humbling, and holy work ahead of us. This God-honoring healing work is seen throughout Scripture and requires truth-telling, lament, confession, repentance, restoration, and reconciliation. We recognize that this work is not without discomfort and differing perspectives and that it requires a spiritual maturity to navigate varied personal experiences. It is also long and slow. While this work is about the past, it is every bit about our future – a future of experiencing the full-life and deep-healing we have in Jesus.

In June 2022, a former student from OCC’s youth ministry met with Pastor Pat to report a series of harmful experiences that took place when he was a minor during the years 2011-2013. He reported a pattern of behavior that he described as ‘grooming’ by a former adult youth leader. The student provided a written summary of the misconduct to accompany his report. Pat shared this with Pastor Neely, the Elder Board Chair, and OCC Human Resources and reported the incident to CPS (since the accounts took place while the former student was a minor). Additionally, Pat requested the matter be addressed at the next Elder Board meeting and suggested OCC seek outside guidance from “an organization like GRACE”  to determine how best to proceed. GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in Christian Environments) is an organization empowering Christian communities to recognize, prevent, and respond to abuse.

The Elder Board approved retaining GRACE to investigate the reported harm and assess a history of sexual misconduct (and in some cases criminal behavior) at OCC.  The GRACE work is to help us learn from our past, assess our present health in relevant areas (theology, culture, systems, processes, policies) and give recommendations as we move into the future.  We desire to be a church that brings healing and does everything we can to not cause or contribute to harm or abuse. Due to GRACE’s backlog of cases, the investigation and assessment could not begin until January 2023. At GRACE’s request, for the integrity of the investigation, the Elder Board was not to disclose its learning of the previously mentioned reported harm until the conclusion of their work.

We shared this information (including personal statements by Pat and Neely) at a “Family Meeting” on 11/9/23.
You can review the transcript here:

Family Meeting - 11/9/23 - Notes

Family Meeting - English Recording

Family Meeting - Traducción Española

This report helps with the uncomfortable ‘truth-telling’ that the healing process requires. We invite you to read the entirety of the GRACE report below, and as you do, please keep these words from Isaiah 58:9 in mind.

“Get rid of unfair practices...” This report helps OCC take a hard look at the unhealthy practices and cultural dynamics that we must ensure we are rid of. Thankfully, this report offers recommendations for next steps. The Board takes seriously the weight of these recommendations and is committed to seeing OCC address these.

“Quit blaming victims...” This report helps break a cycle of minimizing, silencing, blaming, and treating victims as an inconvenience. The opening pages answer some frequently asked questions, by sharing important details about GRACE’s methodology for the construction of the report (pages 4-6).

“Quit gossiping about other people’s sins...” This report is not for entertainment, gossip, or for creating scapegoats. It is for the awareness of knowing where confession and repentance is needed. It is both personal and corporate. In Nehemiah 9, we see a community who “confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors.” Similar to Scripture, this report shows our immense need of God’s grace – both as individuals and as a church.

The report is heavy. You’ll notice an opening ‘trigger warning.’ Please be wise and exercise self-care. We’ve listed resources below for care and support.

The GRACE Report

One final thought, in Isaiah 58 there is a promise from God which says, “I will always show you where to go.” So, where do we sense God leading us from here?

First, is God’s invitation to lament, grieve, and confess. On Tuesday, November 14th at 7pm in the Worship Center we will have a ‘Lament Service.’ It will also be livestreamed at occ.org - everyone is invited.

Lament Service - 11/14/2023 | English
Lament Service - 11/14/2023 | Spanish

Second, is God’s invitation to continue taking action on the next steps GRACE provided. Some of this work will need to be shared by the entire church family, because it’s cultural – requiring all of us. You can review all the recommendations and see what progress is being made here:

The GRACE Findings, Recommendations & Progress

To the Victims, Survivors & Their Families

You have our deepest and sincerest apology. To be harmed or abused by the very person, people, or place that professes to bring hope and healing is the worst form of hypocrisy – it's betrayal at the deepest level. We wish we could change what happened. Your pain has been a prophetic rebuke for us, and we are committed to continued listening, repentance, and reconciliation (where possible). We are grateful for those of you who bravely shared your stories and participated in this restorative work with GRACE. Please know, we are always willing to listen to anyone who has a story to share and help you in the healing process. We are committed to taking ownership for what happened and learning why it happened. We don’t want to repeat the past, we want to learn from it. This report is an important first step. The work towards reconciliation will be a long and slow journey and for those of you who wish to walk it with us, we would love to hear from you.

To the Outside Community

We owe an apology to all our neighbors on the Eastside and greater Seattle area. We aren’t perfect, clearly. We need grace, clearly. We can only hope our current actions demonstrate to you how serious we are about becoming a church that helps our community flourish. We promise to do better.

To the Current Overlake Church Family

This can be shocking and unsettling. And, this restorative work actually sets us free from the shackles of shame that bind us, not only through the secrets themselves, but the act of secret-keeping also. It brings light to dark places. The fear of “what if others find out” can no longer enslave us. Yes, we are a church with a story – a painful past. It’s hard to come to terms with that. It’s not unlike the story we see throughout the pages of Scripture and 2,000 years of Church history. Our story shows our need of God’s grace. Our story is one we must know – both its beauty and pain. We are well-practiced in celebrating the moments of beauty. We are also well-practiced at avoiding, reframing, and whitewashing the pain – that must change. Because our story holds pain, it also holds wisdom, so let’s listen, learn, and respond with humility. The invitation in the days, weeks, and years ahead is to remain humble on this faith journey – this is the Way of Jesus.

To Former Overlake Members & Staff

There is a unique perspective you have of the ‘both/and.’ For some, this report stirs up past pain. For others, this report helps bring some relief. Perhaps it is even a mixture of both. We are praying for everyone’s healing process. The report speaks to ‘cognitive dissonance’ (page 43) and it’s this ‘both/and’ perspective which requires a maturity to extend grace to yourself and to others. For those who experienced harm or abuse – we are deeply sorry and ask for your forgiveness. For those who caused or were complicit in the harm or abuse of others (by action or inaction, words or silence) – we invite you to this restorative work through your own confession, repentance, and reconciling of relationships.

To the Media

We owe you an apology for the times you played a truth-telling role in our story, and we were too blind to see it. Our heart and posture throughout this work is one of transparency. At this stage of the restorative work, we are prioritizing the care of victims, survivors, our congregation, and others impacted. We are thankful for your patience as our capacity is limited in responding to media requests. Please direct any requests to: elders@occ.org

In closing, there is another phrase from the voice of God in Isaiah 58 that gives us hope and strength during such hard work...

“You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,

rebuild the foundations from out of your past.

You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,

restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,

make the community livable again.”

May it be so,

OCC Board of Elders

Carrie Bartasawicz, Nate Chinn (Chair), Duane Duim, Heidi Ellis, Neely McQueen, Todd Ranson, Eileen Suico, Pat Swanson & Arlene Thomas (Vice Chair)
elders@occ.org (includes Co-Lead Pastors)
layelders@occ.org (excludes Co-Lead Pastors)
coleads@occ.org (only Co-Lead Pastors)