Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.
-Ephesians 5:3, NLT
“Jason grabbed me, putting his hand between my legs and his head on my stomach and began kissing my stomach. I felt his arms and hands wrapped around my legs making contact with my inner thigh, butt and crotch,” she wrote in a 2018 statement reviewed by The Christian Post.
-from “How she fought back after assault by Hillsong Church administrator” by Leonardo Blair in “The Christian Post”
In yet another story, we learn of sexual impropriety in another Hillsong staff member.
The story involves the assault on Anna Crenshaw. She was assaulted at a party by a married Hillsong staff member, Jason Mays. Jason is the son of the Hillsong Church’s head HR manager.
The assault was reported to the authorities leading to Jason Mays pleading “…guilty to ‘assault with an act of indecency’ in 2019.” In other words, all parties agreed that what happened between Jason Mays and Anna Crenshaw that night crossed a line and was deemed a crime.
Hillsong Church tried to pawn this episode off as a “hug gone wrong” to The Christian Post.
Isn’t that just crazy!?
Do courts regularly have to pass judgment on hugs going wrong in the general population? I think not. It is a lame excuse that Hillsong Church is shamefully promoting to protect the son of one in power there.
Mays cheated on his wife in assaulting Ms. Crenshaw at that party. So, there were two victims here: Ms. Crenshaw and Ms. Mays.
What Ms. Crenshaw describes fits with sexual immoral behavior on Mr. Mays’ part. Touching a woman who isn’t your wife the way Mays touched Ms. Crenshaw is sexually and sinfully inappropriate.
The story about the party delineates decisions he made to continue drinking beyond what was reasonable and to ignore reminder(s) of his married status. My point is he made a series of poor decisions that culminated in this criminal assault.
Yet Hillsong Church still employs him!!!
“The Lord has forgiven Jason and we felt he deserved another chance after we weighed up the judge’s findings and comments. As well as giving consideration to the suspension Jason had served and the conditions he had met. He was restored to paid work and volunteering, which we believe to be in line with biblical principles of discipline and restoration,” Houston [Founder & Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church] said. “One thing I do know is that we are not talking about a sexual predator here. We’re talking about a young man, young married man who did something stupid. Got much drunker than he should, which is an issue that we should keep addressing, and got himself in a bad situation.”
-from “How she fought back after assault by Hillsong Church administrator” by Leonardo Blair in “The Christian Post”
I guess I missed the part in my Bible where it talks about allowing Christian leaders to remain in leadership as long as they are not “a sexual predator.”
Hiding behind the lack of “pastor” title does not work either as Jason Mays is clearly in paid and volunteer leadership positions in the church. One could argue such positions fit with the role of deacons in the early church. They were held to a high moral standard, too (see 1 Timothy 3:8-10).
Many jobs exist outside the church. If they really wanted to give him a “second chance,” I am sure they have connections on the outside to help him find employment. It strikes me as highly inappropriate to return him to a place of prominence in the church after such sinful (and clearly, criminal) behavior.
I agree with the pastor father of Ms. Crenshaw who said:
“…if Brian Houston [Founder and Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church] was serious about changing the culture of how abuse is handled at Hillsong Church, Mays would not be on staff at the church.”
All of this exposes the sad reality regarding many megachurches in Christendom. Marital infidelity (and assault, apparently) is not taken seriously if it means holding the powerful accountable.
