United Methodist pastor sued for sexual misconduct

UMNS photo by Mike DuBose The Rev. Charles Boayue, pastor of Second Grace United Methodist Church, Detroit, has been named in a lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct.

July 14, 2004     

By Ann Whiting*

DETROIT (UMNS)--A former probationary deacon in the United Methodist Church’s Detroit Annual Conference has filed a lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct against a conference clergyman.

Plaintiff Joy Singer – who withdrew from the ordained ministerial office in 1999 – filed the suit June 30 in the Wayne County Circuit Court.  She also names the conference, the Michigan Area and the United Methodist Church for “negligent supervision.” Singer was ordained deacon in 1997.

Singer, in a 20-page lawsuit, claims that the Rev. Charles Boayue, 44, pastor of Second Grace United Methodist Church, Detroit, offered to assist her in returning to the ordination process in return for sexual favors. At the time of the alleged misconduct, Boayue was chairperson of the conference relations committee of the Detroit Conference Board of Ordained Ministry.

The lawsuit, which asks for more than $50,000 in damages, attorney fees, lost wages and the value of lost fringe benefits for Singer because she was never reinstated as a deacon, describes a relationship in which Boayue used his authority over Singer to arrange a series of private meetings.  

According to the Detroit Free Press, Singer and supporters staged a July 13 candlelight protest at the Second Grace United Methodist Church to try to put pressure on Boayue and Michigan Area Bishop Linda Lee.  The lawsuit alleges that Boayue engaged in a months-long pattern of sexual abuse in 2003 and that Lee failed to properly investigate complaints Singer made against Boayue.

The paper quotes Singer as saying that abuse by clergy must be publicly opposed. “I am coming forth because I do not want anyone else to get hurt,” she said.

Responding July 13 to a request for comment, the Rev. Terry Euper, clergy assistant to Bishop Lee, said the bishop and the conference have not yet been served with the complaint.  He declined to comment on any specifics of the suit.

Euper said Lee followed the appropriate “supervisory process” outlined in the Book of Discipline when allegations of misconduct are made against clergy. “The church always takes any kind of charge seriously,” Euper said. “We are concerned for the protection and welfare of people.” He also said the results of the church investigation were “non-conclusive and conflicting.”

Euper said when the conference and other defendants have been served, the suit will be turned over to the appropriate insurance carriers, who will do a separate investigation and name legal counsel to proceed. Conference Chancellor Renard Kolasa will assist church leaders in understanding the legal process. He will also help the attorney for the insurance carrier to understand United Methodist polity.

In a July 13 interview with the Michigan Christian Advocate, Boayue said he could not comment on the lawsuit “because of the nature of the allegations and the seriousness of the charges.” Boayue said the church’s supervisory process found Singer’s charges not to be “substantiated.” He concluded, “We will have to defend ourselves in the appropriate places.”

Boayue was a delegate to the 2004 General Conference and was elected in May as chairperson of the Detroit Conference Board of Ordained Ministry.

*Whiting is the editor of the Michigan Christian Advocate, the newspaper of the Detroit and West Michigan annual conferences.

News media contact: Linda Green, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org

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Resource Backgrounder: Sexual Ethics Within Ministerial Relationships Backgrounder: Clergy Sexual Misconduct The Council of Bishops Statement On Sexual Abuse In The Church