(CP) Michael Brown, a Christian creator, radio host and founding father of the FIRE School of Ministry, has asked for forgiveness regarding allegations of misconduct from a few a long time ago as a widower has come forward to accuse him of an inappropriate relationship along with his late wife.
In a video posted on YouTube Tuesday, Brown addressed the recently reported allegations, saying that in late 2001 and early 2002, he developed an “emotional, not a physical, tie with one other individual.”
The Roys Report published a story a few man identified as “Ray,” who said he and his wife were close friends with Brown and thought of him a spiritual mentor. He accused Brown of pursuing an inappropriate relationship along with his wife within the early 2000s. The wife died in 2021.
In his video, Brown said he confessed his wrongdoing in 2002 to that friend and Brown’s wife, Nancy.
Brown said that while he desired to confess the matter publicly to his church community, the spouses involved within the situation decided it might be best to depart the matter undisclosed, having concluded that it was not adultery.
“That’s the explanation I actually have never discussed it with anyone else until recently. It was not to cover things. It was to honor my spouse whom I had hurt so deeply,” he said. “In the months that followed in 2002, I made radical changes to my schedule and lifestyle. I received intensive counselling and experienced the holy discipline of the Lord.”
Regarding an earlier allegation of misconduct with a FIRE School of Ministry staffer, named in reports as “Erin” to guard her identity, Brown said he apologised for interactions that she considered uncomfortable, which began when she was 18 years old and involved the slapping of her buttocks, kisses on the lips and hand-holding.
Erin said she quit working on the FIRE School of Ministry in 2002 when she was just 21 because she had grown uncomfortable around Brown. The ministry leader said that while he apologised to Erin in front of his wife in 2002, it was now clear that he didn’t understand the “depth of what she was experiencing because of this of my actions.”
Brown directly addressed the previous staffer, asking her for forgiveness.
“Please forgive me for my actions, which caused you a lot pain,” he said. “Had I more clearly understood the results of those actions in 2002, I’d have responded very otherwise. Again, from the guts, I ask you to forgive me. I’m truly and deeply sorry.”
From there, Brown directed his comments to staff members of FIRE, asking for forgiveness amongst those he has worked with in ministry over the a long time.
“Please forgive me for my failings and my poor judgement and any mishandling of those situations during that point 23 years ago,” said Brown. “I fell in need of the high standards that we set. I upset you and I hurt you.”
Brown then told “the larger Body of Christ” that “I deeply regret my behaviour from 23 years ago, to the extent that it has caused pain, or been a distraction, or caused you to query God, or wonder who the actual Dr Brown is, I ask you as well to forgive me.”
“I do know I failed you during that period,” he added, vowing that he “will proceed to work to regain your trust.”
Brown drew a parallel to Peter, who denied Jesus thrice and wept bitterly when he realised the error of his actions, was “restored to God’s grace,” and “became a much better man through his experiences.”
“If dredging up this painful time in my life, a time once I also wept bitterly for a lot of days, deepens my humility and dependence on the Lord, then all of the more do I embrace what He has called me to walk through today,” said Brown.
“Regardless of the findings of the third party investigation, I don’t minimise the wrongness of my past actions, and in the times ahead, I remain fully submitted to The Line of Fire Board, as I actually have entrusted the method into their hands.”
Earlier this month, The Roys Report published allegations that Brown had engaged in inappropriate behaviour with Erin from when she was 18 to 21 years old.
She had reportedly considered Brown to be like a father, while Brown considered her comparable to a daughter, along with her even referring to him as “dad” now and again.
In an announcement given to each TRR and The Christian Post, Brown denied that he had engaged in adulterous behaviour but in addition acknowledged a “lack of judgement” regarding his relationship with the previous staffer.
“Nancy and I did have a relationship with the lady in query and thought of her to be like a member of the family, and she or he conducted herself as one who viewed our relationship the identical way. But she was not a member of the family, and features of my interaction along with her, although totally non-sexual in every way, reflected a definite lack of judgement on my part,” Brown added.
The Line of Fire Board reportedly hired the law firm Mitchell, Stein, Carey, and Chapman in November to conduct a third-party investigation into the abuse allegations against Brown.
Earlier this month, Brown announced that he was deactivating his account on the social media platform X, where he had some 63,000 followers until the investigation into the claims concluded.
“Because I can not make any comments on the present situation I’m coping with until the investigation is accomplished, I’m going to deactivate my account until then. May the Lord be glorified,” Brown wrote on X.
