Cover-up: not an option

National | A cautionary tale of sex-abuse charges against pastors that drove two churches to the brink | Edward E. Plowman

In many ways, independent Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Wash. (near Seattle), and Redeemer Lutheran Church, a tiny Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregation in West Duluth, Minn., are worlds apart. Overlake is an evangelical megachurch with 26 full-time pastors, 6,000 congregants, and the largest church attendance in the state; Redeemer has only 40 members left. But they do have at least one thing in common these days: Both are trying to recover from wrenching, humiliating ordeals involving allegations of pastoral misconduct.

On a Sunday morning last month, two lone protesters held signs outside Overlake's $37 million complex. One was Jena Cripe, 20, a University of Washington student whose family recently left the church. Her sign portrayed a man's face with tears rolling down his cheeks, saying, "Don't touch me." The other one was Jenny Fleeger, another college student whose family formerly attended Overlake. On her sign was printed a scriptural message: "End Hypocrisy. The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out."