Another of my heroes

There's always someone stepping up.

That's part of what keeps me involved in this movement to stop and expose clergy sex crimes and cover ups.

There's always someone else out there, who maybe had not been personally molested, but someone else with courage and insight and drive, someone who rises to the occasion, overcomes institutional and personal obstacles, and says "No matter what the cost, I can't stay silent."

We call them whistleblowers or advocates or pioneers.

They are the people who inspire me, who motivate me and who make me feel optimism, hope and downright awe.

They include Rich and Dave Darr, who exposed abuse and cover up in evangelical Protestant missionary sites in the developing world.

And Christa Brown, who has endured an extraordinary amount of abuse and pain over the years prodding a stunningly callous set of Southern Baptist officials.

And Bill Bowen, who also suffered trying to hold Jehovah's Witness officials accountable for their wrongdoing.

And Terry McKiernan, Anne Barrett Doyle and Suzy Naumann of BishopAccountability.org. And Jim Post and so many others at Voice of the Faithful (VOTF). And Sheila and Dan Daley at Call to Action (CTA). And Anne Harter and Lena Woltering of Faithful of Southern Illinois.

Let me introduce you to an inspiring man who has also really stepped up in recent years in the clergy abuse and cover up world: Douglas Lay.

He's been involved, for almost 50 years, in Restoration Movement churches (the seemingly-independent group of mostly mega-churches that are mostly conservative Protestants but are NOT part of a traditional denomination).

He remains connected with many current and former ministers in these increasley large and powerful churches.

He went to an Evangelical college and became an ordained pastor.

He taught for years at a Christian college. (Ironically, while there, he was tasked with compiling all kinds of data for an accreditation review, some of which turned out to be very helpful when he later worked to support victims and expose wrongdoers.

He played an incredibly helpful role in a case that ended up in the criminal conviction of a shrewd child molesting church employee and the subsequent scandal involving church and school officials who ignored and concealed the child sex crimes.

And he advocated for - and continues to advocate for - at least six others who were hurt in this scandal.

And as the old saying goes, "No good deed goes unpunished.

After writing a detailed case study of an abuse and cover up scandal, Doug was sued, unsuccessfully, for defamation by Pastor Steven Wingfield of First Christian Church of Florissant MO (Wingfield ignored and hid child sex crimes by a youth minister named Brandon Milburn.)

After just three weeks, Wingfield dropped the suit against Doug.

Then, however, the Christian college where Doug worked (which got $1,500 a month in support from Wingfield’s church) disciplined and tried to silence Doug while remaining silent about Wingfield and the victims.

Doug resigned, started a website isitenough.org and wrote a book, The Irony of Teaching Truth, to expose Wingfield’s cover- up of the other six victims.

And now, nearly seven years later, Wingfield is being sued for covering up his knowledge of Milburn's child sex crimes.

Like most whistleblowers, Doug has paid a real price for his courageous disclosures, advocacy and relentless quiet efforts to prod Evangelical officials to do right.

Over the past few months, he has gone one courageous step further. Doug has begun to talk about Ed Reynolds, the charismatic member of a very popular evangelical musical group. Ed physically and sexually assaulted Doug when Doug was at Ozark Christian College in Joplin Missouri.

(Thankfully, Ed is deceased, so he can't hurt others. fellow student Ed Reynolds was a campus minister for decades at three universities.)

Doug hopes to find and bring comfort to others who were injured by Ed and have struggled for decades in silence, shame and self-blame. Good for him!

Doug's the real deal. He combines the sensitivity of a good pastor, the analytical skills of a good researcher, the patience of a good professor and the demeanor of a kind father. I simply cannot say enough good things about him, and I'm very grateful our paths have crossed