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Allegations
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The Assemblies of God
church hierarchy is under fire for covering up allegations of sexual abuse
involving one of its senior pastors. The allegations relate
to Pastor Wayne Hughes, head of the Takapuna church. A longtime member of
the Takapuna Assembly of God told the Herald he brought information about the
abuse to the attention of church general superintendent Ken Harrison in
October. Nothing was done. "I've fulfilled my
obligation to God by not sweeping it under the carpet. God doesn't want this
stuff going on in His church. He wants it exposed. I'm sure He's not pleased with
those who found out about it and didn't do anything about it," said the
church member. Asked about a cover-up,
Mr Harrison said: "No comment." Concerns have also been
raised by Nasir Ali, who was married in a Muslim ceremony in 1992 to Wayne
Hughes' daughter. His concerns stem from
allegations that Mr Hughes sexually abused a teenager. Both the pastor and
the victim have acknowledged some form of abuse occurred. "I rang him
[Hughes] and told him, 'How could he stand there at church and preach to
people when he had been guilty of that?' And that he had to resign - that it
was just completely hypocritical," said Mr Ali. The member of the
Takapuna church, who spoke to the Herald on condition of anonymity, said he
wanted the church to suspend Wayne Hughes while it conducted a full
investigation. When he accidentally
stumbled on the information, he believed God was testing him. "God was
putting me on the spot saying, 'Who do you serve and who do you follow?' I
prayed for the courage to do something about it, I knew it was wrong." Mr Ali said he tried to
discuss the sexual abuse claims in September with two pastors at the Takapuna
church but was asked to leave the premises. His lawyer was subsequently
contacted by another lawyer and Mr Ali was told to stop making the claims. "I want them to
know that within their midst they have somebody with this history of sexual
abuse," Mr Ali said. Mr Hughes did not
return Herald calls. |
