Yesterday Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, telegraphed that the CREC Review Committee has nearly finished its report and CREC minister John Barach confirmed that it’s in its final revision. Last year, during the October 27, 2015, Christ Church HOH Meeting, Mr. Wilson told the HOHs that he expected the report “by the end of the year”:

Uh, in the middle of this controversy, the session of Christ Church invited the presiding ministers of the CREC — there are seven presbyteries in the CREC, I’m the presiding minister of the whole CREC, Randy Booth in Nacogdoches, Texas, is the pro tem presiding minister — um, our session invited the presiding ministers of the CREC to come in and conduct a review of our counseling of sexual abuse cases, etc.,¹ not excluding these two cases. So, um, a couple of weeks ago, ten days ago, we shipped to all the separate presiding ministers and to Randy a notebook, um, a Sitler notebook and a Greenfield–Wight notebook full of court documents, counseling records, etc., uh, they’ve got those, uh. Two of the committee members are going to be in town here in Moscow next week, to interview people involved, to interview the session, to conduct a thorough review. So we’re in the middle of that and I’ve recused — since I’m the presiding minister and pastor of Christ Church I’ve recused myself from that process. Randy Booth is the chairman of that committee. That review is going on as we speak and we hope to have a report, a report — recommendations — back from them by the end of the year. So one of the things you can say to friends is, “A review’s in process, and we will prayerfully consider whatever they have to say. And we have given them carte blanche to everything we have.” (Shubin Report, page 216, emphasis added)

According to Doug Wilson’s timetable, the report is eleven months overdue and I suspect that we may thank Rachel Miller for this. You’ll recall that on December 10, 2015, Rachel uncovered a fly in the CREC’s ointment when she revealed that Messrs. Wilson & Booth plagiarized large swaths of body text for their book A Justice Primer. The publisher — Doug Wilson’s son — immediately blamed Mr. Randy Booth for the theft:

. . . it is abundantly clear that editor and co-author, Randy Booth, plagiarized material in multiple instances from a number of different sources. Such negligence and editorial incompetence is a gross breach of contract and obviously does not meet Canon Press’s publishing standards. (Canon Press Statement)

However, this created a PR problem for the CREC because Mr. Booth was the CREC Presiding Minister pro tem and he chaired the CREC Review Committee. The CREC had already ignored his pecuniary conflict of interest; presumably they thought his plagiarism a bridge too far. Mr. Booth resigned his pro tem office as well as his chair, though he remains a minister in good standing in the CREC. Mr. Booth’s resignation created yet another problem for the CREC because their constitution did not contemplate the possibility of scandal on scandal. That is, the CREC had no mechanism to replace its Presiding Minister pro tem who resigned in disgrace at the very time he chaired a committee that was appointed to review the Presiding Minister’s gross mishandling of two sex abuse cases. Such is the CREC. Twenty years ago its first Moderator (now called “Presiding Minister”) resigned his office in shame when his child was discovered participating in a drug ring that was run by Randy Booth’s son. The CREC reaped what it sowed² and the Review Committee failed to meet Doug Wilson’s deadline.

Mr. Jack E. Phelps assumed Mr. Booth’s position as the CREC Presiding Minister pro tem. According to the CREC Review Committee Mission Statement, on September 14, 2015, Mr. Phelps suggested that Doug Wilson ask the CREC for a review. Mr. Phelps put the onus on Mr. Wilson to make this request because the CREC has no denominational authority to intervene. Doug Wilson could commit a felony at high noon in the town square before 10,000 eyewitnesses and the CREC has no constitutional authority to discipline him. Thus we saw him blackmail a victim of serial rape and allow a serial pedophile to motion the Court for 24–7 access to his son, even as the CREC Review Committee was examining his pastoral response to the serial rape of a child in his care and a serial pedophile who committed countless acts of child rape. Doug Wilson is accountable to no one, not even the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. To be sure, he founded the CREC to serve as a front for his unethical activities.

Telegraph
Doug Wilson telegraphed that the CREC Review Committee had wrapped up its review with a post on his personal website titled 9 Theses on Pastoral Confidentiality and Child Abuse. The post is worth reading to watch how he poisons the well. The poison likely telegraphs where he believes the report goes awry. It’s also worth reading to see how he did not implement one of his so-called “9 Theses” in his response to Jamin Wight’s abuse of Natalie Greenfield and Steven Sitler’s abuse of countless children from coast to coast. If he had acted pursuant to these axioms, he would not have had to appoint a committee to review his pastoral malfeasance.

John Barach Confirms
CREC minister John Barach posted the following comment on Claire Røise’s Facebook page:

As I understand it, the report is now back from MinistrySafe and the committee is finishing up its final edits (i.e., making changes based on MinistrySafe’s recommendations).

The official letter from Christ Church inviting the Presiding Minister of the CREC (pro tem) to form this committee, made up of the presiding ministers of the various presbyteries, states explicitly: “We are asking them to issue a PUBLIC REPORT.” I expect nothing less.³

Conclusion
Doug Wilson appointed the CREC Review Committee in response to MoscowID.net. Most of the docs we published have been on the web for a decade and the CREC did nothing. Serial pedophile Steven Sitler got married. The CREC did nothing. CREC ministers from four different CREC churches participated in Sitler’s wedding. The CREC did nothing. A member of the CREC uploaded the Sitler wedding video to the web. The CREC did nothing. Steven Sitler had a baby. The CREC did nothing. Steven Sitler wants to molest his child. The CREC has done nothing.

The same is true of Natalie. She documented her abuse on her website long before we launched. The CREC did nothing. Doug Wilson blackmailed Natalie. The CREC did nothing. Doug Wilson dug up dirt on her husband to put him in a false light. The CREC did nothing. Doug Wilson viciously abused her father. The CREC did nothing.

Therefore, if you set your expectations low, the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches will not disappoint you.

¹ Note who invited whom: Doug Wilson said, “our session invited the presiding ministers of the CREC to come in and conduct a review of our counseling of sexual abuse cases, etc.” Doug Wilson appointed his committee.

³ Here is the entire paragraph that John Barach quoted from: “This invitation means that under the direction of their chair, the committee is invited to ask any questions of members of the Christ Church session and pastoral staff, and they can have complete access to their minutes, records, files, etc. Christ Church is asking this committee to issue a public report in the next few months. Moreover, they have requested that the presiding ministers satisfy themselves as to the health and soundness of their pastoral care in such circumstances, and to provide them with their counsel and advice where they see any deficiencies.” (Announcement: Inquiry into the Pastoral Ministry of Christ Church (Moscow, Idaho))