Spiritual abuse while protecting a theological and institutional hierarchy is a common story in conservative evangelicalism today. But on Sunday night, the script appeared to flip when news broke that Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment had been investigating Tim Whitaker and his organization, The New Evangelicals, who are some of the most popular names in progressive Christianity today.
When stories of abuse break regarding conservative evangelicalism, many of us focus on how the abuse was the fruit of theological and institutional hierarchy. Of course, men who think they’re entitled by God to be the authorities over women and children are going to abuse women and children. And it’s easy to call out the likes of John MacArthur or John Piper, who are famous for promoting these hierarchies.
But what about when progressive Christians get caught in scandals? Does that mean progressive Christians or ex-evangelicals are going too far in our critique of conservative evangelical theologies and ethics of hierarchy because we abuse people too?
When we carefully examine this week’s story about Tim Whitaker and The New Evangelicals, we’ll realize the problem isn’t that we’re going too far in our critique of hierarchy, but that we’re not going far enough. We’re not recognizing remnants of hierarchy in ourselves and our friends.
Who are Tim Whitaker and The New Evangelicals?
Whitaker, a former worship leader, began noticing in 2020 how conservative evangelicals were dismissing Black Lives Matter and minimizing the dangers of COVID. So he started an Instagram account called “The New Evangelicals” to document his journey deconstructing conservative evangelicalism. His critiques included evangelical threats of hell, the exclusion of LGBTQ people and male-dominated hierarchies in the church and home.
When his platform began to take off, he started a nonprofit, with a board for accountability, and a budget for fundraising.
According to a presentation Whitaker gave in December 2024, TNE had amassed 323,000 followers, behind only Relevant and Christianity Today in that segment of the religion market. According to Whitaker, they also had $206,000 in funding — an impressive start for a new organization.
In addition to his other successful podcast, Whitaker teamed with progressive Christian influencer April Ajoy for “The Tim and April Show,” which launched Feb. 21 and almost immediately shot up the charts. By March 15, they had reached the No. 4 spot in top shows for Apple Podcasts in the religion and spirituality category.
A shocking revelation
But then on Sunday night, news broke that Whitaker was the focus of an abuse of power investigation by GRACE. That report had been instigated by his own board of directors in response to a formal grievance filed.
Because Ajoy had become such a trusted figure among progressive Christians and ex-evangelicals, many people raised questions about what she knew. Did she sign on to the new show knowing Whitaker was under investigation from GRACE? That didn’t seem like something she would do. Or did TNE offer her the show without disclosing to her that Whitaker was under investigation? That would be quite an omission.
When asked on Monday about what she knew, Ajoy said: “I was made aware of the situation last night and am currently doing everything I can to fully understand what happened. For now, the show is on pause.”
Allegations
The allegations against Whitaker and TNE listed in GRACE’s report are summarized as:
- How Whitaker related to leadership, power and character issues
- An alleged incident of “rage driving”
- Mishandling of allegations about the above
According to an alleged victim, of Whitaker’s rage, referred to as “RV,” she began following TNE in 2021, soon began volunteering for them and became a paid contractor in 2023. For her contract work, she regularly flew across the country to meet with Whitaker.
With 30 years of respected expertise in brand, creative and nonprofit strategy, RV knew how to take TNE to the next level. In fact, she helped build TNE nearly from the beginning of its nonprofit stage up to more than 100,000 followers and $100,000 in donations. But the report says when she worked with Whitaker himself, things were disorganized, with Whitaker allegedly preferring to work “in a very unstructured way.”
“He was driving very fast. He was changing lanes, he was honking, cussing, muttering and I just couldn’t get him to calm down.”
Despite initially trusting Whitaker, RV began observing Whitaker to be “less receptive to feedback or insight” over time, which led to “a sense of fear that was yet indefinable.” She said later she noticed “something about him that he just did not want to be challenged. It was kind of his rules.”
While working on a documentary in the spring of 2024, RV had to make significant adjustments to a script and was running late. In an interview with BNG, RV explained: “The script was incredibly long, and Tim incrementally provided a very rough draft that was riddled with issues: little to no punctuation, misspellings and poor overall structure. I had to extensively rewrite it as it came through. He delayed getting me his last section, which made the timeline extremely difficult. I was working almost all night to make up for the delay from him and be ready for filming the next day. I woke up early to keep working on it, went to a coffee shop to complete the work, and got so immersed in it, I lost track of time. I was 40 minutes late. I like to have structured video shoots, so that amount of lateness is embarrassing to me and I called and apologized profusely as I got in my car to drive over. And I had this really bad feeling as l left. Because of this, I asked to drive. He told me to get in his car.”
When she got into his car, she said, “You could just cut the air with a knife.”
“He was driving very fast. He was changing lanes, he was honking, cussing, muttering and I just couldn’t get him to calm down,” she told GRACE. “It was just rage driving. I remember in that moment I laughed because I was so scared. … I remember thinking, I am on the other side of the country from my family. I’m in a car with a big guy. He’s 6’-4”. He is very loud and he’s very angry and I’m scared. I was scared for my safety. I knew he wouldn’t directly hurt me, but I was scared of this. This driving is unsafe.”
Unwilling to discuss
Twelve days later, when RV approached Whitaker about what had happened, she said he was irritated, even combative, and said: “Why are you bringing this up now? I feel like you’re blindsiding me. What if you go public with this? Are you going to go public with this?”
As RV attempted to reason with Whitaker, she told GRACE, Whitaker would raise his voice and attempt to blame her.
RV told BNG: “I wanted him to know his behavior was frightening and affected my sense of trust and safety in working with him. I got a sense he thought I was overreacting and that frustrated him. But I knew he crossed a tangible line that couldn’t happen again with someone else. It would compromise TNE.”
After one particularly long phone conversation, Whitaker suggested they see a mediator. The mediator was Laura Anderson, who had appeared on TNE’s podcast.
“He absolutely exploded at me over the phone, angrily challenging this concern.”
“He told me he had done an episode with Dr. Laura in the past, but it seemed like a one-off, and he only knew her as an acquaintance,” RV told BNG. “The important thing to note here is that the report shows he was more connected to her and talked to her several times. Most problematic is that he released an episode with her the same day as the mediation. It was an incredibly uncomfortable thing to discover after the mediation earlier that day. I was afraid of bringing it up, because every time I would advocate for myself, he would get angrier, retaliate more and withhold work and communications.”
During one Zoom session, RV overheard Whitaker and Anderson laughing together, which caused her to question the impartiality of Anderson’s role as mediator. And she felt much of the mediation was biased against her.
“I had to tell him the mediator and release of the episode was a conflict of interest and improper power dynamics,” she told BNG. “He absolutely exploded at me over the phone, angrily challenging this concern. That was our last conversation. I asked the board to intervene. (TNE’s fundraising operations coordinator) and I filed a grievance. The board kept protecting Tim and delaying resolution, so we both resigned that day.”
According to RV, Whitaker demonstrated “deeper issues that revealed a demonstrable inability to listen, empathize, apologize and change.” She said the money TNE had raised “enabled an engaging personality to build a personal kingdom and maintain an unchecked hold on the daily operations, messaging, management and impact on every aspect of the work.”
The GRACE report
The GRACE report concluded that Whitaker “committed behavioral misconduct in the form of verbal, nonverbal and physical acts that were improper, including a lack of self-control, controlling behaviors, and holding double standards.”
GRACE also cited three additional examples of allegations in 2022 and 2023 involving someone associated with TNE.
Among their recommendations to TNE, Grace suggested the board “decenter (Whitaker) as the source of primary creative control and personality of TNE,” provide “training for board members and (Whitaker) on collaborative and equitable leadership, nonprofit governance, power dynamics, domestic abuse,” and engage in “shared decision-making that reflects full participation, mutual understanding, inclusive solutions and shared responsibility.”
Whitaker and TNE’s board have said they agree with the findings of the GRACE report. But how they’ll ultimately respond to the concerns being raised will be revealed over time. The alleged victims are sharing their perspectives of TNE’s response on their site, TNE Reckoning.
Grace and Whitaker response
A representative of TNE’s board has said the organization’s leadership, including Whitaker, are working toward reconciliation. That representative posted a video 0n Instagram 11 days after the GRACE report was made public.
Whitaker also spoke on the board video to give his response to the Grace report. There, he said: “The investigation was initiated so that I could know what I did wrong and the board could know what they did wrong, and so we can have a better path forward to reconcile with RV and the main witness and own up to the mistakes that we made. … We had a real gap in our policies and procedures that would have better protected RV.”
“I was operating out of fear and frustration.”
He acknowledged that his “attempts to reconcile were inadequate” and that “the mediator that I suggested was a mistake, not because she wasn’t qualified, but because of the conflict of interest as stated in the report. The mediator should have been initiated by the board, not by me.”
In this and other actions, “I was operating out of fear and frustration,” he said. “My intent is to embrace repentance and do better in the future. For my complicity in all of this, I am so sorry.”
When progressive Christianity doesn’t go far enough
Notice the specific words of GRACE’s recommendations: collaborative, equitable, shared, mutual and inclusive. None of these are hierarchy words. On the other hand, the words they choose to describe harm — power dynamics and domestic abuse — depend on hierarchy.
Progressive Christian organizations like TNE are correct in calling out the violent hierarchies of conservative evangelicalism. But when progressive Christians or ex-evangelicals set out to do the work of dismantling hierarchy, it can be very easy to start new ministries and organizations that function similarly to their experiences in hierarchy-based churches.
There’s the superhero “lead pastor” of the organization, the “elder board” made up of the lead pastor’s closest friends or biggest fans who support the vision and supposedly provide accountability, and all the “lay ministers” who help the “lead pastor” expand (typically his) platform by “spreading the word.”
In progressive Christianity, it may seem to be completely different than a local conservative evangelical church because the movement speaks against the evangelical church in so many ways. But the relational framework, institutional allegiance and missional aim can be very similar. And when tithes — fundraising — are involved, and salaries need to be paid, the lines between values and fears can wear thin if people aren’t careful or practicing self-awareness.
In a conversation on the “Desert Sanctuary” podcast following an earlier TNE controversy involving Whitaker in 2023, Megan South Benninger said: “You don’t see it when it’s yourself.” This was prior to the GRACE investigation. So her words ring even more true today.
By not going far enough in dismantling hierarchy or being willing to call it out in our friends, progressive Christians also can lack self-awareness and become complicit in oppressing their neighbors. And survivors of abuse are taking notice.
Rick Pidcock
Rick Pidcock is a 2004 graduate of Bob Jones University, with a bachelor of arts degree in Bible. He’s a freelance writer based in South Carolina and a former Clemons Fellow with BNG. He completed a master of arts degree in worship from Northern Seminary. He is a stay-at-home father of five children and produces music under the artist name Provoke Wonder. Follow his blog at www.rickpidcock.com.