Part 1



On the outer edge of south east Baltimore in a former strip mall is the headquarters to Greater Grace World Outreach, known by many as an evangelical church continues to be the spotlight of controversy. For decades the ministry lived in an almost outright state of denial about its history and problems. As of today there has been a mass exodus of affiliated churches and missionaries as a result of the controversies. This includes three local splinter churches having started, 2 of which were efforts by the founding Pastors sons Steve Stevens & Paul Stevens. A majority of the church and associated college and day school staff have left their positions and publicly apologized for their mistakes and abuse. One of its long time top leaders Daniel Lewis has publicly confessed that he "actively lied" and was involved in publicly discrediting people,



The ministry has a long history of controversy including loosing a multimillion dollar lawsuit in its previous inception as "The Bible Speaks". In recent years the church faced multiple scandals including a major payoff to cover up an affair, as well as a controversy concerning its founder and Pastor Carl H. Stevens Jr. addiction to pain killers. In the last 6 months Pastor Stevens has been unable to attend church much at all, and appeared on periodically on the international radio show he hosts, often in scripted and confused state. However in church literature and website he is still named as the ministries Senior Pastor



The ministry also has unusual ties as a pseudo Christian organization to Scientology. Dr. George Robertson who was the V.P. of the ministries Maryland Bible College & Seminary now heads up two cult apologetic groups supported and operated by scientology "Friends of Freedom" and the New Cult Awareness Network. Dr. Robertson has been involved in many investigations including the investigation



In the recent years the internet has played a major factor in dissemination of information about the ministry. One website-blog has over 70,000 postings. Other websites contain information including court transcripts and testimonies have also appeared.



In the past two years the church has come under investigation by the IRS and FBI for fraud concerning building projects. Members were encouraged to support financial efforts for a new building. Many former members have alleged that the monies ended up going to other purposes and the buildings were never built. Currently in Delaware formers members are pushing the State's Attorney's office on one of the local affiliated ministries misuse of funds, threats, and other abusive conduct.



A large number of the former affiliated ministries have changed their church names to separate themselves from the Leadership in Baltimore, often changing their names to a community church name.

Since its earliest days there have been accusations of sexual misconduct, in recent years there have been allegations of sexual abuse of minors. This includes allegations against the ministries youth department and individuals connected to its evangelical missions. Up until recently none of the allegations were substantiated in any way other than by anonymous mentions until one of ministries staff son was convicted in Maryland of sex with a minor, his father and brother having been the targets of prior investigations in other states.



The church has methodically denied these events. Now with its Pastor unable to even communicate on a regular basis, its leadership in denial, and former members of staff and leadership confessing to the abuse the church finds itself in a downward spiral, constantly loosing hundreds of members and affiliations, and the possibility of more civil actions against it.



Recently John Hadley was named the new President of Maryland Bible College & Seminary, the ministries affiliated bible college that sits in the same former strip mall. Pastor Hadley is also a member of the ministry elder board. He himself has been involved in the events that led up to the incredibly expensive cover-up and similar events.



Many of the former members openly express their concerns about the children in the ministry, individuals who are easy targets for emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Recently former Bible College students openly stated that the school often used threats with their passports and homes to keep them away from secular schools and being involved with life outside the ministry.



This method and similar methods seems to be the status quo in the ministry. Former members often discuss how their lives were so disrupted by the leaderships desire to control people's lives. This includes decisions on financial decisions, marriage and divorce, and similar concerns. Often under threats people were encouraged to leave their spouses for the sake of the ministry.



Greater Grace World Outreach did an outstanding job in preventing its demise under such controversy but now that much of what was alleged has come full circle and is obvious in the public eye to the outside world what has really been going on. Like the scandal of child abuse with the Catholic Church we can expect to hear more and more about the details of abuse at Greater Grace World Outreach.