In recent weeks, very serious accusations have come to me and my board concerning events from 23 years ago. Upon receiving the news, both Nancy and I were shocked and horrified at the accusations, allegations, and mischaracterizations, and wholeheartedly supported our board’s decision to launch a thorough third-party investigation. 

I can categorically state that in my 53 years in the Lord and more than 50 years with Nancy, I have never committed adultery or enjoyed sexual intimacy with another woman, nor do the charges allege that. Yet I must ask, in all humility and in the fear of the Lord, if an article on the Roys Report is the best way to address these allegations and accusations. Does this glorify the Lord, edify the Body, bring healing and restoration, or advance the cause of truth? 

Nancy and I did have a relationship with the woman in question and considered her to be like a family member, and she conducted herself as one who viewed our relationship the same way. And while my physical interaction with her was in keeping with what I viewed as normal within family relationships, the fact is she was not a family member, which reflects a serious lack of judgment and understanding on my part. 

Before she relocated to another state in August 2002, she informed me that our interaction months earlier had made her uncomfortable. And so Nancy and I met with her immediately in the spirit of Matthew 18, I apologized to her from the heart, we talked things through together, after which, to our knowledge, she wanted to move forward in peace. In the years that followed, at least through 2015, she contacted me sharing family updates, sending prayer requests, and checking in on Nancy and me. Naturally, we thought that everything was fine between us. How could we have known otherwise? As to allegations that I stifled those who questioned the nature of our relationship, it is because they accused me of having an affair. Of course I rebutted those ridiculous charges. At no time over the years did anyone approach me, asking me or my ministry to conduct a third-party investigation.

The fact is that my actions towards her were certainly foolish and irresponsible – but neither sexual nor amorous in any way – and my highest priority, as well as Nancy’s, is to have the opportunity to meet together in a setting acceptable to her and bring healing, where I can take full responsibility for the things which apparently hurt her so deeply, things which I thought we addressed 23 years ago. Unfortunately, when Nancy and I learned through the Roys Report that there was an offense towards me in this woman’s heart, we were not allowed to follow the mandate of Jesus in Matthew 5:23-26, but only given the option of offering a response to an article that would be released online. What happened to biblical process?

That being said, if it’s true that for 23 years she has carried this pain and I am responsible for it, I am beyond mortified and would plead forgiveness and the opportunity to bring healing and restoration. Her wellbeing remains our priority.