Trudy Metzger/Steve Stutzman

[Ernie]

I wish it were not necessary for Trudy to obtain this information and publicize it for Leroy to resign. I wish there were another way, yet here we are.

I think the place to start is to take such information to the church leaders.
If the leaders will not remove the pastor or share the information with the church members, then inform the members.

I don't know why the information needs to be shared publicly unless an organization does not do anything about it. Then it can be shared publicly as announcement without attacking people.

The leadership knew about this when they hired Leroy. I’m not sure how someone would get contact information for church members that you’re not a part of.

I love demographic research and networking and collecting such information. So, I suppose getting the word out to a church without publishing to the world doesn't seem like all that big a hurdle.

[Ernie]

I want to preface this post with a comment. I believe children and women need to be protected from abuse including sexual abuse. I think all abuse needs to be reported to the proper authorities.

Over the years Trudy Metzger has been an advocate against child sexual abuse among conservative anabaptist men. She had been off social media for eight months at the advice of her lawyer. I do not know the details why her lawyer advised her to refrain from social media for a period of time.

However, she has returned with a vengeance. In the past she seemed to have a vendetta against Steve Stutzman for various things. Right now, she is targeting him again, making accusations that he protected a Michael Beiler, who allegedly abused a child. I do not know Steve Stutzman, but he feels there isn’t enough evidence to back up the claim of abuse. Trudy thinks that the alleged victim needs to be believed no matter what. To me the whole fiasco appears to be a “he said, she said” case.

Trudy has a way of alluding to accusations of child sexual abuse using carefully chosen words with names attached. From there a whole Trudy following mob descend on social media who appear to have personal agendas and vendettas posting all kinds of stuff, even promoting that abusers deserve death. Many of the posts do not look like they are based on facts or reality, but all emotion. Facts can be taken to court. Evidence of legitimate witnesses can be taken to court, yet so far, the allegations against the alleged perp have not come to that. There is a lot of spewing names and dredging up past mistakes of people which they made 20 or 30 years ago and repented of. Add to that slander and unverifiable accusations.

Any person or entity she can link to child sexual abuse, she will do, the latest being the Way of Jesus Academy in Lancaster, the Lancaster Children’s Church and Bethesda Christian Fellowship. I am not saying these entities didn't make mistakes, but according to Trudy and her followers, there is no grace for mistakes.

Even though over the years Trudy has brought some horrendous abuse cases to light, her tactics seem to be unchristian as she inundates social media with so much unverified information. She stereotypes almost all leaders as child sexual abusers. In my Anabaptist world that simply is not the truth.

I feel her tactics really take away from the cause of preventing child sexual abuse in the plain culture. But that is just my opinion.

www.facebook.com/TruMe/posts/pfbid0Wzrm ... iuYwehQVMl"

Your post was noticed.

[mike]

I want to preface this post with a comment. I believe children and women need to be protected from abuse including sexual abuse. I think all abuse needs to be reported to the proper authorities.

Over the years Trudy Metzger has been an advocate against child sexual abuse among conservative anabaptist men. She had been off social media for eight months at the advice of her lawyer. I do not know the details why her lawyer advised her to refrain from social media for a period of time.

However, she has returned with a vengeance. In the past she seemed to have a vendetta against Steve Stutzman for various things. Right now, she is targeting him again, making accusations that he protected a Michael Beiler, who allegedly abused a child. I do not know Steve Stutzman, but he feels there isn’t enough evidence to back up the claim of abuse. Trudy thinks that the alleged victim needs to be believed no matter what. To me the whole fiasco appears to be a “he said, she said” case.

Trudy has a way of alluding to accusations of child sexual abuse using carefully chosen words with names attached. From there a whole Trudy following mob descend on social media who appear to have personal agendas and vendettas posting all kinds of stuff, even promoting that abusers deserve death. Many of the posts do not look like they are based on facts or reality, but all emotion. Facts can be taken to court. Evidence of legitimate witnesses can be taken to court, yet so far, the allegations against the alleged perp have not come to that. There is a lot of spewing names and dredging up past mistakes of people which they made 20 or 30 years ago and repented of. Add to that slander and unverifiable accusations.

Any person or entity she can link to child sexual abuse, she will do, the latest being the Way of Jesus Academy in Lancaster, the Lancaster Children’s Church and Bethesda Christian Fellowship. I am not saying these entities didn't make mistakes, but according to Trudy and her followers, there is no grace for mistakes.

Even though over the years Trudy has brought some horrendous abuse cases to light, her tactics seem to be unchristian as she inundates social media with so much unverified information. She stereotypes almost all leaders as child sexual abusers. In my Anabaptist world that simply is not the truth.

I feel her tactics really take away from the cause of preventing child sexual abuse in the plain culture. But that is just my opinion.

www.facebook.com/TruMe/posts/pfbid0Wzrm ... iuYwehQVMl"

Your post was noticed.

Hoooo boy.

[Valerie]

I want to preface this post with a comment. I believe children and women need to be protected from abuse including sexual abuse. I think all abuse needs to be reported to the proper authorities.

Over the years Trudy Metzger has been an advocate against child sexual abuse among conservative anabaptist men. She had been off social media for eight months at the advice of her lawyer. I do not know the details why her lawyer advised her to refrain from social media for a period of time.

However, she has returned with a vengeance. In the past she seemed to have a vendetta against Steve Stutzman for various things. Right now, she is targeting him again, making accusations that he protected a Michael Beiler, who allegedly abused a child. I do not know Steve Stutzman, but he feels there isn’t enough evidence to back up the claim of abuse. Trudy thinks that the alleged victim needs to be believed no matter what. To me the whole fiasco appears to be a “he said, she said” case.

Trudy has a way of alluding to accusations of child sexual abuse using carefully chosen words with names attached. From there a whole Trudy following mob descend on social media who appear to have personal agendas and vendettas posting all kinds of stuff, even promoting that abusers deserve death. Many of the posts do not look like they are based on facts or reality, but all emotion. Facts can be taken to court. Evidence of legitimate witnesses can be taken to court, yet so far, the allegations against the alleged perp have not come to that. There is a lot of spewing names and dredging up past mistakes of people which they made 20 or 30 years ago and repented of. Add to that slander and unverifiable accusations.

Any person or entity she can link to child sexual abuse, she will do, the latest being the Way of Jesus Academy in Lancaster, the Lancaster Children’s Church and Bethesda Christian Fellowship. I am not saying these entities didn't make mistakes, but according to Trudy and her followers, there is no grace for mistakes.

Even though over the years Trudy has brought some horrendous abuse cases to light, her tactics seem to be unchristian as she inundates social media with so much unverified information. She stereotypes almost all leaders as child sexual abusers. In my Anabaptist world that simply is not the truth.

I feel her tactics really take away from the cause of preventing child sexual abuse in the plain culture. But that is just my opinion.

www.facebook.com/TruMe/posts/pfbid0Wzrm ... iuYwehQVMl"

Your post was noticed.

Hoooo boy.

It appears someone on this forum sent her screenshots (she said on her fb post)

[temporal1]

praying for Grace to have a good outcome from this.
God provides His way for all those seeking.

often, the most difficult situations open unexpected doors.

[I Timothy]

I've supported TM in the past, and I also believe SS has a unique ministry. Looking at this particular situation, though, it appears they have reached very different conclusions about what should happen with information that is, at least from what has been publicly described, hearsay rather than firsthand evidence. Hearsay evidence is not admissible in court.

SS has publicly indicated that he was advised by legal counsel that, because he was not a direct witness, he did not have a legal obligation to report what he had heard. TM believes that information could help secure a conviction. Those are competing views, but they are ultimately questions that belong in the legal system and not in a prolonged debate on Facebook.

Another thing I struggle with is the claim that Anabaptist churches always cover up sexual abuse and never hold offenders accountable. That doesn't match what I've observed. I regularly see reports of child sexual abuse cases that result in arrests, prosecutions, prison sentences, resignations from ministry, and leaders being removed from positions of authority.

That doesn't mean every case is handled well, nor does it mean there aren't serious failures that deserve to be exposed and corrected. There clearly have been. But saying there is never accountability ignores the cases where accountability has occurred.

If our goal is justice, then we should pursue the truth wherever it leads, support victims, insist on due process, and avoid turning every disagreement into public trials on social media.

[Grace]

www.facebook.com/TruMe/posts/pfbid0Wzrm ... iuYwehQVMl"

Your post was noticed.

Oh dear, I hit a nerve.

I started reading TM’s blog and it is beyond me why
Someone would post information about me that can verified as a lie. That being at the beginning the comment about me “constantly” nitpicking at her. The fact is with the exception of something I posted a few days ago, my last post before that concerning her was 2 years ago. In many of my posts I stated that I supported her work even if I disagreed with her tactics. I also wished her the best on her health journey. So that constitutes “constantly” nit picking?!?

I am sure there is information about me that has been misconstrued, but I don’t have the time to wade through her lengthy blog right now.

LOL…I am sure this will be screen shoted to her. I will await her response. Wishing you the best Trudy. Especially on your health journey. And I sincerely mean thst.

[Valerie]

www.facebook.com/TruMe/posts/pfbid0Wzrm ... iuYwehQVMl"

Your post was noticed.

Oh dear, I hit a nerve.

I started reading TM’s blog and it is beyond me why
Someone would post information about me that can verified as a lie. That being at the beginning the comment about me “constantly” nitpicking at her. The fact is with the exception of something I posted a few days ago, my last post before that concerning her was 2 years ago. In many of my posts I stated that I supported her work even if I disagreed with her tactics. I also wished her the best on her health journey. So that constitutes “constantly” nit picking?!?

I am sure there is information about me that has been misconstrued, but I don’t have the time to wade through her lengthy blog right now.

LOL…I am sure this will be screen shoted to her. I will await her response. Wishing you the best Trudy. Especially on your health journey. And I sincerely mean thst.

Sounds to me like her credibility is in question if she exaggerates like that- I’m not a fan as I real appreciate Steve Stutzman and his well known ministry, discernment, and a husband & father I admire greatly so I cannot fathom accusations that he’s as she claims in all this. It’s ridiculous to use Facebook in this way-
Grace many of us here have come to respect your discernment and ability to judge situations so I would dismiss TMs lengthy assessment of you and your questioning this as you rightly should have and belong in a “Mennonite “ forum as a way to dialogue with “men AND women who worship as Anabaptists.

[JohnH]

I started reading TM’s blog and it is beyond me why
Someone would post information about me that can verified as a lie. That being at the beginning the comment about me “constantly” nitpicking at her. The fact is with the exception of something I posted a few days ago, my last post before that concerning her was 2 years ago. In many of my posts I stated that I supported her work even if I disagreed with her tactics. I also wished her the best on her health journey. So that constitutes “constantly” nit picking?!?

I am sure there is information about me that has been misconstrued, but I don’t have the time to wade through her lengthy blog right now.

LOL…I am sure this will be screen shoted to her. I will await her response. Wishing you the best Trudy. Especially on your health journey. And I sincerely mean thst.

I would encourage you to reach out to her and agree to have a coffee with her sometime when you're in Ontario or she's in PA (or wherever you live). Grab a copy of her book and read it, too.

Overall, I think a Trudy Metzger is justified for every Leroy Miller and Jeriah Mast that happens.

Fair enough. Why can't we exercise about the same amount as we do in other areas.

We do. Abusers don't tend to be very attracted to churches with healthy leadership and strong accountability. They do, however, seem to pile up in quasi-"independent" churches that also mysteriously have rather strong power structures that give lots of power to leaders, but seemingly not much oversight or accountability to leadership itself. (What exactly is the leadership structure of Bethesda C.F.? Who are they accountable to? What church fellowship are they part of? How can you get ahold of someone who can exercise leadership over the elders/ministers there?)

In my own denomination, it's a pretty easy answer - get a copy of the yearbook. In yours it is not complicated either.

This isn't to say that problems never happen, but they seem to be far rarer, and they seem to involve leadership far less often. People with past problems don't seem to ever just get reinstalled to leadership over and over.

Sounds to me like her credibility is in question if she exaggerates like that- I’m not a fan as I real appreciate Steve Stutzman and his well known ministry, discernment, and a husband & father I admire greatly so I cannot fathom accusations that he’s as she claims in all this. It’s ridiculous to use Facebook in this way-
Grace many of us here have come to respect your discernment nd ability to judge situations so I would dismiss TMs lengthy assessment of you and your questioning this as you rightly should have and belong in a “Mennonite “ forum as a way to dialogue with “men AND women who worship as Anabaptists.

Valerie, I sent you a PM.

[ken_sylvania]

I’m not a fan as I real appreciate _******_ and his well known ministry, discernment, and a husband & father I admire greatly so I cannot fathom accusations that he’s as she claims in all this. It’s ridiculous to use Facebook in this way-

This is the type of thinking that allows abuse to continue - no matter whose name is in the blank. There have been plenty of powerful men who continued to abuse their power because nobody imagined they were capable of doing the wrong things they were doing behind closed doors.