This story would be funny if it wasn’t so damning of organized religion generally.
The Meeting House is a Canadian megachurch, of the largest and most influential churches in Ontario. It promoted itself as “a church for people who aren’t into church” (Good motto! Like “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should!”), and the campaign worked. The church grew, as they used to say, “like Topsy.” Pastor Bruxy Cavey, who took over the leadership of The Meeting House in 1997, became Ontario’s “most influential pastor.” But in 2021, as described in detail here, Cavey resigned after being accused of sexual assault in his holy activities. He was then charged, with law enforcement adding that there were probably more than one victim.
The church announced in 2022 that “two more claims of sexual abuse and another case of sexual misconduct” against Cavey at been substantiated, with one of the alleged victims being a juvenile.
As Cavey faces trial on three separate charges, multiple lawsuits have been filed against The Meeting House involving 38 allegations of sexual misconduct by Cavey as well as three other pastors he worked with at the church. Post-Cavey church leaders claim to have developed new policies and procedures to prevent future incidents of sexual misconduct at the church, but a victim’s advocate working on the cases claimed that the church’s new policies make it more difficult for victims to come forward.
Last week The Meeting House announced that all of the church’s campuses were closed down and all of its religious activities suspended until further notice. You see, the church has been unable to find any insurers willing to sell the church Abuse Liability or Employment Practices Liability coverage. Too risky!
The Meeting House issued this risible email and this “FAQ” memo to explain the situation. The situation is easily explained: the Church is a nest of potential sexual predators, it has not put in place sufficiently effective procedures to protect parishioners (including children), and it doesn’t have faith—a church without faith?—in its own employees and management sufficiently to operate without having insurance protecting them when one of their predators strikes.
I’m sorely tempted to muse about why a church should have to have such insurance at all. If you cant trust your spiritual guides and counselors not to molest you, who can you trust? But yes, a must acknowledge in this litigious age, in addition to the model of the Catholic Church making sexual abuse accusations far more likely to be believed than they once were, it is as necessary for a church to have this insurance as it is for doctors and lawyers to have malpractice insurance.
However, when a your doctor tells you that your appointment has been cancelled because he can’t find any company who will give her malpractice insurance, that is a sign that you need to find another doctor.
Ethics Alarms 
In 2000 or so, for the first time I saw the conspiracy theory that the world is controlled by pedophiles. It seemed so laughable at the time. Then I saw more and more and more powerful people who were pedophiles. I saw entire organizations seemingly taken over by pedophiles. The recent SAGE study that shows that 10% of schoolchildren will be victimized by sexual assault (mostly comments and grooming) was shocking. Epstein, Prince Andrew, the slew of European leaders who were protected from child molestation charges, Joe Biden sniffing videos, it just goes on and on. Where did this come from and why do so many people want to molest children?
Now, it is easy to see why churches are having such problems. The churches have gone off the rails, caring less about religion and more about social politics. The social politics they most are attracted to is sexual extremism and the ministers are applauded for how much they warp the message to be favorable to the latest and most extreme sexual behavior. When you sexualize the church and promote the most charming people who promote such behavior, you are bound to get some psychopathic predators. This is especially true with megachurches and churches that have a cult around the minister. Psychopathic predators are going to be drawn to any place that gives them authority and coercive power over people they want to victimize. That is why we see monstrous predators:
Working for Disney and other amusement parks
Working on films and TV shows that have children
Going into the ministry, where they are trusted to guide people in their behavior and morals.
The former Boy Scouts
Majoring in psychology
Going into education
Most of these fields have also recently featured a definite shift towards supporting extremist sexual ideology above all else. It is hard to protect the children when your hiring decisions require people to support permanently sterilizing children, sexually mutilating children, and above all, talking to small children about sex.
Of course, I have been told that none of the above matters and I am just out of touch with the ‘right side of history’.
Michael, pedophilia is not a recent development in the Catholic church. It was as much a part of the Catholic church when I was a kid in the ‘sixties as was belief in the resurrection. Again, as I’ve asserted repeatedly, the Church’s hierarchy has been a gay cabal for centuries. Perhaps throughout its entire existence.
Possibly even a pedophilic cabal, with all of the priests and bishops and even 2 cardinals (who have been identified) who have fallen specifically for that particular offense. Well, to be more specific only one, Cardinal McCarrick, was actually accused of abuse himself, Cardinal Law only assisted in the cover-up. Cardinal Law ended his days in Vatican City in a largely ceremonial role and then in full retirement. Cardinal McCarrick was thrown out of the priesthood, but is going to beat the criminal charges, since he is now 94 and not mentally fit to stand trial. When I take that and put it against the stories coming out of my alma mater about Jesuits, lay professors, and even deans making advances and a whole lot worse to students, men and women both, I think there might well be some central authority or plan to funnel vulnerable young people to where they can be taken advantage of.
At my brother’s funeral mass a couple of years ago, I regaled the attendees with altar boy stories which were simply funny and harmless. I think the parish was safe, mostly because of vigilant and engaged parents, although the founding pastor was mysteriously rushed off to some sort of asylum with little explanation when I was probably twelve, much like a principal at my Catholic boys’ high school was when he was definitely diddling students, or so it came out over time. The funeral was my first time in a Catholic mass for many years. Most interesting observation, other than the priest was a Nigerian guy: the altar boys were elderly men. Probably a very good idea.
The movie industry has been plagued by this for a long, long time. Shirley Temple wrote that when she was moving out of her child star period and into her teens, her mother set her up to meet with Arthur Freed, the legendary guru of MGM musicals (like “Singing in the Rain”) celebrated in “That’s Entertainment.” Freed exposed himself to Shirley, whose mother decided she would have no further dealings with MGM. Nice.
Sounds like Matt Lauer, who basically would get a woman to come to his office, then close and lock the door by pressing a button. He would push another button and a bed would shoot out from the wall.
Shirley Temple’s mother: Ethics Hero. How many stage mothers would protect their children to that degree and at that financial cost?
The Reverend Bruxy Cavey. Moral of the story: If you look like this and want to get laid, start a church!