Church leader questioned about handling of sexual abuse allegation

CLINTON, Miss. (ABP) – Questions about a Mississippi Baptist church’s
handling of child sex-abuse allegations against a former minister are
focusing on a church elder and politician who is nominated as the state
legislature’s first Republican Speaker of the House since
Reconstruction.

Philip Gunn reportedly advised elders at Morrison Heights Baptist
Church in Clinton, Miss., not to talk to police about their internal
investigation of former associate pastor of music and ministries John
Langworthy, who faces trial on eight felony counts of gratification of
lust stemming from acts alleged to have taken place in the early 1980s.

Gunn, an attorney and Baylor University graduate, claims church leaders
are bound to secrecy under priest-penitent privilege. A series of
reports by local television station WJTV questioned his interpretation
of state law. Mississippi College law professor Matt Steffey told the station Nov. 25 it does not exempt ministers from reporting a crime.