A Public Statement about the
Chris Rice Report

In the fall of 2020, our Session of elders voted unanimously to initiate an independent investigation with GRACE. This investigation was in response to credible allegations that were brought to me against Chris Rice. Rice was not an employee of our church, but during the late 90’s and early 2000’s he often led music for our youth and college ministries. The allegations come from those who were once involved in our ministries and participated in our previous investigation surrounding the alleged abuse of our former pastor, Brad Waller. These new allegations claimed that Rice participated in grooming behavior among our students and sexually assaulted one student on multiple occasions. It was incredibly brave of this former student to share his story with me. I believed him then, and after reading the findings of the investigation, I still believe him.

As we pledged to do when the investigation was announced, we will now respond with utmost transparency. You may access GRACE’s full report by clicking the button below:

In addition to the report, allow me to offer some thoughts on behalf of our leadership:

First, we are humbled and grateful for the commendations in GRACE’s report, and even more thankful to read that survivors felt cared for and loved by our actions. However, we are not without fault, and I want to begin by publicly confessing our institutional failures that surfaced. Specifically, we believe there were two issues that need to be owned by us—the first is about policy, the second is about culture.

1. Policy: We have no record of protective policies in place while Chris Rice was involved in our ministries. This is unacceptable, and we are heartbroken at the thought that formalized policies and procedures could have prevented what has been alleged. We have always had standards of how our staff are to conduct themselves, but these standards were not officially formalized, as they should have been. Informal expectations are insufficient to protect a congregation from abuse, and it was not until May of 2018 that we took those actions. We are ashamed that it took a public scandal for us to seriously revisit policies and procedures, but unfortunately that is the case. We are deeply sorry and ask forgiveness, especially from the survivors who were hurt.

2. Culture: We did not create a culture of awareness at our church that gave people under our care an understanding of abuse. As was the case with the findings of Waller’s investigation, it is clear from the report that there was a pervasive feeling of something being “off” with Rice’s behavior. We believe that if our people understood the nature of grooming behavior, particularly from those with spiritual authority, it could have been identified and prevented. Unfortunately, that was not the culture of our church at the time, which allowed grooming and inappropriate actions to take place. It is obvious from the report that those who experienced Rice’s alleged misconduct are bearing guilt for not knowing and speaking up, but that guilt belongs to us as a church. We did not create a culture of being above-reproach and fully-informed, which allowed otherwise inappropriate behavior to be normalized in our student ministries. It’s our fault, not theirs. Again, we are deeply sorry and ask forgiveness.

Second, we receive GRACE’s recommendations with the seriousness they deserve and will respond accordingly. Thankfully, much of the changes that needed to happen were implemented in response to our previous investigation, but this report has even more suggestions for our consideration. There are fifteen in total, and we will follow all of them.

However, there is one in particular I wish to address here. Number 12 states the following:

With consideration to the wishes of Alan Doe, TCPC determine the best plan for additional communication and distribution of this report, especially considering any ministry partners and others who may provide Rice with access to children, youth, and others who are vulnerable.

We want to do everything we can to honor the wishes of "Alan Doe". That begins by making the report publicly available, which we have done. Beyond the results of our investigation, we want to urge any church or ministry that has had past dealings with Chris Rice to take seriously the allegations found in our report and investigate for any potential misconduct within your church or ministry. To be clear, the scope of our investigation was limited only to our church, but during the time of these allegations, Rice was widely involved in other churches and ministries. We are not suggesting in any way that there are allegations beyond our church. We hope and pray that is not the case. But at the very least, we strongly suggest other churches and ministries with past or present contact with Rice create a safe and confidential way for potential survivors to reach out. Again, we are not suggesting there are other survival stories to be shared, but if they were to emerge, receive them with the severity they deserve and conduct your own independent investigation. Additionally to all churches and ministries, learn from our past failures and be proactive in creating a safe ministry context guarded against potential abuse.

If you will not heed our admonition, then perhaps you will listen to these powerful words from the survivor quoted in our report: “I just don’t want this to happen to anybody else…I just want people to be on guard…I just don’t want anybody else to be taken advantage of like this, God forbid. It’s just not right, it’s not right. So, that’s what I really want.” We urge every church and ministry reading this to give this brave man what he wants and create a ministry environment where abuse is prevented.

Finally, I would like to close the way I did in our first investigation with a word to four groups of people:

To the Survivors

Our deepest apology is reserved for you. I am profoundly grateful to those who participated in this investigation, and I do hope you will accept our apology for the failures I have confessed. Both in policy and culture, our church failed to protect you. I wish so badly we could go back 20 years and change things, but all we can do is move forward in repentance. Please know your courage to share has been the prophetic rebuke we needed to repent. I also realize there are others who participated confidentially because they were not comfortable sharing their experiences at this point, and I want you to know that we completely understand. There is no pressure at all to come forward, but we do want you to know that we are always here, available to listen to every single story and to use our resources to help you find healing. To any and all potential survivors, we do not view this as the end, but the beginning of a redemptive journey, and the invitation to help remains open-ended.

To the Outside Community

I want to apologize to the city of Lexington that this happened at our church, and we hope our actions demonstrate to you how serious we are about ensuring this never happens again. We want to be a church that the Bluegrass is proud to name as a local institution standing against the evil of abuse and welcoming with healing arms the abused. We promise to do better in our vision to live “For the glory of Christ and the good of the Bluegrass.”

To the TCPC Community

In my original statement, I charged our congregation to prioritize “righteousness over reputation.” This is still my request, but now in different way. Initially my concern was that you would fear this investigation because of what it would mean for the reputation of our church. Now my concern is that you will boast in this investigation because of what it means for the reputation of our church. I join you in thanksgiving over the statements of gratitude in the report. However at the same time, I fear the temptation to congratulate ourselves amid such darkness. First, let us not forget that we failed to protect in the past, and there is still work to be done in the present, specifically GRACE’s recommendations. But most importantly, let us never, ever, exploit stories of the abused to craft a congratulatory story of our own. What allegedly happened at TCPC years ago was horrific. Remain humble, teachable, and vigilant, lest it happen again.

To the Media

Thank you for being patient with us in our silence throughout the investigation. As promised, we are committed to public transparency now that it is complete. Our leadership has named me as the exclusive point person for all things media, so I am the only one free to comment. I do want to state upfront that I don’t have more to share than what is found in this statement and the investigation report, but you are free to contact me at assistant@tcpca.org.

Please join us in praying for all those hurt by this situation. I am reminded again that no church is able to commend its own faithfulness, but only the faithfulness of our Savior.

Yours in Christ,

Robert H. Cunningham
Senior Pastor