Deacon calls for Immanuel Baptist Pastor Steven Smith to resign as church investigation continues
A month after Pastor Steven Smith informed his congregation that he would be willing to step down for failing to inform them that a former church leader had been credibly accused of abusing minors before his tenure began, a member of the deacon board at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock has reportedly called for the pastor's resignation.
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “A member of the Immanuel Baptist Church board of deacons told his fellow deacons Thursday that ... Smith lacks integrity and needs to depart for the good of the Little Rock congregation.”
The church remained closed Monday “due to inclement weather” but last month, shortly after the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette made the disclosure in a report, Smith told his congregation that former church staffer Patrick Stephen Miller, who served as the assistant director of children's ministry until he left the job in January 2016, had been accused of child abuse.
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In a clip from his sermon posted on YouTube Sunday, the full version of which is also available on YouTube, Smith assured congregants that he is working with his deacon board to ensure the church fully investigates what happened and how they can do better.
“I mentioned to the church, the 17th of December, that in terms of these past immediate situations of abuse, we have formed an investigation that's taking place to look into these. The deacons, who I'm very grateful for, are leading that process and they formed a smaller team of eight deacons who very soon are going to come to the conclusion … working with a lawyer and the investigator to bring this out,” Smith said.
“In this process, I know some of you have seen documents that were just supposed to be a part of that process, so my responses to that — I've already given all of my responses to the investigative person in charge of this and all of that will come out in time. And so, this process is very, very, important,” he said before going on to explain why patience is needed in order for the investigative process to run its course.
“And here's why it's important: We need this investigation, and beyond investigation we need assessment. How can we do better? How can we be more effective? In other words, we could say it this way, 'How can we pretend to care well if we don't know ways in which we haven't cared well in the past?' And so, for us to heal, and for trust to be restored, I have to be able, and we have to be able, to submit ourselves to the scrutiny of any way doing better, and anything we've done wrong. It's very, very, important,” he noted.
Miller, now 37, and whose father-in-law is a deacon at Immanuel, was accused of taking a child into a dark closet in 2015 and abusing her. He allegedly sat her on his lap, placed his hands down her pants and beneath her shirt, and sexually assaulted her, the Democrat-Gazette reported. He was not arrested until December 2018. In January 2019 he was charged with second-degree sexual assault, a felony, but he only pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment in January 2022, which happens when a defendant "strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise touches a person, subjects that person to offensive physical contact or attempts or threatens to do so."
While Miller resigned a year before Smith became pastor of the Southern Baptist congregation which has some 2,386 members, Immanuel leaders were made aware of the allegations against Miller in March 2016. In 2018, the child also provided additional details of the allegations to church leaders and a police investigation was started.
"I wish we would have told you about these crimes sooner," Smith told congregants last month, a week after it was reported by the Democrat-Gazette.
"We recognize the importance of treating abuse behavior seriously. We intend to honor Christ in the way we care for anyone who's experienced past abuse. If you have knowledge of any inappropriate behavior with children at Immanuel or anywhere else, please call the abuse hotline of the Little Rock Police Department,” he said.
Smith said he has been told by some people to just “move on” from the situation, but he insisted that without a thorough investigation the church won’t be able to rebuild trust.
“I understand the sentiment, and believe me no one lives this as much as I do. We live with it every single day. But we can't move on if moving on doesn't mean a thorough investigation and assessment of what's happened and where we need to go. How can trust be restored in the church if we can’t say fully, these are the measures we’ve taken to understand who we are. This step is critical,” he argued. “And so again, I thank you for your patience as we try to do this and try to do this well, both the investigation step and the assessment.”
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