EPIC Church mulls sale as ex-pastor faces multiple grooming allegations

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Monday, July 22, 2024

EPIC Church in Kansas City, Missouri, is now contemplating a sale of their building to Summit Park Church following the resignation of pastor Bobby Hawk amid allegations of grooming from multiple women, including one who said the pastor put her hand under his thigh when she was 12.

"Should this opportunity move forward, Summit Park Church would also take on the EPIC Church building and allow the opportunity for new ministry and our church family to stay connected. Many details remain to be discussed, and conversations are still preliminary,” the church’s board said in an email to the congregation, cited by KCTV 5.

EPIC Church, which also owns EPIC Center KC in Independence, also said in their email to congregants that they are in the process of transferring that facility back to the previous owner. The facility has several pickleball and basketball courts plus a turf field.

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

Subscribe

The case against Hawk, who planted the church with his wife, Vanessa, in 2009, was triggered by a blog post published by 23-year-old Isabelle Davis on June 18. She describes how she was made to feel uncomfortable by the behavior of Hawk at a sleepover which she described as grooming while they were watching a movie.

“Twenty minutes into the movie, Bobby grabs my hand, interlocks our fingers, and places our hands underneath his thigh. I immediately begin to feel sick. My heart races and I feel nauseous. I want to run, to scream, to cry. But I freeze, I can’t do anything,” she recalls.

She said Hawk did the same thing twice to her that night and he tried to convince her that what he did wasn’t wrong.

“He pulled me to the side, told me that ‘we weren’t doing anything wrong’ but the reason he was hiding it was because people would ‘think things.’ I shook my head, did anything to get out of the conversation so that it would finally all be over. I do not remember the rest of that night,” Davis recalled.

She said she never told anyone about what happened to her for 10 years.

Earlier this month, six women, including Davis, announced that they planned on suing Hawk who is also the former Blue Springs School Board president for inappropriate sexual behavior toward them.

The other women are Destiny Bounds and her sister, Danielle Bounds Hahn, Kari Jo Crandall, Ali Dyer Terwilliger, and Michelle Day Volkmer, KCTV 5 reported.

“We promise until we are heard, and there is accountability, we will not step down. Only then can we change the narrative around sexual assault in the church and our voice not being heard when crying for help,” Destiny Bounds said.

Destiny Bounds said when she first experienced grooming behavior from Hawk, he and “many in the church” pressured her and other victims to stay quiet.

“I was 15 when he first started his grooming. And when I came forward finally and had to tell my story in detail, it was thrown to the side like, well, if we didn’t know it we can all look past it,” said Danielle Bounds Hahn at a press conference held on July 10.          

Bounds Hahn said she didn’t realize her sister had been groomed, too, until she spoke up. Her sister was reportedly 13 when she started experiencing the unwanted behavior from Hawk.

“When we had said something 25 years ago all he did was pick up and move and restart and back to his old ways of destruction,” Bounds Hahn said.

In his June 21 resignation letter shared by EPIC Church, Hawk denied the allegations against him.

“While these allegations are untrue, after much prayer and reflection Vanessa and I have come to the decision that it is time for me to move on from my role as Lead Pastor,” Hawk said. “I want to express my gratitude for the privilege of serving as your pastor for the past 15 years. it has been an honor to lead and minister to such a wonderful group of people.”

In June, the Blue Springs Police Department opened an investigation into the claims against Hawk but no charges have been filed. Anyone with information related to the case can contact the police at 816-220-2693.