Highlands Community Church lead pastor resigns over DUI, another fired amid sex scandal
Highlands Community Church in Renton, Washington, is trying to find healing after losing three pastors in the last few months, including their lead pastor, Jesse Campbell, who resigned after elders discovered he lied to them about the details of a DUI arrest.
“We as Elders acknowledge our responsibility for the hurt that has resulted from undetected sin and dysfunction. We apologize to you for this,” the Highlands Board of Elders said in a Dec. 2 statement. “In God’s power, we are determined to be more vigilant to prevent this in the future. In all of this, we ask for your prayers for us as Elders: for His guidance, for our humility, for wisdom, discernment, clarity, unity, strength, and perseverance in the work which God has called us to do for you – His church.”
The church also announced that they had hired a consultant from the Christian Slingshot Group to help them with staffing going forward.
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Earlier, they hired the Boz Tchividjian-led GRACE to conduct an independent investigation of multiple allegations of sex abuse against the church’s former executive pastor, Derek Nelson, who was fired over the summer as the nation was in the throes of protests and the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our elders and staff have had introductory meetings with the assigned consultant, who also serves as an elder in his own church. He is actively meeting with each HCC elder and staff member to prayerfully assess our situation and recommend next steps for us. We are thankful for God’s provision of this assistance, and we’ll keep you posted on the process and recommendations. And thank you for the recommendations that YOU have provided – we are reviewing each one as we look to God for His guidance for our church’s future,” the elders wrote.
Campbell, their most recent lead pastor, was hired in 2018 amid much fanfare as he was their first new lead pastor in almost 30 years and their third since the church was founded in 1946.
The previous lead pastor, Jim Amandus, passed the Shepherd’s hook — a tall, carved wooden staff the church’s founder got from Israel — to Campbell on Nov. 20, 2018, the Renton Reporter said.
“Pastoral leadership is not for the faint of heart. Short tenure due to discouragement, burnout, and moral failure are all too common,” church spokesperson David Newcomb told the Renton Reporter in December 2018. “Highlands Community Church has been blessed with faithful, God honoring leaders who have stayed the course through the highs and lows of ministry.”
Campbell was pulled over by police on Jan. 18, 2019, for a moving violation and he was found to be under the influence of alcohol, according to an August statement from the elders.
“The Board Leadership team met initially with Jesse and his wife at their home where he openly and thoroughly confessed to drinking alcohol while snowboarding the prior evening, and subsequently getting pulled over. Jesse was alone when the infraction occurred. Although Jesse was initially charged with a DUI, the charges were dismissed,” they initially said about the incident.
The church stood by their new lead pastor and got him professional help to restore him, noting that his behavior was connected to previously losing a son.
“Through this counseling program, Jesse met with multiple licensed professionals certified in addiction. His mental health diagnosis in each of these independent evaluations has consistently indicated that he suffers from PTSD following his son’s death and not from alcoholism. The incident in which Jesse was to be charged with a DUI was directly attributed, by the authority of certified counselors, to his grief over his son’s death,” they wrote.
In a FAQ posted on their website following an Oct. 22 church family meeting, however, the elders revealed that Campbell did not thoroughly confess the details of his 2019 DUI. They also revealed that when he confessed to the DUI, they did not conduct an independent investigation.
“The Elder Board recently received detailed reporting from Jesse’s DUI that cited specific facts which differed significantly from what we were told initially when we met with Jesse,” church elders said.
“These discrepancies indicated a level of dishonesty that left us with no choice but to conclude Jesse is not currently biblically qualified to serve as our pastor at Highlands. These discrepancies include a significant difference in his state of intoxication and risk to the community including toxicology and level of speeding when he was pulled over. After the Elders met with Jesse and reviewed these facts, Jesse acknowledged his dishonesty, and submitted his resignation,” they added.
The elders explained that even if Campbell had chosen not to resign, they would have fired him as a result of what they discovered.
The Christian Post reached out to both the church and Renton Police about the situation and a response was not immediately available.
Campbell’s resignation comes only months after Nelson, the church’s former executive pastor, was fired after he was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with multiple adults.
“Back in June, we shared about the immediate termination of Derek Nelson when Highlands leadership learned of his sexual misconduct committed against adults. Sexually inappropriate behavior in any form is unacceptable, and will not be tolerated at Highlands Community Church. We grieve with the victims and their families, and continue to express our deep sorrow that the perpetrator in these instances was a staff member at Highlands. We continue to support the victims, including providing independent professional counseling. We likewise grieve and stand with all survivors of abuse and trauma of any kind,” the elders said in a statement last month.
An investigation into those allegations by GRACE is expected to take about six to 12 months. The church urged anyone who is a victim or who has relevant information concerning Nelson to reach out to Lee Ann James with GRACE at lee_ann@netgrace.org.
Highlands Community Church also lost another pastor, Nick Dalgardno, who the elders say resigned after previously raising concerns about Campbell’s leadership and the complicity of the elder board.
“Nick decided to leave staff and the Highlands Board. Nick has requested that we communicate that he has concern with Jesse’s leadership and specifically the Elder Board. The Elders are receiving his concerns, and will take them into careful consideration,” the church said. “We appreciate Nick’s faithful service in the ministries of Highlands. We also love and appreciate the Dalgardno family and believe their future will be bright wherever God takes them. We are looking forward to seeing how God will use Nick in his future ministry opportunities.”
