“Outside Counsel”
On July 8th, Leaving the Network published stories revealing Steve Morgan’s 1987 arrest for “aggravated criminal sodomy.” A statement was released to at least one Network church two days after the news broke. It was later obtained and published by Leaving the Network. It reads in part:
3. As soon as we became aware of the accusations, we sought outside counsel with someone who is familiar with the culture and structure of our group of churches. We have been advised to be kind and loving to all, to pray for those who are against us, and to stay focused on the mission to which Jesus has called us.
“Accusations” here seems to refer to the allegations of spiritual abuse, and given what I’ve learned, it appears that this counsel-seeking was not after the revelations of Steve Morgan’s past, but instead the previous summer/fall after Leaving the Network first went live. Given the short timeline between the revelations (early Friday, July 8th) and the release of the letter (Sunday evening, July 10th), it seems implausible for them to have sought counsel in that time window. Also, there’s no particular “accusations” in what was shared on July 8th - it’s pretty much just the disclosure of what Morgan did and what was done to keep it quiet, all of which relied mostly on historical court records or written communication (e.g., emails).
Who was the outside counsel?
The letter doesn’t say, but a network pastor has identified the outside counsel as John Lanferman. The pastor states the following details:
He said that Lanferman is the leader of the Newfrontiers group of churches in the United States.
He said that Lanferman had met with some set of the pastors from the network.
And he said that the meeting was “last year” (2021, not 2022).
These claims were all made at a gathering of that network pastor’s church, and someone has relayed the information to me.
Who is John Lanferman?
John Lanferman was the leader of Newfrontiers (formerly “New Frontiers International” - read more at wikipedia) in the United States. He served in this role until he retired in 2017. Newfrontiers in the United States is now known as “Confluence Churches”. It still identifies as part of the global Newfrontiers group of over 2,500 churches in 80+ countries, including roughly 28 (my count) in the United States.
Lanferman is listed as a “Directional Elder” at Jubilee Church in St. Louis, Missouri, with no contact information. Jubilee Church doesn’t have an email address on their website that I could find, so I made no attempt to contact Lanferman through them.
Reaching Out to Confluence
Since I was unable to find current contact information for Lanferman, I reached out to Confluence Churches for comment (at the time I still believed Lanferman was their leader).
They responded with the following, which I told them I would share publicly:
We understand your desire to obtain more information for those who share your concerns. However, we don't have much to share with you. John Lanferman retired from leading our Confluence team in 2017. We understand that John, from a friendship standpoint, has shared his advice upon occasion. Obviously, that advice was given as a result of his acquaintance with Steve Morgan and not out of any position or role that would give him access to Network churches, leaders, or members. We are saddened by the events and are praying for all involved.
Confluence Communications Team
They did not provide current contact information for Lanferman (I didn’t ask). I had originally asked them questions like “would Confluence ordain Steve Morgan given his past?” They did not respond to those questions, and I did not press for answers, given that they actually had no involvement here. A former leader (Lanferman) provided counsel to someone he knew (Morgan) in another network. No reason Confluence needs to get dragged into it.
Discrepencies
The network’s published statement from July 10th appears to still be accurate, though at least less impactful. The “outside counsel” is simply someone Steve Morgan knew, a friend, who also happened to lead a network of churches (or at least the United States portion of it).
However, the pastor who identified John Lanferman as the outside counsel was incorrect in identifying Lanferman as a current leader of Confluence Churches (he also is seemingly unaware of the name change).
The network pastor and the network’s statement also grossly overstated the degree to which Lanferman would have been able to give an informed opinion. When consulted, Leaving the Network was still in its early days. The network’s statement is that they contacted Lanferman, “as soon as we became aware of the accusations.” At the time, LTN would have had the history of the network, noted with examples of spiritual abuse. No personal stories would have been listed. Jeff Miller’s analysis of the leadership style went up in September 2021, and the first wave of first-person stories came out in November 2021. My own story was published in December 2021. None of those were likely available for Lanferman to review. I can state that I have never been contacted by Lanferman or anyone else outside the network for my point of view - I will let LTN speak for themselves on whether they’ve heard from anyone, but I’ve never seen them say they’ve been contacted.
Given that, it’s not possible for Lanferman’s “counsel” to have taken into account the breadth and depth of allegations. In other words, his counsel is nearly useless given the dozens of stories that have been shared in the last year, which he would have been unaware of.
Lanferman was also likely unaware of Sándor Paull’s remarks in 2018 that describe the network as better than any other church network, including Newfrontiers. I wonder how Lanferman would feel about that? Here’s Paull’s remarks (which you can listen to here, at approximately the 71 minute mark):
What Jesus has asked us to be, does not exist anywhere else on this Earth. This family that we have, it does not exist anywhere else on this Earth at all. Now, there are places that are closer, Newfrontiers, closer, more things that line up with what Jesus has asked us to be as a family with what we believe in the Bible and how we live that out in terms of values, but it does not exist.
The context for that statement is Sándor stating that parents should try to ensure that their kids end up at a university that has a network church in town. This is despite the fact that Confluence has a number of churches all over the country (including one in Corvalis, OR, home of Valley Springs Church). So does the network actually respect John Lanferman, Terry Virgo, and Newfrontiers? Or are they using them as window dressing? I think most evidence here points toward the latter.
A few more notes on this section of the letter
It’s worth noting that there’s a couple more things wrong with this part of the letter.
3. As soon as we became aware of the accusations, we sought outside counsel with someone who is familiar with the culture and structure of our group of churches. We have been advised to be kind and loving to all, to pray for those who are against us, and to stay focused on the mission to which Jesus has called us.
“pray for those who are against us”
Many, including myself, have bent over backwards to show that we are not “against” the people in the church. I am for them. I just want them to do exactly what the bible says: Repent. Make things right.
At this point, making things right includes resignations. It means huge reforms. I don’t think there’s any world where the network survives in a healthy way, but that’s not my call. But all corrective actions would be good for those leaders. They would escape the bondage of their sins. They’d be able to live a life of humility, in which they are not causing great harm to themselves and others. I fail to see how my desire for that is accurately described as being “against them.”
“advised to be kind and loving to all”
Ok, this is literally followed by the libelous statement that those who write about the network are “against” them. The rest of the statement includes more misrepresentations and falsehoods. So the network is not doing what Lanferman described. I have certainly felt nothing kind or loving in the network’s response to me.
More about Newfrontiers/Confluence
Newfrontiers is a global network of 2500 churches across 80 countries, founded by Terry Virgo. Virgo was a guest speaker at the Network Summer Conference in 2012 and the Network Summer Leadership Conference in 2019.
Similarities with The Network
The theology seems broadly similar — complementarian, holds to Biblical inerrancy, generally charismatic (e.g., tongues and prophecy are commonly practiced).
I’m completely unable to verify that any of the below are accurate descriptions of Confluence Churches or Newfrontiers. But it’s fascinating to me how similar these sound to what I and others have observed in the network.
The wikipedia page includes a reference to a 2007 paper written about the leadership personality types common in Newfrontiers in the UK. Wikipedia highlights this quote:
There is a toughness about this style of leadership that is unlikely to be distracted by opposition. The disadvantage is that this style of leadership can leave some individuals hurt and marginalised for what is seen by the leadership as the overall benefit to the organisation.
It goes on to say that a self-awareness can turn this to an advantage as it can be efficient, and if people are on guard for it, it can be ok. But without that awareness, the researchers seem to believe this would lead to exactly the type of results we’ve seen in the network.
Wikipedia also highlights that an author in 1986 said this:
“churches are far more centralised and controlled than those of… mainline charismatic fellowships… The situation seems slightly analogous to Japanese business practices: they… export with great success, but import virtually nothing from anybody else.” [my note: I do not endorse the comparison to “Japanese business practices” - that seems likely to have been borne out of a mid-80’s western stereotype of Japan than a specific statement matching reality. But the characteristics seem to accurately describe what has been seen in the network.
That matches what many have noted about the network. It’s willing to plant churches, creating new ones. But it’s incredibly insular and unwilling to take much from outside groups, only rarely pointing to external resources, and a very small circle of them at that.
Summary
In closing, the outside counsel has been misrepresented as a leader of another network of churches. His advice could not have taken into account the myriad revelations about the abuses in the network, including literal past felonies by both Morgan and Paull. He’s retired, and has not released any kind of actual statement, and it’s entire unclear whether or not he would actually agree to having his name used to support the Network.
Confluence Churches, when contacted, did not make any kind of statement in support of the network, instead making it clear that they were not involved and that Lanferman could not have given a fully informed endorsement of the churches.
And the network has failed to follow even the advice they were given. Nothing about their response has been “loving” or “kind”. Instead those who left and spoke out have been greeted with nothing but slander, shunning, and silence.