Media

• Christianity Today, “John Ortberg Investigated After Church Volunteer Confessed Attraction to Minors,” February 3, 2020.
  
  
• The Mercury News, “Bay Area megachurch pastor under fire for not reporting volunteer’s declared attraction to minors,” February 5, 2020.
  
  
• San Francisco Chronicle, “Pastor placed on leave over volunteer’s admission of attraction to kids,” February 6, 2020.
  
  
• Religion News Service, “Megachurch pastor John Ortberg kept a family member’s attraction to children secret. Then his son blew the whistle,” July 6, 2020.
  
  
• SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), “SNAP Stands in Support of Danny Lavery and Calls for Investigation into Menlo Church,” July 6, 2020.
  
  
• Christianity Today, “John Ortberg’s Church Says ‘No Evidence of Misconduct’ As More Details Emerge,” July 7, 2020.
  
  
• Megan Goodwin, “Abuse Happens Because We Let It,” Sojourners, July 7, 2020.
  
  
• Liz Lin, “The Astounding Recklessness of John Ortberg,” The Salt Collective, July 10, 2020:
  

“As someone who, like Ortberg, earned a PhD in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary, I am completely dumbfounded by his response to his son’s disclosure. Fuller’s clinical psychology PhD program is fully accredited by the American Psychological Association; it is not a program that teaches pseudoscience or prescribes prayer and Bible verses as therapeutic interventions. Furthermore, clinical psychology is a discipline that so highly values the safety of children that reporting child abuse is one of the very few reasons why it is legally permissible to breach confidentiality. Given Ortberg’s training, the notion that he could see spending time with children as a safe and effective way of managing pedophilia is incomprehensible. I might understand this response from an evangelical pastor who was skeptical of science or had no fluency in psychology or psychological disorders. Ortberg, however, has no excuse.“

• Religion News Service, “John Ortberg’s megachurch announces new investigation,” July 12, 2020. Also syndicated in Christianity Today.
  
  
• SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), “SNAP Renews Call for Independent Investigation into Menlo Church,” July 13, 2020.
  
  
• HuffPost, “A Megachurch Reels After Learning Pastor Let His Professed Pedophile Son Work With Kids,” July 14, 2020. Also syndicated by Yahoo! News.
  
  
• Heavy.com, “John Ortberg: Megachurch Pastor Let Son Who Is Attracted to Children Work With Kids,” July 16, 2020.
  
  
• Detective Moses Castillo, “How the Menlo Megachurch Sexual Abuse Scandal Should Have Been Handled,” Dordulian Law Group Blog, July 22, 2020.
  
  
• Religion News Service, “Embattled megachurch pastor John Ortberg resigns from Menlo Church,” July 29, 2020. Also syndicated in Christianity Today and The Washington Post.
  
  
• The Mercury News, “Bay Area megachurch pastor resigns amid scandal fallout,” July 29, 2020.
  
  
• The Almanac, “Head of Menlo Church steps down over ‘poor judgment’,” July 29, 2020.
  
  
• HuffPost, “Pastor Steps Down After Megachurch Learns He Let Pedophile Son Work With Kids,” July 30, 2020.
  
  
• San Francisco Chronicle, “Menlo Park megachurch pastor steps down in wake of scandal,” July 30, 2020.
  
  
• Religion News Service, “Menlo Church investigation finds no direct evidence or disclosures of sexual abuse,” October 13, 2021. Also syndicated in The Denver Gazette.
  
  
• Palo Alto Online, “News Menlo Church investigation finds no evidence of sexual misconduct,” October 22, 2021.