As it finalizes the hiring an independent firm to investigate its handling of sexual assault allegations, Greater Grace church said it has enlisted as a consultant a nationally known victim advocate who helped expose serial sexual abuser and former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.

Jim Hadley, one of the church elders, read a statement to congregants at the conclusion of Sunday’s morning service reiterating the church’s vow to support a transparent review of scores of complaints that church officials either were responsible for abuse or mishandled such claims.

The Banner reported last month about the efforts of a group of former members of the East Baltimore megachurch calling themselves The Millstones, who sought to document allegations initially involving those close to them but which eventually spanned 50 allegations over multiple decades and continents.

Hadley said on Sunday the church has “engaged” Rachael Denhollander as a consultant. Denhollander is a Michigan attorney and former gymnast who was the first to publicly come forward with allegations that Nassar had abused her. Eventually it was revealed that Nassar had abused hundreds of young athletes trusted to his care. He was convicted in multiple state and federal cases and is serving a de facto sentence of life without parole.

Attempts to reach Denhollander to confirm that she is working with Greater Grace were not successful, and a church spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Greater Grace previously publicly committed to working with victims’ advocates and was accused of making misleading comments. After a youth leader was convicted of abusing three boys in 2014 — a case in which one of the victims says he was disregarded initially by church leaders — the church told members it was pledging to partner with Safe Harbor Christian Counseling to provide counseling and abuse prevention training at the church. But Safe Harbor later said it had not been engaged and would not have worked with Greater Grace in such an effort.

Hadley told congregants that in addition to working with Denhollander, the church continues to finalize an agreement with an outside firm to conduct the investigation. He said they were “currently in the process of drafting a letter of engagement with a firm that has come highly recommended to us by advocates for sexual assault survivors” and that more information about the firm and the scope of its anticipated work would be provided when the agreement is finalized, possibly within a month.

“We understand a transparent, honest accounting of the facts is critical for several reasons,” Hadley said, reading from a statement. “It is imperative that Greater Grace World Outreach is better prepared to both prevent and respond to sexual assault and predatory behavior, and we cannot learn if we are not willing to seek out and submit the truth diligently and humbly.

“We believe our God is a God of justice and truth, that we are called to bring darkness and evil into the light. An independent assessment and public report is a foundational step in following these commands.”

Members of the Millstones said they are watching to see how the process plays out.

“These steps by Greater Grace World Outreach are ones that should have been taken years ago,” they said. “A commitment to work with someone who has lived experience of sexual abuse, and the improved tone that we heard in this announcement are critical for healing and protecting current and future generations. We must all remain vigilant to ensure appropriate steps continue to be taken.”

Church leaders for months declined to answer questions from The Banner, and head pastor Thomas Schaller denounced the articles and questioned some of the accusers’ claims from the pulpit.

But amid an outcry and protests from former members, church officials announced earlier this month they would commission an outside investigation.

Denhollander left her own church in Kentucky weeks after Nassar’s trial began, with the church later saying “we were sinfully unloving” regarding Denhollander’s concern about their affiliation with another church some had accused of undertaking a sex abuse cover-up.

In 2018, Denhollander posted a statement on Facebook about the evangelical church broadly that asserted “we are perpetually stuck when it comes to abuse, or mishandling abuse, in our own communities.”

“We all say we care. But when it costs, it suddenly doesn’t matter quite enough to bear the cost even of just speaking up,” Denhollander wrote. “The test of how much we care is how we respond when we have to reckon with ‘our own.’ Because make no mistake, it is *most* painful when it is in my own community. It costs the most when we speak up against those closest to us.”

In 2021, while accepting an award from a seminary for her work as a victim advocate, Denhollander said “it is important to realize how broken the church is and that it is not functioning as God intended.”

“These places argue that the gospel is being replaced [by social action] and that all problems can be figured out if we just use the gospel,” Denhollander said.