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Illustration of nighttime in the forest. A group of men are sitting and standing around a bonfire, the sparks rising. The shadow of a church spire appears in the night sky.

SPECIAL REPORT

Uncovering abuse at Greater Grace church

Part 1

This megachurch warned of hell. Then it concealed its own sins.
A campfire confession exposes decades of child sex abuse claims at Baltimore megachurch — and inspires a group to seek justice for alleged victims.
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Part 2

Web of megachurch sex abuse leads to a trusted pastor and his sons
A group raised to revere their pastors reaches out to former classmates and friends. They discover dozens of abuse allegations, including several linked to one family.
for subscribers
Illustration shows six individuals on Zoom screens in various stages of research or on the phone. There is a large millstone behind them and padlocks sprinkled around the image.

Part 3

One family’s agonizing journey to uncover secrets and abuse at a Baltimore church
Accusations of child sex abuse extend to Greater Grace World Outreach's churches in Ghana. One family confronts church leaders, but discovers the primacy of the church's "brand."
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Illustration of two women and one man sitting at a table with disposable coffee cups in front of them. We see the back of one woman's head and the other woman leans forward to hold her hand. A hazy image of a Jeep floats in the background.

Part 4

Painted in protest, a sex abuse survivor begs church to change
The Tanguay brothers, survivors of Greater Grace Church, recount their stories of abuse and how the church handled it.
Jediah Tanguay, a survivor of Greater Grace Church, painted his body with the words "shame", "broken", and "failure", taped his mouth shut, took off his shoes and stood in front of the church on Moravia Road during their large convention on June 24, 2024 in protest.

More coverage

Greater Grace leaders name organization to lead sex abuse investigation
Greater Grace officials announced that they had selected an evangelical nonprofit, GRACE, to lead an independent investigation of sexual abuse in the church.
Photograph of long low building with unconventional church spire and cross, with empty parking lot in front. Outside of building is labeled "Greater Grace Church."
Greater Grace church says it has enlisted abuse survivor who helped take down Larry Nassar
Jim Hadley, one of the church elders, 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.
Rachael Denhollander, who was sexually abused by Larry Nassar, speaks after Nassar’s sentencing hearing in Michigan in 2018. Officials at Greater Grace World Outreach said they have enlisted Denhollander as a consultant as the church prepares to hire an independent firm to investigate its handling of sexual assault allegations.
Ex-Greater Grace members describe despair, isolation, then healing
Former members of Greater Grace World Outreach were shunned after leaving the controversial megachurch. For many, it took decades to build a new life outside.
Alissa Byrne Scibelli made the difficult decision to leave Greater Grace World Outreach. “It was extremely isolating,” she said.
Subscriber live digital event replay: Inside the Greater Grace investigative series
Join Baltimore Banner Senior Deputy Managing Editor Richard Martin and reporters Jessica Calefati, Justin Fenton and Julie Scharper for a discussion on the Greater Grace investigative series on June 27.
for subscribers
A celebration of life for the deceased mother of five, Rachel Morin, took place at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore on August 27, 2023.
Greater Grace church vows to probe its handling of sex abuse allegations, publicize the findings
The East Baltimore-based church expects to select a firm in the next few weeks and anticipates the work could take up to six months. Pastor Robert Colban's empathetic tone Sunday marked a departure from the more defensive sermons delivered by another pastor in response to a Baltimore Banner series of articles.
Survivors of Greater Grace and their loved ones held a protest outside the Baltimore campus Friday.
Dozens protest at Greater Grace church in wake of sex abuse investigation
Many former members of Greater Grace World Outreach flocked to the East Baltimore church Friday evening to protest leaders’ handling of allegations of child sex abuse — the subject of a Baltimore Banner investigation.
Survivors of Greater Grace and their loved ones held a protest outside of the Baltimore campus on June 28, 2024. The protest lasted about five hours.
Baltimore pastor defends church’s record on child sex abuse: ‘If we know it, we act on it’
“We are being attacked,” said Greater Grace church's head pastor, Thomas Schaller.
Greater Grace World Outreach Pastor Thomas Schaller said during a sermon Sunday that the church is being “misrepresented” and “attacked.” He denied allegations of impropriety.

About this project

This series was reported by Jessica Calefati, Julie Scharper and Justin Fenton and written by Julie Scharper.

Photography by Kaitlin Newman, KT Kanazawich, Francine Orr, Rachel Woolf, Shaban Athuman and Meg McLaughlin. Illustrations by Delphine Lee with art direction by Laila Milevski. Design and web production by Emma Patti Harris T.J. Ortenzi and Zuri Berry. Audience, social and reader engagement by T.J. Ortenzi, Stokely Baksh and Krishna Sharma.

Editing by Richard Martin, Kimi Yoshino and Ashley Powers.

Resources

Resources for survivors of sexual assault & religious trauma.


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