Morgan’s Story

The main True Believer project is finished, at least until there are any updates on the Elizabeth Mackintosh murder investigation. But we do want to return with a postscript that addresses a different question: What happened to other people who were students at Covenant Seminary in 1990?

Many students and professors went on to respected careers in the ministry. One of them was a man named Ian, who in 2023 was deemed unfit to lead his church after a sexual misconduct allegation was made public by The Tennessean newspaper, as reported by friend of the podcast Liam Adams. Ian has denied allegations against him.

But there’s a lot more to the story. The case against him helped us understand how a denomination with so many good, kind people can apparently fumble complaints against their peers.

Many cases are, essentially, secret. And there’s a cascading effect to that secrecy: If complaints are never heard, and witnesses are never asked, and questions are never answered, abuse remains covered up.

Until someone decides to go public.