Megachurch Greater Grace World Outreach has revoked the ordination certificates of two pastors accused of sexual misconduct, telling one man he was “required Biblically” to resign immediately, records reviewed by The Banner show.

Only men ordained by the Baltimore-based church with offshoots around the world may preach to its followers. Ghanaian pastor Henry Nkrumah and a pastor from suburban Baltimore were two of them. The Baltimore Banner exposed their misconduct in a series last year about decades of child sexual abuse and cover-up within the evangelical church.

Georgetta Gbumblee, who alleged Nkrumah assaulted her abroad, said she’d been waiting for justice for years and felt relief when she heard the news.

Johanna Veader told church leaders more than 10 years ago that the suburban Baltimore pastor had abused his authority to groom and manipulate her — and at first they did nothing. For her, the long-overdue punishment felt like a slap in the face because it was too little, too late. The Banner is not naming the man at Veader’s request because she fears retaliation.

“If they truly cared about keeping children safe, they would be shouting these names from the rooftops, rather than doing the bare minimum, years and years too late, behind closed doors,” Veader said.

Church leaders did not notify the two women or the public about the ordination revocations, the women said.

Neither Greater Grace officials nor the pastors they punished responded to requests for comment. But on Friday, church leaders published a statement online affirming their commitment to truth and accountability following allegations of sexual abuse.

Members of the Millstones, the group of former church members who investigated the organization’s handling of abuse allegations, said no new information had surfaced in the years since officials first learned of these two cases.

“It remains clear to us that church leadership cares more about their reputation than addressing abuse,” they wrote in a statement.

Meanwhile, the church has warned members that enrollment in its three affiliated private schools is down, straining an operating budget that was already stretched thin after the church hired a private firm to investigate its response to abuse allegations following The Banner’s series.

“We didn’t get the students we expected, and that’s budgeted income that we do not have right now,” Pastor Peter Taggart, the church’s chief financial officer, said during a recent service. “Just be aware of it, so we can be praying for enrollment and for students.”

The investigative probe is being led by an organization called Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, or GRACE.

The firm’s team has made significant strides since the inquiry began six months ago, church leaders wrote in their Friday statement. They vowed to communicate GRACE’s findings and recommendations openly while also being as ”proactive as we can” to remedy any gaps in the church’s youth protection policies.

Last week, a former church member filed a lawsuit against the organization and its youth pastor, alleging he suffered years of sexual assault and emotional torment.

Still, justice has been elusive for many of the people who say they were victimized by Greater Grace pastors.

Nkrumah was accused of sexually assaulting Gbumblee, his niece, in their home repeatedly, but he continued leading an affiliated church in Ghana long after officials learned about the allegations. His ordination was pulled in December, according to a letter signed by Head Pastor Thomas Schaller and Missions Director Steven Scibelli.

The correspondence was addressed to ‘Brother Henry.’

“Due to the established facts of the case, you are required Biblically (1 Timothy 3:1-7) to resign from your pastoral duties immediately,” the letter states. “Regrettably, your actions have caused significant harm to many, and such behavior cannot be tolerated within the ministries of our church.”

The cited Bible passage describes how overseers must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled and respectable.

In 2020, when former Greater Grace members Chuck and Sue Heidenreich tried to tell church leaders about Gbumblee’s allegations, they wouldn’t listen. Scibelli refused to accept a letter detailing the claims and later sent Chuck Heidenreich an email.

“I do not have interest in reading it or receiving accusations against a man of God,” Scibelli wrote, according to a copy of the email shared with The Banner. “I have no desire to talk or fellowship with you.”

Heidenreich said he feels vindicated.

“I’m glad the church finally said, ‘Something has to be done,’” said Heidenreich, a former pastor who once had a close relationship with Nkrumah. “But they could have done this a long time ago.”

Church leaders conceded in another December letter reviewed by The Banner that they should have done more to hold accountable the suburban Baltimore pastor whose ordination they suspended nearly a decade ago. They did so after learning he had allegedly abused his power to groom and manipulate Veader, who was a teenager at the time. Only recently did officials move to expel him completely.

“In retrospect, ordination ‘revocation’ should have been the Elders’ original decision,” officials wrote in the letter signed by Pastor John Hadley on behalf of Greater Grace’s ordination committee. “To our knowledge, you have not admitted guilt regarding the accusations brought against you, though there is convincing, objective evidence to the contrary.”

The letter details the church’s determination that the pastor abused his power when he told a teenage Veader she would be his wife, calling his conduct “unethical in the extreme.” Veader’s allegations were substantiated by her parents and the many emails the pastor sent her, according to the letter.

In emails reviewed by The Banner, the pastor repeatedly called Veader “Sweet Pea” and professed his love for her when she was 16 and 17. He urged her not to date and not to have intimate relationships with others. The pastor wrote that he prized the “closeness we have,” and that he found it “painful” to be away from her.

“You are perhaps the most amazing woman I have ever met,” he wrote in one email. “I’m so grateful that you are my Johanna. I love you.”

The pastor wrote in another email that, “By the world’s standards you should not have the relationship you have with me.”

In the years since church officials suspended the pastor’s ordination, he acted as though nothing about his status had changed. He continued preaching to his small suburban Baltimore congregation, visiting Greater Grace affiliates abroad in countries like India and South Africa, and inviting international pastors to visit and preach to his followers, according to social media posts and the church website.

Outside his church one Sunday last year, the pastor denied wrongdoing. “I can say categorically that nothing inappropriate has taken place,” he said, blaming the allegations on “personal animus.”

Church leaders sent an email to pastors in good standing this winter, notifying them of the change in ordination status for Nkrumah and the suburban Baltimore pastor. The email, reviewed by The Banner, also noted that the ordination of a third pastor, Joseph (TJ) Hassler, was revoked in 2020, but it did not indicate the reason why. In an interview, Hassler acknowledged his ordination was no longer active but said he had returned it voluntarily.

Veader said if Greater Grace was serious about her healing, officials would have notified her and the public about their actions.

“Seeing them hit rewind and say, ‘Oops’ all these years later reinforces the betrayal I first felt years ago,” she said.