Perverse Christianity: Megachurch Pastor Andy Savage has launched a new church after admitting he sexually assaulted a teen while serving as her youth pastor.

Last year Savage confessed to sexually assaulting Jules Woodson when she was only a teenager and he was her youth pastor.

The confession made headlines because after admitting he sexually assaulted Woodson, the church congregation at Highpoint Church in Memphis, Tennessee, gave him a standing ovation.

At the time The Washington Post reported:

As Savage finished his remarks, he was greeted with a 20-second standing ovation from Highpoint’s congregation.

Newsweek also reported on the perverse and stunning reaction of the congregation:

A Tennessee pastor who publicly confessed to having a “sexual incident” with a high school student in 1998 received a thunderous standing applause when he asked to be forgiven. Pastor Savage was forced to make his confession after the person he sexually assaulted, Jules Woodson, called him out for his crime in the wake of the #metoo movement.

Despite the positive reaction from his congregation, Savage was eventually forced to resign as news of his horrific behavior, and the horrific behavior of his congregation, made national headlines.

But now Savage is back. Christian Post reports:

Former Highpoint Church Teaching Pastor Andy Savage, who criticized the #ChurchToo movement as “very attacking” after he was forced to resign in 2018 over a 20-year-old sexual assault involving a teenage parishioner while he was her youth pastor, has launched a new church…

Savage’s brave victim, Jules Woodson, was understandably not happy by Savage’s return to the pulpit. On Saturday Woodson tweeted:

Devastating news today. My abuser is back in the pulpit. ���� https://t.co/anu860KSJz — Jules Woodson (@juleswoodson11) October 26, 2019

Devastating news today. My abuser is back in the pulpit.

The fact that Savage is being welcomed back is sad, but not surprising. No doubt Savage will soon field a church full of “good Christians” who have no problem supporting the sexual assault of underage teens as long as the pastor tells them a good story.

Bottom line: Megachurch Pastor Andy Savage has launched a new church after admitting he sexually assaulted a teen while serving as her youth pastor.