Dana Cummings returned from vacation last month and found a series of cryptic emails from Eternal Church, the Fort Mill church that her family attended.
The church was writing about a meeting to discuss the past of lead minister Don Logan.
“I realized something must be very wrong,” she said. “My husband jokingly made the comment, ‘Is he a sex offender?’”
One Google search gave her the answer. Mrs. Cummings found her lead pastor on the list of registered sex offenders in York County, with the website listing his offense as a 1997 conviction in Indiana for sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl.
Now, Cory and Dana Cummings and their four children are searching for a new church and warning the public that Eternal Church has not been transparent enough about Pastor Don’s past.
For their part, the church elders indicated that they are aware of his past. They declined to speak on the record in the past five days or make the pastor available, asking for additional time to provide an interview. But in emails to members, they addressed the rumors that have circulated online and among the congregation.
A church email said Pastor Don recently shared a message “about how the Lord interrupted his life during a season of sinfulness many years ago and how God used that time to capture his heart and transform him.”
A family meeting was held June 9 at the church to recap, and members were warned the content was for a mature audience. In a follow-up email on June 21, members were told the revelations about Pastor Don’s past had resulted in real challenges.
“Since we entered this season, our church has undergone a discernment period which has involved prayer, quiet reflection, consulting Scripture, open dialogue as a church family, processing as individuals and in groups, and discussion among elders, pastors, and staff,” a church email said. “This discernment is ongoing.”
Last Sunday, Pastor Don remained at the pulpit.
Meanwhile, it appears the sexual history of Pastor Don may have come to light in May through a post on thewartburgwatch.com website. The site made a lengthy post about the Fort Mill church and spelled out how Pastor Don was a youth pastor at Grace Community Church in Noblesville, Indiana, at the time of his sexual misconduct.
“It is also of note that he was a missionary to Guatemala (Mission Frontier) before being a youth pastor,” the site says.
The website also quotes a letter from Eternal Church Elder Mark Sivak, which says, “Since this event 27 years ago, Don has taken careful steps to safeguard himself including disclosure with elders and pastors on staff and never meeting privately with a female. Others, including his wife, have confirmed all of this as well.”
Still, it’s been too much for the Cummings. The Lancaster County family had only been members of the church for less than a year, but Pastor Don has led the church for 10 years. Mrs. Cummings said she had heard the pastor mention how he found God when he was in a jail cell. She had assumed it was a DUI or college antics.
“But it certainly wasn’t sexual misconduct with a minor of 14,” Mrs. Cummings said.
She said she was told her pastor served three years of a six-year sentence.
“Apparently the elders of the church knew about this – some to more of an extent than others and have various responses such as he is above reproach now, he talked about his past in sermons, … we need to forgive him like God wants us to, what he did wasn’t that bad, etc etc. It’s clear that they have no intention on removing him as lead pastor.”
Eternal Church has grown from meeting at the YMCA at Baxter Village to opening their own new building on O’Henry Road a few years ago. The church began in 2003 as a fourth service of Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Rock Hill, according to the church website. In 2004, Eternal moved into the Fort Mill area meeting in the Tega Cay YMCA.
A little over a year later in November 2005, the church moved into the Fort Mill-Baxter YMCA upon its opening. Then, in 2009, Eternal left the PCA denomination and became a nondenominational church. They are led by elected elders and function as an independent, reformed church. In 2015, Pastor Don Logan was called to lead Eternal Church.
Mrs. Cummings said the church has expanded its youth program, even offering an overnight camp for teens in the summer.
“I wonder if Don is invited to that? I think of the movie night at the church where he invited all the kids to come sit on stage with him,” she said. “This information has been concealed by the church.”
The Cummings had just gone through a membership class to join the church. Four weeks into the class, and nothing was mentioned about the pastor being a registered sex offender, they said.
After the sex crime came to light and began circulating within the church, Mrs. Cummings emailed the staff and told them her feelings. She questioned whether Pastor Don would be allowed to continue peaching while the church discussed it. She said they didn’t answer her.
“And he was back up preaching the next Sunday,” she said. “He’s just preaching like nothing has happened and he is not going to address it.”
“I feel like people who walk in that door and make the decision to be a member and give your time and money and effort need to know who is preaching to them. He is wonderful preacher,” she said. “But it really takes away all the credibility when I feel like this past is being hidden with the understanding that only the right people know.”
Mr. Cummings said he was preparing to take over and be a youth group leader for 8-12th graders when the revelation came out. Things have now changed for him.
“For me, I don’t feel like it’s the best environment for my family,” Mr. Cummings said. “I just like transparency.”
Instead of hearing the pastor detail what happened in sermons and how he overcame it, the church is declining to talk about it and hoping no one else does either, Mr. Cummings said.
“I have met plenty of people who had a past, but you knew about it, they preached about it, very openly, and therefore not ashamed of it,” he said. “Because we are all human.
“I think you should have access to the lead pastor of your church. But he preaches on Sunday and then disappears into the mist.”
Don Logan has disqualified himself from being a pastor by what he did to that 14 year old girl. The Elders of Eternal Church have risked the church’s and the community’s safety by hiring a convicted felon of sexual misconduct with a minor.
Don and the Elders should step down immediately.