Steven Furtick's Elevation Church Fires Youth Pastor Over Alleged Sexual Misconduct at Another Church

A youth pastor at Steven Furtick's Elevation Church in North Carolina has been fired after he was accused of engaging in sexual misconduct while previously serving with the youth ministry of Oaks Church in Red Oaks, Texas. 

Tim Somers worked as an intern at Oaks Church from 2009 to 2011 and then as a staff member from 2011 to 2013. 

He is now being investigated in connection with a separate investigation on Jerry Nickerson. Nickerson was fired from his role as the student pastor of Hope Fellowship's Frisco West Campus in January after he voluntarily confessed to engaging in "inappropriate contact with a minor" 10 years earlier at Oaks Church.

The alleged misconduct from Somers reportedly occurred around the same time frame as the abuse allegedly perpetrated by Nickerson. 

According to ChurchLeaders.com, Elevation Church was told about the allegations against Somers in January after the Oaks Church disclosed the allegations against Nickerson to congregants by email. 

"Recently, allegations were brought forward about Tim Somers' conduct while serving at a church in Texas approximately 12 years ago," a spokesperson for Elevation Church told The Christian Post Monday.

"As soon as Elevation learned about these allegations, we reached out to local Texas authorities and immediately placed Tim on leave," the statement continued. 

The spokesperson explained that no charges have been filed, but "Tim understands how impactful these allegations are for his role in ministry and we have agreed he will no longer serve on staff."

An investigation is ongoing as the Red Oaks Police Department works "to narrow down the timeline of events, the actual location of the offense(s), who may have been involved as suspects, and who may have been involved as victims."

"These are serious allegations that can or will impact a person's life for many years," said Red Oaks Police Department Chief of Police Garland Wolf. "We are doing what we need to do to seek justice for the victims, prosecute the offenders, and exonerate the innocent as may be the case."

"We are scheduling meetings with persons who have come forward and we are conducting interviews and taking statements from those who want to cooperate with our investigation," Wolfe added. "We hope to move forward soon."

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