Days after firing his son as co-pastor, Rhema Bible Church founder Kenneth W. Hagin revealed that Craig W. Hagin had been living a “double life” that he described as both “shocking and devastating.”
Kenneth Hagin, who previously spoke to his congregation, read a new statement to his congregation on Sunday with his wife, Lynette, by his side. He said they were issuing the new statement to address “questions … about what we knew, when we knew it, and why we acted when we did.”
“When we returned from overseas ministry travel early this month, we were presented with documented evidence of conduct on Craig’s part that was wholly inconsistent with the standards we hold for those in ministry leadership, with the values of this organization, and with the son and the leader we believed him to be. As we shared with you two Sundays ago, we reviewed that information fully, and we acted immediately,” Kenneth Hagin said.
“What we saw was both shocking and devastating, not only as the leaders of this ministry, but as his parents.”
Craig Hagin’s firing came after he and his wife, Mia, were arrested for “animal cruelty” last month. Criminal charges against his wife were dropped, but he still faces two felony counts of animal cruelty.
Without providing specific details, Kenneth Hagin said concerns about his son’s personal conduct had previously been raised in a counseling session, but he and his wife thought those issues had been resolved.
“Craig and Mia came to us privately with issues. We counseled them and were assured by Craig that the issues were resolved. However, continued concerns came to us in the context of the difficulties Craig and Mia were experiencing in their marriage. We heard those concerns. We took them seriously. We went to Craig directly and asked him plainly whether those things were true. He denied them. We believed our son, and we now know that in doing so, we were deceived by him,” Kenneth Hagin said.
“The documented evidence we received and reviewed upon our return from our international trip was evidence Denise received a few weeks earlier during our absence. This evidence made it clear that Craig had been living a life we did not see,” he continued. “ … He was living a double life. And in doing so, Craig deceived not only his wife and his family, but also Lynette and me; his sister and brother-in-law, Denise, and Don Burns; his ministry; and the people who trusted him.”
The latest statement from Kenneth Hagin also comes as Craig Hagin was recently embroiled in the scandal of married Sheridan.Church pastor, the Rev. Jackson Lahmeyer. The Sheridan.Church pastor was forced to end his campaign to become the Republican candidate for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District after admitting to inappropriate texting between himself and former campaign staffer, Caitlin Simmons Key, who’s also a former Miss Oklahoma USA.
As a result of the scandal, Lahmeyer, who Craig Hagin described last month as “one of my closest friends,” lost the endorsement of President Donald Trump and ultimately dropped out of the race.
In text messages between Lahmeyer and Key obtained by the Daily Mail, Lahmeyer invites the divorced 40-year-old single mother to his hotel room. He also discloses a time when he left Mar-a-Lago to visit a strip club at 1 a.m. and declined an offer of cocaine. He stated in that text that he was traveling with a group that included Craig Hagin.
“We are not telling you this to excuse ourselves or to assign blame. We are telling you this because you deserve the truth, and because the truth — however painful — is the only foundation on which healing and restoration can be built,” Kenneth Hagin said Sunday, urging prayers for his son’s family and the ministry.
“We are Craig’s parents. We love him. We will always love him. We continue to pray for his repentance, for his healing, and for the restoration of his soul before God. But love does not require us to be silent about what happened, and our responsibility to this ministry, to its integrity, and to every one of you, demands that we speak plainly.”
Written from reports by Christian Post