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Reporting the Truth.
Restoring the Church.
By Liz Lykins
- June 25, 2024
- 7:54 pm CDT
- 20 Comments
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Tennessee Pastor Jeff LaBorg will be headlining a conference this fall with disgraced pastor and former Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President Johnny Hunt.
Hunt was accused of sexually assaulting the wife of a former SBC pastor in a 2022blockbuster report, detailing sexual abuse and cover-up within the SBC. The report by Guidepost Solutions found the allegations by the pastor’s wife “credible.”
Hunt maintains that the “encounter,” though inappropriate, was consensual, The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported.
Hunt will be one of the three main speakers at the 28th Annual Fall Jubilee Conference in Gatlinburg, Tennessee this September, according to the conference’s website.
Huckabee, the 44th Governor of Arkansas and a former minister, will also be speaking at the event alongside Hunt. Huckabee is now known for his TV show “Huckabee” and as a guest speaker on Fox News and Newsmax.
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Jeff LaBorg is the lead pastor at Fairview Knox Church in Corryton, Tennessee. He has preached at more than 500 events, conferences, colleges, churches and crusades, according to his website.
TRR reached out to Huckabee and LaBorg for comment, through email and phone, but did not hear back prior to publication.
Jubilee Conference Has Legal Leadership Ties to Hunt
Jubilee Conference is to be a “time of singing, laughing and preaching” to encourage and change “countless lives,” according to the conference’s website. In spring 2024, the conference also featured Hunt, speaking alongside Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at the 14,000-member First Baptist Church in Dallas, and a Fox News Contributor.
The conference is put on by It’s a New Day Ministries, Inc., according to the conference’s website.
It’s a New Day Ministries is currently led by Hunt’s son-in-law, John Carswell, according to the organization’s 2024 annual business registration in Georgia. A 2022 990 form identifies Hunt as chairman of the ministry’s board. Additionally, the organization’s Articles of Incorporation list Hunt as one of the original directors of the ministry.
TRR reached out to Jubilee Conference for comment on Hunt’s involvement with the organization but did not hear back prior to publication.
Hunt is connected to a network of nonprofits like It’s a New Day Ministries, which continue to give him a platform, TRR previously reported.
Hunt is tied to at least 10 nonprofit and for-profit businesses as attested by tax records, event publicity, and other legal filings, according to Baptist News Global. All organizations are also intertwined with Hunt’s family.
Hunt’s History of Controversy
Hunt previously served as the Senior Pastor at the megachurch First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Georgia, for more than 30 years and was a former president of the SBC.
In the last few years, Hunt has made numerous headlines over his alleged assault.
Just days before the release of the Guidepost report, Hunt resigned from his role as president of the SBC’s North American Mission Board. Shortly after, First Baptist Church in Woodstock removed Hunt as its pastor emeritus.
Less than a year after the sexual assault allegations were made public, Hunt was declared fitfor ministry by a group of pastors.
Shortly after this, Bart Barber, then-SBC president, announced in a statement that he would “permanently ‘defrock’” Hunt if he had the “authority to do so.” Barber also calledHunt’s return “a repugnant act” in a social media post.
In March 2023, Hunt sued the SBC, alleging he had been defamed by the allegations against him. In the complaint, Hunt said he “had a brief, inappropriate, extramarital encounter with a married woman” in 2010, but claims the incident was consensual and should not have been made public.
The complaint contends the SBC and Guidepost Solutions defamed and libeled Hunt, invaded his privacy, and intentionally caused him emotional harm.
Despite the allegations against Hunt, he has continued to speak publicly at churches and conferences.
In 2023, Hunt delivered the sermon at Hiland Park Baptist Church, aSBCmegachurch in Panama City, Florida.The church’s senior pastor, Steven Kyle was among those who previously had declared Hunt fit for ministry.
Before Hunt preached at the church, Kyle hailed him as, “one of the greatest pulpiteers in our generation.”
Hunt has also spoken at the 2024 Johnny Hunt Men’s Conference and will speak again at the 2025 event in Hiram, Georgia.
Freelance journalist Liz Lykinswritesfor WORLD Magazine, Christianity Today, Ministry Watch, and other publications.
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discussion
20 Responses
Why is it a man who admits to doing something biblically inappropriate (and criminal if assault claims are true) is still allowed to “lead” the flock but an innocent women, never having engaged in anything appropriate nor committed any crime is NEVER allowed to lead? Sounds awfully patriarchal and authoritarian.
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How is it that a guy who claims to believe in biblical literalism uses language for sin that the Bible never uses? “Inappropriate” is not the way the Bible describes what he did. The word is actually “adultery”, and it seems so many pastors right now have a really hard time letting that word come out of their mouths for some reason.
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Totally agree, Troy. Thank you for correcting me.
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That’s not really the main problem here. There’s so much wrong going on with all of this and I would just about bet that having women in leadership or not doesn’t really need to put on this pile.
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Whether or not it’s the “main” problem, it’s a problem when women who have passed are having their name drug through the mud because a group of men decided her book was claiming “extra biblical revelation,” but males like this, who admittedly have affairs, get to lead conferences and rub elbows with a governor. Imagine that. You can bet whatever you want, Pam. There is much more going on here and putting it all together seems difficult for most. Spiritual abuse, sexual abuse, fear mongering, victim shaming and silencing…it’s ALL part of a toxic community that men have been the sole authority in.
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Sexual assault is no longer a disqualifier for the religious and political right.
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Man Greg, this is such a crazy but unfortunately true statement.
If you’re a charismatic enough leader and can bring in the crowds, can’t keep you on the sidelines too long…celebrity pastors know no shame!
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Ahhh the ever growing reason people are leaving the church. American evangelicals at their best. Man always right, woman always wrong. Wow now that made everything much easier. Oh and yes I bought Sarah young’s book. Sorry PCA. Your not as important as you think you are.
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America. Wow, this just keeps happening.
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We have a forgiving God who shed His blood for all of us who repent but those who fail to call assaulting a women criminal and sinful aren’t likely to inherit the kingdom in God. Scripture has plenty to say about those in authority who allow such behavior, and fail to condemn it. The idea of being restored to the pulpit after sexual sins is not biblical. Rather, it is the result of a good old boys network masquerading as the Church. God cannot be fooled.
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Hunt is a weasel. Huckabee is a weasel. I can only assume that everyone else they put on that stage will also be weasels.
I was told by the church for all of my life that bad company corrupts good morals, and that I’d be judged by the company I keep- appearance of evil and all of that. But now there’s SO MUCH outcry when anyone notes that “hey, all these men who abuse their power and authority seem to like to hang out together” there’s a HUGE outcry about how that’s not fair. seems fair to me.
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But why suggest that weasels are no better than these men? Aren’t you being speciesist?
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Yes, birds of a feather, flock together.
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I’ve been working on a blog post about how I was taught all those things, but now some of the very people who taught them to me are willing to jettison those principles for the sake of maintaining cultural power
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Paul wrote in his epistles to Timothy what the qualifications of a church leader are. If someone is a follower of LORD JESUS, same qualifications should be applied to any leader we choose to support. Shamefully, so called “christians nationalists” have tossed those qualifications aside. And LORD JESUS wept!
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Well.
They can hang out together all they want.
Spread the word.
Let them platform each other and speak to rows of empty seats.
The tide IS rising.
Amos 5:24 Instead, let justice well up like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
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These conferences always work against the Faith. Singing , laughing and preaching,has not coverted a soul in 3 generations. You always go back to the same vomit, never learning.
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Sometimes I think we should push to have the insurance companies drop coverage for churches that promote predators.
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I am a former FBCW member and a former member of Johnny’s younger brother Norman’s church as well. I am honestly not surprised that Johnny hasn’t faced any repercussions. I used to be a Facebook friend of his. But I ended up unfriended him after his scandal. I remember when the allegation came to light. And was mentioned when it “allegedly” took place. That was during his yearly sabbatical in 2010 that ended up lasting longer than normal. And the congregation at the time was told that due to where Pastor Johnny had been in remission from prostate cancer and where he had his prostate removed. That he was taking more time to recover. I was 18 and I remember thinking to myself that the explanation was fishy. I wish whoever the woman is. That she would reveal herself. Not that I don’t believe her. But because so many people and his supporters and current and former members believe she is a “woman scorned” out to ruin Pastor Hunt. But as a former SA survivor myself. I know what it is like to not be believed. I keep hoping that Pastor Hunt will admit to his wrongdoing and face the consequences of his actions.
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Well Huckabee was friends with head of the Duggar clan and stated that “Good people make mistakes” when news of Josh Duggar’s molestation of his sisters came out. So having another enabler of a molester and abuser is par for the course.
https://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/mike-huckabee-supports-josh-duggar-family-molestation-118213
Reply
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