Jesus Name Pentecostal Church (JNPC) rebranded itself as The Northwest Pentecostals over the weekend, following The Chronicle’s reporting on a civil complaint accusing the church’s former pastor of grooming and sexual abuse.
The Chehalis church added its new name and logo to its existing Facebook page on Sunday. The JNPC website is now only accessible with a password.
The Chronicle published its story online on Friday and in print on Saturday.
JNPC — now known as The Northwest Pentecostals — has been led by Senior Pastor Nathan Cox since Feb. 11. The church posted a video advertisement to its Facebook page on Sunday.
“If you’re looking for real change, you just found it,” Cox says in the beginning of the video.
The civil complaint, filed in Lewis County Superior Court in July, alleges that Shannon Burgess, 54, groomed the two plaintiffs when they were about 15 and 12, after he’d learned they’d been sexually abused — the former by a fellow church member.
According to the complaint, Burgess allegedly molested one plaintiff in the church office in 2011 — when the plaintiff was 16 — and continued to molest her until 2014, “when she put a stop to the abuse.”
Burgess allegedly began to “inappropriately” touch the second plaintiff when she was around 14, according to the complaint. After she’d turned 18, Burgess allegedly began sending “explicitly sexual text messages” and told the plaintiff to send him nude photographs. The touching eventually progressed to a “sexual relationship.”
In addition to the allegations against Burgess, the complaint accuses JNPC and Jesus Name Christian Academy (JNCA) — a nonprofit entity that operates as a K-12 school within the church — of negligence and failing to protect the plaintiffs from “foreseeable harm.”
“Defendants JNPC and JNCA had a duty to use reasonable care to prevent Defendant Burgess from using the power and authority of his position to target, groom, and sexually abuse children, including Plaintiffs,” the complaint says.
The plaintiffs further allege the church and school breached their fiduciary duties to the plaintiffs. They seek a trial and judgement for damages that include past and future medical expenses, wage loss and personal injuries, among others.
Burgess resigned as pastor in February, citing a “moral failure.” He had led the church since 2009, after taking over from his father, Glenn Burgess. Glenn Burgess founded the church in 1976, according to the church’s website.
Prior to becoming senior pastor, Shannon Burgess acted as JNPC’s assistant pastor as well as a youth pastor. He had served as JNCA’s principal since its opening in 2000, according to the complaint.
The Chronicle emailed the church on Friday, but have yet to receive a response. Multiple phone calls to the number listed on the church’s once-active website went unanswered.
