Fort Mill church dismisses pastor convicted of Indiana sex offense 27 years ago
.png "In this Youtube video on Eternal Church’s website, elder John Zimmer is shown speaking about former Pastor Don Logan’s dismissal after church leaders reviewed court records from a 1997 conviction.")
A Fort Mill church announced Sunday it “released” its pastor after reviewing court documents from a 1997 sex offense conviction, according to a livestream on the church’s Youtube page.
The former pastor, 57-year-old Donald Ray Logan, is registered as a sex offender in South Carolina because of a conviction in Indiana for felony sexual misconduct with a minor, according to the registry’s website. He had worked for Eternal Church in Fort Mill for about a decade, according to the church’s website and a Herald story from 2014.
It is unclear why the church took action in the past week — almost a decade after Logan was hired.
In the church’s livestream of its 9 a.m. service from Sunday, one of the church elders, John Zimmer, confirmed Logan was no longer pastor. The church website states Eternal Church, located on O’Henry Lane, is led by elected elders and functions as an independent, reformed church.
“The elders released Don Logan from his call as our pastor,” Zimmer said in the service video.
The Herald went to Logan’s home Tuesday to ask about his dismissal. He answered the door, but declined to comment.
Zimmer did not say when the church made its dismissal decision. But the Sunday service video showed him talking about why there was a change related to “Don’s role as our pastor” since the previous Sunday’s services.
The answer: church leaders reviewed court records from Logan’s 1997 conviction.
“The session, the elders, fully reviewed and had the chance to digest and discuss, the possible implications of a set of court documents from Don’s conviction 27 years ago,” Zimmer said, adding that church officials would continue to release more information to small groups of members.
The Herald went to the church Tuesday seeking comment from church leaders. A person who identified himself as an elder came to the door and declined to be interviewed, but said the information released Sunday is accurate.
Zimmer acknowledged in the Sunday service video that not all church members feel the same about the issue.
He also said that Isaiah 61 in the Bible speaks about receiving beauty from ashes.
“We are standing in ashes,” Zimmer said in the video.
Trent Faris, spokesman for the York County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed to The Herald Logan registered as a sex offender in April from the 1997 Indiana conviction. It is unclear from online registry records why Logan registered in April when he’s lived in the area for years and the charges are from nearly three decades ago.
Logan’s separation from the church and status as registered sex offender in South Carolina was first reported last week by The Fort Mill Sun.
This story was originally published July 17, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
