IRVING, Texas (BP) – A Dallas-area church has hired Matt Queen, the former interim Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary provost who pleaded guilty a year ago to making a false statement to federal investigators, to serve as its associate pastor.
Plymouth Park Baptist Church in Irving pointed to Queen’s “three decades of experience in a variety of roles and contexts as a leading voice in evangelism” and called him “a passionate evangelist and author” of several books.
Queen’s case came about through the Department of Justice’s investigation into allegations of mishandling claims of sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention. He ultimately received a judgment of time served with one year of supervised release and six months of home confinement, alongside paying a $2,000 fine and $100 special assessment.
Supervised release required Queen to participate in outpatient mental health treatment and continued usage of prescribed medications.
The guilty verdict centered around falsified notes that Queen provided investigators in the spring of 2023 following a report of sexual abuse by a student at Texas Baptist College, Southwestern’s undergraduate arm.
Plymouth Park pastor Matt Henslee told news outlet The Roys Report that while he did recommend Queen, a longtime friend, for the position, he was not part of the hiring process.
The church’s trustees and legal counsel “perused every single page of those court documents,” Henslee told The Roys Report. Church leaders also interviewed Queen for two and a half hours.
Queen was the only individual publicly indicted in the DOJ investigation that was launched in August 2022 and concluded in March of this year. No sexual abuse-related charges were filed as a result of the investigation.
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