Former members of Hope Presbyterian Church in Bloomington allege abuse, cover-up

The founding pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church was charming and charismatic, many agree on that much.

Several former members of the Bloomington church said those traits enabled Dan Herron, their pastor, to abuse his power. Some say he sexually harassed them, while others allege exploitation and intimidation.

Seeking justice within the church’s government, five accusers wrote a letter in 2019 to the Central Indiana Presbytery outlining allegations against Herron. None of the accusers brought the allegations to police, citing low conviction rates for sex crimes and fear of retraumatization. The Presbytery’s court system has the power to revoke Herron’s ordination and prevent him from working within the Presbyterian Church in America again, but it has no legal authority.

An Indiana Daily Student reporter reached out to Herron over the phone and offered to provide him with a list of allegations, which Herron declined.

In a written statement to the Indiana Daily Student after the phone call, Herron said, “With regard to the specific accusations brought against me that I am aware of, I strongly and unequivocally deny any wrongdoing attributed to my actions, words, motivations, and character.”

To report this story, the IDS spoke to three accusers — Abigail Harris, Kara Million and her husband Chris Baker — and reviewed documents including church court files and emails.

Courtesy of Kara Million

Kara Million, 31, and her husband Chris Baker, 34, pose for a photo. Baker interned for pastor Dan Herron at Hope Presbyterian Church for three years. Baker and Million left the church in December 2018 at the end of Baker's internship.

Million said she has met or spoken to at least 10 other people with various accusations of abuse against Herron since sending the original letter. Those accusers, mostly couples, made their allegations anonymously to the church’s government. Million and Harris, who know their identities, said the anonymous accusers did not wish to be identified to the IDS to be contacted for comment.

Nearly two years after the investigation into Herron’s alleged abuse began, the PCA’s highest court called for the CIP to restart the investigation process.

Herron’s accusers believe the initial investigation, which closed in February 2020 and found Herron had “no strong presumption of guilt,” was intentionally mishandled to protect him.

A spokesperson for the CIP said he could not comment for this story because the new investigation, which began in February, is ongoing. Every person named in this story and each member of the original investigation commission was contacted several times for comment. Most of the 14 people contacted did not respond, and most of those who did said they could not comment because of the ongoing investigation.

Bob O’Bannon, who was the chair of the initial investigation, responded to “emphatically deny that there was any coverup by the commission.”

The Sunday after the IDS reached out for comment but before this story was published, a Hope member told the IDS there had been a congregation meeting earlier that day where Hope leaders made congregants aware of this story. According to that member, the Hope leadership did not confirm nor refute any of the allegations in this story at the meeting.

The next CIP meeting is on May 14, where there will be a vote on whether there is enough evidence against Herron to move to trial. If the committee does not find sufficient evidence against him, Herron will be exonerated in the church’s government for good.

Because of his role as an elder in the CIP, Herron can vote on all investigations — even those into his actions. Women, however, are not allowed to be elders and thus cannot vote.

Herron resigned from Hope in January 2020 but retains his role as an elder. He is still ordained as of early May. Herron began a yearlong, paid sabbatical after resigning.

The accusers allege leaders within the CIP enabled Herron and protected him throughout the investigation. The same leaders who voted on the initial investigation will vote on the findings of the new one.

Part 1: First years at Hope

Beginning in 2016, Baker interned at Hope Presbyterian Church, which is located in the Monroe County Convention Center. He worked there for three years while he was studying to become a minister. Baker said he thought working for Herron, the founding pastor at Monroe County’s only PCA congregation, would give him necessary experience.

Million and Baker’s first two years attending Hope were positive overall, they told the IDS.

Herron was Baker’s boss. Million and Baker said Herron helped them move into their Bloomington apartment. They both said their first impression was that Herron was a kind, helpful, charming person.

Million could see why people might be drawn to his church.

But during their first two years at Hope, Million and Baker noticed several members of the church’s core leadership leaving. They didn’t know why.

Million and Baker said Herron talked negatively about those who leave the church, labeling them “dissents” and “gossips.”

Vimeo screenshot from Grace Presbyterian Church

Pastor Dan Herron preaches a sermon Sept. 24, 2017, at Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois. Herron has been accused of sexually harassing members of Hope Presbyterian Church in Bloomington, where he was previously a lead pastor.

On Feb. 1, 2018, Million posted on Facebook in support of Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar of sexual abuse.

After the sentencing, Denhollander told Christianity Today, “Church is one of the least safe places to acknowledge abuse.”

Million posted an excerpt from Denhollander’s interview and wrote that she was tired of the church blaming “‘our sexually obsessed culture’” for sexual abuse instead of perpetrators.

Screenshot courtesy of Kara Million

Soon after her post, Million said she received a text from Herron asking if she wanted to get coffee, which was unusual to her. The church’s belief system strictly regulates relationships between men and women, and Million said Herron had always reached out to her husband before contacting her.

Herron was her pastor and her husband’s boss. She couldn’t not respond, she thought. She recalled replying that she was happy to meet but asking why he wanted to talk.

Herron told Million he had seen her Facebook post — though Million said the post was private and Herron did not follow her — and that he had mentioned Denhollander in a recent sermon, Million said. She said he wanted to talk to her to make sure he hadn’t offended her, so they set a time to meet at Needmore Coffee Roasters.

Million said she walked to Needmore alone and arrived early. She said Herron was already there, seated at a table with his coffee, his laptop open and a Bible in hand.

“I knew I was in trouble the second I walked in,” Million said.

Million said Herron was immediately aggressive and eventually shouted at and insulted her, which Herron later denied. Million said Herron argued with her, saying she and Denhollander were wrong to say churches are not safe for survivors.

Million said Herron told her that her support of Denhollander was because of traumatic incidents Million experienced in the past — incidents Million said she’d talked to Herron about before. Herron used Bible quotes to bolster his points.

Herron said sexual abuse is rooted in pornography, Million remembers. She responded that sexual abuse is rooted in power.

Million said she felt ambushed and that it hadn’t been the conversation she was anticipating. She said it seemed like she was supposed to cave to what Herron said and admit her post was wrong.

In an 18-page letter written to the investigation commission upon learning of the allegations against him, Herron confirmed the meeting at the coffee shop occurred. In that letter, he portrayed Million as the one who was “condemning, accusing, and abusive” toward him.

Herron’s letter confirmed he wanted to explain why he disagreed with Million’s post, that he referenced the Bible and that they talked about their histories of trauma, but he denied being aggressive or abusive.

Million recalled bystanders looking on but not doing anything.

“I could just feel myself going into shock and dissociating because I had just never seen this before in any pastor,” Million said. “I had never seen this side of him. So it was really scary. He’s a large man and I’m a tiny woman.”

Suddenly, Million said, Herron’s tone and body language became flirtatious and tender. Million said he seemed to realize his anger was making her uncomfortable.

She says he told her she was clearly confused and broken — and that he could help her.

Herron then solicited a one-on-one “mentoring” relationship with Million, she said. She said he told her he was good at mentoring women.

“I know that you’ve been burned by other pastors,” Million recalled Herron said, indicating to Million he’d been collecting information about her. She said she had never told him anything about her past pastors.

“But I’m not like the others, I want to be your pastor, Million,” he allegedly continued. “You don’t have to have an answer for me right away.”

Million recalled him pausing and turning away coyly. Then he turned back.

“Unless you do have an answer for me.”

Herron did not directly address this part of Million’s allegations in his letter or in communications with the IDS, but in his statement to the IDS he denied any wrongdoing.

Million, still feeling stuck to her chair, knew she had to find a way out of the situation, but didn’t feel confident outright rejecting the offer. She said she did not respond to his suggestion of a mentorship. Instead, she told Herron she wasn’t going to agree with him regarding Denhollander, and they went their separate ways.

“My head was spinning,” Million said. “I was just in shock. I was trying to process what had even happened and what it meant.”

Part 2: Other accusers come forward

In summer 2018, more than three months after the coffee shop meeting, Million and Baker attended an event at Cullison’s house.

Million sat on the couch next to Baker, trying to prevent Herron from sitting next to her. But Herron slid in front of her to pick up books that were sitting on a coffee table. Million alleges he leaned over, reached down slowly and pressed his body flush against her breasts — right in front of Baker. Baker and Million allege Herron stayed pressed against her for 10 to 15 seconds.

Neither Million nor Baker did or said anything in that moment. They both watched, stunned.

“It just felt like it was never going to end,” Million said. “I could just feel myself going numb.”

One day in summer 2018 after a piano lesson, Harris remembers standing out on Herron’s driveway, one step below him. Herron stood shirtless after a boxing workout, Harris says. As they talked, she recalled his eyes scanning up and down her body, checking her out in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.

Another day in 2018, Harris alleges Herron leaned into her row during a church service and pressed his body against hers.

Part 3: 'No strong presumption of guilt'

On July 2, 2019, Million, Harris, Baker and another couple who did not wish to comment for this story sent an initial letter with allegations against Herron to the CIP. Those allegations included inappropriate behavior, sexual harassment and stalking Million described the other couple’s experience as “horrific” and said there was sexual abuse by Herron involved in their testimony.

The group of five emailed the letter to the CIP pastoral steering committee, the leaders of the women’s ministry and the campus minister for the Reformed University Fellowship at IU.

“We just figured if more than just those same guys were hearing about this, maybe something would have happened differently this time,” Million said. “Things did go differently, but they were still a disaster.”

On July 5, 2019, the CIP responded to their letter. Five days later, Million and Harris were interviewed by Scott Dean, a member of the CIP church planting team, which oversees the establishment of new churches. Dean declined to comment for this story.

On July 22, 2019, Kris Holroyd, the senior pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis — part of the CIP — replied to the email apologizing for the pain the accusers had endured and saying he would confront Herron. Holroyd said in an email to the IDS that he could not comment on any allegations because an investigation is ongoing.

According to emails between Holroyd and Million, Holroyd read the allegations to Herron on Aug. 15, 2019, but no formal charges were made within the CIP.

Three days later, Herron delivered what Million called the “Taylor Swift sermon.” The accusers believe the sermon was in reference to the allegations against him.

“Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play,” Herron can be heard saying in the sermon. “And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake. Shake it off. I shake it off.”

Herron went on to define what a “hater” is, using a definition from Urban Dictionary.

In September 2019, the CIP voted to create a commission to investigate Herron. The commission was composed of elders in the CIP, all of whom knew Herron before the investigation.

Bob O’Bannon, the senior pastor at New Life Presbyterian Church in Yorktown, Indiana, was selected to head the commission. His selection immediately raised concerns for Million and Harris, because of a tweet and retweets in which he claimed Christine Blasey Ford might have been politically motivated in her accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Screenshot courtesy of Kara Million

Million and Harris emailed Holroyd about O’Bannon’s tweets after they found out who was on the commission in October 2019. Holroyd responded that two women would be on the commission as advisers, and that would be enough to “mitigate against the intimidation [the accusers] undoubtedly will feel.”

The commission wrote a report of its findings. Then, the elders voted on whether to deliver the findings to the CIP.

Women in the PCA cannot be elders. The two women serving as advisers to the investigation commission were not allowed to vote on the report.

The CIP could have affirmed the report, issue pastoral corrections — including preventing Herron from being a senior pastor at his next job — asked for another investigation or found Herron guilty and stripped him of his ordination.

Just over two weeks after Million and Harris raised concerns about his tweets, O’Bannon sent an email to Million suggesting it could be beneficial for the investigation to reveal the names of those who came forward anonymously — including potentially sharing that information with Herron — in advance of an Oct. 30, 2019, testimony in front of the commission. The accusers refused to do so.

Million and Baker said they saw Herron multiple times while out in Bloomington during this process. They were scared to go out in public. After Herron was informed of the allegations, Holroyd told Million to call the police if she saw Herron at her house.

Herron — who was not told the identity of his accusers, according to emails — named many people he believed were testifying against him in his letter. He wrote that he believes the accusers had a large desire to harm him and that he felt “sexually objectified, harassed, and abused by this group.”

Kate Ebert, one of the two women working as advisers on the commission, was in the Oct. 30, 2019, meetings where Herron and the accusers testified. Herron testified separately from the accusers. She recalled the committee “grilling” Million and Harris with tough questions but not having the same attitude with Herron.

“It seemed like they knew each other, which I found out later they did,” Ebert said of Herron and the commission members. “I was confused what was happening because it didn’t seem like we were there to question his testimony. But we were definitely there to question the accusers.”

After the accusers testified in October, witnesses spoke to the commission throughout November 2019.

The investigation commission's February 2020 report said its six male members voted unanimously that it found no “strong presumption of guilt” for Herron, and the accusations did not rise to the level of chargeable offenses, according to the commission’s report.

However, he was issued pastoral recommendations, including attending counseling, attending trainings on gender dynamics in the workplace and not transferring to other Presbyteries in a head pastor role.

CIP elders voted to uphold the commission’s findings.

Ebert, who couldn’t vote on the report, disagreed with the outcome.

The ruling also frustrated CIP elder Steve Marusich, who works at Trinity Church in Brownsburg, Indiana. Marusich did not want to speculate on guilt but told the IDS there were clear flaws in the ruling — saying the commission ruled there wasn’t enough “presumption of guilt” to move to a full trial, but the commission was also going to issue “pastoral corrections” to Herron.

“I was like, ‘Wait, it’s one or the other,’” Marusich said. “If he’s innocent, you can’t correct him. If you think he’s guilty, or you think he might be guilty and there’s enough evidence to point to that, then we need to be having a trial.”

In July, Marusich filed a complaint with the Standing Judicial Commission — in essence, the CIP’s supreme court, whose rulings are final.

The SJC reviewed whether the investigation commission made a mistake in its ruling of no presumption of guilt for Herron and not releasing the full report of its investigation.

The IDS reviewed both the original and edited reports from the investigation. The original report provided a general assessment of the commission review of Herron’s actions, which the edited version did not. The original report described pastoral recommendations for Herron, which the edited version did not. The original report was three pages, and the edited version was one.

The original report also claimed Herron “was placed in an awkward situation” because he didn’t know the identities of his accusers.

The edited report was one page and said there was not a strong presumption of guilt. It did not elaborate on a review of the allegations nor detail the pastoral recommendations issued to Herron.

In February 2021, the SJC determined the investigation needed to be sent back to the lower court and restarted before the case could be brought to trial.

In a March meeting, Marusich proposed that the new investigation be conducted by an outside group, the Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment — an organization that seeks to prevent and independently investigate abuse in Christian communities.

At the same meeting, Herron proposed that the standard church investigation process be followed, and that GRACE only be brought in if a church trial found him guilty. It is unclear what GRACE’s investigation would do at that point.

Marusich’s motion did not pass. Herron’s did.

The CIP will vote on the new investigation’s report on May 14.

If he is not both found to have a “presumption of guilt” by the investigation commission and then found guilty in a trial, Herron’s case will be closed.

***

After nearly two years, the group of accusers feel skeptical they’ll ever see justice, in part because of all the barriers women face in the PCA. They’ll find out if Herron could face consequences just after Million’s graduation. She hopes to be able to move on in more ways than one — from school, from Bloomington, from Hope.

Harris said she doesn’t regret sending the letter to the CIP in 2019, but she didn’t think this would consume her time in graduate school.

“I just had no idea that it would take this long, or it would be this horrible.” Harris said. “Coming out with this information, the investigation, how we’ve been treated and how they’ve conducted everything has been far more traumatic than the incidents themselves.”

While the initial investigation continued and Herron moved to Carmel, Indiana — Indianapolis’ wealthiest suburb — Million and Baker had no income. Million said she and Baker were virtually “eating out of a dumpster.”

Baker is now a general manager at a Jimmy John’s in Bloomington. Baker said he put his dream of being a pastor on hold because of Herron.

“All of his prospects in this denomination got completely blown up behind his back,” Million said.

Baker has applied for many pastoral jobs. He can’t get any. He believes Herron tarnished his reputation, and even being associated with Herron is why he’s working in a Jimmy John’s and not a church.

“I don’t hate my Jimmy John’s job,” Baker said. “I’d just rather be someplace else.”

After being taught creationism as a child, Million will receive her Ph.D. in evolutionary biology. Once she graduates in May, she and Baker will leave Bloomington. Million’s dream is to study darter fish in Tennessee.

Baker doesn’t care where they end up, but the further from Herron the better. That’s the only way Baker will get a job in ministry again, he said.

None of the three accusers who spoke to the IDS have been to church in months, a choice they said has nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic. At some point, when she’s far away from the CIP, Million would like to go back to church.

For now, she’s too scared.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated Jeff Childress’ title. He is a CIP member.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated the name of one of the people Million said spoke with Herron about her. Biblical counselor Craig Mercer was the third person.

A list of resources is available here if you or someone you know has experienced sexual harassment or abuse. Various Christian organizations including GRACE specialize in preventing abuse in churches and counseling survivors.