Ex-Fort Worth pastor fired from Ohio university over allegations of sexual misconduct
A former Fort Worth pastor who was removed in 2017 over “immoral actions against an adult church member” was fired last week from his position at an Ohio university after officials learned he had allegedly recorded videos of his friend taking showers for months.
At the time of the 2017 recordings, Anthony Moore was a pastor at The Village Church in Fort Worth, but he was fired from that church in 2017 over “grievous and immoral actions against an adult church member,” according to church officials.
Months later, Moore was hired at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio, as a multicultural recruiter. He later became a special advisor to the president for kingdom diversity and an assistant professor of theology. He also volunteered as an assistant basketball coach.
Officials at Cedarville University were aware in 2017 that Moore had allegedly recorded the secret videos, but they believed it had not been “habitual,” Cedarville University President Thomas White wrote in an April 24 blog post. White also called Moore his friend.
Moore was hired in the summer of 2017 at the Baptist university with an enrollment of more than 4,300, but he was under a five-year “restoration” plan, according to White.
But Moore, who is married with children, was fired on April 23 after White was told that the alleged secret videos spanned over several months.
Moore could not be reached for comment.
On Monday, White released a video statement and apologized for hiring Moore. He also asked the university’s board of trustees to hire a third-party organization to investigate if any misconduct occurred in the time Moore was at the university.
White also said other university leaders would be attending victim prevention awareness and advocacy training, according to the Dayton Daily News.
“This is not the ending that I had hoped to write,” White said in his April 24 blog. “I am devastated personally.”
A petition was created on April 24 on Change.org, asking for officials at Cedarville University to fire White.
White said that he decided to fire Moore after receiving a telephone call on April 22, learning new information on what had happened in 2017 at the Fort Worth church.
In January 2017, Moore was removed from the staff The Village Church because of “grievous, immoral actions against an adult church member,” according to a statement the Fort Worth church released this week.
“We promptly communicated his dismissal the following Sunday to our entire church body at all services, stating publicly and clearly that he was unfit for ministry of any kind,” Fort Worth church officials said in the statement.
Fort Worth church officials did not share personal details of the incident with the church members.
“We did thoroughly inform Cedarville University about all of the known details of Anthony’s offense and reiterated clearly that we did not believe he was fit for ministry of any kind,” according to the statement.
Just days later in January 2017, Moore called White.
“When I answered the call, I knew immediately from the tone of his voice that the purpose of the call was not a joyful one,” White said in his April 24 blog. “He told me he had wronged another person in a morally serious way using video and technology.”
Months later, Moore was hired at Cedarville University.
At that time, one of Cedarville’s trustees was Paige Patterson, who was then president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. The Roys Report stated Patterson was a friend of Moore. Patterson later resigned from the Cedarville board in 2018.
Patterson was fired from Fort Worth’s Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on May 30, 2018, with the chairman of the board of trustees releasing a statement condemning him for allegations of how he handled sexual assault reports.
The adult church member at The Village Church who was the alleged victim of Moore’s secret recordings reported the incident in October 2018 to investigators with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. The report was listed as a invasive visual recording.
The church member told an investigator he had met Moore in 2007 at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and they became friends.
According to the report by the sheriff’s office, the church member said he had just finished a shower when he found Moore’s iPhone underneath a towel. There was an opening in the towel that allowed the camera lens to be seen.
The church member looked through the phone and found multiple videos of him taking showers, the report said.
The church member confronted Moore, who advised him that he had struggled with same-sex attraction, according to the report.
The church member later learned that Moore moved to Ohio in 2017 and he decided to come forward in case there were other victims, according to the report.
A supplemental report indicated that the investigation was suspended after the church member failed to show up to pursue charges.
“We sought to do this through accountability and clear boundaries along with transparency and clear communication within our community,” White wrote on his blog. “My own actions were driven by a desire to love others and follow the Lord after preaching James 5.”
