Survivor of Horrific Abuse Scandal in UK Speaks Out

Guest Bios Show Transcript The evangelical community in the U.K. is being rocked by a horrific abuse scandal, involving Jonathan Fletcher — arguably the leading evangelical figure in Britain for the past several decades. On this episode of The Roys Report, Lee Furney—the first survivor of Fletcher’s abuse to go public —speaks out. As Furney recounts, Fletcher groomed and abused young men who attended his prominent church in Wimbledon, England, for 30 years. Fletcher also reportedly abused youth at evangelical camps designed to train young men from elite schools to be future leaders. Some of those who attended these camps, run by the Iwerne Trust, include the late theologian John Stott; Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury; and Nicky Gumbel, pioneer of the popular Alpha Course. But it isn’t just Fletcher whose abuse is now being confirmed. John Smyth, head of the Iwerne camps, also abused young men, dating back to the 1970s and 80s. Yet sadly, when Smyth’s abuse was uncovered, it wasn’t reported to police. Instead, the Iwerne Trust handled the matter in-house and sent Smyth to Africa, where he continued his abuse. This story, which Furney called the “mother of all abuse stories,” is rocking the Church of England—and has many parallels to the recently-exposed Ravi Zacharias sex abuse scandal. Furney, who works with churches in Malawi, not only draws these parallels, but also explores root causes and solutions. This Weeks Guests Lee Furney Lee Furney is a British expatriate working to encourage and equip churches in Malawi. He is a church abuse survivor who has been bringing long-running scandals into the light. He now spends much of his spare time supporting and advocating for abuse survivors, both there and worldwide. Transcript SPEAKERSLEE FURNEY, JULIE ROYS This transcript has been edited slightly for continuity. JULIE ROYS 00:00He’s been called the Pope of Evangelical conservativism. Jonathan Fletcher also is a serial abuser who subjected dozens of young men to ice baths, naked beatings and sex acts, according to a newly released report. Welcome to The Roys Report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. I’m Julie Roys. And joining me today is Lee Furney. Lee is the first survivor of Jonathan Fletcher’s horrific abuse to go public. And as you’ll hear from Lee in the next hour, Fletcher groomed and abuse young men who attended his prominent church in Wimbledon England for 30 years. Fletcher also reportedly abused youth that at evangelical camps designed to train boys and young men from elite schools to be future leaders. Some of those who attended these camps run by what was called the Iwerne Trust include the late theologian John Stott, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Nicky Gumbel, pioneer of the popular ALPHA course. But it isn’t just Fletcher, whose abuse is now being confirmed. John Smyth, head of the Iwerne Camps, also abused young men dating back to the 1970s and 80s. Yet sadly, when Smyth’s abuse was uncovered, it wasn’t reported to police. Instead, the Iwerne Trust handled the matter in house, and then sent Smyth to Africa, where he continued his abuse. This story, which Furney calls ‘ the mother of all abuse stories’ is rocking the Church of England. It’s also sending shockwaves through the Anglican community in the US and around the world. And it has many parallels to the recently exposed Ravi Zacharias sex abuse scandal. In the next hour, we’ll explore this tragic story in detail and discuss the culture that allowed both Fletchers and Smyth’s abuse to continue for so long. We’ll also discuss solutions and next steps. So, I think this is going to be an extremely important podcast. But before I dive into my discussion with Lee, I’