25 Years After Alleged Abuse, Accused Pastor Still in Leadership; Survivor Seeks Justice

Megan Anderson, wife of worship artist Jared Anderson, has spent 25 years living with the knowledge that her former pastor, Ed Gungor, sexually abused her. Despite the abuse lasting less than a year, she said the continued leadership of this “predatory” pastor has deepened her pain and created a risk for others.

Anderson told The Roys Report that it took her years to process what happened and find her voice. “I still feel like the truth needs to be told. There needs to be accountability,” she said.

Gungor, the father of musician Michael Gungor, was once the pastor of Believers Church in Marshfield, Wisconsin, a church Anderson credits with saving her life during her teenage years. In the late 1990s, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he founded Believers Church Tulsa. By 1999, the church had grown to 4,000 members. Anderson, then 25, was invited to move to Tulsa to be a nanny and work at the church as his assistant.

During this time, Gungor and his wife, Gail, counseled Anderson through personal struggles. The first time Gungor touched Anderson sexually was during a prayer deliverance session for her depression, she said. “I could feel him brushing against my breasts when he was trying to pray for me,” Anderson recalled. “He kept stroking my breasts.”

She said the abuse occurred at her apartment, his home with his wife nearby, and at the church offices. After these incidents, Gungor gave Anderson financial bonuses. She added that he threatened her with self-harm if she spoke out.

In 2000, Gungor resigned from Believers Church Tulsa when his misconduct with Anderson was discovered. However, former church staff described the situation as an “affair.” Two years later, Gungor’s wife incorporated People’s Church in Tulsa, where he pastored by the mid-2000s, according to the Oklahoman.

In 2009, the church changed its name to Sanctuary Church Tulsa. Gungor is no longer listed as pastor but still regularly preaches there. He also serves as the founding bishop of the Order of St. Anthony and the Diocese of St. Anthony, an Anglican diocese in Tulsa.

Source: Read the original report