Conservative Babylon

It looked like just another story for the next Black Collar Crime Round-Up. And if it had ended up there, it would have gone something like this:

Indicted: Henry Keith “Hank” Davis, 58-year-old founder and senior co-pastor (with his wife — more about her in a moment) of Church of the Harvest (which also runs “Hadassah School of Ministry”), Cleveland, Tennessee, and (again, with his wife) occasional guest on Paul Crouch‘s TBN and Marcus Lamb‘s Daystar Network (and “featured in Charisma Magazine for their ministry and testimony”); on two counts of sexual battery, stemming from allegations “that he had inappropriate sexual contact with a girl under the age of 16 while on a youth mission trip to the Parksville Lake area of Polk County,” reports WRCB. Arrested July 13th, Davis bonded out of jail on $20,000, and is due to appear in court July 23rd.

Condemning homosexuality, while biting the cleaning girl in the thigh…

And notice the “prosperity gospel” promise:

“Birthed after an eight-week revival, believers from different denominations, along with those who had just accepted the Lord, united together in order to form a church under the pastoral headship of Pastors Hank and Rhonda Davis. …

“Because of God’s grace, testimonies of deliverance from homosexuality, Satanism, mental and psychiatric illness, drug addiction, divorce and financial despair have all been converted to peace, joy, forgiveness and restoration! Those who had materially lost everything are now walking in the prosperity of the Lord and enjoying financial abundance. …

— “About Us”
Church of the Harvest

Just another Black Collar entry, we thought, until we ran across a June 28, 2001, article in The Chatanoogan, “Warrant Says Preacher Bit Girl On The Thigh”:

The Cleveland, Tenn., preacher charged with sexual battery of an 18-year-old touched her breast area and bit her on the leg, it was charged. …

The warrant says the incident happened back on Feb. 5 when the Bradley County girl went to clean a house on Bell Mill Road in Hamilton County. …

It was claimed that the girl was folding clothes by the couch in the living room when [Davis] “began to tickle her and took her to the floor by the arms.

“Victim says he climbed on top of her and put his knee on her chest area. …

“Defendant then bit her with his teeth on her right upper leg area, near her buttocks, leaving a bruise on the victim. He took his fist and started punching her on the leg area. …

Authorities said the girl recorded a telephone conversation with the minister and the defendant “admitted biting her with his teeth, stating ‘he had a big mouth.’” …

More at the link. (And yes, we’ll wait while you clean the throw-up off your keyboard.)

In March of 2001, The Chatanoogan followed up with an article stating that Davis had pleaded guilty to simple assault, in exchange for prosecutors dropping the sexual battery charge, and was rewarded with a slap on the wrist: 11 and a half months… suspended.

Note to Rhonda Davis: Donna Fargo called — she wants her hair from 1971 back.

The article also says Davis was ordered not to have any contact with girls under the age of 18. So, when did this order run out? Or is Church of the Harvest restricted to adults only? We don’t see anything on the church website suggesting it is.

As a matter of fact, there’s a link to Alive Youth (aliveincleveland.com), “an increadible [sic] youth ministry of Church of the Harvest in Cleveland, Tennessee. …”

And then there’s the link to something called “K.I.C.K.”: “The children’s ministries are designed for ages 4-12. K. I. C. K. (Kid’s In Christ’s Kingdom), is a time of biblical teaching during the Sunday morning service where the main objective is to equip Kids for the job of working in the kingdom. … Our nursery is open to children ages 0-24 months. At Church of the Harvest, our desire is to minister to your infants , not just babysit them. Our nursery provides a safe and quality environment with qualified individuals attending the children.”

Do you suppose the parents of these kids know about Pastor Davis’s guilty plea? How about his most recent indictment? We know we’d certainly think twice before leaving our kids there. But, hey, that’s just us.

Good luck with re-restoring that marriage, kids…

Growing up in a pastor’s home, Rhonda Davis learned and experienced the move of God from a very young age. At the age of sixteen, she and her family moved to southern California, where she met and married Hank Davis. Hank, a successful building contractor at that time, became addicted to cocaine and within a short sixteen months Rhonda watched as their business and their marriage quickly crumbled.

“During three years of complete separation, Hank accepted the Lord and a call to the ministry while Rhonda, now living across the nation, was experiencing a miraculous healing of her emotions. Later, in a revival in which Hank was preaching in northern Georgia, God did the impossible and reunited he [sic] and Rhonda and restored their marriage. …

“Now, along with her husband, Rhonda co-pastors Church of the Harvest in Cleveland, Tennessee, operates as the Ladies Ministries Director; Worship and Arts Department Director; and founder of the Hadassah School of Ministry. Internationally, Rhonda has become a highly requested conference speaker and preacher of the Word. Her speaking engagements across the nations have included Lamar Boschman’s International Worship Conference; keynote speaker at several Church of God and Church of God of Prophecy International Women’s Conferences; and several appearances with Marcus & Joni Lamb on Daystar TV in Dallas, Texas. …

“Rhonda Davis will share a message from the Lord which will challenge and draw you into a closer relationship with Him. Her testimony of the restoration and healing power of God in her life, marriage and family brings a renewed confidence and trust in Him. …”

— “Pastor Rhonda Bio”
Rhonda Davis Ministries

Anyway, back to The Case of the Thigh-Bitten Servant Girl…

The victim sued (“She was one of four witnesses in Hamilton County Criminal Court who were questioned about actions of Rev. Davis with them,” reported the Chatanoogan), then withdrew the suit after writing a letter stating: “All the complaints that I have made against Hank Davis are not true. Hank has never mistreated me nor touched me incorrectly.”

Then she recanted that, saying she had been “pressured into writing the letter,” after which prosecutors proceeded with criminal charges against Davis. (The girl reportedly decided to refile her lawsuit, but we don’t know if anything ever came of it.)

We think it’s a going to be difficult for Davis to defend himself against this most recent charge, in light of his earlier guilty plea. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Finally, about Davis’s wife: Rhonda Davis (or Rhonda Guiles-Davis) is pastor of Rhonda Davis Ministries, which means she explicitly violates Paul’s commandment in 1 Timothy 2:11-12 (even admitting on her website she ministers to men!):

Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.

But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

Which also means that “Hank” is violating 1 Corinthians 14:34-35:

Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.

And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

See also: 1 Corinthians 11:3-12; 1 Peter 3:1-7; Ephesians 5:22-24; Colossians 3:18-19.

More reading (we can’t vouch for it, but find it most interesting):

• “The Reason Our Church Relocated In A Nutshell!!,” Mike Shroades Ministry Blog, May 4, 2009 (“… The youth pastor who struggled as the interim sought counsel in his old pastor in regards to Battens P&W. His pastor was Hank Davis. Hank is the leader of Word of Life Ministries and the senior pastor of Church of the Harvest in Cleveland, TN. Word of Life came and approached the church about becoming their covering. The church accepted and the problems began. First, Hank Davis managed to get the property transferred to Word of Life for the amount of $10 via the unsuspecting youth pastor. Then, he borrowed $16,000 for repairs… most of which never were finished. He came to the elders and told them this would be a blessing to the church and then stuck them with the loan for repairs…. The loan was the first bone of contention. Many contentions have followed since. … He had some serious sexual allegations and we went to him. We told him the church was in his ministries [sic] name and we felt it would be best if he signed it back to us. He said no worries I will not plea-out to anything. We found that he made a plead to a lesser charge… [One of the people he claimed on his board] said they had to ask him during the sexual lawsuits to quit bringing their name into it. Anyways, he has some loyalists that did support him and allowed him to do this to our church. They are: Marcus Lamb, Owner Daystar Television; Scott Thomas, Pastor Church Without Walls Lakeland, TBN speaker (go figure); Kent Davis, Pastor City Church in Tampa (came and locked us out of the church last May)…” — with comments worth reading, too)

Related posts (automatically generated):

1. Hypocrite of the Month: Pastor Frank E. Ray, Sr., Memphis, Tennessee
2. Another Youth Pastor… You Know the Drill: Sean Feltman Says He Didn’t Try to Lure 14-Year-Old Girl Into Sex
3. Anti-Gay, Anti-Abortion Extremist & Exorcist Thomas Euteneuer Admits to “Sexual Indiscretion” (…Wait for It…) During Exorcism
4. Gilbert Davis
5. Youth Pastor Brent Girouex “Helped” Teenage Boys “Gain Sexual Purity” By Having Sex with Them

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