HAMMOND, Indiana – A former Baptist pastor fired earlier in the week over allegations that he was engaged in an illicit affair with a teenage girl in his congregation has fessed up to his infidelity, confirming that he is indeed the man in cell phone pictures of an older man making out with a teenage girl discovered by another churchgoer.
Jack Schaap, former pastor at First Baptist Church of Hammond in Indiana confessed to cheating on his wife with a teenage girl in the megachurch’s congregation earlier this week. According to WGN-TV, the Board of Deacons addressed the situation at a church meeting Wednesday night, admitting to congregation members that the 54-year-old Schaap was dismissed over the affair with a 16 or 17-year-old girl in the church.
The affair was discovered when a church deacon attempted to return Schaap’s cell phone to him, when a picture message was sent to the former pastor’s phone. “The deacon then saw a text come through from a teenage girl in the church, and it was a picture of Jack Schaap and this girl making out,” former First Baptist member Trisha Kee told NY Daily .
Though the exact age or identity of the girl are not known, Schaap was fired for what the church called an “improper relationship with a young woman.” The Lake County Sheriff and the FBI are investigating whether or not the girl in the pictures is underage.
Schaap is married, interestingly enough, to the daughter of former First Baptist figure Rev. Jack Hyles. He has two adult children. Schaap has also published several books, including “Marriage: The Divine Intimacy” and “Dating with a Purpose: Common Sense Dating Principles for Couples, Parents, and Youth Workers.”
I would say something catty about that last bit, but it’s just too easy.
Here’s a video report of former pastor Jack Schaap’s alleged infidelity, his dismissal, and the investigation.