The Unlovely Truth Lori Morrison

I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime here at The Unlovely Truth. Security issues are hiding in every church - do you know where to look for them? I’m your host, church safety advocate Lori Morrison. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission here is to find actionable steps that will make our churches sanctuaries of physical, emotional, and spiritual safety. To give you tools to help make that happen in your church, we’re going to investigate real crime stories from real churches. I’ve got three cases for us to investigate today, so let’s dive right in. 
 
Highlights from this episode include:
 
A church treasurer and a pastor managed to embezzle tens of thousands of dollars from their respective churches due to lack of proper checks and balances in financial management. Learn how your church can avoid a similar tragedy.
You’ll discover a little thought about cyber-security threat and how you can protect your church from more than the loss of sensitive data. Hint: it’s your public Wifi.
Are controvertial comments from the pulpit a risk to half of your congregation’s emotional safety - and could they even border on spiritual abuse?
 
James 3:9-12 speak directly to this type of communicating. I’m going to read from the International Children’s Bible to make it as simple as possible so you can share it with anyone who thinks this behavior is ok.
 
We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people. And God made them like himself. Praises and curses come from the same mouth! My brothers, this should not happen. Do good and bad water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree make olives? Can a grapevine make figs? No! And a well full of salty water cannot give good water.
 
Just a few verses prior to this, in James 3:1, James says “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
I’d say that we can extend that logic to pastors as well. Any pastor that would say such degrading things about half of the world’s population has no place in leadership. Do you think that’s too harsh? Would you think that if rather than being of a sermon, these words had been spoken directly to your daughter or some other woman you care deeply about? If that would be seen as abusive, then saying it from the stage should be looked at as being much, much worse
 
Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com. 
 
Ways you can support the work of The Unlovley Truth:
 
Share the episode (w/link)
 
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn (add pinterest when done)
 
Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches. 
 
Read about the pastor who embezzled from his church
 
Article about church treasurer turned embezzler
 
This is why you need to be careful with your church Wifi
 
The Roys Report
 
Read about Pastor Bobby

Security issues are hiding in every church - do you know where to look for them? I’m your host, church safety advocate Lori Morrison and I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission here is to find actionable steps that will make our churches sanctuaries of physical, emotional, and spiritual safety. We’re going to investigate The Unlovley Truth about real crime stories affecting real churches so you can help make your church a safe and secure place. I’ve got new cases for us to investigate today, so let’s dive right in. 
 
I don’t share these stories with you because I’m wanting to bash the church. I love the church - especially when it functions in healthy and Christ-honoring ways. But it doesn’t always work out like that does it?
 
Highlights from this episode include:
 
49% of adults in America say that religion is losing influence in public life
Living Word Church in Midland Michigan recently had 2 leaders charged with sex crimes
An Asheville, NC church found a shocking intruder hiding in their crawl space last week
 
Christian ministries need to keep the church building safe, and the people within. We can take what we’ve learned today to partner with pastors and other church leaders to enhance the safety of our flocks.
 
Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com. 
 
Ways you can support the work of The Unlovley Truth:
 
Share the episode 
 
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn 
 
Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches. 
 
Read the Pew Research article here
 
Read the LifeWay Research article here
 
Stats from notinourchurch.com
 
Investigate today’s cases here, here, and here

Threats of violence didn’t keep Dr. William Cook and his staff from treating the growing number of HIV-positive patients in Austin, Indiana. Their efforts were paying off with more and more people beginning treatment crucial to their short and long-term health. Then the government got involved.
 
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. 
 
We’re wrapping up our deep dive of William Cooke’s fascinating book “Canary in the Coal Mine: A Forgotten Rural Community, a Hidden Epidemic, and a Lone Doctor Battling for the Life, Health, and Soul of the People”. We’ll also talk about ideas for how anyone can be what I call a different kind of P.I. - not a private investigator like me but a person of impact in your community. 
 
Decisions on how to handle the local health crisis started being driven by elected officials rather than trained medical personnel. Of course, the issue of IV drug use that fueled the spread of HIV infections was sharply debated. But the underlying poverty and hopelessness that factored in were mostly ignored. It seemed like the infection itself became the issue, not the well-being of the people who were suffering from its effects.
And very little was being done to address the root causes of the epidemic - domestic violence, generational poverty, a lack of resources, and other things that led to a sense of desperation and hopelessness that fueled the sex work and drug abuse that was spreading the HIV virus. Outside entities were trying to fix a problem they didn’t completely understand. 
Situations like this are where local churches can and should step in to do whatever they can. Everyone was going to have to set aside egos and the desire for control to work together if things were going to get any better for the citizens of Austin. 
 
Let’s take a quick look at Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector from Luke 18:9-14, and I’m reading from the New LIving Translation:
Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer[a]: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
I love parables. Words from the mouth of Jesus himself that are often so much deeper than they appear at first glance. The Pharisee thought he was righteous, but his heart was exposed with the self-contered prayer that he prayed. The tax collector knew just how much he needed God’s mercy, so he received it. 
But it’s easy to miss the very beginning of this parable - the fact that Jesus boldly told this story to people who were acting just like the Pharisse in the story. He is giving them the opportunity to see themselves in this story and hopefully re-examine the states of their hearts. He is doing the same for us today. 
What traditions do we hold onto, like dressing a certain way for church, that we’ve allowed ourselves to believe make us more in tune with God than those who dress differently out of lack of awareness for our custom or lack of resources to dress up at all? When we tell ourselves that certain people don’t measure up to our standards, we forget that without Jesus, none of us can measure up to God’s standards.
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Do some people deserve the suffering they are enduring? Or Should there always be room for compassion when criminal behavior regardless of why a person did what they did, ends in tragedy? If your community is struggling to find its way in a crisis you’ll want to hear how Dr. William Cooke has done it in tiny Austin, Indiana. 
 
This is Season 5, Episode 11. We’re going to take a two part deep dive into Dr. William Cooke’s incredible book, “Canary in the Coal Mine: a Forgotten Rural Community, a Hidden Epidemic, and a Lone Doctor Battling for the Life, Health, and Soul of the People”. We’ll also talk about ideas for how anyone can be what I call a different kind of P.I. - not a private investigator like me but a person of impact in your community. 
 
The U.S. Census Bureau says that roughly 20% of the U.S. population lives in a rural area, even though urban areas make up only 3 percent of the U.S. land area. That often means that our rural citizens may not always have direct access to things most of us take for granted. In Austin Indiana from the mid 1970’s until 2004, the down had no doctor of it’s own. When Dr, William Cook set up his practice he had no idea the journey he was about to take.
 
Not very many doctors start solo practices in impoverished areas, but Dr. Cook felt that was his calling. Some of his patients had never seen a doctor before. That’s not something we expect to hear in America, is it?
 
Every church has physical, emotional, and spiritual safety issues. Most just don’t know it. Are you going to wait for a trainwreck to occur before you address them? Helping churches be proactive about safety is why I wrote “Reclaiming Sanctuary: Enhancing Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Safety in Our Churches”. I know how hard it can be to address unpleasant issues because I’ve been where you are - in a leadership position needing an intentional approach customized to the needs of my unique church. 
 
I’m offering a free 20 minute strategy call for church leaders to see if my work might be a good fit for you. Email me today at lori@theunlovelytruth.com and we’ll start a conversation about your church’s needs and how we can work together to create a customized plan for your church. Schedule your no risk, all reward call today!
 
Luke 5:31-32
 
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
 
The teachers of the law, the religious folk of the time, tried to trap Jesus so many times. After He called Levi to follow Him, these leaders asked why Jesus and His followers would eat and drink with people they called “sinners”.  How easy it can be to fall into that trap. 
 
Does it remind you of the people who criticized Dr. Cooke for his work, and even threatened him? Does it remind you of anything else? Maybe something you’ve seen in your church? I know I’ve seen it in churches I’ve attended. I’ve probably even been guilty of it myself.
 
God can’t use us when we are showing that kind of pride. Casting Crowns has a great song called “Jesus, Friend of Sinners” . One line that really makes you think is “Nobody knows what we're for, only what we're against, when we judge the wounded”. I know that using drugs isn’t a good choice. Selling your body isn’t a great choice. But we don’t always know what has driven a person to make those choices.
 
Jesus would’ve hung out with drug addicts, and the homeless, and the sex workers. So why aren’t we? And if you do, I’m really glad to hear it. If you don’t, maybe it’s because you just don’t know how. If your church doesn’t have a ministry to feed the homeless, maybe you can work with another church’s ministry or a local non-profit. I don’t recommend going into a homeless camp by yourself though. Criminals will target the homeless because they are so vulnerable. If that type of ministry isn’t f

It’s not at all unusual to know the name of a murder victim, but not the name of the killer. But today we’re going to look at a case where the killer has most likely been identified while at least one of his victim’s names was unknown for decades. Today I’m going to feature one of those cases, and this one has a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction backstory.
 
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. 
 
This is Season 5, Episode 10. With thousands of unidentified murder victims just in the United States, giving a name to one can be like finding a needle in a haystack. A woman know for decades as 1985 Desoto County Jane Doe had a family and friends who needed to know what had become of her.  This case highlights how anyone can be what I call a different kind of P.I. - not a private investigator like me but a person of impact in your community. 
 
Every church has physical, emotional, and spiritual safety issues. Most just don’t know it. Are you going to wait for a trainwreck to occur before you address them? Helping churches be proactive about safety is why I wrote“Reclaiming Sanctuary: Enhancing Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Safety in Our Churches”. I know how hard it can be to address unpleasant issues because I’ve been where you are - in a leadership position needing an intentional approach customized to the needs of my unique church. 
 
I’m offering a free 20 minute strategy call for church leaders to see if my work might be a good fit for you. Email me today at lori@theunlovelytruth.com and we’ll start a conversation about your church’s needs and how we can work together to create a customized plan for your church. Schedule your no risk, all reward call today!
 
1 Corinthians 3:5-8
 
After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.
 
It took a lot of people doing what God gifted and equipped them to do in order for a set of human remains to be identified as Lorie Ann Mealer Pennell, a woman who was more than just a victim. She had a family and friends who loved her. She had dreams and hopes for her future - just like you and I do. It took a number of people who each played a unique role to restore her identity and give her family some answers they’d been waiting for for so long
 
How this all came together is a lot like the Apostle Paul’s ministry. He did amazing things, but he didn’t do them alone. 
 
Appollos wasn’t the only person giving Paul a hand. He had quite a few traveling companions like Barnabas, Silas, John Mark, and others. He also had the support of the disciples, once they realized that God had transformed Paul from a zealous killer of Christians to an apostle of Jesus. And let’s not forget the ladies! Lydia helped support Paul’s work as did Priscilla and her husband Aquilla. Paul specifically mentioned Phoebe as a benefactor to him and many others. It took so many people working together for Paul to be able to accomplish all that he did.
 
God has wired us to work together. Moses had his siblings, Aaron and Miriam, and later his father in law Jethro. Jesus had a whole twelve man team. We just saw how Paul’s team was almost too numerous to count! It should make all of us wonder - whose team am I on? What mission can I help reach more people or have a greater impact? 
 
That’s how we’re going to make ourselves, our families,

When Richie Wilder Jr. was convicted of the brutal slaying of his ex-wife Angila, his new wife Cyndi broke down in tears. “He’s a good man,” she told reporters covering the case. She continued to maintain his innocence until a slip of the tongue to an old friend unraveled everything.
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. 
This is Season 5, Episode 9. Our book this week is “Wilder Intentions: Love, Lies, and Murder in North Dakota” and our guest is Dr. Mary Foley, the Executive Director at Merryman House Domestic Crisis Center in Paducah, Kentucky. We will check in with Mary after we investigate this fascinating book. We’ll also talk about ideas for how anyone can be what I call a different kind of P.I. - not a private investigator like me but a person of impact in your community. 
For a lot of us, the term “domestic violence” makes us think about spouses or intimate partners. But most states have expanded the definition to include former spouses and parents who share children in common. One scenario I hadn’t seen before I reviewed this case was a tag-team partnership. Once Angila Wilder was in the sights of just such a pair, she never stood a chance. 
In November of 2015, the busy mom of three had recently found out that baby number 4 was on the way. She had mentioned to her live-in fiancee, Christopher Jackson, that she felt like someone was watching her. She even thought that she’d heard someone rattle their door at night while he was at work. She was right. 
This week I want to read a passage from Ephesians. Very often, abusive husbands who are part of a faith community will quote Ephesians 22-24 about wives submitting to their husbands. Let’s talk about what follows that - the part about what Scriptures says a man’s responsibilities in a marital relationship are.
 
Ephesians 5:25-27
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.
 
It sounds to me like the spouse called to a higher standard of behavior is the husband - not the wife. Husbands are called to constantly perform acts of self-sacrificial love for their wives in the very ideal of Christ himself. They don’t use Scripture to subjugate us but to cleanse us. Our imperfections are lovingly washed away to make us holy. 
Ladies - who wouldn’t want to follow a leader like this? This is true love. Don’t settle for the Hollywood version of it. Each and every one of you deserves an earthly love who is striving to love this way. And even if you don’t have a man in your life who is willing and able to humble himself in submission to this Scripture right now, you do have someone who loves you and serves you like this. Jesus. You are beautiful and worthy to Him just as you are in this moment.
Let me know what you thought of this episode! Send me an email a lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have those hard, but impactful conversations!
I want to remind you that I’m on a mission to see a revival sparked by churches genuinely safeguarding not just the physical safety, but the emotional and spiritual safety of their congregations and communities as well. I've worn multiple hats – church staffer, church security team member, domestic violence court paralegal, private investigator – and I've seen it all. Now, I want to come alongside church leaders, crafting customized safety blueprints that fit each church’s unique needs and accounting for their unique resources and culture.
I'm not just here to talk; I'm here to walk with church leaders. I’m in this f