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Alan and Katryn video statement
Church News

Alan Scott's Dwelling Place responds to Vineyard report that found spiritual abuse under his leadership

by Kelly Valencia

The non-employee board members of Dwelling Place Anaheim (DPA), the current church of former Vineyard pastor Alan Scott, have dismissed the findings of a report that investigated past allegations against the pastor.

Writing on the church’s website, Banning Liebscher and Greg Scherer said the board has decided not to take action as they don’t think “anonymous reporting is a biblical model for problem solving” and believe the report “relied on speculation rather than investigation”.

Launched in February after Scott's decision to withdraw Dwelling Place from the Vineyard USA movement, the report was prompted by numerous complaints about his conduct in both Dwelling Place and Causeway Coast Vineyard (CCV) - the church he led for nearly two decades in Northern Ireland before moving to the US in 2017.

Commissioned by CCV and Vineyard Churches UK and Ireland, the report was conducted by Trusted HR.

The findings brought to light a consistent pattern of behaviour, including manipulation, inappropriate comments, narcissistic tendencies, instances of public shaming, and spiritual abuse associated with Scott.

Respondents also accused Scott of being overly “numbers focused,” allegedly manipulating numbers in some areas and “exaggerating stories about the success of events and action taken by the church and its leaders”.

The conclusions were drawn from the personal stories of 37 individuals who openly shared their experiences through written statements and face-to-face interviews.

However, Dwelling Place’s non-employee board members argue that “no corroborating or opposing evidence was interviewed or discussed” in the report despite Scott being “explicitly targeted” and denied either CCV or Vineyard Churches UK and Ireland approaching them for comment.

They said: “No allegations were received when the DPA Board asked TrustedHR for them; categorically, NO ALLEGATIONS HAVE BEEN PUT TO ALAN or the DPA Board. “

It continued: “One of our staff was questioned and did respond, though their responses were not included in the report, even when multiple other responses were included.”

In November 2022, former attendees of Vineyard Anaheim sued Dwelling Place Anaheim, alleging that Alan and Kathryn Scott misrepresented their dissatisfaction with the Vineyard Movement during their 2018 appointment. The plaintiffs accused the church board of breaching fiduciary duties for not opposing the disassociation from Vineyard USA.

Scott and his wife have denied any wrongdoing.

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