Potential sale of Independence church following allegations against former pastor

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An Independence, Missouri church embattled by controversy may soon have new ownership.

Epic Church announced on its social media channels that another church is interested in buying it. It’s former lead pastor Bobby Hawk, is facing multiple accusations of sexual assault .

One alleged victim told FOX4 she was a minor at the time of her alleged incident.

Hawk has denied any wrongdoing. He hasn’t been charged with a crime. FOX4 made three attempts to contact him on Friday, but our messages weren’t answered. No one from Epic Church’s leadership team would answer questions from FOX4 either.

A police investigation involving Hawk continues and a civil lawsuit is planned. Two of the women involved in that action say they’re hearing from other women who also accuse Hawk of similar illicit acts.

“There’s been an overarching them of all these stories. One is of manipulation by a man in the church for sure,” Destiny Bounds, who is now a Kansas City attorney, said on Friday.

Bounds and her sister, Danielle Bounds Hahn, are among the six women accusing Hawk of sexual assault when they were young girls. Another accuser said Hawk touched her inappropriately when she was only 12 years old.

A group of six women, including these three, made their accusations public last week with a news conference on the steps of the Jackson County Courthouse. Hahn said she’s also hearing from other accusers, some of whom may not be comfortable going public.

A social media post from Thursday also mentions the potential sale. It includes a letter of resignation from Hawk dated June 21, in which, Hawk denies any wrongdoing. Bounds and Hahn dismissed Hawk’s denial as being cold and irresponsible.

“We went through this 25 years ago with him denying everything. He was an adult and you have young girls telling stories that there’s no way a young girl would make that up,” Hahn said on Friday.

“It seems like people aren’t taking this seriously and that people aren’t taking this seriously or they’re trying to just move on,” Bounds said.

Leaders at Summit Park Church in Lee’s Summit also confirm Epic Church is for sale. A church elder there said Summit Park leaders were contacted by the Assemblies of God denominations July 2, gauging his church’s interest in buying Epic Church.

In a statement sent to FOX4 on Friday, Jeremy Needham, director of operations with Summit Church confirmed his church has been contacted concerning Epic Church.

“We were approached by the Southern Missouri Ministry Network of the Assemblies of God about potentially purchasing the facility located on Whitney Avenue from the bank that holds the note. We are currently exploring this option as a potential means of serving the community in that area. We are in prayer for God’s guidance as we consider our next steps in this matter,” read Needham’s statement.

Bounds said she isn’t sure when that civil lawsuit will be filed, but she said it’s on schedule.

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