November 9, 2018 
The ongoing saga over child sexual abuse at the “Love Church” (formerly known as The Life Church – with “campuses” in Manassas, Warrenton and Winchester, Virginia, but now only in Gainesville and Winchester, Virginia) – continues to unfold.
The latest development is a lawsuit seeking $21 million in damages by a new victim, who alleges she was sexually molested at the “Love Church” in 2014 when she was sixteen years old.
Named as defendants in this new lawsuit are both the “Love Church” and convicted pedophile Jordan Baird, the brother of “Love Church” Senior Pastor Josh Baird.
This alleged victim was not the child involved in the criminal charges that resulted in Jordan Baird’s conviction in January 2018 on multiple pedophilia counts related to the “Love Church”. In that case, he served seven months in jail after being found guilty of molesting a different child in his capacity as a Worship Director and Youth Pastor there.
Upon his release from jail, a second set of criminal charges for pedophilia – independent of this civil lawsuit and Jordan Baird’s prior criminal conviction – were then filed by the Commonwealth of Virginia against him on August 6, 2018. He is scheduled to go to trial on those new criminal charges in February 2019.
This new, third legal action involves a civil – rather than criminal – lawsuit.
At the time of the alleged abuse in this newest civil case, Jordan Baird was an employee of the “Love Church”. As he admits in his answer to the complaint (while denying all other allegations), he was working at the “Love Church” as its Worship Director and as a music instructor at its “Life Music Academy” where his wife, Michelle Baird, was the Director.
(As an aside, numerous other people related to Senior Pastor Josh Baird also were and still are employed by The Life Church, which is sometimes jokingly referred to as the “Baird Family Enterprises” in the Gainesville area. The Baird family essentially runs the church and the church is structured to shield Senior Pastor Josh Baird from having to answer to anyone but himself.)
According the civil complaint, Jordan Baird molested the sixteen year old plaintiff while giving her voice lessons at the church. For those lessons, her parents sent their daughter to the “Love Church” and paid the “Love Church” directly, not knowing of the abuse at the time.
As part of that molestation, the lawsuit states that Jordan Baird exposed “his sexual or genital parts” to the child, urged her to touch and fondle “his sexual or genital parts”, “did feel or handle [her] sexual or genital parts”, and caused the child “to feel or fondle” his own “sexual or genital parts” over a one month period in the church at its former Balls Ford Road location in Manassas, Virginia.
As such, the complaint claims that Jordan Baird sexually abused and took indecent liberties with a minor child at the “Love Church” in his capacity as an employee of the “Love Church”, causing her to suffer severe, ongoing emotional pain and distress.
The civil complaint was filed with the Circuit Court in Prince William County, Virginia, on October 12, 2018. The church was served with the complaint on October 18.
Those dates are significant.
To date, the “Love Church” apparently has not revealed to its members that it is being sued for $21 million dollars for yet more pedophilia – involving yet another alleged victim – at the church.
The church appears to have kept its members in the dark because of an ongoing, major fundraising drive called the “Harvest” – where people are being asked to make major increases in their giving to the church.
It seems that the church leadership does not want it known that the tithes and offerings they have been soliciting – plus any increased giving during their current “Harvest” appeal – may have to be diverted to pay for lawyers to defend the church and eventually used to pay significant damages for pedophilia in this newest case of child molestation to surface at the church.
Despite keeping its own members in the dark over the newest pedophilia allegations to hit the “Love Church”, in its November 8, 2018, court filings the church claims it is not accountable for any abuse that occurred there.
Why? Because, according to its court filings:
The Love Church, operating then as The Live Church, “was not in existence at the time of the alleged actions”;
“[I]t had no legal existence in 2014”; and thus
“[I]t has no legal liability … for the alleged actions”.
At Nathan’s Voice, we suspect that people who attended the “Love Church” in 2014 – when these newest accounts of child molestation are alleged to have occurred there – will be surprised to learn that the church was “not in existence at the time”.
Folks, you just can’t make this stuff up.
Jordan Baird admits in his own court filings (while denying nearly everything else) that he was employed by the church as alleged in the complaint at the time …
People were going to the “Love Church’s” Sunday services and events at the time …
It was promoting and calling itself The Life Church (it’s former name) at the time …
It was offering and charging for music lessons as the “Love Church” at its former building on Balls Ford Road in Manassas at the time …
But now, all of a sudden according to Josh Baird and the “Love Church”, it “was not in existence at the time”.
It’s one thing to raise defenses in a legal proceeding.
It’s quite another, however, for a church to engage in deception while doing so, then hide the fact of the lawsuit from its members to increase its coffers during a major appeal for ever more money.
~ Nathan’s Voice
(This post has been updated to reflect the new name of the Life Church, which was changed by the Josh Baird – the new Senior Pastor and brother of Jordan Baird – to “Love Church” in an apparent attempt to mislead the public about its ongoing history of abuse, deception and intimidation.)
For those interested, here are the official court documents in the latest legal proceeding regarding child molestation at the “Love Church”:
The Civil Complaint Against The Life Church and Jordan Baird (Oct. 12, 2018)
Plea In Bar Of Defendant The Life Church (Nov. 8, 2018)
Jordan Baird’s Answer and Grounds for Defense (Nov. 6, 2018)
If you wish to stay informed, you can click the link on the upper left column above (included below if you’re viewing this on a smartphone) to follow this site and receive occasional emails as additional events transpire.
Nathan's Voice 
Comments are closed.