He was a celebrity pastor at one of Canada’s biggest megachurches. Inside the sexual abuse allegations that brought down Bruxy Cavey was the following story.
On the evening of April 2, 2006, the two pastors in this story were working on what would ultimately be considered one of the best-known cases in Canadian history. They were the head of a charismatic Evangelical denomination, the Society of Foursquare Gospel Ministry, or “FFG”, based in Halifax, and they were charged with abuse of children.
The four pastors were charged in the Halifax District Attorney’s office and agreed to testify against each other. The trial never became a criminal issue, but it became an unbridled media circus as the public learned that the four men had been indicted in a matter they had created. It seemed like a simple religious issue: these men were accused of abusing four children.
The issue of the abuse never became personal. Despite allegations in the media, no one from the four pastors was arrested or charged, and the trial, which had started on Monday, May 13, 2006, was never mentioned by any media outlets.
In a sense, the story of the four men and the church is a story of the power of the secular media, the extent to which it can be manipulated, and the strength of those who attempt to control it. It was the story of a man who was a celebrity pastor at the head of a church that had become a national symbol of evangelical Christianity.
Bruxy Cavey, an evangelical preacher, pastor, and evangelist, had a reputation for attracting people of all races and all ages to his church in Halifax. It had become a massive megachurch with a congregation of 100,000 people, with an average weekly attendance of about 600 people.
It was easy to find people to help build an outreach team and to organize a prayer movement.
At the time of the allegations, he had reached the highest position in his denomination, of president.
A pastor with a lot of power
Bruxy Cavey was born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, in 1962. His father, a Baptist pastor, played a pivotal role in his life.
He had been a man of faith. When he was eleven, his father led a young Bruxy Cavey to the Baptist church in his hometown.
On the
