In return to ministry, Michael Brown claims Firefly investigation ‘more friendly’ to perspective of accusers
Michael Brown, founder of the North Carolina-based The Line of Fire – Dr. Brown Ministries, Inc., claims that the independent sexual abuse investigation firm Firefly, which concluded last month that he engaged in sexual misconduct with two women, was “more friendly” to the perspective of his accusers.
Brown made the revelation in a statement during his controversial return to public ministry last Wednesday. While insisting that he did not plan on debating the abuse allegations that have started “a mini civil war” over him in the Body of Christ, Brown took the time to share his version of the investigative process, suggesting there was an element of bias.
“When accusations came to our ministry last fall, my board said to me, ‘Mike, it's the better part of wisdom. It's the right thing to do a third-party investigation.’ And I said, ‘Let's do it immediately.' I've shared the truth with you. I want everything to come to light. I'll take a lie detector test. I'll give you [my] cell phone, the laptop, every everything,” Brown explained.
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He said the board also asked him to recuse himself from the investigation and step away from public ministry to allow them to fairly evaluate the allegations and he complied.
“So immediately the board hired a law firm, a leading law firm in the state of Arizona. And the gentleman who was going to conduct the investigation was the former assistant attorney general of the state. And one of my board members said, ‘Mike, they are going to get the labels on your underwear.’ I said, ‘Please let's bring everything to light,” Brown said.
His accusers, however, were not satisfied with the law firm in Arizona.
“They said, ‘No, we won't work with them.’ And they insisted on our board finding a firm that would be more friendly to their perspective. So it took some time. Our board finally got an organization that was acceptable to them. And this was the first part of a twofold process,” Brown said.
In its 47-page report released last month, Firefly said it was asked on Jan. 13 to examine information received from Line of Fire about allegations that Brown had an inappropriate relationship with former Fire School of Ministry member Sarah Monk. Brown, 70, had said she was like a daughter to him. They were also asked to investigate a second inappropriate relationship with a married woman from his church community who has since died.
Firefly concluded that the allegations were valid.
“The investigation focused on determining the validity of the complaint and whether the alleged actions were deviant. After reviewing evidence, conducting interviews, and analyzing the situation, the investigation concluded that BROWN’S actions toward the two females were inappropriate and unacceptable for his leadership position within the ministry,” investigators stated. “Such conduct violated the ethical standards expected of someone in his role and undermined the trust and integrity essential to leadership within the church community.”
A group of Christian leaders asked by the board of The Line of Fire – Dr. Brown Ministries, Inc., to review the findings of the Firefly investigation rejected their report.
“It is the position of the Elder Accountability Team that the LOF Board should have been officially contacted to seek a proper Mathew 18 process since these allegations resurfaced 5 years ago. Instead, these allegations, which could have been resolved with proper biblical due process, were relitigated with accusations, judgement and sentencing by a jury on social media,” the elders said in a statement included in a 27-page response to the Firefly report last month.
“This process is unbiblical and has caused irreparable damage to Dr. Brown’s credibility and ministry. We believe all who are responsible for this miscarriage of Biblical Due Process should search their hearts before God and pursue a biblical resolution to these unresolved issues,” they added.
The Elder Accountability Team also cleared Brown for return to public ministry.
“This time away from ministry has been very painful and difficult but I have encountered God through it,” Brown said in his statement on Wednesday, noting that the last time he was involved in public ministry was Dec. 17, 2024.
“I've encountered Him in ways I never have before. There’s a lot to share with you, but now is not the time. There'll be a time to share all this with you but not right now. I know that as I'm speaking to you, some of you are thrilled to see me back online and others, you'd rather never see my face again,” he said.
In her allegations against Brown, Sarah Monk said in 1999, when she was 18, she attended the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry, where Brown served as president until he was fired in 2000. Brown then started the FIRE School of Ministry in Pensacola, Florida, where the school operated until 2003 when it was relocated to North Carolina.
She explained that she followed Brown to his startup school, and he asked her to call him “Dad” and she obliged.
She recalled that because she had endured a difficult home life, she initially enjoyed the attention from Brown, and they would write endearing notes to each other.
“I looked at it as a blessing because of the respect that we all have for him,” Monk’s sister told The Roys Report in an earlier interview.
In less than a year of her working at the new school, Monk said Brown — who was recently involved with providing guidance to the International House of Prayer Kansas City as they navigated founder Mike Bickle’s sexual misconduct scandal — started holding her hands.
“He lifted it (her hand) up in the truck ... and he’s like, ‘You all know that I think of (Monk) as my daughter,’ and said, ‘That’s why we’re holding hands because she’s like a daughter to me,’” Monk said.
The handholding eventually progressed to other contact, including kissing. Monk said she was alone in Brown’s office one day when he asked her to kiss him on the lips. She said she didn’t want to kiss him, so she gave him a peck that day. Kisses on the lips would become a part of their goodbyes when they spent time alone.
“It was no longer (Brown) was asking for a kiss,” she recalled. “It was (Brown) leaning down to get a kiss. ... I knew I couldn’t stop it, or I felt I couldn’t stop it.”
Brown allegedly later began slapping Erin’s buttocks habitually.
As the online fever over the allegations against Brown grew last month, his wife, Nancy, who noted that she is an “extremely private person,” released a statement in defense of her husband. And she called the allegations a “fantasy.”
For those who know me, I am a no nonsense person who tells it like it is. Truth and justice are very important to me. And suffice it to say that I am not one of those wives you’ll find sitting at her husband’s feet looking up adoringly at him thinking he can do no wrong. I am, and have always been, Mike’s worst critic. I know who he is inside and out (we’ve been married almost 50 years), and throughout our marriage I have spoken plainly (and openly) about his shortcomings and faults (to him as well as to others).
I must state here categorically and in no uncertain terms; Mike is not, and has never been a sexual predator, groomer, or deviant nor has he EVER exploited a single human being for his own personal gain or ego whether it be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.
That is not who he is and never who he was. This is fantasy. He has never attempted to overpower or manipulate ANY female or force himself on them for sexual or emotional or physical gratification nor has he used them to stroke his ego or to get something from them. NEVER.
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