There are several reasons why a marriage can be on the rocks. As for one woman, Karen Hinkley, finding out that her husband has been hiding his addiction to child pornography for years was too much for her, and she took steps to annul her marriage. But to her surprise, her church didn’t approve of her decision and warned of disciplinary actions if she pressed on with the annulment.
Karen Hinkley, whose given name was Karen Root, got married to Jordan Hinkley with both sharing dreams of one day serving as missionaries. After their marriage in 2012, they immediately embarked on a journey to seek missionary opportunities.
Things were working out just fine for the couple and they were very excited about their dream of becoming missionaries abroad. Shortly after the two got married, they became members of The Village Church (TVC), which is a megachurch based in the Dallas area. Soon, TVC became the couple’s church, and their opportunity to pursue their dreams of becoming missionaries was within reach.
As they grew spiritually, they also signed a contractual document with the church, which TVC refers to on its official website as a “teaching document.” The document contains some of the theological beliefs of the church by which every member is required to adhere.
One of the clauses read, “I will seek to preserve the gift of marriage and agree to walk through the steps of marriage reconciliation at The Village Church before pursuing divorce from my spouse.”
The couple soon got an opportunity to travel to East Asia to spread the gospel in a small community. Unfortunately, their missionary service didn’t last long.
While abroad, Hinkley began to have a feeling that something wasn’t right with her husband; she had a strong feeling that he was hiding something. This went on even when she tried to push the thought out of her mind.
At some point, she caught Root in a lie. Although it was on a different issue than what she was afraid of, she decided to press him with questions to disclose what was really going on in his life.
“That was the beginning of his ‘pseudoconfession,’” Hinkley told The Daily Beast through an email. “After catching him in that first lie, I sensed immediately that there was more he was hiding.”
Root confessed to having masturbated several times while watching nude pictures of children. He made the same confession to TVC and SIM, another Christian organization who helped send the couple to do missionary work.
Hinkley still didn’t believe that masturbating to nude pictures was all Root was hiding.
She continued pressing her husband with questions until he finally confessed to being attracted to small girls for years. Root even confessed that at times, he would masturbate while thinking about young kids who were once under his care.
Shortly afterward, SIM sent Root back to the U.S.
When Hinkley traveled to the U.S., she immediately started the process of annulling her marriage. But the church wasn’t in support of her idea, preferring that she explore the church option of working on her marriage before resorting to the annulment process.
TVC’s groups pastor at its Northway Campus, Matt Younger, even sent an email to her, saying “…we have been perplexed by your decision to file for an annulment of your marriage without first abiding by your covenant obligations to submit to the care and direction of your elders … this decision violates your covenant with us—and places you under discipline.”
The church denied Hinkley her desire to resign her membership and also expressed concerns about the couple separating their finances. She did, however, resign and cut all communications with the church.
The church has finally agreed to start the process of releasing her.
(Hattip: All Christian News, Daily Beast, Inquisitr.
