Sixteen years after a charismatic leader allegedly engaged in sexualized conversations with an adult student, her ministry has finally apologized.

It all started when Jen Dragt, former leader of a school of ministry in central Pennsylvania, was accused of “sexual sin” toward a student in 2010.

It took more than a decade for both the Global School of Supernatural Ministry (GSSM) and a related ministry, Global Awakening, to apologize for how they mishandled the matter.

“We are committed to learning from our failures and to responding with greater pastoral faithfulness,” the ministry leaders wrote in a statement released last week.

It’s the latest in a series of public reckonings of charismatic leaders accused of misconduct.

“It’s been a very, very long time coming,” Tara Browder, 49, the student victim, told Roys Report (RR). Usually RR doesn’t identify victims’ names, but Browder asked to be named.

Dragt was the assistant director of GSSM during the time of her alleged misconduct, according to her LinkedIn profile. She worked at GSSM from 2008 to 2014 and allegedly engaged in misconduct from 2010 to 2012 and “the period that followed,” the leaders wrote.

She now works as a discipleship pastor at Riverside Church in Hutchinson, Minnesota, about 60 miles west of Minneapolis. Paul Weisbrod, lead pastor of Riverside Church and Dragt’s boss, didn’t respond to RR’s request for comment.

Dragt was accused of “deception, sexual sin, manipulative behavior, and inappropriate interactions with at least one student under her spiritual authority,” the statement says.

The statement didn’t go into specifics, saying only that Dragt’s misconduct stemmed from an “ongoing struggle with homosexuality, sin and temptation.”

Dragt represented herself publicly “as someone who had experienced freedom” from both, saying she could minister to others who were still struggling, the statement said.

But Browder told RR that Dragt sexualized their conversations, invited Browder to watch pornography with her and described a lesbian sex act to her.

“Were there verbal things that were said to potentially arouse me? Yes,” Browder told RR. Both were single women in their 30s at the time.

Browder also said Dragt spoke often to her about her attraction to another female student.

In class, though, Dragt would teach students how to be free from certain sexual temptations. The duality was confusing, Browder said, leaving her feeling exploited.

There was no sexual contact, Dragt told RR. She denied inviting Browder to watch pornography but admitted to sending a picture to Browder of two men kissing. She said she did this as a way to discuss struggles with sexual temptation with someone she considered a friend and counselor. 

Dragt also said she doesn’t remember describing a sexual act to Browder. She admitted to telling Browder about an attraction to another student but believed Browder was trying to help her manage temptation.

Dragt said she regrets making Browder, who was her student, into her confidante.

“I regret that, as a leader, I confided in her and looked to her like a counselor rather than like a student, which put unfair pressure on her,” Dragt told RR. “I understand today that was sin. Back then I didn’t see it like that … I’m a different person now.”

She added, “This summer, we had a Zoom call, and I repented to her and apologized to her for that part and I meant it.”

Browder told RR she saw that call differently. She said that Dragt “minimized” her own behavior.

To RR, Dragt offered an alternative explanation for her acts. She said people in ministry “get attacked spiritually.”

A charismatic reckoning

The signers of the statement include GSSM’s founder and influential charismatic leader Randy Clark. Additional signers include Mike Hutchings, GSSM director from 2012 to 2024; Max Myers, GSSM director from 2007 to 2012; and unnamed leaders of Global Awakening.

Randy Clark is well-known in charismatic circles for starting the Toronto Blessing revival in 1994, which drew 3 million visitors. Clark founded Global Awakening in response to the Toronto revival. In 2006, Clark founded GSSM to train people in supernatural gifts, such as healing and prophecy, for ministry use. GSSM is located on Global Awakening’s site in south-central Pennsylvania.

Clark has collaborated in conferences, revivals and networks with other prominent charismatic leaders, including International House of Prayer-Kansas City founder Mike Bickle and Bethel Church pastor Bill Johnson. For the past few years, the charismatic Christian world has dealt with a cover-up culture and leaders accused of sexual misconduct. Leaders facing allegations include Bickle, Bethel leader Ben Armstrong and Messianic Jewish apologist Michael Brown.

In 2024, in response to the 2023 IHOPKC scandal, former GSSM students — who had first raised the alarm back in 2012 — reported the allegations against Dragt a second time, ministry leaders wrote.

GSSM knew in 2012

In 2012, Dragt admitted to “significant portions” of the allegations. GSSM tried to figure out then if Dragt had other victims but made mistakes in doing this, according to the statement.

“But looking back, we recognize that this response also communicated something deeply harmful to the former student who came forward: that her testimony alone was not enough,” ministry leaders wrote. “It should have been enough.”

In response to students’ report in 2024 of these same allegations, the ministry leaders reevaluated their 2012 response and admitted to making other mistakes at the time.

“(The victim) should have been clearly acknowledged, treated with seriousness and compassion, and offered pastoral care and counseling, rather than being left to feel isolated and dismissed,” ministry leaders wrote. “We failed to provide that care, for which we are deeply sorry.”

Josh Clark, chief operating officer of Global Awakening and Randy Clark’s son, told RR that the ministry offered counseling to the victim in 2025.

While Dragt submitted to GSSM’s oversight at the time, leaders wrote they regret not firing her.

“Our failures do not diminish Jen’s responsibility for her conduct and the harm it caused, but it is important to recognize that Jen was submitted to our spiritual oversight and care,” the statement says.

She continued to lead at the school until 2014. Ministry leaders also regret not making the allegations public and not getting Dragt more help, the statement says.

“We also believe a more faithful response would have brought this matter into the light in a lovingly pastoral way,” the statement says. “Jen needed to be relieved of ministry for the safety of the community, surrounded with real care, and helped out of hiding so that shame, fear, and accusation no longer had room to thrive in secrecy.”

In 2012 and in 2024, ministry leaders wrote they looked for more victims, but only identified one — Browder. The school is asking other possible victims to come forward.

“Our desire is not to stir speculation, but to make room for healing,” GSSM wrote. “If others were affected, we want to care for them.”

Josh Clark, who put RR in touch with Browder, said the ministry hasn’t done a third-party investigation of the allegations because they aren’t disputed. He told RR the ministry would take any future allegations on a “case-by-case” basis.

Browder told RR that she’s thankful ministry leaders admitted they didn’t do enough and appreciates how Josh Clark persisted in bringing the abuse and its aftermath to light. But she wishes the ministries’ response to her had admitted what specific leaders did wrong.

“(The statement) did not address what was done in the current process and the past, which was very egregious,” she said. “It’s a broken system and I don’t trust how they’d be able to care for other victims based on how they cared for me.”

Ministry leaders wrote that they contacted Weisbrod at Riverside Church in Minnesota to confirm he knew of the allegations.

“Based on his relationship with her up to that time, he believed she was healthy and fit for ministry,” the statement says. “We are not in a position to make broad claims about her current condition.”

Correction: This article has been corrected to reflect the date of counseling offered.

Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.