Assemblies of God executive, Pastor Rod Loy, denies sexual abuse claims made by former youth pastor’s wife

Editor's note: This article contains graphic details of alleged sexual abuse. 

Assemblies of God Executive Presbyter and Senior Pastor of First Assembly of God in North Little Rock, Arkansas, Rod Loy, has denied allegations made in a recent lawsuit by his former youth and executive pastor’s wife that he sexually abused her for 20 years, beginning when she was 16.

First Assembly of God in North Little Rock, which is one of the largest Assemblies of God congregations in the United States, told The Christian Post they had been aware of the claims of the accuser, 45-year-old Suzanne Lander, before she filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Arkansas, on Jan. 26.

The church said it conducted an “external investigation” and found no evidence to substantiate her claims, and that it is prepared to defend its pastor against Landers’ lawsuit.

“Our lead pastor and church have been accused of inappropriate behavior many years ago by a former employee. The church leadership takes accusations of this nature extremely seriously. Upon initially hearing of such an allegation, the church board launched an external investigation, which found nothing to substantiate the claims,” the church said in a statement to CP.

“We just became aware that a lawsuit was filed by the accuser. Pastor Rod and our church board vehemently deny these claims. We are prepared to defend this accusation, and we ask for your prayers and patience during this difficult time for both the accused and the person making such an allegation.”

Loy, who has been the senior pastor of First Assembly of God in North Little Rock since 2001, was elected as the Gulf-area executive presbyter in August 2023. As a member of the 21-member executive board of the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States, Loy is involved in policymaking and governance for the denomination. He is also involved in overseeing doctrinal integrity, fellowship policies, and regional matters, including ordained leadership.

His church was ranked as the third-largest Assemblies of God congregation in the U.S., with more than 16,500 members in 2017, according to official denomination records. First Assembly of God has also helped to plant more than 1,350 churches in 63 nations.

His accuser, Suzanne Lander, is the wife of Patrick Lander, who served under Loy as a former student pastor and executive pastor at First Assembly of God in North Little Rock, according to his Facebook page. Patrick Lander later served as campus pastor at First Assembly of God Northeast Arkansas.

Suzanne Lander names Loy and First Assembly of God in North Little Rock as defendants in her lawsuit. Through her attorneys, Keith L. Langston and Basyle ‘Boz’ Tchividjian — a grandson of the late evangelist Billy Graham — Lander accuses Loy in graphic detail of sexual assault and battery, and the tort of outrage.

“Defendant Loy’s conduct was extreme and outrageous, beyond all possible bounds of decency, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community. Defendant Loy exploited his position as a trusted spiritual leader to systematically groom, manipulate, and sexually abuse a vulnerable sixteen-year-old girl who had survived years of parental sexual abuse and trafficking,” the lawsuit claims. “Defendant Loy used religious teachings and scripture to convince Plaintiff that God wanted her to submit to his sexual demands, telling her repeatedly that performing sexual acts pleased God and made her better in God’s eyes.”

Despite the defensive posture of First Assembly of God in North Little Rock, Tchividjian of BozLaw P.A., praised Suzanne Lander for her bravery in filing her lawsuit.

“By filing this lawsuit, Suzi Lander is showing extraordinary courage in confronting years of sexual abuse and in demanding accountability from Rod Loy and North Little Rock First Assembly of God Church,” he wrote in a statement cited by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. “Her decision to come forward brings this egregious abuse into public view and underscores her determination to pursue justice.”

Lander alleges that “only months” after she began attending the church as a teenager in 1996, Loy, who was then serving as executive pastor, “initiated sexual abuse.”

The lawsuit alleges that Loy's abuse of Lander spanned from 1996 to 2016, including while she was married. She alleges that from 1996 to 1998, when she was still a minor, Loy “forced her to perform oral sex, performed oral sex on her, and raped her in multiple locations: his church office, the storage closet, nursery, Junior Super Church Room, church parking lot, and his home.”

Lander alleges that she was controlled by her pastor for the first 18 years of her adult life, and that he continued to leverage control over her life even after she got married and had children. The lawsuit claims Lander was finally able to escape Loy’s control after she and her family moved to Jonesboro in 2016.

She claims she only realized she had suffered abuse after she started therapy three years ago for “complex PTSD, severe anxiety, depression, and neurological impairment.”

The national office of the Assemblies of God told The Christian Post in a statement Monday, that Loy has voluntarily stepped away from his role as an executive in the office while the Arkansas District Assemblies of God conducts an independent investigation of Suzanne Landers’ allegations.