Pawleys Island Community Church appeared ready to unveil a major step toward rebuilding trust after a registered sex offender was allowed to volunteer on a campus shared with its Christian school.
There was just one explosive problem: the child-protection organization identified as its new "partner" says no partnership ever existed.
MinistrySafe publicly disputed the South Carolina church's description of their relationship, declaring that Pawleys Island Community Church had merely purchased access to its online resources-just as hundreds of other churches do each month.
"Partnership implies communication and agreement between PICC and MinistrySafe leadership," the organization said. "No such communication or agreement has occurred in any form."
MinistrySafe went further, calling the church's language "misleading and inaccurate" and emphasizing that it had "no relationship with the church or the now-defunct school."
The correction is another embarrassing setback for PICC as it tries to recover from a scandal that has already produced five arrests, multiple lawsuits, leadership resignations and the closure of Pawleys Island Christian Academy.
The crisis began when authorities discovered that 70-year-old Warren Spence Perry, a registered sex offender, had been volunteering as a custodian on the church and school campus. Perry had been convicted in 2023 on two counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor for offenses committed in 2020.
His probation conditions prohibited him from working near children. Nevertheless, church leaders reportedly knew about his status while parents and teachers were not informed.
Perry was arrested on July 14 for allegedly violating his probation. The investigation subsequently led to the arrests of former pastor Don Williams, Williams' wife Ginny, former academy director Niki Howard and church operations and missions director Michael Fields.
Don Williams and Howard were charged with obstruction of justice, unlawfully placing a child at risk and criminal conspiracy. Ginny Williams and Perry were initially charged with obstruction and conspiracy, while Fields was charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk. The charges remain allegations unless proven in court.
The church now faces several lawsuits. One lawsuit alleges that Perry sexually abused a 5-year-old student in 2022. Other plaintiffs accuse church and school leaders of knowingly exposing children to a registered sex offender while assuring families that the campus was safe. The church and named defendants have not been found liable for those allegations.
Against that grim backdrop, PICC announced that it was strengthening its child-protection procedures before restarting its children's ministry. Its communications said PICC Kids had "partnered" with MinistrySafe to help review and improve its screening, training and safety policies.
That language created the impression that a nationally recognized abuse-prevention organization was working directly with church leaders during the rebuilding process.
MinistrySafe says that was not the case.
According to the organization, PICC had simply registered for a MinistrySafe membership earlier in August. The subscription provides access to resources such as sexual-abuse awareness training, screening guidance, background-check processes and policy templates. Implementation remains self-directed by the subscriber.
MinistrySafe serves more than 25,000 churches and says approximately 450 additional churches enroll each month. PICC was therefore a customer accessing standardized online materials-not an organization engaged in a specially arranged safeguarding partnership.
The church responded by acknowledging that it had purchased an annual subscription. Elders said they had already implemented several of the provided tools and would continue using the service to strengthen protections for children.
However, PICC stopped short of admitting that it had deliberately exaggerated the relationship. Instead, leaders pointed to the "partners" section of MinistrySafe's website and suggested that the disagreement concerned the definition of the word.
"While we have no insight into their company's response, nor do we wish to enter a debate regarding the definition of 'partner,' we will no longer use the word 'partner' in future communications about our use of MinistrySafe," the elders said.
That carefully worded retreat may not satisfy parents already demanding transparency. MinistrySafe's objection was not merely semantic: it specifically said there had been no communication or agreement with PICC leadership and no relationship involving the church or academy.
The correction matters because PICC is attempting to restore credibility after leaders allegedly withheld critical safety information from families. In that context, the distinction between receiving access to online materials and working directly with child-protection experts is substantial.
PICC said it has attempted to contact MinistrySafe to resolve the confusion and will continue using its subscription. MinistrySafe, meanwhile, expressed hope that the church is finally "moving in the right direction" on child protection.
The congregation has resumed services and plans to restart its children's ministry with strengthened safety procedures. The Christian academy, however, has permanently closed after 25 years. Church leaders cited the ongoing investigation and licensing delays, while South Carolina officials said the school could not legally reopen because it had failed to propose a qualified new director who met background-check requirements.
PICC's current leaders have apologized for the shattered trust and insist that protecting children is now their highest priority. But the MinistrySafe clash demonstrates the difficulty of rebuilding credibility after a safeguarding disaster: every statement will be scrutinized, every claim checked and every reassuring word weighed against what happened before.
A church accused of concealing the presence of a registered sex offender now faces another uncomfortable question-why did its announcement create the impression of a child-safety partnership that the organization itself says never existed?
