The Richmond Outreach Center is reorganizing its operations, shifting the responsibility for running the business side of the church to an executive team to allow senior pastor Geronimo Aguilar to focus on pastoral duties.
"From this point forward, any questions that you would currently bring to me regarding the business of the ROC or a ministry of the ROC, please take to the executive team. They know which questions they need to consult with me on and which questions they have my authority to answer without consulting me," Aguilar wrote in a memo emailed to church staff and ministry leaders this week.
David Carlson, Aguilar's attorney, said Tuesday that the change has been in the works for some time, and is not a signal that the pastor is stepping aside as police in Fort Worth, Texas, investigate him on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. An aggravated sexual assault count indicates the alleged victim was younger than 14.
Aguilar, pastor of the South Richmond megachurch, has not been charged, and he denies the accusations.
The reorganization is "purely an administrative matter, there is nothing sinister about it," Carlson said.
The six-person executive team will be responsible for making all decisions "to ensure that the ROC continues to be a strong beacon of light to the Richmond community," the memo says.
"When the executive team asks you a question, answers your question, changes a policy or gives you a task, consider it as coming from me," Aguilar wrote.
The ROC, according to financial statements filed with the Internal Revenue Service, operates about 10 separate nonprofit organizations and includes a real estate foundation, café, thrift store, fitness center, child care center, clothing line and a tutoring company in Florida.
The church also owns several properties around the Richmond area and operates after-school and homeless programs.
Whether Aguilar should step aside as the investigation progresses has been an ongoing discussion in church circles around the area.
Several area pastors have said privately that they hope he takes a leave of absence until the legal issues are resolved.
Carlson said that "to my knowledge, absolutely no one" has asked Aguilar to step aside.
The accusations stem from the late 1990s when two girls accused Aguilar of sexual improprieties, Carlson said.
He said Texas authorities cleared Aguilar at the time and that he's willing to sit down with police again if asked.
The charges are first-degree felonies that carry prison sentences of five to 99 years as well as a fine of up to $10,000.
The Texas detective working the case did not return several messages seeking an update on the investigation.
Don Coleman, a local pastor and Richmond School Board member, said the pastors organization Bless Richmond is concerned about the allegations but wants to address them directly with Aguilar before taking an official stand.
He said Aguilar's situation was a topic of conversation at a Bless Richmond steering committee meeting Tuesday morning.
"This is a very serious matter, but we would like the opportunity to sit down with our brother," he said.
Several members have reached out to Aguilar, who is part of Bless Richmond, but have not heard back from him, Coleman said Tuesday. One member, whom Coleman would not identify, has a meeting scheduled with Aguilar the week after next.
"We know love never fails. But we also are very serious about any kind of accusation like this against a pastor because we know that pastors are called to live at the highest level of integrity," he said.
But Donald N. Blake, president and chairman of the Virginia Christian Alliance, a Henrico County-based religious advocacy group, said he believes Aguilar needs to step down and address the allegations with area church leaders.
"If you deny this, let's get the people who accuse you and some well-known Christian leaders and let them hear the evidence," Blake said.
No matter how much outsiders pressure Aguilar, though, whether he steps down as ROC's pastor is his own decision.
Since the church is independent and not part of a denomination, it operates without any oversight from outside groups.
Whatever happens, the new structure means Aguilar's vision will continue to guide the ROC.
"I have full confidence that this team knows exactly how I want this ministry to operate and will make decisions the way that I want them made," he wrote.
