Investigators who reviewed allegations of sexual misconduct made by two women against Michael Brown, founder of the Fire School of Ministry and the Concord, North Carolina-based The Line of Fire – Dr. Brown Ministries, Inc., have concluded they are valid.
In their 47-page report released earlier this month, independent sexual abuse investigation firm FireFly said they were asked on Jan. 13 to examine information received from Line of Fine about allegations that Brown had an inappropriate relationship with former Fire School of Ministry member Sarah Monk. Brown, 70, had said she was like a daughter to him. They were also asked to investigate a second inappropriate relationship with a married woman from his church community who has since died.
“The investigation focused on determining the validity of the complaint and whether the alleged actions were deviant. After reviewing evidence, conducting interviews, and analyzing the situation, the investigation concluded that BROWN’S actions toward the two females were inappropriate and unacceptable for his leadership position within the ministry,” investigators stated. “Such conduct violated the ethical standards expected of someone in his role and undermined the trust and integrity essential to leadership within the church community.”
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The report comes months after the Line of Fire Board announced that they had hired the law firm Mitchell, Stein, Carey, and Chapman to conduct a third-party investigation into the abuse allegations against Brown.
The ministry noted in a statement on its website that they are reviewing the report.
“Receipt of the FireFly Investigation Summary Report was temporarily delayed until just recently. The Board and Elder team will now review it and release the summary as soon as possible,” the ministry said.
Prior to the investigation, Brown admitted to exercising a “definite lack of judgment” but denied that he engaged in sexual misconduct with the former female staffer he treated like a “family member” more than 23 years ago.
“Because I can’t make any comments on the current situation I’m dealing with until the investigation is completed, I’m going to deactivate my account until then. May the Lord be glorified,” Brown stated on his X account in December 2024. He has not yet publicly responded to the report.
Monk alleged that in 1999, when she was 18, she attended the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry, where Brown served as president until he was fired in 2000. Brown then started the FIRE School of Ministry in Pensacola, Florida, where the school operated until 2003 when it was relocated to North Carolina.
She explained that she followed Brown to his startup school, and he asked her to call him “Dad” and she obliged.
She recalled that because she had endured a difficult home life, she initially enjoyed the attention Brown paid her. She said they would write endearing notes to each other.
“I looked at it as a blessing because of the respect that we all have for him,” Monk’s sister noted in a previous report.
In less than a year of her working at the new school, Monk said Brown — who was involved with providing guidance to the International House of Prayer Kansas City as they navigated founder Mike Bickle’s sexual misconduct scandal — started holding her hands.
“He lifted it up in the truck … and he’s like, ‘You all know that I think of (Monk) as my daughter,’ and said, ‘That’s why we’re holding hands because she’s like a daughter to me,’” Monk said.
The handholding eventually progressed to other contact, including kissing. Monk said she was alone in Brown’s office one day when he asked her to kiss him on the lips. She said she didn’t want to kiss him, so she gave him a peck that day. Kisses on the lips would become a part of their goodbyes when they spent time alone.
“It was no longer (Brown) was asking for a kiss,” she recalled. “It was (Brown) leaning down to get a kiss. … I knew I couldn’t stop it, or I felt I couldn’t stop it.”
Brown allegedly later began slapping Erin’s buttocks habitually.
In a statement to The Christian Post that was also shared with The Roys Report, which published the initial allegations on Dec. 2, 2024, Brown denied the allegations even though multiple former employees of his ministry said they witnessed what appeared to be inappropriate behavior between him and Monk, including her sitting in his lap.
“Both Nancy and I were shocked and horrified by the mix of accusations, allegations, false statements, and mischaracterizations. That’s why we wholeheartedly supported our board’s immediate decision to launch a thorough third-party investigation,” Brown said. “Nancy and I did have a relationship with the woman in question and considered her to be like a family member, and she conducted herself as one who viewed our relationship the same way.”
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