Liam Goligher has pleaded guilty to several charges including lying and clergy abuse in proceedings brought by the Philadelphia Presbytery in the US. He resigned as senior minister at Tenth Presbyterian Church in December 2023 after a public citation for sexual activity in a public park in 2014.
In May 2024 the Presbytery found Dr Goligher ‘contumacious’ (i.e. refusing to comply fully with the Presbytery trial and hindering the process). He was suspended from the Lord’s Supper and from eldership.
Following judicial proceedings, the Philadelphia Presbytery has now released an official statement confirming that Dr Goligher has pleaded guilty to charges of lying, conduct unbecoming of a pastor and elder, ‘Harsh and Uncharitable Treatment of Colleagues and Subordinates’, spiritual abuse and adult clergy sexual abuse.
An adultery charge was dropped.
The statement adds that Dr Goligher has been deposed from office and indefinitely suspended from the Lord’s Supper. A pastoral care team has been appointed to ‘guide Liam Goligher in seeking full repentance and restoration to the Lord’s Supper’.
