The Rev. T. Ray McJunkins says he will always back the Massey Commission, but the panel’s work to reduce racial divisions and restore trust in the police will go on without him as a cochair. He resigned the unpaid, volunteer post amid calls for his departure after a 24-year-old female former staff member of Faith Coalition for the Common Good alleged McJunkins groped her in February 2023.
McJunkins, 61, lead pastor of Union Baptist Church, 1405 E. Monroe St., one of the oldest Black churches in Springfield, confirmed the resignation to Illinois Times on Sept. 26. He has denied Shafer’s allegations.
Appointed one of the commission’s three cochairs in mid-August, he declined further comment about allegations lodged by Emma Shafer before her death in July 2023. McJunkins would only say, “I’m done with this.”
McJunkins addressed Shafer’s allegations in an Illinois Times story published online Sept. 23. Three days later, Sangamon County Board Chairperson Andy Van Meter, a Republican, and state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield – the pair who first appointed McJunkins and the other two cochairs to the commission – announced the appointment of two new cochairs.
And Shadia Massey, cousin of Sonya Massey, the 36-year-old Black woman killed in a police-involved shooting in her Woodside Township home on July 6 and for whom the commission is named, will replace McJunkins, Wilhite said.
Harris said in a news release that she has completed her time commitment to the commission.
“My intention was always to volunteer and be present for the construction phase of the commission,” she said. “I’m proud of our work so far, and I’m grateful to Shadia and JoAnn for answering the call to lead.”
Two members of the public criticized McJunkins at the commission’s first “listening session” on Sept. 16 for what they described as allegations by multiple women that McJunkins touched them inappropriately. The two didn’t mention Shafer’s name, but one of them, Springfield resident Jack Paciolla, later told Illinois Times that he based his statements on Shafer’s resignation letter, which he said has been shared by many social-justice activists in the community.
The controversy surrounding McJunkins wasn’t mentioned in the Sept. 26 news release announcing the two new cochairs. The two will join original cochair Dr. Jerry Kruse, dean and provost of Springfield’s Southern Illinois School of Medicine.
Turner said in the news release: “This change in leadership comes after a successful Sept. 16 listening session in which more than 20 county residents spoke out about their hopes and concerns for the commission. As we have been from the beginning, we will continue to be responsive to community voices in this process.”
The release said participants at the session “spoke up about the commission’s leadership, member selection, scope and authority.”
McJunkins said in the release: “The cochairs have been committed to listening and learning first, even while others are pushing for immediate action. One of the things we have consistently heard is that it is important to have the Massey family represented in the leadership of the commission. My transition makes a way for that.”
No criminal charges or formal complaints have been filed against McJunkins, though Shafer said in her March 23, 2023, resignation email to Faith Coalition officials that McJunkins grabbed her buttocks when they hugged after a meeting in McJunkins’ office on Feb. 23, 2023.
Shafer also wrote in her letter that Shelly Heideman, a former Faith Coalition executive director, told Shafer on March 8, 2023, that she should go back and meet with McJunkins “and said I could take someone else with me.”
According to Shafer, Heideman also said Susan Eby, a former Faith Coalition board member, told Heideman “that this used to happen to other young women when he was president of FCCG and they had to sit down with Pastor McJunkins about it, and he denied it.”
Eby told Illinois Times that she never knew of any prior complaints about Junkins’ treatment of women and never reported any such complaints to Heideman.
Heideman, who is retired, said she never recommended that Shafer confront McJunkins alone and never received warnings from Eby or anyone else about prior conduct by McJunkins.
McJunkins previously told IT that he wouldn’t resign from the commission. Resigning would amount to an admission of guilt and would “stop progress of the commission,” McJunkins said.
About 200 applications have been submitted for the remaining 12 spots on the commission to be filled. The news release said the new cochairs “will need some time to transition into the leadership position, review the commission structure and member selection. In light of this, the cochairs will delay the announcement of additional commissioner names and the previously scheduled Sept. 30 hearing.”