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Isolated Incidents (Completely Unrelated To All The Others Just Like It)

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While the folks over at Hammond are still feigning shock that one of their own would be guilty of a “sexual indiscretion,” I though it might be a good time to look back at the last few years and observe some of the other infamous offenders from this church and school. This is not an exhaustive list and do keep in mind that these are only representative of the ones who have been caught…

March 1993, AV Ballenger, Former FBCH Deacon, convicted for molesting a child. Jack Hyles had the church give him a standing ovation and kept him in the bus ministry.

July 1995 Russell K Overla, Hyles-Anderson graduate, pleads guilty to molesting two underage girls at various locations over a period of months and years.

July 1999 Kerry Martin, former Hyles Anderson student, is sentenced to 205 years in prison for raping a teenage girl in his church office.

March 2001 Joe and Evangeline Combs, former Hyles-Anderson staff members who took a girl from the orphanage in 1978 but never adopted her. Joe used her for sex. Evangeline repeatedly tortured her in a jealous rage. Both of these monsters were convicted and are now in prison.

May 2001 William Beith, Hyles-Anderson graduate, kidnaps an 11-year old girl and takes her across state lines stopping at various motels to have sex with her. He had previously managed to get into a counseling program instead of facing charges of exposing himself in public but was allowed to become principal of Liberty Baptist Academy anyway where he met his victim. He was released from prison in 2009

May 2003, David Joseph Jorgensen, Hyles-Anderson graduate, pleads no contest to two felony counts of committing lewd acts upon a child, according to online court records. After he completed probation, he sought to have the crimes reduced to misdemeanors and had his record expunged in September 2006, but is still part of a civil lawsuit for allegedly “committing lewd acts” on a female when she was 14. He then reportedly went on staff at the First Baptist of Hammond.

April 2006, Craig Sisson, Hyles-Anderson graduate, convicted of first degree child molestation of an 11 year old girl.

May 2011, Chris Settlemoir, Hyles-Anderson graduate, convicted for Criminal Sexual Conduct wth underage males.

May 2011 Matt Jarrell, former Hyles-Anderson student, was arrested on suspicion of rape and sodomy after picking a woman up in a West Virginia bar. He then committed suicide in his jail cell before he could be made to face the charges against him.

October 2011 Greg Neal, Hyles-Anderson graduate, escapes charges of sexual misconduct by hiding evidence of his video voyeurism util the statute of limitations had run out. The church refuses to cooperate with the investigation.

January 2012 Tedd Butler, Hyles-Anderson graduate, is sentenced to twelve months in the county jail for Criminal Sexual Misconduct (in two separate counties) for his molestation of a five-year old boy.

Special dishonorable mention goes out to Dave Hyles, Hyles-Anderson graduate, former FBCH staff member, former heir to the Hyles throne, who has never been convicted but was attached to numerous scandals, and bravely pleaded the fifth amendment when questioned about the death of Brent Stevens.

For a college of just over 1000 people Hyles-Anderson College certainly does seem to have quite the stable of perverts, criminals, and twisted minds.

A big Thank You goes out to Jeri Massi who has worked tirelessly to document abuses cases not only from Hyles Anderson but also from fundamentalist institutions around the world. Her passion for helping victims and seeking justice for predators is unwavering.

299 thoughts on “Isolated Incidents (Completely Unrelated To All The Others Just Like It)”

    1. You’re welcome. Darrell was a little more selective than I was, and yes we all realize there are more than could be documented and more than have been convicted.

      Chuck Shifflett is a rabid Hyles Man who had already graduated college by the time he learned of Jack Hyes. But Shifflett attended every Pastors School, every Youth Conference, everything else he could that was Jack Hyles, and he had Hyles at his church every year. Shifflett modeled himself after Hyles, had sex with numerous women in the church, beat the young people in his Christian school, sodomized some, molested others, and used the boys as slave labor. I did an audio documentary on him in 2006, Episodes one and two feature a LOT of sermon clips from Jack Hyles. If you want to hear what the Hyles culture is all about, tune in: http://www.jeriwho.net/tloc.html

    1. Completed unrelated to the article, but…

      How did the “first” thing get started? It seems to be unique to this blog.

      1. Nope. I’ve seen ‘first’ all over the internet – but normally in forums and news posts attached to popular games and things. I guess it’s just that it’s less likely on this sort of blog.

      3. Most blogs and websites have shamed this practice into non-existence, but none of them have the very tangible prize of a butt-cushion for attaining a “first”. Thus it stays alive and well on SFL, where many of us still await the Coveted Cushion of Comfort. (Except those of us apostates who now go to Methodist churches with padded seats.)

        3. Like Stony said, it’s considered frustrating, annoying, or bad form most places to mark your territory with a first, but it’s become something of a running joke here, with friendly competition, people claiming virtual prizes, and even posting “Second”, “Third” or even “Fourth”. Some people have a strange sense of humor. We’re just weird that way.

        4. And, if you happen to find yourself being 62nd (such as myself with this comment), then by all means…..

        5. I am very proud of acquiring my butt-cushion a few months back. Truly an accomplishment worth striving for! Haymen!

      4. “First” went out for the most part in about 1998. It’s still held onto here for what reason no one knows.

        2. THAT’S right!!! You can park that bus right there! Uh-huh!!! That’s dishin’ out some pie, yes, sir!!!

        3. I think is is a residual effect of our being raised in the IFB where we mostly stay at least 20 years behind the times. (For example, BJU now allows female students, even faculty members, to wear pants in public on campus, though not in class, I don’t think.)

      5. Thanks for the input. I thought it was due to the residual fundamental need to be recognized for good works. Lol.

        2. I was under the impression my first was an attempt at humility. Since “The first shall be last”, and we say (even though Fundystan preachers know they belong on a pedestal) that we are servants, then my take on this passage is that if I strive to always be #1, it is to show I am actually showing myself to be last. A humble servant.

  3. I’m not trying to be flippant or funny here, but Jerry Sandusky would have fit in perfectly at this place.

    2. Actually, he is likely partly the reason that FBCH is actually “cooperating” with the relevant authorities.

  4. How long will it be before a major new organization or journalist takes the time to put all of the pieces together and expose the whole system at FBC?

    Unmentioned on your list are the Smith brothers.

    2. I don’t know if it is the same Smith bros, but if it is, I sat under one of them for many years at Fundy High, and later for a few years at the church. That fiasco was almost 30 years ago, and there is still fallout.

  5. The old stand-by now comes out, “Well, no church/school/person is perfect…”

    No. I agree. No one’s perfect.

    Just most of us don’t rape, molest, assault, or harm children. And we don’t cover up for those who do, and we don’t excuse it.

    Ugh. It’s called being a decent human being.

    I’m terrified of what filth is in the closets of my childhood denomination…I’m terrified to even start looking.

    1. “being a decent human being”

      That, or at least you would think that the fear of God would scare the crap out of these guys from acting on their awful desires.

        1. It won’t, because these wolves simply think they are never going to get caught.

        2. But, as my theology classes & real life experience have proven, man doesn’t really fear God, he only fears the most immediate possible reprisal. And when you get away with it once, it feels like you can get away with it forever. And legalists especially, they don’t really have an image of an all-encompassing and awesome God, they have an image of “do this” and “don’t do that.”

    2. I would also add that most of us don’t write books on the subject of Christian dating, or state from the pulpit that open-toe shoes are lustful (or whatever drivel that was), and then use some sort of sick, twisted power to get young, vulnerable girls in our offices and hurt them.

      How do you live day to day, telling other people the ways they bring other brothers and sisters in Christ down, when you are this vile? I can’t understand it.

      1. Your “drivel” comment made me snicker/sneer. I was forced in to following those foolish dress codes for decades. The sandals one really got me. Sandals were sin (I have adored sandals since I was three years old because I am always hot–yeah, three year olds are wearing sandals for sex), yet Jesus wore latchets (leather sandals). You are right–it’s all drivel. This list was so long and was added on to at the whim of my MIL. Anyway, I divorced my husband, his family, and his religion after 28 years. I think most of our problems can be traced to fundamentalism and exceptionally controlling family. Took me about four years to heal. I have never looked back. And I own about 75 pairs of sandals.

    3. The pharisaicalness of that proclamation is legion. We all know fundies preach and pontificate a platform of moral perfection. Particularly, pounding out alliterated points on private purity, personal piety and the perils of purveying the public pornography pasted on the pages of “People” magazine posted in the checkout line at the local Piggly-Wiggly.
      While these principled proponents of propriety present a public pretense of proper appearance…
      the reality is: Those who artificially suppress sin most zealously, are the ones most susceptible to suffer its effects.

      2. Yes, so SO true. Many men in my former church to prove this, including but not limited to my oh-so-full-of-it father and brother. A sham of holiness.

  6. Thanks to SFL, Jeri Massi and the hundreds of bloggers who are making an impact by exposing these groups for what they are. We only see the big ones when they fall. Hundreds of these people ruin the lives of trusting followers. It would be great to get the exposure of Chick-Fil-A size to focus on these people. They belong in the isolated fringe of society.

      2. Bingo! They belong the furthest away from the rest of society that they could possibly be. I was thinking more like a deserted desert island somewhere. 😈

  7. I am appalled at the number of people on this list I know (knew) very well. (Or at least I thought I did.) I could add a few names. Not here though.

  8. Thank you for posting this list. I think it’s important to be sharing why this is such a big issue, and why it needs to be spoken about and brought into the light.

  10. dont forget Roger Casteel staff member at college got fired for screwing his minor secretary!!!

  12. We experienced two incidents in our very small church alone. Of the 4 people involved, 3 were HAC grads. The fourth was a teenage girl.

  14. I know of 6 more, (actually five since someone already mentioned Roger Casteel.) none of them got arrested or written up in the news about it though. I am sure there are hundreds. That system is a petrie dish for this kind of behavior.

    1. Yes. And that’s why I said a couple of months ago that HAC itself is a cycle of abuse. The “preacher boys” also go out into America to start “churches” and abuse. I feel sorry for the children who are stuck here until they can flee.

    2. “That system is a petrie dish for this kind of behavior.” Well said, sims. The problem is absolutely systemic.

  15. Yes. I can testify to that. There are many more who haven’t been caught/prosecuted.

    1. That’s probably one of the things about the IFB that angers me the most. Those who haven’t yet been caught will be defended and covered up by their congregants until something drastic happens and then it can’t be hidden any longer. Usually those cases are terribly severe. 👿

  16. You seem to have left off the biggest scandal of all. Jack Hyles and his secretary? I know it wasn’t criminal, per se, and he never confessed (or repented) but wouldn’t that have been the “first thing”?

    1. The list is of sexual or violent crimes. If I tracked every adulterous Fundamentalist pastor, I would never be able to work a job to support myself and this ministry. Remember, I do (and have always done) this work entirely for free. I have never started a fund. I have never asked for money.

      But my belief is that the entire administration of FBCH/HAC is in sexual sin to their necks. I think they all do it. Maybe not to minors (but then, maybe so). But as I have said before, the sermons of Fundamentalism, especially that arm of Fundamentalism, are about sex at the core. The bizarre dress code, the extreme gender rules, it’s all really about sex. And when a church preaches sex, a church practices sex. That simple.

      1. THAT is exactly right. I believe it 100%. And if there ARE a few who aren’t actively engaging in sexual deviancy, they know about it. And thus are guilty as well.

        Thank you Bass. You have a remarkably keen ability to uncover and pinpoint the facts.

        1. I don’t think you can lump him in with the same group. First, I wouldn’t call him Fundy at all. For another thing, he talks a lot about sex because he’s noticed there are a lot of questions out there in Christianity about it. The only ones who seem to talk about it are the HAC types which is legalism and heresy. He just seems to want xians to have a biblical view of sex.

        2. He may not be IFB but he is definitely definitely obsessed with sex and sexual sins. Been waiting for a similar story to break about him.

        3. @escapee

          I can see why you’d think that. However, when I consider his context, I think he’s just talking to the needs of his church. I’m sure your aware of his text message portion he does during services. The majority of the questions are sexual. He’s dealing with people who’ve had very little exposure to biblical xianity so they tend to have a lot of sex questions because of what they’ve heard.

        4. I agree with escapee on Driscoll. Check out thewartburgwatch.com for info on some of his issues.

      4. Thank you. Group psychology and organizational behavior is a hobby of mine, and I have long known that these kinds of rules are about sex and control. I wish more Christians would recognize this, instead of brushing it off with a demure smile and a “well they’re just a little over zealous”.

        1. Yeah, this is absolutely the problem. I know a Fundy who is an absolute heretic–he’s over in another country teaching that anyone who didn’t come to Christ through the KJB wasn’t really a Christian. He leaves churches with everyone crying because their parents or grandparents are dead, and they never spoke English so they never were really true Christians and are all now in hell. Ripping apart churches, hurting people.

          So there are one or two fundies here who I can respect–except for the way they treat this guy. They don’t teach about sex like this Hyles crowd, prefer the KJV but aren’t rabid about it, etc. They clearly have respect for the truth. But instead of condemning this evil man, they get reluctant and want to say he’s a little “overly zealous,” but of course he has “good intentions” and “loves Jesus.”

          And that’s one of the reasons this is never going to change; and one of the reasons I think it’s going to end up destroying the IFB entirely. Even good people in the movement–who would never condone such sins–make themselves willingly blind, or remain blind because they’re too foolish or niave to see through the “gossip” barrier erected to keep them from knowing anything. They refuse to hear a word spoken against even the most wicked men, and they refuse to “test the spirits to see if they be from God.” If a man has his fundy cred, no matter what idiocy comes out of his mouth they will not analyze it or hold it up to a Biblical standard. Then they want to claim that men like Schaap are “good men with a regrettable fall,” when the reality is anyone who listened to his preaching and compared it with Scripture knew he was a false teacher from the beginning.

          Destruction or reform. Reform can only come from within, but the people within refuse to acknowledge there is even a problem. They have therefore chosen destruction.

        2. Someone who claims that people who don’t speak English can’t be Cristians does not love Jesus. Jesus did not speak English, nor did any of his apostles, nor did Paul. That false preacher loves only his own prejudices and his own sense of superiority.

      5. “But as I have said before, the sermons of Fundamentalism, especially that arm of Fundamentalism, are about sex at the core. The bizarre dress code, the extreme gender rules, it’s all really about sex. And when a church preaches sex, a church practices sex. That simple.”

        THIS.

        Anyone else reminded of “The Crucible”?

      6. Total overstatement. Their sermons are not all about sex. They have an obsession with sex, no doubt, but there is more to the movement to it than that. And I seriously doubt that all of them are into sexual sin. There are some serious Christians in the movement, who just do not have the courage or spiritual maturity to expose the emptiness.

    2. Bassenco says:
      “… the sermons of Fundamentalism, especially that arm of Fundamentalism, are about sex at the core. The bizarre dress code, the extreme gender rules, it’s all really about sex. And when a church preaches sex, a church practices sex. That simple.”

      There have been times when I would have said it isn’t ONLY about sex, but this isn’t one of those times. Today, that analysis sounds exactly right to me, Bassenco.

  17. I would image there are many people at FBC who are truly shocked. I’m sure their whole world seems destroyed.

    1. Yeah. They really need a team of counsellors who are experienced with cults to get in there now.

      So you’ll get some people pretending that everything’s alright, this is just an external attack because their pastor is SO good, and you’ll get others who maybe walk away from their faith entirely, or deal with depression or whatever. It’s hard.

      But. I can’t help wondering how they couldn’t see that the church was sick at the core?

  18. You left out Jack Hyles’ “indiscretion” with his secretary that was splashed all over the Sword of the Lord. LOL

    1. Not the “Sword of the Lord”. It was Robert Sumner’s “The Biblical Evangelist”, back in 1989.

    2. The Sword of the Lord is useless and not worthy of lining a bird cage with IMHO. They do not out their pervy pastor-friends. They refused to speak out against the wicked Bob Gray (FL) too.

      Oh, but if some pastor preaches of out an NIV or uses CCM, they will criticize them.

  19. 15 “Be careful of false prophets. They come to you looking gentle like sheep, but they are really dangerous like wolves. 16 You will know these people by what they do. Grapes don’t come from thornbushes, and figs don’t come from thorny weeds.
    Matt 7:15-16

  20. For the record.

    Jorgenson’s record was expunged by the state of California due to extenuating circumstances.

    2. he was still guilty.

      Records can sadly be expunged by the court if an offender serves his sentence and then is not caught re-offending for a certain period of time. He can ask the court to expunge his record.

      I think it is ridiculous that those who commit crimes against children, like David Joseph Jorgensen, should be allowed to do this.

      Of course, FBCH/HAC allegedly
      gave him a job… 🙄

  21. I’m just happy that all of these have become so public. They need to. This is what should have happened when Hyles had his affair. We live in a different age now where more people aren’t afraid to come forward, and I hope they continue to do so.

    1. Being a teen in church, I remember countless messages on “Be sure your sin will find you out.”; looks like the preachers/screechers should have heeded their own message.

      Times come and go but the Scripture warnings and promises continue to be shown to be true.

  22. I really hate to go here, but…are the folks at FBCH doing this because they suspect their may be more victims or because the know their are more victims?

    1. They know there are more victims. They more or less said so.
      And their instructions at the Wednesday night meeting imply that they want to get to the victims before the police do.

  23. My father graduated from HAC back during the reign of King Jack I. I discussed this event with my father yesterday. He said that he was glad he decided not to have anything to do with HAC several years ago. My father and I have some disagreements (!!!) about religion so we generally try to steer clear of the subject. He described to me how shocked and angry he was at hearing one of King Jack the Second’s sermons. My father described it as “filthy” and “not fit to listen to” and turned Schaap off and hasn’t had anything to do with him or HAC since.
    I had known that he was disappointed in HAC for years and years, I just didn’t know that he was that disappointed in them.
    Of course, my father is the interim pastor at a small SBC church so HAC would probably disavow him too. 🙂

  24. Not reported to authorities but fired from pastorate in 1997:

    Andrew Briner. Merrywoods Baptist Church (now Haughton Baptist Temple). Hammond Baptist graduate. Student at Hyles-Anderson. Haughton, Louisiana.

    Full sexual relationship with at least two minor girls.

    1. Why do these churches think firing a guy, so he can get hired at a different church, is morally okay? They obviously have no conscience.

      If you know the names of the victims, you could call this in to the police yourself. Pervs like this need to be stopped before they hurt anyone else.

  25. btw, the record you have for William Beith doesn’t explain it all.
    Andy Beith is the one who took the girl across state lines.
    Andy’s father William is the one who was arrested for exposing himself. Both had been apart of Liberty Baptist.

  26. It’s tragedies like these that make people disgusted with the Church, ask “Where was God during these crimes?” and if anything is worse than just “ordinary” cases of abuse/molestation. People have been pointing fingers, and rightly so, at the pedophile priest scandals, but this is just as vile.
    I’m no atheist, but I fear this is one thing that leads any caring person to give up on God, that these men carry out these acts and get away with it. Worse, they use God’s own words to bless themselves from their own pulpits. Why, cries out anyone with a less blind faith, why didn’t their hands, their tongues, their… members shrivel up and fall off? Where is God in such blasphemy? We’ve yet to see even one thundercloud in the sky over their churches.
    Where does a Christian go for answers? 😥

    1. A Christian is responsible to walk directly after Christ, bearing his cross. In other words, we Christians are responsible to do something: to object, to write letters, to intervene if we can, to call the police, to lend support to people who are in position to take action on behalf of the innocent. Nobody in the world does good on behalf of Christians. That is backwards. Christians do good on behalf of the poor citizens of this sinful world. The answer lies with you to take action and be prepared to suffer for taking action, just like Christ.

      These guys succeeded because Christians let them succeed. Period. We are the Body of Christ on earth, and we took a nap or hid under the covers while these men exercised their power

    2. I would caution anyone to not equate God’s silence at this time with his not caring, his not being able to do anything about it or his non-existence. Just because God allows horrible things to occur does not mean that he is not just, or caring. We as a society have become so “comfort” oriented that we have come to equate our comfort and our ease to God loving us and caring for us.

      We only need to look at ourselves to see how such evil comes about. We (Christians)have gotten spiritually lazy. We have gotten used to depending on the man in the pulpit to tell us about God. We sit passively in the pew, or in the Sunday School classroom while someone else spoon feeds us what we know about God. There is no discussion, no personal responisbility to seek after God and the things of God. We (Christians) are no differen than the Children of Israel at Mt Sinai saying, “Moses,Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

      In such an environment where there is a lack of discipleship, and an attitude of “lead us,” it is no wonder men of lesser character are attracted to these positions of power. “Submit to me and I will tell you what you need to know about God.”…and anything else I care to.

      Should we then blame God when he gives us what we want, a leader over us of our own choosing. Are things so different than what we find in 1 Samuel 8?

      But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

      Samuel’s Warning Against Kings
      10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men[a] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

      …but the Lord will not answer you in that day.

      1. I understand the theology, but…why is it so often the children that bear the consequences? Those of us who paid the price before we were ever old enough to understand what was going on, or do anything if we understood – it is surely not our laziness that caused this. We followed because we were children. Why is it not the men and women that put and keep him in power, but a teenaged girl, that bear the results of his sin?

        1. That is a direct result of the sin of the parents. The parents are the first line of defense for their children. If the parents are drunk on the koolaide being served up from the pulpit then it is the children who will suffer.

          That has been one of the most bitter pills for me to swallow. I have apologized to my children on many occasions for not parenting but allowing the “Christian” school to take the lead role. I am fortunate that nothing bad happened at that school but the potential is there because of a lack of parental oversite and parental invlovement.

          The passive pew churchianity we practice is killing the church in America and everywhere else it is practiced. It creates lazy, cowardly, Christians who will not speak up and point out the errors and the problems. We seem to be content to overlook such things in order to maintain peace and unity in the house. It is only when the crisis is totally out of control are we moved to action… and then it is too late, the damage is done.
          No more! It is time to do away with the one man rule found in the pulpit! It is time to end the reign of the Man-O-god and flee the cult!
          Listen to the Children, People! Parents, WAKE UP! QUIT worshipping the Pastors and giving them the benefit of the doubt, and unquestioned Allegiance!

          This breaks my heart. What has religion in America become? The pulpiteers have replaced God with images of themselves and the churches are filled with multitudes that were brought on board by church growth methods that are shallow and questionable. Christ is merely a means to their end for church growth. Men of lesser character are filling the pulpits and building their own empires. The pews are filled with believers who have sold their birthright of Priesthood, in order to esist in a comfortable cult. And in the day of our distress we call out to God, but he told us already he will not hear us because we have turned our backs on him and have desired a king other than him.

          /rant
          I’m sorry for the soapboxing. My heart aches because we have, as a people, turned our back on God, made Jesus Christ a means to our ends and have set up rulers over us that we worship more than Jesus Christ. We have replaced the word of God with the word of these men and we are seeing the harvest of our sin against the Sovereign God.

    3. Panda Rosa, I too am outraged that men would use God to hide their perversions. Truly, it is vile and despicably depraved. I too wish that God would directly intervene, and I believe someday He will when He comes to set up His kingdom.

      Until then, I do think WE Christians, as the body of Christ in this world, MUST speak up against this sort of evil.

      Bassenco and Don, your thoughts here are so wise that I am copying them and saving them in a private note to myself on my facebook page. Thank you for your insight.

      1. Wow, thank you. And Don, very wise and true words indeed. I often get such a blessing from your posts (when you get serious, I mean.)

        1. Thanks… to you both. (though if you knew me better you may not be so quick to use “wise” and my name in the same posting)

          I (or sometimes george) try to write what is on my heart and having been through the abuse of trust, like too many others in the IFB, I hope that someone else may find a nugget in my rants to hold on to, showing them they are not alone and that God is good even when men aren’t.

    4. If anything, these things lead people to give up on idols, to give up on false expectations about the church and false expectations about God; and rather, to embrace the depth and reality of sin, and flee to God (not man-made platitudes.)

    5. I’m no Don or Bassenco, but I do have a verse for you. Matthew 18:6- “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

      Make no mistake. Those who aren’t hidden in Christ on the day of judgement have a terrible reckoning coming to them. This verse in particular seems tailor fit to what Jack Schaap did. This verse disturbs me to the core. What we experience as God’s grace and patience now will only result in us further heaping condemnation upon ourselves if we don’t repent.

      Where is God? Waiting; not willing that any should perish but all come to repentance.

      1. Thank you for sharing that. I agree – those who treat God’s mercy lightly or take it for granted as if it’s their due, instead of repenting, will find greater condemnation.

      2. One of the passages that still scares me is Matthew 7:21-23
        “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

        How many are like I was when the Lord kept bringing this to my mind? “Yes, but Lord that’s those Catholics… that’s those Mormons… but that’s those Jehovah Witnesses…” but that was me. I was wallowing in my self righteousenss, patting myself on the back for all I was doing for god… the god of Don. I was right with that god and I knew it. But the god of Don had no power to save.
        How many sitting in the pews of church are still living there?

        That, scares me and my heart aches for them.

  27. It seems to me that this passage from Matthew best sums up the culture of these people and any other Christian institution that produces, protects and defends this kind of behavior:

    “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.”

    1. Every once in a while I’ll be reading something Christ said (or an apostle wrote) and just get struck by how true it is that there is nothing new under the sun. They take new names, they make up new ridiculous rules, but it’s still the same. People never change.

  28. I know this post is not related to FBC, but I’ve been through stuff like this at our old church. Except for us, it was the ACE coordinator for western Canada who liked little boys. It was a big scandal that split the church. There were those that thought this was an attack by the devil on such a godly man and those of us who KNEW what he was doing, we went to the pastor with our stories and NOTHING was done (one of the reasons the MOG gave was he was a good tither). Basically it shut down the church for awhile, people who were abused and thrown “under the bus” left to try and pick up the pieces. This was over 20 years ago, the only thing that makes me feel good about that whole thing was this guy in now in a wheelchair and looks almost dead.

  29. And how many of these pastors/churches are bashing the Roman Catholic church? How can this place stay in business?

    I makes me mad when I see the fans of this place referring to it as God’s plan. What a load of crap. Yes God knows what will happen, but I can’t believe in a loving God who plans for this stuff to happen. How does that bring God the glory?

    2. Exactly! Only Fundamentalists can simultaneously arrange deckchairs on the Titanic and fiddle while Rome burns. 👿

      1. They also painted the chairs on the Titanic. Have to make sure they are a God-honoring color and not some liberal new-age teal or something like that.

  31. Wow, thanks for the list. I’ve always wondered. Looks like I was a lucky one. I lived under their ministry as a brain washed child for almost a decade and who knows what could have happened to me. This list makes me so grateful that I did not choose to expose my children to these sick perverts. Even though my husband his his pastoral theology degree from that rotten place we pulled it out last night and decided that it was more worthless than a sheet of used toilet paper. It DID, however, give us a huge laugh that we were actually proud of it at one time!

  32. Does anyone remember a pastor of the name Price who drove a Baptist Church named Freedom Baptist (as I recall) in Terre Haute, IN into the ground financially and ended up on staff at HAC? It seems like he had some morality issues as in females of various ages not his wife. Big daddy JH set the bar for the bunch of womanizers and child rapists that came out of HAC.

  33. I went there for almost 11yrs and even worked at the church.

    I never knew anything about any of this. I did hear a comment once about Dave Hyles but never any details. Just that he didn’t “live for God”.

    First my heart aches for the victim/victims & then to the innocent followers at FBCH that truly believe that they are defending a righteous organization.

    If all of this is true, along with all of this history, then it is easy to see that the behavior of hiding these indiscretions by “not talking about it” & “moving them to another church quietly” or “dismissing them for unrelated reasons” has done nothing but breed this type of predatory behavior. If the top man “Jack Hyles” was doing it….or let’s just say he’s completely innocent….let’s just look at David and how they handled his indiscretions. When all of these studens & future preachers look to the top mog “Jack Hyles” and they see him just sweep his sons indiscretions under the rug and move him along to another church then of course they are all going to file into line and do exactly the same.

    I don’t know if Jack Hyles ever did what he was accused of but how he handled his sons situation…in my opinion….is the reason for what we are dealing with today.

    And if the current report of them not immediately reporting this most recent incident with Jack Schaap is true & lying to the church to keep it quiet until they decided how to handle it, then it only goes to show that they still have the way of thinking that all matters will be handled inside the church unless their hand is forced…which it seems it was.

    So sad…so many hurt people….so many warped minds…it’s just so sad that they take the Word of God and use it to hide their indiscretions and justify it with “the Bible Says”….I know they love Jack Schaap dearly but that doesn’t make it right to let him go quietly and blatantly lie to their people as to why…..so sad….

    I am praying for truth & healing….

  34. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that sexual deviance will always be something that will plague FBH, HAC, and, in general, the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement. Whenever you replace the gospel with legalism, gross sin is sure to follow.

    1. “Whenever you replace the gospel with legalism, gross sin is sure to follow.”

      This statement, I believe, reveals the crux of the matter. Law and man-made rules only excite and exacerbate sin and sinfulness.

      Theology is of first rate importance, and this particular species of Baptists (IFB) flatter themselves by thinking that their doctrinal beliefs are the most pure. Many–not all–but many people that attend these man-centered institutions are still dead in their trespasses and sins. With their “decisions” as their confidence rather than Christ………they have never experienced the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in the new birth. They have never been saved through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and consequently, rise no higher than dead religion can take them.

      This is why there is so much scandal and idolatry. They are not different than Rome in that sense. They lack the power of GOD to mortify the works of the flesh.

      True Christians are scandalized by the multitude of impostors, and the enemies of the LORD GOD are given plenty of ammunition to blaspheme……. which both saddens and angers me.

      1. Well said!!! I too wanted to express my appreciation of Jeff’s comment, but I wasn’t sure how to state it, and you summed it up better than I could. How very, very true.

      2. Well said!

        The power of sin is the law. That does not make the law bad or unjust. It shows that the law was neeeded in order to identify sin. Attempts at keeping the law does not alleviate the need for the law, and that is the power of sin.

    2. The IFB’s have lowered the standard of the law to make it obtainable (hard yes, but still obtainable)and build their righteousness on that.

  35. I have a conjecture (and it’s only that) about the timing of Schaap’s July 8 “sermon” regarding his “counseling” FBC/HAC teens and young adults about sex. My guess is that the girl (or girls) had threatened to go public, and he was covering his tracks in the July 8 message so that he could contend “This is the way I talk to many, many young people. I”m often called on to address sexual issues, and I speak very directly. But I never … “. He didn’t count on pictorial evidence surfacing, so his plan didn’t work. But I do think that’s what he was doing with that July 8 “sermon” – preparing a defense in the event one or more of his victims went public.

    2. Just like his father in law, who, prior to Mr. Nischick approaching the board with HIS wrongdoing preached a series of sermons on loyalty and the evil of believing a false report.

    3. Are we talking about the one that was partially transcribed at this site? Because no matter what reason he had for saying those things, saying them at all should have been grounds for dismissal and possibly defrocking. I know I said this before, but it bears repeating. From outside the subculture that adores the man of God, this stuff looks like the ravings of a dirty old man on a barstool!

  37. Don’t forget the son (Jesse Ruhl) of a Hyles graduate (Tim Ruhl).. Jesse is currently in a court case for dong the same thing. Atty Gibbs advises Tim Ruhl on a regular basis. Go to Butte County Website and do a search for Timothy Ruhl it’s rather interesting. Be sure you go back several years in your search. It’s filled.

    And Tim’s other son, Gabe, just announced on Wednesday night (ironic huh?) that he is leaving his dad’s church to go be a youth pastor at Lancaster Baptist Church in Southern California.

    Lancaster’s youth pastor left to pastor a church in Connecticut. Lots of switcharoo going on.

    and why do these men keep hailing each other as heroes while the victim’s have no advocates in those churches?!?

    1. Gabe Ruhl replaces Cary Schmidt as youth pastor?

      smh

      The beat goes on…

      On the County of Butte website, Gabe just shows himself to be a poor driver who does not think much of seatbelts.

      His brother, Jesse Ruhl, on the other hand is on trial for child molestation right now. Pre-trial conference set for 8.29.12. Jesse married a young lady he met at Lancaster Baptist Church…poor girl.

      Tim Ruhl (and Pleasant Valley Baptist Church) is a defendant in a civil suit by David Jorgensen’s victim (there appears to be a settlement on the horizon), and was sued by Budget Rent a Car for breach of contract. A glass merchant is also suing Ruhl and the church for payment in small claims court.

      http://www.buttecourt.ca.gov

  38. just wanted to clarify that roger casteel was not involved with a minor, the girl he was involved with was 20 years old and yes, it was his secretary. roger casteels name popped up on here several times and it made it sound like he was with a minor, he definately was adulterous but not a child perv.

  39. The list is truly appalling.

    For all of those FBCH supporters on FB and other venues who are crying foul because using phrases about “casting the first stone” and “hurting the cause of Christ”, this list makes a pretty good repudiation of those arguments.

  40. Just to clarify on the William Beith story, the son was the one who took the 11 yr old over state lines ( he was the principal of the school) the father was caught in the park doing lewd acts ( he was the pastor)…..

    3. Around the 0:25 second mark – “…we have a very capable team of leadership in place that will ensure the principle and mission of HAC remains the same…”

      What is remaining the same is the team of leadership that allowed all of this to transpire on their watch.

      1. “…we have a very capable team of leadership in place that will ensure the principle and mission of HAC remains the same…”

        The new management team will be just as crappy as the old one…

      2. “We give you our solemn promise, we will continue to be as ridiculously legalistic and rigidly pharasaical as ever…that’s not going to change! In fact, we might crack down ever HARDER, just to make sure we’re all walking the straight and narrow so nothing like this ever happens again!”

    4. I don’t want to watch this (I have no interest in giving them views, and I have even less interest in listening to all this myself), so would someone who has watched it mind giving a Cliff Notes version?

      1. blah blah blah… we’re going on and the future is bright… blah blah blah… we have leaders in place… blah blah blah… you can trust us… blah blah blah… we’ll provide a safe place for your child… blah blah blah… God bless you.

      2. Here ya go Annie:

        Blah blah blah we’re great. Blah blah blah blah Christ. Blah blah blah blah call me if you have any questions. The End.

      3. What stuck out to me the most is how he emphasized to pastors that they can “trust us with their young people”; that the young people would be “safe” there.

        Damage control, anyone?

        1. What got me was that he assured pastors they could trust HAC with their young people and then he went on to address students, but he didn’t address anything to parents. It’s indicative of the culture that says the pastor’s authority supercedes parental authority.

    7. A video titled “The Future of Hyles Anderson College” should just be a video of a man with fiery eyes and bronze feet removing a lamp stand.

      Oh, and the fact that they say their principles with continue made me want to scream. They really don’t understand that it’s there principles that are gasoline on the fire of sexual sin. It just causes it to burn more and more until it explodes.

    8. I do really feel bad for Mr. Mason and the rest of the church that is left to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of Jack Schaap’s mess. Mr. Mason and his wife were always very kind to me when I was at HAC, even though most of the rest of the staff shunned me because I didn’t belong there. Hopefully there will be some major changes around campus, but I doubt it. As far as his wife not getting to speak goes, remember who this video was made for – Hylesites. A woman speaking might be a little too much for them at this point. 😈

      1. Past and current FBCH members have said that it’s against FBCH/HAC policy for woman to speak in public, or to a group of men, or to a mixed group.

        That being the case, why is she in this video, saying nothing? Is it just to prove that Stuart Mason isn’t gay?
        I’d say her presence is neither necessary nor sufficient for that.

    1. Why would she have needed to speak. She isn’t the president of the college, he is. So what if she didn’t say anything.

  43. Oh! Also, thank you so much to those who put this post together! My prayers is people in the IFB read this and let these heartbreaking facts show them this is not the place to be! 😥

  44. I’ve noticed a few comments noting the knee-jerk reaction of many congregants in these types of situations to immediately defend the abuser and counter that the accusations are the persecutions of the devil, etc., etc. What struck me today reading through that and thinking about how prevalent that mindset is when a preacher or church leader in these set-ups is caught red-handed, is how congregations are set up for it years of paranoid, victim preaching. How many sermons in IFB churches emphasize how “the world” hates them, and how “the world” is just waiting for an excuse to destroy men of God, and how being persecuted by “the world” just means you’re doing something right for God? It’s the perfect cult-like martyr set-up, leading the congregation to automatically think, “Well, the preacher has always said the world and the devil are just waiting to take good men of God down. That must by why this is happening!” And frankly, that just makes me angrier. Not only are cover-ups happening in places like HAC and FBC, the very essence of the average congregant’s perspective has been trained to disbelieve the truth when in comes because they’ve been trained to believe that “the world” is waiting to get their MoG at moment, and the attack is proof of his godliness. It’s such a cult-like way to manipulate and form the followers.

      2. Trivialize! that’s the word I’ve been looking for all this time. The attempts to shift some of the blame to the girl trivializes the horribleness of it. The attempts to call it a “sin,” (which it is, don’t get me wrong) trivializes it, because in common parlance today, “sin” is mostly trivial. Want to call it a “sin,” but in language that actually captures the full weight of the evil? Then call it what it is: a Crime. Sexual Abuse. Anything less trivializes this kind of evil.

    3. Is he actually talking about Schaap? I can’t think of any other pastors who are in the news for a major problem right now, but good grief–how can this really be seriously about Schaap? I mean, he didn’t fall last week. It wasn’t a one incident thing. He didn’t just have a five-minute indiscretion and kiss somebody in his office or have a sext conversation with somebody that wasn’t his wife. He had a several month affair with a teenaged girl whom he was supposed to be counseling because she had been abused. What the what? And I guess I missed the part where Schaap admitted the affair/possible statutory and repented and apologized. If he did, all right; but I sure don’t remember that happening. And honestly, the sincerity of press conference apologies aside, I’d imagine there’d be a little more of the response this pastor seems to expect from Christians if he had publicly apologized. The fact that he hasn’t seems to indicate everybody was/still hoping to sweep some part of it under the rug.

      I’m angry now.

      1. I agree. This seems really strange. Though there are parallels, it’s hard to believe he and Schaap are good friends and that Schaap reached out to him and talked with him for two hours. His world and the FCB world seem so far apart. But I don’t know of another situation like this going on right now.

        1. Interesting. Geronimo Aguilar is a son of Phil Aguilar, who founded the “Set Free” ministry in Southern California. “Set Free” is also known as a “biker club.” One of my friends who lives down that way and rides a motorcycle calls them “biker thugs.” These are not nice people and I am so not surprised that an Aguilar would be backing up Jack Schaap.

    4. Yes, he is speaking of Bro. Schaap. Though their ministries were worlds apart, Bro. Schaap was a friend to him( much to the consternation of his fundamental brethren). All I see here, is a Christ-like spirit toward a friend who has fallen.
      Did Jack Schaap commit a terrible crime, yes!
      Should he be punished and dealt justice, certainly!
      Should we care for the victim, most definitely!
      Should anything be covered up, absolutely not!
      Has he forfeited the ministry, definetly!
      Can God ever use him again, ABsolutely!

      However, what he has done does not change who we are-and that is supposed to be a Christian.
      I like many others have experienced many different emotions this week shock, hurt, disgust, sadness, anger, just to name a few.
      Through the course of events I have seen two extremes. I have seen those that almost take pleasure(though they deny it) in this man’s fall as though it giives them some kind of vindication for some past hurt or some fuel for a hatred they already have toward a certain group they don’t agree with-and this somehow makes them right or more spiritual. I have also seen people(though understandbly hurt) who have known and supposedly loved this man for decades try to completely disown and separate themselves from him as if he never existed to them and make this about them and how hurt THEY are.
      Maybe I am wrong, but neither of these seem like a Christ-like spirit to me. Justified-maybe,humanly-speaking, Human-certainly, but not Christ-like.

      No one is more aware at this moment of the huge blight to the cause of Christ and the drastic consequences of his actions than Jack Schaap is right now.

      It is not a matter of sympathy rather the love of CHrist extended to a brother in Christ.
      I find it sad that someone who has known him for just a few years can show the spirit of Christ more than those who have loved and served with him over 30 years.
      I do not blame them, I am one of them, but let’s not be so hasty in meteing out justice that we forget mercy! Both are needed.

      1. Pssst, JD … nowhere in your post did you mention the 16 (now 17) year old girl who was victimized.

        Maybe you should consider extending the love of Christ to HER.

        1. Actually I did and I do believe she should be loved and cared for-what happened to her is horrible!
          I have not defended him or what he did, I simply stated Christ’s attitude towards those that have fallen. What I think the “moral ” or right way to think is irrelevent.
          The fact is all our sin is disgusting in the sight of God -it hung Jesus on the cross. Yet, He extends grace and mercy to each of us undeserving sinners. I don’t think our self -righteous and prideful attitudes impress Him.

        2. He may extend grace and mercy unto us, but He also tells us to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and Caesar seeks justice. There is rarely mercy (nor should there be) when a minor child has been abused, taken across state lines for sexual purposes, and had vulgar pictures taken.

          Christians following the biblical model of forgiveness, btw, are to forgive after repentance. God forgives us after we repent — He does not extend forgiveness to every human simply because we sin. He extends His grace when we ASK for it. I’ve not seen Schaap ASK anywhere for grace OR forgiveness, nor have I seen him express sorrow or regret for his actions. Have you?

        3. “Rendering unto Ceaser” had nothing to with sin or anything like this matter, but I’m pretty sure you already know that.
          As to forgiveness, yes, to be saved we must ask. For Christians, forgiveness was purchased on Calvary. Every sin a Christian has or ever will commit is forgiven the day he puts his faith and trust in Christ. We are already forgiven, we don’t have to ask every time we do something wrong- the Bible does teach us to confess our sins in order to keep ourselves right, not to receive forgiveness.

          For the record, Jack Schaap has expressed sorrow and regret. He has called each of his staff personally to do just that and I’m sure will do so more publicly as he is able. DId you expect him to get on here and do it?

          Again, I in no way condone or justify what he did and believe he should be punished to the fullest extent for his actions. I’m simply referring to our attitudes as fellow Christians.
          Imagine how his family must feel, his children and his wife, I’m sure they have experienced every emotion i mentioned and then some, much more so than any of us have. Yet , I dare say they still love him dearly and do not derive any self-righteous satisfaction from any of this. He was a loving father to them and taught them right and they are good kids at least partly because of him. He was also a loving husband for more than 30 years. If his family still loves him, and God still loves Him, then shouldn’t we (his family in Christ) still love him?
          I know the world doesn’t understand that nor would I expect them to, but it seems that once our initial reactions settle, a child of God should come to that realization.

        4. Just looking again at what you said- God actually does extend forgiveness to every human, not because we sin, but because he is God. It is not a matter of asking, it’s accepting. His grace is extended long before we ASK.
          @ Jordan- I understand what your saying and it is an understanable assumption(which is your complete right), but it is just that-an assumption. We have no way of knowing his heart or his motives. As to him being a predator, there is nothing to support that, so I will not make that assumption either. If evidence comes out to the contrary then he should be punished as such. I see a man who served the Lord for many years and has now forfeited his ministry because of a great and horrible fall- it is sad all the way around and for everyone touched by it.

        5. Has he expressed sorrow and regret to the girl he violated? To her family? Has he repented to her?

          And I did not mean that we must ask forgiveness from God but from one another when we hurt one another. You DO believe that Christians can hurt one another, don’t you? If you don’t, then there is no point in continuing on with this conversation. We must ask forgiveness from each other when we hurt another Christian. We can’t just haughtily expect the other person to forgive us. How dare we?

          As to loving husband, that’s laughable. Loving husbands don’t do what he did.

        6. And you really don’t believe the government has the authority in this matter? I’m fairly certain the Bible tells us that God ordains governments and that we are to follow those laws that are not contrary to His laws. Explain to me how laws protecting our children are contrary to God’s laws — please.

          The man violated a child, stored photographic evidence of it, and trafficked her across state lines. He committed a crime against her! What if it was your daughter? Would you care then, or would you be sticking your haughty IFB nose in the air and calling it just another sin?

          You know, never mind. You probably WOULD be doing the latter. It’s what IFBers do. You blame the victim, the woman, and you throw stones at her, just as those wanted to damn the woman caught in adultery, all the while ignoring the man who was equally at fault. The difference is, this girl is not at all at fault while Schaap is entirely guilty. (And admitted it.)

        7. I see a man who served the Lord for many years and has now forfeited his ministry because of a great and horrible fall-

          fall or failure. This wasn’t merely an accident, Opps, sorry.
          Forfeited? again you make it sound as if he has done something noble here. No, it was forcibly taken from him.

          Friends, IFBers, SFLers, lend me your ears;
          I come to bury Schapp’s ministry, not to praise him or it.
          The evil that men do lives after them;
          The good is oft inferrèd by their followers.
          So let it be with Schaap’s ministry. The noble internet hath told you Schaap was an ambitious adulterer.
          It seems to be so, it is a grievous fault,
          And grievously hath Schaap answered it

        8. I dont’ claim to know, but am rather sure that at this time, while the investigation is ongoing, he would not be allowed to contact her. It is obvious you think I do not care about the victim, however, nothing could be further from the truth. Personally I love and feel more badly for her (and his family)than I do for him. I simply was responding to the post of pastor Aguilar being a friend to him- that’s all.

          Of course, I believe we can hurt each other and should ask forgiveness- I never stated otherwise. Nor did I say we should expect it. I only referred to the attitudes we hold in our own hearts not what we expect from someone else. Sorry, if I misunderstood you. It sounded like you said God only extends forgiveness after we ask- and I for one am glad that is not the case.

          I NEVER said anything about the government not having authority or anything of the like-quite the opposite. I believe and I said he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law! I am glad it is being investigated by the authorities and pray to God that nothing is left uncovered or unpunished! That would be the worst thing that could happen for all involved- the truth should come out no matter what it is!

          Certainly, I would never trust him with my daughter or any one else’s. What he did was a horrible crime and I never said it was just another sin. Nor have or do I blame the victim in any way whatsoever!

          I have no assumptions at all- though you seem to have many. I simply spoke of what my attitude should be in the light of Christ, because I need to be reminded, not because i have arrived there yet myself.

        9. You’re right, JD, I’m making assumptions about you based on comments I’ve read over and over and over again the past several days, comments that have placed the blame everywhere but on Schaap and that have minimized what was done.

          I apologize if you are not amongst those who believe that and for placing you in that category.

        10. Thank you! Just trying to keep a proper balance in my own mind. God’s thoughts are higher(much higher!)than my thoughts and His ways than my ways!
          Good thing too!

      2. Can God ever use him again,

        Did God ever use him in the first place?
        or did Jack use God for his own purposes.

        2. In reality, probably both.
          You could find many who would testify to that.
          All I know is, As long as I am breathing God has a use for me, no matter how small it may be.
          The question is, Am i willing to humble myself to whatever that may be.
          In this case, probably pretty significant!
          Can he accept that? Maybe not! I guess we’ll find out. Time will tell!

    5. Pastor Aquilar does mention that what Jack Schaap did was wrong, but seems to feel more sorry for him than the person who was abused. Geronimo most likely thinks he is being super spiritual, befriending someone in his hour of need and undoubtedly has preached many sermons about how we can not have morality with out God and the Bible. We know what Jack Schaap did was wrong because we are human beings and the moral thing to do is not have anything to do with him. Jack Schaap wrote all of thost books about fleeing youthful lusts and so forth…and now he has a sexual relationship with a minor? The people of First Baptist in Hammond, should just leave the church and never look back. I realize this would be difficult though.

    6. This guy is either lying or making himself sound more important than he is to his congregation. I know someone who talked to JS on the day it came out and I know someone who called him and JS didn’t answer the phone. Both men had good intentions.

  47. I was abused in a fundamentalist church in the late 80s, early 90s. Just came across Jeri…thank you for your work, on behalf on the silent victims. My abuser was never brought to justice (he’s dead now – so maybe)…the church allowed him to continue on – called me a liar, believed him. Would love to add that church to the list of harboring abusers.

    1. It is horrible that they treated you so badly…They cared more about maintaining the status quo than about justice and truth.

    2. Really sorry to read what a church put you through. I have never yet seen a church side with the victim when the pastor or other church officer molests a child. I’m not saying no church ever has. But I have never seen one do that. And I am glad that your abuser is dead. AT least that removes one shadow from your life.

  48. There is far more covering up than you can believe, even on the non-criminal level. While I was there, they covered up Jack Schaap’s son being inappropriate with his then girlfriend (the daughter of the vice president) on the church property. According to the HAC handbook, and announced from the pulpit by Dr Evens every semester, any sexual act that takes place on school/church property would have the penalty doubled.

    I was turned in for kissing my girlfriend off property and lost 2 semesters of credits.

    His son was hired after graduation and now teaches bible at HAC.

  49. I do not understand why this website bypasses all the abuse happening in the Catholic churches, and other places. IF this is about the victims, what about those victims of Catholic priest? People struggle and fall, that’s not new. The tone of the comments here reveal something to me. In AA I was told many times to pick out somebody who lives the way I want to live, somebody who “has” something that attracts me, and I come to realize throught this scandal – I don’t want what you have..

    1. Well, you could just go away.

      But after you do, be sure to post that blog o behalf of all victims everywhere. And send us a link, you know, so that we know you are not just a bag of hot air.

    2. templewoman, I recommend going to a website dedicated to Catholics or former Catholics frustrated over the abuse in the Catholic church. This is, Stuff *Fundies* Like. So, naturally Fundies are what is covered/discussed on this website. I don’t feel there’s a need to be critical to people here and say we don’t “have something” you’re looking for or whatever you’re talking about… We’re just people, most of us former-fundies. (Hence why we are on a Stuff *FUNDIES* Like)

      1. why is it so many commenters like templewoman seem to presume that we’re some sort of cabal with a unified opinion? We’re all sorts of people from various walks of life, unified by an interest in fundamentalism.

  50. I do not understand why this website bypasses all the abuse happening in the Catholic churches, and other places. IF this is about the victims, what about those victims of Catholic priest? People struggle and fall, that’s not new. The tone of the comments here reveal something to me. In AA I was told many times to pick out somebody who lives the way I want to live, somebody who “has” something that attracts me, and I come to realize through this scandal – I don’t want what you have..

    1. “I do not understand why this website bypasses all the abuse happening in the Catholic churches, and other places.”

      Because the website is not called “Stuff Fundies and Catholics and other places Like”. It’s got a relatively specific focus. If you don’t like it, that doesn’t reflect poorly on this website.

    2. And that gets me thinking, what is it that *we* have, which you are rejecting?

      The main thing I’m seeing, is a strong love for justice, and for truth to come into the light.

      From many posters, that’s mixed with a strong dose of snark… welcome to the internet.

    3. Dear templewoman,

      If this were a blog about religious abuse or sexual predators in the church, you would be right, but that is not the purpose of this site. We are about fundamentalism, specifically the IFB, because that is what we know. We also know that there is a wall of separation and a blanket of secrecy that keeps many things in the IFB from coming to light; we’re here to discuss those things openly, sometimes for the first time.

      We are definitely a widely diverse group. There are people who write regularly on here with whom I deeply disagree, yet I love SFL because here I can work through my grief and fear in leaving the safety of what I once knew to step out, for me, to follow Christ more accurately and fully.

      When you go to a Chinese restaurant, you don’t get mad because they don’t serve veal parmigiana. I grieve for victims everywhere, but I am outraged that some people hide egregious sins behind a veil of holiness or excuse perversion because the perpetrator is “one of us.”

      To describe what Schaap did as “people struggle and fall” is far too faint a denunciation. It is statements like that, that seem to downplay the horror and wickedness of what Schaap did, that inspire the vehemence of most of our comments here.

      I want Christ’s truth and righteousness to characterize His church and evil deeds to be reproved.

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