280 thoughts on “Sermon Contests Redux”

  1. What happens if you come second in the contest? Consolation butt cushion?

    1. You get NOTHING!

      Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?

      3. “You get NOTHING!

        Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?”

        Ye win the poste.

      4. I am tempted to play the butt racist card here, but(t) I will forbear.

    3. After a few years as mog, they won’t need a butt cushion. it will be a permanent fixture.

    1. When I click on the “Mike Zachary” link, I get a screen saying, “You are not authorized to access this page.”

      So you’ll have to enlighten us, Darrell.

        1. He sort of had an earned PhD. American Conservatory of Music (or whatever it’s called) was somewhat of a music diploma mill in its later years, when Zachary was there. It went bankrupt and later reopened in Hammond, Indiana (curiously) and now is a real diploma mill.

    1. It’s what used to be Mike Zachary’s profile. It was recently pulled down in a big hurry.

      Just keep an eye on the news for his name. That’s all I have to say about it for now.

      1. At the same time GSBC president Brad Boruff disappeared without explanation. Both being scrubbed from the college’s websites mere days before the school year ended.

      2. Zachary’s info has been removed from many websites. Quite the collaborative effort.

    3. That’s “lurker.” A troll is something completely different. I was a long-time lurker in the Monastery, when that still meant something. ;P

      1. My understanding of “lurker” (in re the Internet) is that it’s someone who reads but doesn’t comment (usually not for any devious reason, although I guess it could be to see what certain people are up to). Is that what it means to you?

  4. Preaching contest? I really do not know what to say. In my seminary, my professors spoke often about the need to humbly approach the pulpit–to seek to first engage the Scriptures yourself and let them speak to you–because if they don’t speak to the preacher, they aren’t going to speak to the congregation. And then to set aside ego and your own agenda as much as possible so its not your gift on display but the message which is on display.
    This really seems to simply be a “holy” talent show and be all about the gift and the person rather than God. Sad.

      1. Well, they educated women who could return to denominations who would ordain women….and the faculty actually was exceptionally supportive of women pastors–many on the faculty were women who pastored churches at one time or another.
        And yes, that liberal education set me on course for becoming even more liberal than my seminary. Where is that narrow path again? I seemed to have lost it.

    3. The idea of a preaching contest always rubbed me wrong and I hated it at my most Kool-Aid intoxicated stage. It epitomizes all that’s wrong with the IFB (antecessor to New Calvinism).

    3. Doesn’t matter. The title the preacher boys are really after is Miss Congeniality.

      1. B. G.- I believe they’re after Miss Anybody. As long as she can play the piano in 1940s’s hymnal style.

  6. Am I the only one looking at the picture and imagining each one of them singing a different note in harmony?

      2. They may not “write ’em like they used to”, but they can still Sing ’em like they used to!
        We need to revive the Barbershop Style! :mrgreen:

  8. Oh they’re so adorable, up there with their suits, looking like they have something to say worth hearing…

    2. I agree. And how does one judge such a thing? One can evaluate organization, biblical content, clarity of thought, wise use of illustration, etc., but how can you compare one sermon to another? It reduces to artificiality something that is supposed to be spirit led.

      1. In the preacher boy competitions I was exposed to, it was all about charisma. Of course, no one said this. But we all knew that the best-looking, most engaging speaker would win.

  10. The biggest problem I see in these preaching schools is that the students tend to imitate the preachers they idolize.

    They learn to smack the pulpit, point their fingers, raise their voices, stretch a point, and act like *the* Authority, but almost never is a bit of humility found.

    They tell you what to believe, but almost never how to walk the Christian walk in a way that will show Christ’s love to others in a tangible, meaningful and lasting way.

    Preachers often take up 45 minutes plus in an IFB church. Every eye is on them. They see every word as being of utmost importance, and if you tried to get people to recall what the preacher had spoken on 15 minutes after the sermon ended, they would be hard pressed to remember any of it!

    What we need in the pulpit is more humility and humanity. We do not need blowhards or self-righteous twits.

    2. Yes. But we also need less pulpit. Seriously. We need less “speeching” and more time spent teaching people how to walk after Christ. I am developing an epistemological argument that I may blog some day, but basically, I do not believe Scripture teaches that good works or sanctification come through listening to oral instruction (or at least, only by that means). If that were true, why did Jesus spend so much time doing with his disciples. I mean, it has to have “legs” at some point, right?

      2. The problem with that idea is that they can’t teach what they don’t know.

  11. Reminds me of Moot Court from law school. Shudder. We were all F. Lee Bailey in our fantasies and complete egomaniacal shmucks in reality.

    Ahhh, law school. If you could have bought us for what we were worth and sold us for what we thought we were worth you could have retired to the Islands.

    Peace,

    1. Law school moot court is about as unlike real court as is humanly possible. After my mandatory 1L competition, I never did it again. Didn’t see the point.

  12. Did anyone else notice that all five of these guys look like oily used car salesman? I also note that they stuck their two really handsome guys in the giant photos on the bottom, and hid Baldy, Ethnic Man and Nerd in the tiny top pictures.

    That just says so much.

    And the idea of making preaching a competition is utterly revolting and sinful.

    2. There is a lot of “ethnic” men (and women) at WCBC but they are quite marginalized. My own sister was ordered to stop dating a Hispanic young man on pain of losing her student job there.

      1. And African-Americans have been disciplined for dating white women too. This issue should get more attention. BJU wilted over the national spotlight over this, WCBC should not be allowed to do this in the shadows.

        1. I agree. How can a U.S. college be so openly racist in 2014? I realize it’s private and unaccredited, but still …

  13. I figured it was because they had their suit coats buttoned, just like “Dr,” Chappell. The other three are in a state of rebellion, relegating them to the background.

      2. Wow.. I remember when i sang this song… youth conference… Long Beach Cali… haha..”voices of valor” tour group…haha…

    3. Correct, not only can preaching become a contest, but winning others to Christ, discipleship, bus attendance, church attendance, Bible verses memorized, visitors brought to church, etc. are regularly made to be contests too.

      1. Sadly so true. This ends up puffing up some with pride and self-importance while others feel like second-class citizens, less loved by God. Others may be tempted to cheat because they so badly desire the accolades of “spiritual superiority” by coming in first. None of this fits the image of the ONE BODY of Christ in which we all work together and support and love one other, preferring each other before ourselves.

        1. Oh, we had *required* witnessing as part of the preacher boy program at PCC. Lying on your weekly report was a matter of course – to the point where these future mogs would openly joke about it.

        2. Don’t you think that sears the conscience? There’s a huge unacknowledged problem at the heart of a lot of Christian schools.

        3. Sure it does. But reality is that I only remember one or two classmates that actually had a heart for serving people. The others were all about the power and prestige that goes into the fundy mog role.

      2. How well I remember “pack a pew” night at revival meetings.

  19. I’ve not read a single a comment.. but horry fack!!!

    Who is so pompous about managing a shitty old gas station “truck stop” off a highway cutting through Appalachia? Because that’s what these guys are… we IFB preacher boys were the puss in pimple on the ass of America 15 years ago but now?

    Well… I was never that cocky (I don’t think?) so I guess they deserve it and I should feel bad.

  20. I don’t understand preaching “contest” — what is being contested?

    Who screams the loudest?

    Who has the most antics?

    Who is the best imitator of The Grand Poobah?

    Or…
    Who brings out the Word of God to make people consider their ways?

    I don’t understand this kind of contest…

      1. Yes, but you’re disqualified from IFB competitions.
        A woman screaming = a nagging shrew.
        A man screaming = a great preacher on fire for the Lord.

    2. Indeed.
      While I am certain the school and students would state that content is the most important quality, I have found the IFB to be sorely lacking in their hermeneutics.
      My theory is the content must mention at least some of the fundy favorite sin/ topics list. More importantly the content must be filled with a plethora of Scripture quoted out of context. But the quality of preaching will really be found in how well they repeat sentences for emphasis of the point, how well they shout and hit the pulpit, and picking up of bible in an authoritative manner–shaking it respectfully at the congregation.

  21. Mike Zachary and Brad Boruff…

    I’m getting very tired of IFB churches covering their trash (“let’s erase their names from our web site, so that people won’t know they were associated with us.”). If they worked for you and traveled the country in your name, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to publicly announce their sin.

    You may actually be trusted if instead of covering up the truth when leaders sin, you admit it. In fact, let us pursue holiness and perhaps God will bless us for it.

    2. It’s a responsibility and a safety issue. Who knows who got molested as they toured the country on various speaking engagements? This SOP for risk-managment theory and crisis management. Funny that I had to take a course on this to get my MBA, but you can get an Mdiv without this kind of education…

    3. NVBC archived video 4/30, Wed, evening service. Brad Boruff is leading the singing. Sun. morning 5/4, A. Martinez is directing the choir and the singing. Trieber’s “sermon” title: “People Come and Go.” Unbelievable. (I listen to the first five min., before knowing BB “came and left.”)

      1. What caught my attention on that video, is the clear plastic box on the communion table shaped like a house with money in it, next to the KJV Bible!

    4. I’m honestly reminded of how an unfortunate event of sexual misconduct was recently dealt with in the ‘Nerdfighters’ online community – a musician under their DFTBA music label has been accused of a relationship with an underage individual. When this came out, the leaders of the community made statements about it, denounced it, dropped the guy from their music lable (but did not try to hide the fact that he had once been there), lead a thoughtful discussion about sexual assault and the ability to consent as well as the power imbalance between fans and creators, gave links to resources for dealing with sexual assault, and began a large committee to determine what they could change and what can be improved in order to make any online community safer.
      Cool.
      As opposed to churches, who hide and skitter and deny and generally act like spiders when you turn on the bathroom light.

      1. Thanks, Shrimp.
        We’re always talking here about how not to deal with incidents of sexual abuse. It’s good to have an example of how it was handled well.

  22. All jokes aside, if they were doing things by the book, wouldn’t coming in first actually mean coming in last? This crap violates a thousand biblical principles. God chose the bottom of the barrel in most cases to get his message across. Moses didn’t duke it out with another Jew to see who got to take the message to Pharaoh. Good night, these people never cease to amaze.

    1. Yes! (Plus Moses said he wasn’t a good speaker, Gideon was hiding when called by God, and Jesus “had no beauty that we should desire Him.” And Paul said that his preaching “my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,” and if preaching is from the Spirit, how can we turn it into a contest?

      1. Of course, PW, as you know well, that verse about Paul is used by most IFB preachers to eschew education or any appearance thereof.

    2. “Moses didn’t duke it out with another Jew to see who got to take the message to Pharaoh.”

      Anything but that– it was more like Moses drawing the black bean or the short straw. He didn’t want the job, any more than Jonah wanted to go and preach in Ninevah.

    3. That depends on which book you’re doing it by.
      They follow this book:
      http://www.hylespublications.com/book/jack-hyles/how-to-boost-your-church-attendance.html

      (Bonus: From the same web site, you can still get Cindy Schaap’s “A Peaceful Marriage” and “A Wife’s Purpose.” “Marriage: The Divine Intimacy” and all of Jack Schaap’s other books are strangely missing, though.)

      Then there’s Treiber’s staff manual (because Hyles just wasn’t narcissistic and legalistic enough).

      1. (The above is meant to be a comment on “If they were doing things by the book …”)

  23. I try to understand this mindset, but I’m afraid I hit the perceptual wall hard at “sermon contests.” How do you even have a sermon contest? How can you be attempting to compete in edifying people by having one attempt at edification after another? Doesn’t the audience’s attention span burn out eventually?

    Oh, right: this isn’t edifying, it’s fundamentalist performance art. With the yelling and the spitting and the recitation of catchphrases.

    YUCK.

    1. Think of it as an IFB poetry slam, and you’ll have the right idea.

      If you think of it as something that’s meant to be edifying, you’ll never understand it.

  24. Ah, preaching contests. I remember going to the ACE International Student Conference for the first time, down in Arizona, and being annoyed and offended that it was only open to guys. Despite my 6 years in ACE, I was a naive little sunflower.

  25. So what happened with BB? if Mike Zacharay is being investigated for sexual abuse against a minor? Is BB a seperate issue?

      1. BB was allowed to quietly resign just weeks before the end of semester, and all mention of him was removed from the website, which is usually a sign that something big is going down. He has apparently had a close relationship with MZ, and it all happened at the same time, so there are rumours that the two situations are linked. We likely won’t know for sure until charges are laid.

        1. If you use the wayback machine to look at the April 30 archived page of the NVBC staff list, you’ll see Brad Boruff listed as the president of GSBC, but if you’ll check wikipedia and the GSBC website, or the current page of the NVBC staff list, he is absent with no explanation.

        2. Oddly enough, the final tweet was on 24 April; there has been nothing since.

  27. Yes, I am aware that he is no longer the president of GSBC, that is not what I asked. You stated that he ‘resigned quietly’, I asked for authentication of that statement. What is the source for your information that he resigned and that he was not fired?

    1. There has been no statement. He was simply removed from the website. I heard it as ‘quietly resigned’. I don’t have an official statement to judge from because at the moment none exists. I wouldn’t at all be surprised that he was required to resign. I am more interested in why he left in such circumstances that the college wants to wash their online presence clean of him than what words were used to facilitate his leaving.

  28. Thank you, I have not seen any official statement so am checking out when outside statements are made. All we know is BB was GSBC president on 4-30 and Pastor Trieber was president on 5-5. We do not yet know if BB resigned or exactly what happened.,, or why,,,, or if MZ is involved,,,

    1. Aaaand this is just how the m.o.g.s want it.

      They want everyone to leave quietly, with no reason and to cut off all contact with the m.o.g’s flock. The m.o.g. then makes up whatever convenient reason he can think of to explain said person’s absence. Usually he’ll imply something sinful or something showing a character flaw.

      (Book of Jack pp. 138-140 nos. 5, 6,9-14)

      http://www.stufffundieslike.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/North-Valley-Baptist-Church-Staff-Manual-Jack-Trieber.pdf

      That way after witnessing a few people leave for serious sins/crimes, people in the mog’s flock will assume that whenever anyone else leaves they must’ve done something horrible too.

      This unspoken shunning technique is particularly effective in camps that vilify social networking & internet access.

      Remember folks, the only safe place is in the mog’s fold. Outside of there is the big, bad world where the eeevil people live. If you leave then you must be one of satin’s servants, too.

      1. And please don’t think I’m defending anyone whose behavior that actually IS evil/predatory — I’m just pointing out how the m.o.g.s use evil behavior to manipulate their flocks.

  29. Okay, folks. Here is a statement purporting to be from WCBC about the Zachary situation. I am somewhat skeptical of the authenticity of this simply because I am doubtful that WCBC would actually acknowledge what is going on in this manner. However, FWIW, here it is:

    http://jeriwho.net/lillypad2/?p=13981&cpage=1#comment-2889

    If ANYONE can authenticate or source this, I’d be very interested to know.

    Also, Zachary’s name appears in a case in which North Valley Baptist Church reported sexual abuse of a minor. His name (I am assuming it’s the same guy) is listed as the “pastor” who called the police:

    http://www.fearnotlaw.com/articles/article18134.html

      1. Just to be clear on this:
        In the case cited, Zachary is not listed as the defendant. He was the informant (the guy who called the police). Either that’s not the case he was fired or allowed to resign over, or he was fired simply for reporting a crime.

    2. No, that was the original post from DoRightHAC’s facebook page…not a WCBC document. As far as I know LBC/WCBC has not released anything. I would not trust anything is original to LBC/WCBC unless there is a link to the institution itself or to Paul Chappell’s blog.

      1. That is not to say I think DoRightHAC was wrong about the situation (as posted by JeriWho blog). Only saying it was not an official LBC/WCBC statement.

        1. Yes, Jeri was kind enough to explain this on her blog as well. I guess my next question is where dr hac got this info. I remain very curious to find out the facts especially as I have an entire family who are enamored of wcbc and zachary in particular. (My sister who is currently at wcbc was planning to leave after the one-year Bible course, but he convinced her to stay and they have idolized him ever since.)

        2. I also want to point out that I posted it as a quotation (and made that clear from the beginning) and cautiously used the word “alleged.” The tactic of telling alleged victims to contact a third party first “to put them in contact with investigators” is disastrous, and I wanted to head it off before any victims went and consulted people who are not at all authorized by the police. Normally, I wait for corroboration before I publish these cases. But the incompetence of others who wanted victims to contact them to be put into contact with the police forced me to move forward. If there really are victims out there, I didn’t want them sidetracked.

        3. Bass, had the victims gone to a third party prior to law enforcement, there could have been issues with tainting a witness. I read your advice on that site, and it was sound advice indeed.

        4. I agree Jeri was right to advise against going to a third party first. Very good advice. Police first, always.

  30. I was a “preacher boy” and participated in the sermon contests.

    We were warned about pride in the endeavor and admonished to be humble. I acutely recall one of my teachers sitting in the front row and center of the War Memorial Chapel during my discourse as he glared disapprovingly. He did not like me, and I wasn’t impressed with him, but preach on I did.

    Maybe, I must have thought, he would get right with God.

    I’m sure I still have some VHS tape of a sermonette lying about somewhere. Maybe I’ll find it and send it to Darrell so he can post it.

    No, I don’t think so. There are plenty of other opportunities out there to bore you into a good, deep REM sleep.

    1. Be sure to be “humble” while you’re striving to prove that you’re the bestest preacher boy evah!
      Maybe you’ll win the gold sash and tiara for Most Humble!

  31. My husband, like all senior Bible majors at BJU, had to participate in the preaching contest. I just asked him about it, and he said it was embarrassing.

    1. Here’s the translation: “,Mike Zachary has not actually harmed any victims, but if he has, it is not our fault. And we are making full disclosure, but we will not disclose what he actually did, except you must believe us when we say there were no victims. And if there are victims, it’s the fault of North Valley Baptist Church. Sure, they wouldn’t tell us what he did, until what he did exploded. And we’re still not telling you what he did. But we PROMISE, there are no victims. And if there are, it’s NVBC’s fault, not ours:”

        1. Cool username. From “Brownsville Girl”, I take it? One of my favorite Dylan deep cuts from an under-appreciated album. (IMO)

        2. “The only thing we knew for sure about Henry Porter is that is name wasn’t Henry Porter.” I thought about going with “drunken politician,” but too many people would misread that one. And yep.

        3. She said, “Welcome to the land of the living dead”
          You could tell she was so broken hearted
          She said, “Even the swap meets around here are getting pretty corrupt”

      2. My take on “no physical acts of immorality.” This statement strongly suggests the immorality was of the naughty (or maybe even illegal) pictures variety.

        1. I’m wondering if some of that vague verbiage is saying, in a highly-veiled and deniable way, that he was fired for being gay. I think that may be what “biblically disqualified persons” and “while Dr. Zachary admitted to no physical acts of immorality, he did acknowledge temptations and sinful behavior that was inconsistent with what he had disclosed in his interview process” could be code for.

          But I don’t know. It could be something entirely different. Considering the employer who fired him, it could be for failing to put Armor-All on his car tires.

      3. Reminds me of HAC’s initial response to Schaap. I remember them assuring people there would be no arrest lol.

      4. Also, the repeated NVBC connection strongly suggests that this is in fact related to the Brad Boruff termination.

      5. Thanks for summing that up! I was kind of confused because the news article seemed incredibly vague, but now I realize it’s not me: it was written that way on purpose.

    2. A person using the name “Little Jack” posted the following on SFL’s fb page:

      Here Is What They Won’t Tell You~

      Approximately 3 years ago Dr. Zachary left NVBC/GSBC to work for Paul Chappell at LBC/WCBC. It was a shock, but there was very little negative stigmatism attached. It was generally accepted that Dr. Zachary simply found a better opportunity and was “led” to resign.

      What actually happened was that Dr. Zachary had been found to be having a nonconsensual sexual relationship with one of Brad Boruff’s sons. It is possible the son was an adult at the time which is why it was not reported to the police. (Jack Trieber takes a strong verbal stance on reporting child abuse (not a physical stance though, as he swept under the carpet the fact this his brother in law abused and impregnated an underaged girl many many years ago)). It is very much worth mentioning, however, that Dr. Zachary is still a predator even if the son was “of age”. The student teacher relationship is a strong enough bond as is; throw in the fact that Dr. Zachary has known the Boruffs for decades and this definitely turns this case into abuse. The son is a victim.

      Jack Trieber was made aware of that situation and it wasn’t long until a spot was found for him to “serve” elsewhere. Everyone (Zachary, Boruff, Trieber) agreed that this was the best course of action and thus things were swept clean around NV and everyone moved on. Staff (except a select few) new nothing of this situation. Certainly the deacons were left in the dark on this one.

      ~Fast Forward~

      Three weeks ago, a victim of Dr. Zachary’s came forward with accusations of sexual abuse/misconduct. Another side note worth mentioning is that it is still not confirmed whether or not he took advantage of minors. (Thus the police investigation rather than an arrest like in Jack Schaap’s case.) Paul Chappel (pastor of Lancaster Baptist Church) contacted Jack Trieber with the news and they began to take action.

      Jack Trieber met with Brad Boruff and they both decided that it would be best if Boruff resigned immediately (regardless of the fact that GSBC graduation was just days away). Jack Trieber then brought in CLA/David Gibbs III to draw up a legal contract stating that Jack Trieber had no pryer knowledge of this situation. Jack Trieber gave Brad Boruff a substantial severance package in exchange for his silence. The contract also makes clear that Brad Boruff is not to start or take over a church within 50 miles of North Valley Baptist Church.

      Jack Trieber knew about this situation from the very beginning.

      ~My View~

      People of North Valley Baptist Church, students of the great Golden State Baptist College, your pastor is a wolf in shepherds clothing. Please stop worshipping at the feet of Pastor Trieber and start dining at the table of your Savior.

      I implore you, if you have further information regarding the abuse or have been abused please go directly to the police. DO NOT “receive counsel” from Jack Trieber regarding this situation.

      1. If I am reading this correctly, according to Little Jack there is a known victim at LBC.

      2. Also, FWIW, no contract can absolve anyone from blame for criminal behavior. The quack attorneys at CLA are probably foolish enough to think so and perhaps many sheeple will be successfully manipulated, but you can’t contract your way out of the facts. Sorry, doctor pastor, but nice try!!

      3. I have no respect for any parent who would stay silent over their child’s (adult or not) sexual abuse. And to take money to stay silent again? To cover Trieber’s butt???!!!!! Disgusting.

        1. “If this gets out the lame-stream left-wing godless media will latch onto it and bring shame upon the name of Jeeeesus. Many thousands of lost will be turned away and sadly, burn in hell forever. So we got to keep this guarded in our hearts always.”

        2. Nope. It will get out. Our God isn’t a god of darkness but of light.

          And when it does, what will get out is that christians covered up evil and let it perpetuate because there is no love in them. And THAT is what harms the name of Christ.

          Abuse happens everywhere. Secular institutions are learning to do a better job of dealing with it openly and with love than the IFB ever will.

        3. Tiarali, I totally agree with you. I do think that the old “people will be turned away from Jeeeesus” thing is the IFB way of making people feel guilty if they come forward about having been abused–or having discovered that their children had been abused by an IFB leader.

        4. I know you weren’t seriously suggesting that argument. Just feel sick that people keep tainting God’s name by misusing religion to cover up criminal abuse.

      4. Do you have sources for any of the information you state? Like how you said the victim was Bb son, and that he got a severance package?

  33. I was more confused after reading it than I was before. To me Treiber and Chappell are interchangeable. I can’t keep them straight; maybe because they both have HAC connections.

    1. Chappell has a sex offender pastor brother and Trieber wrote impossible demands to the missionaries on the field that he is allegedly supporting.

    2. Also, King Paul I (Chappell) is the potentate of West Coast Baptist College. King Jack I (Treiber) is the sovereign of Golden State Baptist College. Two “rivals” with a much deeper and more sinister connection than any of us realized. Wonder how King Paul will feel about his beloved WCBC being used as the dumping ground for “problem people” at GSBC.

      Oh, and they are both “the first” since they haven’t quite attained the multi-generational achievements of the Jones and Hyles-Schaap dynasties.

      1. So JT is Lancaster and WCBC, and PC used to be with JT? I knew someone at HAC who came from JT’s compound. Seems to me that Chappell’s name came up when I was at HAC but it’s all fuzzy bad memories now.

        1. Jack Trieber (JT) is the grand poobah of North Valley Baptist Church and Golden State Baptist College.

          Paul Chappell (PC) is the grand poobah of Lancaster Baptist Church and West Coast Baptist College.

          Before joining the existing Lancaster Baptist Church in 1986, PC worked for JT.

      1. Panic over public opinion seems to make internal investigations go away IMHO

    2. If any victim in Lancaster wants to report this, Los Angeles County Special Victims Unit 562.946.7989 is the call to make.

  35. GSBC responds to being thrown under the bus:

    Back to All News
    Response Statement to West Coast Baptist College’s Statement Regarding Dr. Mike Zachary

    May 13, 2014

    On April 21, 2014, Dr. Jack Trieber telephoned Dr. Paul Chappell to cancel a breakfast appointment that Dr. Chappell had requested with him. Dr. Trieber explained that he did not think that it would be an appropriate time for them to meet because there was an on-going criminal investigation in Santa Clara regarding Dr. Mike Zachary, the Chairman of West Coast Baptist College’s music department.

    Dr. Chappell was told that the investigation was on-going and that it was criminal. Dr. Trieber suggested that Dr. Chappell not interfere with the police investigation, and Dr. Trieber always viewed the allegations as both immoral and potentially criminal. That is why Dr. Trieber immediately and personally reported within the hour the allegations to the authorities upon the advice of his legal counsel at the NCLL. Dr. Trieber never recommended that Dr. Chappell keep Dr. Zachary, or any of his staff, as that was Dr. Chappell’s decision to make.

    Irrespective of potentially interfering with the police investigation, Dr. Chappell proceeded to interview Dr. Zachary. During the course of these interviews, Dr. Chappell discovered a number of highly troubling facts and serious admissions from Dr. Zachary—Dr. Chappell’s staff member—that led to Dr. Zachary’s termination. It was later disclosed to Dr. Trieber, on May 1, 2014, that one of his staff members may have known about some of these sinful actions of Dr. Zachary. Once confirmed, this staff member was relieved of his responsibilities on May 2, 2014.

    The actions to which Dr. Chappell stated Dr. Zachary confessed were clearly acts of gross immorality and potential criminality. Dr. Zachary’s dismissal—from a high position of leadership within a Bible college—was completely appropriate. We wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Chappell’s decision to dismiss Dr. Zachary immediately.

    To be perfectly clear, when West Coast Baptist College hired Dr. and Mrs. Zachary, it was done without Dr. Trieber’s direction. Dr. Zachary had resigned from Golden State Baptist College and lined up his interviews at West Coast Baptist College before Dr. Trieber was even aware of Dr. Zachary’s future life plans.

    As a matter of policy, North Valley Baptist Church and Golden State Baptist College report all matters of potential child abuse to the authorities. We do not cover child abuse and we do not hire child abusers. We also do not tolerate immorality among our staff.

    Please pray for the victims in this sad situation. They are the ones that are truly injured.

    We took this opportunity with our staff and deacons to make sure that they understood that failure to immediately report allegations of child abuse is a crime in the State of California and it is grounds for immediate dismissal from our ministry. Transparency, child safety, and accountability are essential for successful ministry leadership.

    http://gsbc.edu/recent_news/responsive-statement-to-west-coast-baptist-colleges-statement-regarding-dr-zacharys-termination/

      1. They both are scared ****less they will be the one holding the bag as the Zachary scandal all unravels. It is like a high stakes game of Hot Potato.

        So why again did Chappell just send Zachary off to Florida with good wishes?

        I did roll my eyes as Trieber tried to show he cares more about victims….since his pervy brother-in-law is still there, as well as the head deacon’s son who was guilty of raping a drugged victim.

        1. He has learned how to talk the talk, or someone (Gibbs) is writing him a script.
          Walking the walk? What’s that?

        2. “So why again did Chappell just send Zachary off to Florida with good wishes?”

          Because nothing says “we’re cooperating with the investigation and being transparent” like sending the person being investigated more than 2,000 miles away and across several state lines from those doing the investigation.

  36. I dont think he cares, I think he is aware how close he was the other time and is playing it safe, even getting CLA help. I think 50% of the response is true.

    1. Re: CLA help. I wonder if the CLA swooped in to help both WCBC and GSBC. That would seem to be a conflict of interest and, thus, unethical conduct by the Gibbs Law Firm. (Sure, most lawyers can always reason their way out of this ethical constraint, but in this case all I can say is: really???)

        2. I wish Leroy Jethro Gibbs would slap everyone on the back of the head. That would solve a lot of problems.

  37. The someone else is NCLL (National Center for Life and Liberty). The president is David Gibbs 111, the son of CLA’s David Gibbs 11.

  38. If you Google ” West Coast Baptist College” all you will see are their sponsored links until the bottom part of page three, when one lonely link shows up for the FFF.org.

    Their IT dept. continues to work their collective butts off to keep this scandal at bay.

  39. Mike Zachary allegedly had sexually abused and raped several young men to include his own sons, a former co-workers son (who will not be named due to his age) and assistant pastor Ryan Thompson. Ryan was allegedly offered the Vice President position at GSBC to remain silent regarding his sexual abuse and made to sign a gag order.

    1. Silence helps no one and puts everyone at risk.

      When will they ever learn?

      Praying for those who have been hurt.

      🙁

    2. And if what you wrote is true…There is no way Trieber would not have been in on such a promotion.

      And who would write up such a contract?

      Or sign it?

      1. NVBC Staff is the source… No one can talk about it publicly because their jobs were threatened. Look on the GSBC site, Ryan Thompson went from event coordinating kiss @** to GSBC Vice President. There are a lot more well qualified assistant pastors for that position. Why him?

  40. The schools jointly have put out something today. check it out on gbc and wcb websites.

  41. Both colleges have released a combined statement and have revised their past statements to appear less hostile.

    http://gsbc.edu/recent_news/joint-statement-of-golden-state-baptist-college-and-west-coast-baptist-college/

    So was this line removed from the GSBC announcement because Trieber lied or just so he would not appear to be slamming Chappell?

    “Dr. Trieber suggested that Dr. Chappell not interfere with the police investigation, and”

    WCBC has removed their entire first announcement from their site.

    1. What’s pathetic is that they redlined their statements and then posted those online so everyone can see what they originally said anyway!! This is getting so ridiculous, it could only happen in fundydom!!

      1. I kinda like that we can still read the original statements. Kinda passive-aggressive if you ask me ;D

      2. THIS! The last sentence of the combined version: “Our nation needs strong local churches and Christlike men of God like never before.”

        Let’s transfer the focus to the nation and off the mess we created. Nauseating.

        1. I agree. “Our nation needs strong local churches”– but not like never before; we’ve always needed them.
          So it’s time for your members to turn away from your whitened sepulchres and move to strong local churches where there are men and women who know they aren’t Christ, but who try to follow Christ instead of the local pastor.

        2. Big Gary, Big Gary, Big Gary!

          I couldn’t have said it better myself. We know the problem, but don’t seem to have the answer.

          Whited Sepulchres full of dead men’s bones is what we have.

          Life, light, and the control of the Spirit is what we need.

          Follow Christ? YES!

          Blindly follow the “local pastor,” or the Mog? NO!

          We deny the scripture for the sake of our traditions.

        3. But BRO, I am struck by how often we actually return to the same initial starting point we took that led us to the problem.

          Is it possible we don’t even know what “control of the Spirit” *is*?

          Is it possible we interpret the Scriptures the way we do because of our traditions? So when we try to “follow the Scriptures” we make the same mistakes, misunderstand the same things, miss the critical lessons, and wind up in as bad a place as we were, or worse?

          Is it reasonable to think that prayer, which has such an iffy answering rate and still seems to allow the wicked to prosper while those trying to be in a right relationship with God and others are squashed, isn’t the answer?

          Does God have to fix all our problems?

          Or is it possible that we have to fix some of our own?

          It has taken me all too many years to come to this point of thinking. We all know that what you sow determines what you reap. Well then, if the reaping seems to be the same, over and over, doesn’t that indicate we are sowing the same thing over and over again but hoping for a different harvest?

          Maybe, just maybe, we should try thinking for ourselves? Maybe we shouldn’t be so submissive? Maybe we need to rethink how we handle and interpret Scripture? If what you believe leads to what you do, then maybe our beliefs are faulty.

          Yeah, this is some tough stuff. I am in the process of figuring out what I believe, how I “believe” it, and what my proper reaction to it should be. There is a lot of uncertainty, but that is okay. I have to make decisions for myself. Faith isn’t, after all, about knowing everything. Faith is about uncertainty, but going forward anyway.

  42. Here’s the dirty little secret: failure to report child abuse prosecutions are almost unheard of. Prosecutors avoid these cases at all costs (although there has been a slight uptick since the Penn State scandal) because they have to prove that the underlying conduct was abusive before they can support a prosecution for failure to report. They’d rather expend resources locking up the abuser than going after someone who knew about it.

    Outside of situations where there is a close connection between the abuser and the non-reporter (e.g., marriage or similar close relationship) and the abuser’s guilt is incontrovertible, it can be quite difficult to mount a prosecution in this area. My own state of Oklahoma is infamous for dropping the ball on this. Legislature went back and raised failure to report from a misdemeanor to a felony in cases where the abuse was known for more than six months. Still no prosecutions that I know of.

    Thus, all the butt-covering that is going on is quite irrelevant from a legal point of view. For better or worse, criminal prosecutions are extremely unlikely in this case (for the pastoral leadership, that is). In the civil context, all the disinformation will only serve to bolster a case against them. So, either they are getting really bad legal advice, or they are just stupid, or they really are terrified that they could face criminal and civil liability (which strongly suggests that they know they did wrong). My money is on the latter option.

    1. Now that we know who their legal advisers are, “really bad legal advice” seems like a strong candidate, too.

    2. It’s usually hard to prove that a non-reporter had constructive knowledge of the abuse, unless he or she was an eyewitness to the actual rape or whatever abuse was done.

      I’m sure there are legal standards for all that, but again, prosecutors are busy people, and they prefer to focus on convicting the people who did the most direct harm.

    3. There’s also the political side of it: The public is fully behind prosecuting child molesters. But the person in the community who merely did nothing about it (but wasn’t the molester) may be a minister or teacher or school principal or other very sympathetic person that the public won’t want to see punished. It sounds good to say “abuse must be reported,” but not many neighbors want to see the coach of the little league team go to jail just for not calling the police.

      1. Just not calling the police is a huge issue that harms children. Just not calling the police ought to be prosecuted.

        1. I don’t disagree, but my comments were about why such people are seldom prosecuted, not about whether or not they ought to be.

        2. Besides criminal prosecution, though, there’s also the risk of civil liability. Not doing one’s legal duty to report could make a person liable for damages ($) to the vicitim.

        3. Responding to the post about the victim suing for damages from a non-reporting pastor/church:

          Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, Pastor Tim Ruhl and David Jorgensen were all named in a civil suit filed by a sexually abused minor.

          ” The victim is suing the church and Tim Ruhl for being negligent in hiring and supervising Jorgensen. She also claims that Ruhl failed to report Jorgensen’s actions when she told him about it. The woman also alleges that Ruhl retaliated against her by expelling her six months before graduating high school and later claiming she was having a child out of wedlock. ”

          http://www.chicoer.com/ci_20143812/warrant-issued-former-chico-church-staff-member-child?source=rss_viewed

      2. Speaking of coaches, Mike “The Predator” Strouf is alloyed to coach on NVBC little league and teach a 6th grade boys class. He was only caught up abusing girls but a pedophile is a pedophile regardless of gender. You would think if you covered up his first crimes you wouldn’t be stupid enough to set it up to happen again. IFB leadership are no better tha Catholic priest.

  43. This makes me so angry. The church is one of the places that should be most concerned with monitoring for abuse – criminologically speaking, often criminals who enjoy power over a victim are attracted to positions of authority, especially positions such as police (or, failing that, security or bylaw officer or something that feels to them like policing) and pastor (or deacon, or other position within a church hierarchy). A classic example is Dennis Rader, the serial killer known as “BTK”, who was both a bylaw officer and a deacon.
    There is an extra risk that churches, and church-run educational facilites, need to be responsible about.

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