Catherine Darnell has been a tireless advocate for PBI abuse survivors.

Hopes Tapestry

This week, a federal judge in Southern California sided with the United States Futures Trading Commission and handed Driver a whopping bill for his shenanigans: $41.4 million.

U.S. District Court Judge Otis D. Wright, II ordered Driver–who used a majority of the money he stole for a lavish lifestyle that included Las Vegas casino gambling missions–to pay $9.6 million in restitution plus a $31.8 million civil penalty.

Wright isn’t messing around. He expects all of the money to be paid by July 22. I’m guessing the judge is unhappy that Driver continues to show no remorse.

Orange County Weekly

Driver has a home in Freelton Ontario, along with a residence in the Las Vegas area. Many Axcess investors from Canada were drawn into the ponzi scheme by 100 Huntley Street host Ronald Mainse, his brother Reynold and cousin David Rutledge. Ronald Mainse and David Rutledge settled with the Ontario Securities Commission in 2010, after being named as finders for Axcess Automation/Axcess Funds, and were ordered to pay 400 thousand dollars in restitution.

Gordon A. Driver was employed at Crossroads Christian Communications years ago. About 1/3 of investors were drawn into the scheme through Crossroads connections.

More at Forbes and Hedgeweek
CFTC pr

To Axcess Automation/Fund Investors: This summary judgement is not criminal. It will take one of the hundred or so who invested with Axcess Automation/Funds to make a call to a US District Attorney and ask for a criminal trial. One of you. It’s been a couple of years, and for many of you I’ve no doubt it’s been a struggle.  Gordon Driver can (and according to the CFTC) will probably keep doing what he did. If you want to insure that no one else is harmed, make that call.
US and Canadian regulatory bodies (SEC, CFTC and OSC) don’t pursue criminal action.
The groundwork has been laid, now it is up to an investor or investors to take a step toward justice.

The process is simple. If you are a US investor download and print a copy of the California court judgement, proof you were an investor, head over to the nearest police department  and ask for a courtesy report. The police will forward what you’ve given them to the Nevada DA. A US citizen doesn’t need a lawyer.

Does anyone know what a Canadian citizen can do, other than crossing the border and completing the same procedure as a US citizen does?

Update:  More from The Hamilton Spectator:

Wright concluded that Driver had enticed people to invest with claims that he had developed proprietary trading software that could help deliver profitable returns ranging from 1 to 5 per cent per week. In some cases, the judge indicated, Driver claimed he could produce monthly returns as high as 43 per cent.

Driver also claimed he obtained profits in seven or eight out of every 10 trades and that he had strategies in place to minimize investors’ risk.

Instead, just a small portion of the pooled funds Driver received were actually traded, according to the judgment.

When he did engage in commodities’ trading, Driver’s efforts were described as “abysmally unprofitable,” the judge said.

Of the $3.7 million in funds Driver traded, he lost approximately $3.5 million – a 94 per cent loss.

The judge noted that Driver used $1.6 million of the money he solicited for gambling in Las Vegas casinos, rent, meals, travel, entertainment, car payments, computer equipment, clothing and cash withdrawals.

“Driver never disclosed his losses to pool participants,” the judge ruled. “Instead, he sent pool participants periodic statements and reports falsely showing profitable returns averaging 5 per cent per week and claimed that he rarely had weekly losses and never had monthly losses.”

The judge has given Driver until Monday to pay the $41 million judgment, although it’s not clear what steps will be taken by the court if the payment remains outstanding.

A spokesperson for the CFTC declined to comment on the judgment or possible sanctions if the amounts aren’t paid.

Driver has been subject to sanctions in the past from both the Ontario Securities Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that date back to 2009.

In an e-mail response to The Spectator, Driver did not respond to several direct questions about the $41-million judgment but instead provided a number of cryptic comments about testimony made by another individual at an OSC hearing in 2011.

Driver claimed to The Spectator that $10 million had been returned to investors before the three regulatory bodies stepped in, that the OSC had proof his custom software was producing annual returns of over 250 per cent, and that an unnamed banker had been prevented from investing $100 million in a hedge fund that could have assisted Driver.

Is the unnamed banker in Goron Driver’s claim, Driver’s brother?

Another confusing and apparently unresolved aspect of  is this: what happened with Reynold Mainse and Steven Taylor’s hearing with the OSC in April 2011?

A) Either this matter is still before the OSC or it isn’t.

As someone wisely pointed out knowing the resolution  of the Mainse/Taylor OSC hearing affects more than the Mainse family. In 2011 Reynold Mainse was credentialled  (ordained) by Open Bible Faith Fellowship. It is doubtful the OBFF would credential Reynold Mainse if the OBFF knew this matter was still before the OSC.

The OSC informed me that resolved matters were posted at the OSC site. To date, results of the April 2011 hearing for Reynold Mainse has not been posted.  However this has, in the 2012/2013 section of Proceedings before the Commission :

C) The OSC allegations are serious and to be fair, if Reynold Mainse is not guilty of what was laid out in the statement of allegations August 2010, the OSC has the obligation to say so.

33. Between July 2007 and March 2009, Reynold Mainse’s trading in the Axcess
Automation Investment resulted in investments by about 22 investors of about USD
4,100,000.00. Of this amount, Driver paid back about USD 2,875,054.00 to these
investors, which Driver characterized as returns on investments.

34. Reynold Mainse identified and corresponded with prospective investors and provided
them with copies of the Private Offering Memorandum which described the Axcess Fund
Investment.

35. Reynold Mainse received commissions directly, and through WCC, of about CAD
210,219.50.

If I am reading the OSC information correctly, matters between Reynold Mainse and the OSC have not been completed. Nor have they been completed between the OSC and Gordon Driver.

I’ve written the Open Bible Faith Fellowship, I found them to have acted with integrity in regards to Peter Youngren, and I know getting this information on the status of the Reynold Mainse/OSC  hearing so far has taken a lot of digging – the OBFF deserves every opportunity to continue to walk with integrity.

My heartfelt thanks to readers who continue to put Axcess Automation/Fund investors first.

What happened at Charisma Magazine? Why would an article by a guest author written in 2004 re-appear front and centre on the Charisma website, with changes, leading the reader to believe it was written in 2012 – without awareness and permission of the author?

The article, Do We Want a Gay America? written in 2004 by Exodus International President Alan Chambers, contained information applicable to 2012, and the discrepencies were quickly noted by several blogs. Right Wing Watch:

Update: Jim Burroway notes that the essay, posted as Charisma‘s headline article under “7/20/2012,” dates back to 2004. However, the article reads, “Six states, plus Washington, D.C., have legalized same-sex marriage, and legal battles are waging in nearly every other state to accomplish the same,” which was not true until last year.

Update II: It appears Charisma has removed the article from its website, but can be read in its entirety below.

Update III: Chambers now says the article does not reflect his current views and has been edited by Charisma:

I am on the beach, literally, with my family enjoying the dog days of summer. I have no idea why Charisma decided to reach so deep, edit and republish an 8 year old article that I am embarrassed that I ever wrote. Our PR team has asked them to remove the article and not to repost it. When I am back in town I will contact them, as well.

Reprinting an article is one thing, changing and reprinting an article without the author’s knowledge is another.

Exodus International has angered former allies in the ex-gay/reparative therapy industry the past few months, by moving away from some of it’s former beliefs. Not only did  several affiliate Exodus ministries jump ship, criticism from the religious right has been loud, as pray away the gay groups and leaders jockey for prominence in the diminishing reparative therapy/ex-gay world and perceived vacuum of  Exodus International’s change.

I’m no fan of Exodus International or the equally odious Exodus Global (operating out of Canada) and I commend LGBT sites and others for asking Charisma Magazine for a clear explanation of why the article today disappeared, once attention was drawn to the discrepancies and embellishments of Alan Chambers re-worked article today. Chambers contacted the magazine. Box Turtle Bulletin:

Update: And it’s down, with narry an explanation as to what happened. It seems to me that what happened at Charisma was very deliberate. If they had simply re-published, unaltered, an eight year old commentary, they might have been able to explain it away by citing some kind of a technical glitch or errlr. Not that such an explanation would be believable, but it would have an air of deniability about it. But as we know, that 2004 article was updated with information that wasn’t true in 2004 — that six states and Washington, D.C. now provide marriage equality. Which means that this article’s revision and appearance was deliberate. There is simply no other way to read this. Charisma owes everyone, but especially its readers and Alan Chambers an explanation. A very detailed, thorough, and unequivocal explanation. Something very sinister and underhanded happened at Charisma. That we know. What we don’t know is what Charisma will do to address it.

By Rick Hiebert. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

Next Saturday, July 28th, is a big day for Faytene Grasseschi as the latest of her big prayer rallies, The Cry Toronto, is planned for Massey Hall in the city’s downtown.

She’s been quite the gadfly in the past few weeks, spending a lot of time crisscrossing Ontario and speaking in various places in an attempt to fill the 2,500 seat hall for the event. She even alludes to how busy she has been in the introductions of her recent sermons.

As she says, gathering for prayer for Toronto is a useful idea. Toronto is a pivotal; and influential city—as she takes pains to mention, and aside from seeking to have God move in the city, anything that happens in the city may be influential outside its borders.
Of course, with Faytene and her friends, it’s likely that there will be at least a leavening of dominionism, but most of those gathering for The Cry Toronto will approach it as a basic hey-lets-pray-for-Toronto level.

But as useful as all this might be, it seems that a bad habit that has crept in to the church is carried on here by Faytene and her allies. This is a small point, yes, but I thin k it’s worth catching.

At 1 08 of this video clip, Faytene says this:

“…And you said that to me earlier today, Crystal that Toronto used to be called ‘Toronto the Good’, you know, so come on, we just want to see more of that in our generation…”

And then, in a prayer of blessing over Toronto, she adds this at 1:52:
“…we bless Toronto. We call it ‘Toronto the Good’…”

I’m reminded of Christ’s admonition “Why do you call me good?” If Toronto has ever called itself “good”, that raises the question “how good?”.

History is being misused again. Wishing, by Christians, “doesn’t make it so”. I’ll explain what I mean.

Wikipedia attributes the nickname to 19th century mayor William Holmes Howland, due to it being a “bastion of 19th century Victorian morality.” If you have a look, the Wikipedia entry for Howland, a devout Christian, notes that Howland, although he tried to do some good things, had a mixed record as mayor:

“Many problems arose when he came back as Mayor. Senior officials were arrested for misuse of funds after a coal-supply scandal broke out and a street railway strike that was backed by Howland had the militia brought in after three days of rioting. His attempt to restrict liquor licences was also defeated by council.

One good achievement was the appointment of an Inspector to the police department to fight vice and prostitution.

During his second term, council’s time was occupied with projects like the Don Improvement Scheme, construction of a new city hall and court-house, waterworks improvements and street paving. He was finally able to have the number of liquor licences issued by council reduced after the passing of the “Fleming Bylaw””.

The Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry on Howland seems to agree that although he had fine intentions, Howland’s record as mayor was mixed.

Well, it’s not fair to rest the reputation of a city on one person, and that is what C.S. Clark thought too.

Clark wrote a 1898 book: Of Toronto The Good: The Queen City of Canada as It Is. I thought that contemporary reporting would be just the thing to address how good Toronto was at the time that the nickname was a byword for the city, so I picked up a copy of the 1970s reprint of the book.

Judging by some things which are written in the book, Clark—if not still working as a reporter or editor–had extensive Toronto newspaper experience.

When you read on the cover of the book that Toronto was dubbed the good at the “Social Purity Congress” in Baltimore and the “World Conference of the Women’s Christian Temperence Union in Toronto in 1897”, you realize that the question “how good” is on Clar’s mind too.

Toronto, Clark writes was “one of the finest cities on the continent in point of beauty in point of beauty wealth and intelligence.” A couple pages later is added this:

“In point of morality the people of Toronto compare…with any other city quite favourably, and if the dark side of life is to be seen here, one may also witness the best….To a certain tent the people are liberal in matters of opinion, and as a rule men do not seek to influence the opinions of others except so far as they are privileged to do so, but any faddist, no matter how absurd or ridiculous his theories maybe, will find converts in Toronto who will be surprised at the lack of intelligence on the part of those who do not fall in love with them.”

So Toronto could have been reasonably said to be as good as any other city, Clark writes. But better? That is the crux of the rest of the book. We need to remember that the book is a product of its time, but the facts cited are telling.

I’ll try to be succinct. Here are some things that I read at random…

A recent election was dubbed by a local newspaper “Running in the Mud” and a recent scandal saw swindling of money at the local water works.

Crime statistics right before the writing of the book were increasing (pg 12) which implies that any godliness wasn’t spreading. Prostitution had been driven underground, noty stopped, as they started to work out of houses and hired rooms. (pg 14). There were accusation that the police were targeting boys for minor crimes and acting in a “purely vindictive spirit” (pg 16, 18) Alcoholism was rampant and whisky dealers had just gone underground.

The world of commerce saw its abuses too. There were “bucket shops” selling fraudulent stocks—“a cold swindle from start to finish”—and abuses in the insurance industry. There are, it is a matter of regret to say so, business houses where a man’s promotion depends upon his ability to speak evil of his fellow workmen.” (pg 60). Workers had to consent to be unpaid for sick days, days off or holidays.

One Presbyterian businessman was described by one of his fellow churchgoers: “He is the sneak of our church.”

Clark turns to public mortality questions next, arguing that prostitution can’t be stopped in Toronto and should be licensed instead. The numbers of bawdy houses were down, but instead, women were improving, using boat houses, rooms in stores, parks and doorways. (pg 86-92)

A Reverend Decarie is quoted as saying that prostitution must still be an issue in the city as the levels of foundling children seemed to be remaining the same. Adultery therefore, remained rife. The Toronto News newspaper reported that there were at least 500 abandoned babies per year in the city. (pg 96-97) In a “certain class of boys” 60 per cent were estimated to have venereal diseases. (pg 102). Women servants in the city were the victim of predatory employers.

Rev John A Williams had a church with conservative rules against “attending operas”, dancing and “playing cards”. These were rules that he couldn’t enforces for if he did, his biggest tithers would leave and they knew it. (pg 99).

Clark was dismayed that the godly people of his day seemed so unknowledgeable. “That describes you perfect moralist precisely. Theoretically and in his own mind he knows everything. Practically he knows nothing.” (pg 116).

”In giving a report on city mission work, the [Toronto] News declared that Toronto slums were worse than those of Belfast…if Toronto is a moral city, what under heaven, must an immoral city be like?” (pg 118)

[If I had been reporting on the thinks that Clark had been writing on, I would be frustrated too.]

Abortion was a problem, as every doctor in Toronto seems to field requests to do them. Classified ads for pills causing abortions ran in local periodicals. (pg 123, 125)

“The great inconsistency on the part of so many people lies in the fact that they dread appearances. People may feel almost revolted at the houses of ill-fame, yet I have shown that this goes on without cessation. Drunkenness, which is not a sin, is looked upon with abhorrence by Pharisees generally who demand the prohibition of the liquor trade, but they appear to be quite indifferent to the fayes of scores of girls who are going to the bad.” (pg 128)

The city of Toronto cited figures which argued that streetwalking had been cut in half, but their sources were not the type of people who would come across street prostitution. Often, Clark argues, certain working class women were reduced to doing prostitution on the side. (pg 131, 134-35)

Illegal gambling was rampant, as was drunkenness. (pg 143)

“Toronto is essentially a city of churches” writes Clark. This is a major section of the book, dominating the last quarter og the book. I suspect that Clark is not a regular church goes, as the author devotes a lot of space to hypocrisy and unChristlikeness in the church.

In the conclusion, Clark writes:

“It is customary in writing of a city to praise it. I have done no such thing. I have told you of the city as I have found it, and if it is not palatable, it is the scity’s fault and not mine.” (pg 209).

Clark would not have been asked to write tourism brochures for the city of Toronto, but where there is smoke, there is fire.

Toronto was, no doubt, a city with many committed Christians who tried their best, but we do need to examine the fruit. To hold up Toronto has an example at that time, invited someone like Clark to do what they did.

I have to wonder of “Toronto the Good” has been used in an ironic or sardonic sense many times since then. Was the city called that with a bit of a wink?

As much as I might be tempted to exult, as someone from the West, in this, I know that my own city would suffer at the hands of a Clark.

Every city has its good and bad points. Calling it “Toronto the Good” also neglects the work of many reformers, such as those inspired by the “social gospel” for example. If Toronto was always “Good” in some mythical time, you can happily ignore the real work that may have been done to fix real problems since when it was though to be “Toronto the good”

If you look at Toronto as it was and is, you might find things to be genuinely merit. But starting as Faytene did, in a flip way, does a disservice to history.

By Rick Hiebert All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

An Alberta man was removed by church security from a service earlier today after he heckled the church pastor about a business transaction that threatens to remove the congregation from its home. And CBC News cameras were there for the aftermath.

At Victory Christian Center in Edmonton, pastor Cal Switzer had Wally Glimm physically removed after the latter started yelling out about the church’s financial problems during this morning’s service.

Glimm told his side of the story to CBC TV afterwards. Apparently, the pastor holds an overwhelming interest in the holding company that owns the church property. Switzer, the CBC reported, then used the church property as collateral for a contract that went bad and now a judicial forced sale means that the church property is up for sale.

The story quotes the pastor’s explanation of what was going on, from his point of view, which prompted Glimm’s indignation. He’s still expressing his indignation when interviewed on camera:

Update: Monday’s Edmonton Journal has a story, with their own accompanying video. They write that the pastor could not be reached for comment.

It’s here.

The mother of a Chinese student murdered and dismembered in Canada announced that she has converted to Christianity and was recently baptized in the wake of the gruesome case.

‘Patrick’ Jun Lin, a Chinese student studying in Montreal, was murdered in May. AFP:

“Last Sunday, I decided to get baptized,” Lin’s mother Du Zhigui said in emotional remarks at a religious service in a Montreal church of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada, an evangelical organization that includes 400 congregations and 120,000 members around the country.

In her speech on Saturday, occasionally interspersed by sobs, she said the pastor of the church, Philip Cherng, approached her when she first came to Canada upon news of her son’s killing, adding “the voice of God comforted me.”

Du, who had her first contact with Christianity in Taiwan seven years ago, told the audience of roughly 100 people that she still felt “much grief,” according to a French translation of her Chinese comments.

…

Lin’s father also attended the gathering but did not address the crowd.

Du said she intended to found a charity to “help parents who have lost their children” and thanked the Chinese community, Concordia University and various other Canadian institutions for their support.

Lin’s funeral will be held July 26th.

Montreal Gazette

via: Mainstream Baptist

There isn’t much on TV tonight so I’ve been watching TVNWeather – canadogreg’s chaser stream. I’ve also been following along on Twitter – #skstorm.

As I was posting, the cell continue to form. This is east of Weburn Sask. Nasty.

Nasty up close.

A minister who sought 500 thousand dollars in damages for defamation against a former church member who blogged about her experience with his church, will be paying the former members court costs and legal fees.

Rev. Chuck O’Neal of Beaverton Grace Bible Church grabbed world-wide attention this year when he filed a defamation suit against Julie Anne Smith, her daughter and a couple of other former church members. (2 of thedefendants were dropped from the suit in May)  The background to this strange sage can be found at bgbsurvivors in the section titled My Story.

What did Julie Anne Smith do that incurred the wrath of her former pastor?
She initially posted reviews of the church on Google and when they mysteriously disappeared, she started her blog to outline her concerns about the spiritual abuse and shunning she and her family had experienced. A few days after her blog went up, she received notice O’Neal was suing her.  The defamation claims of Chuck O’Neal did not impress the judge:

“The court finds that the defendant’s Internet postings on plaintiff’s website and defendant Julie Anne Smith’s blog site were made in a public forum and concern an issue of public interest. The court further finds that plaintiff has not met the burden of presenting substantial evidence the defendant’s statements are defamatory.”

KATU:

“(O’Neal) has the right to govern his congregation in the manner in which he chooses, and defendant Julie Anne Smith is authorized by law to express her disagreement with his performance of those activities,”  (Judge) Fun wrote in the ruling dismissing the case.

Some of the best coverage of this Beaverton Grace Bible Church bully suit has been by Tom Rich of FBC Jax Watchdog – another blogger who dared question his pastor and who also faced spiritual abuse and struggles in US courts. To paraphrase Tom:

Bloggers 2
Angry pastors and hyper-authoritarianism 0

If I understand US anti-SLAPP laws correctly, insurance won’t pick up the cost for Chuck O’Neal and his supporters.

Previous post on the blogger and Beaverton Grace Bible Church
Beaverton Grace Bible Church
Court documents
I Corinthians 6:7

In 2009 a few Christians wrote me, alerting me to possible investment fraud, involving a guy from their former church named Daniel P. Reeve.

Investors who have had the misfortune of knowing Daniel P. Reeve who have started to talk to each other by email believe between them they’ve lost 4 million dollars. I wonder if they are the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

The loss to investors may be as high as 30 million dollars. What struck me at the time was how tenacious and persistant hurting investors were in seeking justice. Losses for some were staggering, investors gathered in a forum at Red Flag Deals and started sounding the alarm in 2007. It is now 2012 and charges have finally been laid:

After a two-year investigation, victims expressed relief on Friday when charges were laid in what could easily be the biggest fraud case in Waterloo Region’s history.

Former financial adviser Daniel P. Reeve, who ran the now-closed Millionaire in You Wealth Institute in Waterloo, DPR Financial in Cambridge and related companies in Waterloo Region, has been charged in connection with a fraud that is estimated at $30 million and involved 175 potential victims between 2006 and 2009.

That may not be all. Sgt. Rob Cowan of the Waterloo Regional Police fraud branch said the investigation is ongoing. Other arrests could be made in the case, and there could be other losses.

Despite a cease and desist in 2009, a quick internet search indicated there was no compliance on the part of Mr. Reeve.

In May The Financial Services Commission of Ontario put out a cease and desist order against Daniel P. Reeve. Sounds good. My question is where’s the beef?

A piece of paper issued in May and made permanent in June hasn’t stopped Reeve.
Closure of offices and hasn’t stopped him. An active criminal investigation publicly announced in June hasn’t stopped him. Civil lawsuits, creditors, angry former investors, millions of dollars…

The Waterloo Record:

The victims range from retired, elderly persons to business people and professionals. Some were people who Reeve had attended church with. Others were people who met him when he was an independent contractor with limited authorization to sell insurance-related investment products such as segregated funds on behalf of companies such as Manulife.

Reeve’s licence to sell insurance-related investment products expired in 2007 and was not renewed. But in 2009, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario filed a “cease and desist order” against Reeve, saying he contravened the Loan and Trust Corporation Act by running a loan or trust corporation while unregistered.

The order, which was never appealed, alleged that Reeve unlawfully obtained deposits totalling $950,000 between June, 2008 and the middle of April, 2009.

Reeve has been charged with fraud and theft over five thousand dollars.

While civil suits have been filed (with one receiving an award of one million dollars) it is unlikely any investors will see any return on their losses.

Reeve will appear in court in Kitchener Ontario Monday for a bail hearing.

Timeline

By Rick Hiebert. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved

It’s going to be increasingly hard for evangelist Todd Bentley to make a living, judging by some recent press coverage.

He seems to have settled down to a level of work and prominence of the sort that he had before Lakeland with some minor changes.
He’s not based in Canada any more, and ministers here infrequently. Ministering anywhere near his old ministry base, in Abbotsford B.C., near where his kids may still, presumably live, seems to be something he won’t be doing soon.

He’s keeping the habit of not ministering in many big Cities, with the attendant possibility of media coverage. Rather, he works close enough to cities and airports so that a fan, if they are determined enough, can come see him.

He seems to be ministering outside of North America with the same frequency as he did before he became famous to the average Christian. But his history is tagging along behind him like a little puppy as readers of a small English newspaper realized about a week or so ago.

I’m guessing that this comes from the local newspaper in Croydon , England. Croydon is one of the southern suburbs of London, inside the region of London.

Bentley is scheduled to hold a series of meetings there from August 30 to September 1. And I think, judging by what they wrote, the reporter will be waiting for Bentley when they show up.

There are no new quotes from Bentley, but the reporter has done their homework. They refer, high up in the story, to Bentley’s claims to heal people by beating them up and his time in jail as a teen after he molested a child.

The “face-kicking faith healer” reference relates to one night at Lakeland, when Todd Bentley started talking about the odd things that “God” would have him do when praying for people on other occasions. It’s probably his most infamous clip on YouTube, in various forms.

The reporter could have easily quoted this particular video clip where at 0:40, Bentley starts to say this:

“…And I’m thinking why is the power of God not moving? And He [God} said, ‘Because you haven’t kicked that woman in the face’ {Shot of Stephen Strader in the crowd, laughing] And there is this older lady worshipping right in front of the platform and the Holy Spirit spoke to me. The gift of faith comes on me. He {the Holy Spirit] said ‘Kick her in the face with your biker boot. I inched closer and I went Bam! {Makes full hard kicking motion with his right leg] and just as my boot made contact with her nose she fell under the power of God…”

[Radio apologetics  Todd Friel, playing this and other clips from the same sermon on his program was not only dismayed, but puzzled too. He said “What are they laughing at, exactly? He’s hurting people…” ]

The writer for the Croydon Advertiser was no doubt also warned by the national Express tabloid newspaper, which has done fine coverage of Todd Bentley. Most recently, last December, their story on his first visit to Britain in years ran with the headline “Beware of the tattoo preacher”

The newspaper had also written critically on Bentley before this so hopefully a bit of a meme has been created in the English press.

Interesting note at the end of the story. The Croydon conference center that Todd has rented for his meetings is owned by a local church, Folly’s End Community Fellowship. Bentley is listing the church as a co-host of the meetings, the story reports, but the pastor of the church is paraphrased as taking pains to note that they merely hired out the facilities to Bentley and nothing more.

The church has “nothing to do with the event”. Thus the church’s name might prove to be prophetic, one could say.

For evangelicals, one’s “stance” determines one’s standing. What does it mean that a stance is the all-important determinant of one’s status and legitimacy in the community?

Part of what it shows, I think, is the way that stance trumps sub-stance. This is a reflection of the underlying theology, in which faith trumps works, words trump deeds, and intellectual assent to propositions trumps what the Bible calls “bearing fruit.”

Every stance will, inevitably, produce some form of action, but when stance is paramount, those actions are an afterthought. In the stance-obsessed evangelical culture, such actions tend to be of a rather passive variety — demonstrations of verbal, financial or political support for a particular stance. (Or verbal and financial support for political action in accordance with that stance.) But when one’s stance is what matters most, the consequences of such actions are viewed as inconsequential.

Thus if this offering of political support results in political acts that harm others, such consequent harm is not accounted against those who supported it because, to them, such harm was incidental and collateral to the primary intent of their action — which was to demonstrate the propriety and firmness of their stance. Any resultant harm should not matter in this view, because nothing outweighs the greater good — the greatest good — of maintaining the correct stance.

One result of all this is a mutual bafflement between stance-obsessed members of the evangelical tribe and outsiders who do not share this tribal preoccupation. Unlike the evangelicals, those outsiders are still laboring under the assumption that harmful consequences count for something.

Fred Clark goes on to look at the Chick-Fil-A stance, comments by the CEO on  the ”biblical definition of the family unit,” and how a recent Christianity Today article chose to downplay the backlash as “controversy.”

Dan Cathy and Chik-fil-A are exerting power against other people. They are using their financial power to leverage political power in order to deny others their rights.

Chik-fil-A’s critics aren’t concerned about Cathy’s opinions, but about his actions — his actions against them.

For Christianity Today, opinions are what matters most. For them, the important thing is Cathy’s “stance” and not the substance of his actions against others. They thus can’t begin to hear, let alone to understand, the substance of those others’ complaint against the fast-food giant. Evangelicals are obsessed with stances and words and opinions, so they assume this must all have something to do with stances and words and opinions.

slacktivist

The internet community of former Independent Fundamentalist Baptists has been buzzing none stop this week, when news that IFB rock star leader Jack Schaap of First Baptist Church Hammond had been fired.

Churchgoers and students at Hyles-Anderson Bible School had initially been told their pastor of 11 years was on medical leave. A Facebook group called Do Right Hyles-Anderson formed earlier this week has just reported that Schaap is in custody.

Schaap was fired Monday night after admitting he had an improper relationship with a young woman, believed to be underage. It is also believed the teen was transported across state lines to meet up with the 54-year-old Schaap who has two adult children. The Indiana Lake Country Sheriff’s department and FBI are involved in the investigation.

If it is true Schaap was taken into custody tonight, the 15 thousand members of First Baptist may not yet be aware. Over 1 thousand went to a church meeting earlier tonight to learn what was going on.

HAMMOND | A somber crowd of people filed into First Baptist Church’s Wednesday night Bible study service with feelings of hurt and disappointment.

Several church members said they were praying for Pastor Jack Schaap, who was fired from his role as the church’s leader Monday after allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a young girl surfaced.

Most declined to comment prior to the service and said they were praying for the Schaap family.

More than a thousand people filled the church during the Bible study, which was led by the Christian Law Association’s David Gibbs Jr.

Heartfelt “amens” were spoken throughout the crowd as Gibbs vowed to fully investigate the scandal that left many shaking their heads.

He asked anyone who may have any additional information to bring it forward to the church immediately.

Abuse experts and former members are urging people to not go to church authorities but to go directly to police.

It is extremely unusual for leaders in the closed system of Independent Fundamentalist Baptists to take the step of going to authorities with information and issuing a press release.

Church officials told media Wednesday it was unlikely that charges would be filed against Schaap for his involvement with the underage girl.

Church spokesman Eddie Wilson said the girl is 17. The age of consent in Indiana is 16.

“There has been a lot of conjecture regarding the girl in the press,” Wilson said, adding that the girl and her family are church members. He said she isn’t a student at the Schererville-based Hyles-Anderson College, where Schaap was the chancellor until he was relieved of his duties. “We don’t expect charges to be filed against him (with regard to statutory rape).”

Oh. That opinion may be different in the morning. That there would be misconduct isn’t a surprise to people knowledgable about the IFB movement, it was that Hammond First Baptist Church contacted police and fired their superstar.
While news outlets have been all over this story, the best information and background is out on forums and blogs.

Stuff Fundies Like helped get the news out with this post and in it’s forum under Fundy news and World Report. The Fighting Fundamentalist Forum thread Hyles-Anderson College has been going none stop.

Columnist Mark Kiesling isn’t hiding his scepticism. Jeri at Blog on the Way who has helped abused IFB men and women  says that the unprecedented step of church leadership going to authorities is a CYA move.

And yes, a lot of us are sure that the sudden helpful, transparency policy of FBCH, a church with a history of stalking and harassing child victims of sex abuse and their families, is traceable right back to the Jerry Sandusky and Penn State case.

Please don’t make saints out of the FBCH deacon board. That church has covered a multitude of sins against children and women. Schaap should have been rebuked and expelled long ago.

Jeri doesn’t mince words, which makes sense when going up against the IFB legalistic sub-culture. Blog on the Way is a good place to start if you want to learn about the Independent Fundmentalist Baptist movement.

By Rick Hiebert All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission

Earlier today, I bought a used copy of the fairly new book To Be Perfectly Honest. On the way back to my office, I started to read.

You might see it in your local Christian bookstore. It’s by the noted Western Canadian speaker and writer Phil Callaway, who recently took a vow to try to speak and act only truthfully for a year. This book is the result.

In the introduction, Mr. Callaway writes that he comes from a family of (perhaps rhetorical) horse traders and that while he would love to read a book by someone else who had made the I-will-be-honest-to-a-fault pledge for a year, he balked at making the pledge himself.

The end of the introduction–where I’ve stopped reading for now–has a note that made me go “Hmmm…”

It reads like this:

“This book is a work of fact. I have, however, taken two liberties. First, I engaged in minor chronological adjustments. Second, a handful of names and minor details were changed so that I may continue to live in peace and go out in public without incident in the small community I call home. I suppose a nomadic lifstyle would be ideal for an author. You could breeze into town, point out people’s inconsistencies and hypocrisies, then hightail it out of there before they discover how inconsistent and hypocritical you are. The first draft of To Be Perfectly Honest contained all the actual names and places, and it was really quite fun. But I realized it’s like a Wal-Mart greeter pointing people to Target. Not all that smart.”

I don’t want to be too hard on Mr. Callaway, but I found it deliciously ironic that four pages into his “I was honest for a year!” book, he has an “I have noticed the year is now over!” sort of note. Of course, as someone who at least used to write for a living, I totally understand the “Names have been changed to protect my behind!’ sort of disclaimer. Would we have seen it in a Christian book on honesty 50 or 100 years ago?

There’s lots of chew on. if you think about it. Can Christians make with-the-bark-off honesty work? Have Christians always had a “go along to get along” attitude, and should we be concerned about this? Are there valid reasons to “fudge”? Intriguing questions. Some editor at a publishing house should get an author to wrestle with the subject as the results would certainly be thought provoking.

As for me, I know myself well enough to not make the same sort of promise that Mr. Callaway did. Unless, of course, I made it easier on myself by also taking a contract–at the same time–to live among the Bedouins and teach sheep how to blog. [Typing sheep: "The flock has decided to beat up the human tonight as he just won't stop snoring..."]

By Rick Hiebert All Rights Reserved Used by Permission

For Todd Bentley, who plans to minister in the London suburb of Croydon later this month, things are going from bad to worse.

We already know about the article in the Croydon newspaper. Well, now in this weekend’s editions of the national tabloid newspaper the Daily Mail, that paper has turned its attention to the evangelist.

Their article. which you may read here also mentions Bentley’s teen molestation conviction and assumes that he was telling the truth about his violent faith healing stories.

This puts Bentley in a spot though. In order to allay what seeems to be a developing fear in the Bentley-is-violent meme, he’ll have to say “Oh, I was lying when I was sharing those stories. I have never been violent.” No surprise to some of us that he lies, but that would neatly undercut his image as the great healer of Lakeland.

I’m pleased that the Daily Mail is onto this, but I would have gotten a quote from this MP, and lead the story with what they report here towards the end of the story:

“Labour MP for Croydon North Malcolm Wicks has urged Home Secretary Theresa May to ban Mr. Bentley from the UK. He told her ‘His visit can do nothing but harm and I would be grateful for any measures that you can take.’”

Will there be questions in the House, especially if Bentley doesn’t watch his behaviour?

I’ll bet that the Daily Express, which has led the British press with its coverage of Bentley for many years,is onto this. If Bentley is about to become a “nine day wonder” and the hounds of the English tabloids start to work as a pack to get the story for their own papers, Mr. Bentley, the fox, will have his work cut out for him.

By Rick Hiebert. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission

We may be coming up on a holiday in Canada, but I wonder if Todd Bentley may be on his way to becoming a “nine-day wonder” in the English press. No holidays for Bentley for a while if that happens to him.

The Daily Telegraph, a newspaper in Sydney Australia, was so astounded by Todd Bentley’s alleged antics–which promise to get him in a spot of bother before his visit to Croydon, England later this month–wrote a story of their own for what I would guess would be their own Sunday edition.

Let’s recap for a moment. Todd Bentley is scheduled to visit, Croydon England, near London, starting August 30. The local newspaper, the Croydon, Advertiser, looked on the Internet and learned that Bentley had been imprisoned for molesting a boy and saw one of his wilder testimonies from the Lakeland video, on video. They used this to do a “Can you believe this guy?” sort of story, which you can read here. I noticed the Croydon story and added my own comments here.

Earlier today, England time, the Daily Mail did their own story, moving it forward by noting that a local MP has sent a letter to Britain’s Home Secretary, asking that Todd Bentley be banned from entering the country, due to the alleged violent way that he healed people.

Evidently, an editor at the Daily Telegraph in Sydney Australia was amazed too. Their news story on Bentley earlier today quotes both the Croydon story and the Daily Mail story for what I am guessing is their “international news briefs” section. It had the added feature of a video clip of Todd Bentley–a noted fabulist–telling his tales of violent healing.

Two quick comments, before dozens of reporters in England try to bring Bentley to ground if this story “has legs”.

Bentley now faces a Hobson’s choice. The best way that he can protest that it is safe for him to minister in England is to say that he was lying lie a rug when he shared from the stage in Lakeland in that infamous video clip. That, though, will indicate to potential audiences around the world that he was not above lying spectacularly when he felt it necessary.

The first secular reporter who wrote on Bentley–who not only caught him lying in a flagrantly reprehensible to their readers but also to the readers of a prominent US magazine–would no doubt say “Well, duh!”. As would the many reporters and bloggers who have exposed Bentley as the evangelist with no clothes since then.

But if Bentley is to avoid returning to working in a sawmill, he has to try to maintain that he is truthful. Thus he used to do those things, but doesn’t do them any longer. That worried authorities in England may not believe.

My second note is a big caution for the press. Do not assume that anything that Bentley says about his past is the truth. He could have been building and building a fabulous tale of the violent stuff he has done in order to please an audience. He once mentioned in an old old sermon tape of his that the only thing he had to his name before becoming born again was the “gift of gab.”

I would hate to be Bentley if the British press turns on him as a pack.

Should someone have the rights and privileges of ministerial (ordination) credentials given by a branch of the Ontario government when that person is under investigation by another arm of the provincial government?

Reynold Mainse, son of David Mainse, founder of Crossroads Christian Communications Inc. is listed as an ordained minister by the Ontario Attorney General. He is licenced to perform marriages (Marriage Act 1990) and under Revenue Canada tax law, can claim a Clergy residence tax deduction.

As I’ve checked the ongoing investigation of Axcess Automation/Gordon Driver/Crossroads/100 Huntley Street online occasionally, I decided to look at the Ontario AG’s list in July and mentioned  at the end of an update post that Reynold Mainse was listed as an ordained minister in good standing with the Province of Ontario. The information has been eating at me, and I contacted the agency who extended the right and privilege of ordination to him.

Mainse is ordained by Open Bible Faith Fellowship. First, a bit of background.

Reynold Mainse, Axcess Automation/Funds and the Ontario Securities Exchange

In April 2009, it came to public attention that  the Ontario Securities Commission, the US Securities Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission were investigating an alleged 14 million dollar ponzi scheme run by Canadian Gordon Driver. Over 100 investors in Canada and the US were targeted by his Axcess Automation/Axcess Funds.
A timeline of the investigation, and documents is here.  Gordon Driver had worked for Crossroads, as had David Rutledge, a cousin of Reynold Mainse who was also named in the early documents.

Mid-May 2009, Ron and Reynold Mainse disappeared as hosts of 100 Huntley Street, the flagship program of Crossroads Christian Communications Inc. In June Crossroads broadcast a brief statement.  The on-air removal of founder David Mainse sons was covered by various media outlets, and Crossroads ordered a forensic audit to ensure that no viewer donations had been invested in the scam.  Crossroads board declared in July 2009 that the organization was clean.  Meantime it came to light brothers Ron and Reynold Mainse were being investigated as ‘finders’ for the ponzi scheme.
In August 2009, Reynold Mainse made a statement, shortly after the Crossroads board released this statement, and in October 2009, Ron Mainse was re-instated as a 100 Huntley Street host and Spiritual Director. Reynold Mainse made a brief 100 Huntley Street appearance around the Haiti earthquake and disappeared from public view again.

In August 2010, Ron and his cousin David faced the OSC regulatory music.

The son of 100 Huntley Street founder David Mainse and his cousin have been ordered to pay nearly $450,000 in restitution and penalties to the Ontario Securities Commission for their roles in an alleged Ponzi scheme created by a Freelton man.

Ron Mainse, an ordained minister and a leader of Burlington’s Crossroads Christian Communications, was ordered to repay about $138,000 in commissions he received from Gordon Driver, who is alleged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to be the mastermind of a $14-million US Ponzi scheme involving nearly 200 North American investors.

Mainse was also ordered to pay a $10,000 penalty and refrain from trading securities or becoming a director or officer of a company that reports to the OSC for eight years. Mainse’s lawyer, Jay Naster, turned over cheques for the entire amounts to the OSC at yesterday’s hearing.

David Rutledge of Ancaster, Mainse’s cousin and also an ordained minister, was ordered to pay back nearly $263,000 in commissions he received from Driver, pay a $35,000 penalty, and refrain from trading securities or becoming a director or officer of a reporting company for a period of 15 years.

Rutledge turned over a cheque for $90,000, has agreed to sell his Ancaster home to finance another $120,000 in restitution and will sign an undertaking with the OSC to repay the remaining $88,000.

What about  (Rev.)Reynold Mainse? His initial hearing with the OSC was scheduled for April 2011, along with Steven Taylor, a childhood friend of Gordon Driver. A decision about Mainse being an alleged Axcess Fund finder are not resolved. He is alleged to have brought in 22 investors to the tune of 4.1 million. He is alleged to have received a finders fee of over 210 thousand dollars.

The OSC investigation is far from over for Reynold Mainse. So why is he currently an ordained minister through the OBFF?

I asked, and the OBFF got back to me promptly.

Reynold Mainse and the OBFF 

I do not believe the OBFF (which handles about 500 ministers) was up to speed about Mainse and the OSC.

OBFF is now. That having been said, the OBFF answered that since the board of Crossroads Christian Communications Inc. put Reynold ‘in good standing’, that is enough of an endorsement for continued ordination.

Did the Crossroads board endorse Reynold Mainse  as being free and clear ethically and morally for ordination and employment?

No.

We are pleased that Ron Mainse and Reynold Mainse have taken the time away from Crossroads to process the issues around the current circumstances and are actively engaged in their own personal and spiritual journeys, before renewing their public ministries. They have the prayers, love, and full support of the Board of Directors. We would like to assure our partners that while this matter has taken some time to process, the process of the Board of Directors is, and will continue to be, preserving the integrity of 100 Huntley Street.

This statement is about the legacy of Crossroads – a forensic audit indicating that no Crossroad donor money was used to invest in the ponzi scheme. That employees, family and others around Crossroads who invested were broken, their finances drained and relationships shattered by the actions of the finders. The use of the charities money is the focus of this Crossroad board statement, not the Mainse brothers personal investments or  roles as finders.

The OBFF has to have a relationship of trust with churches and organizations which endorse people for ordination. The OBFF doesn’t have a researcher to check transcripts, employment and character of it’s applicants. While everything I’ve posted is public knowledge, it took some digging. I don’t believe the OBFF moved past it’s trust of others to do their own digging in this case.

The OBFF also stated their need to “respect the leadership of 100 Huntley  who endorses him.” (Reynold Mainse)

Look at this statement carefully from the 2009 board:

We are pleased that Ron Mainse and Reynold Mainse have taken the time away from Crossroads to process the issues around the current circumstances and are actively engaged in their own personal and spiritual journeys, before renewing their public ministries. They have the prayers, love, and full support of the Board of Directors.

Reynold Mainse has not finished processing the issues – the Crossroads board was aware in 2009 that the OSC is far from finished with him. I’ve prayed for Reynold Mainse to, but I wouldn’t endorse him for ministry while he is facing the OSC.

Another term for ‘in good standing’ is ‘covering.’  I don’t see how Reynold Mainse has the endorsement of the Crossroads board regarding the resolution of his ‘personal issues’ and it wouldn’t matter if he did.

Is employment cause for ‘in good standing’?

No.

Reynold Mainse is not employed by Crossroads.

I’m hard pressed to understand how he is under Crossroads ‘covering’.  Even if he was employed at Crossroads,  TV is a business – if Crossroads needed an engineer with specific skills it wouldn’t matter if he was an atheist or a zoroasterian, if a Christian isn’t available, they hire who they need.  If employment does put someone ‘in good standing’, this doesn’t apply for Reynold Mainse, by Crossroads own admission, he doesn’t work for them.

An endorsement by a father is not an endorsement by a board. David Mainse anger and hurt at media and blogs for covering his son’s involvement in the ponzi scheme is a matter of public record. Reynold is his son, and the heart and hurt of a father is not an indicator of ‘good standing’ with a charity board.

Reynold popped up on tv again May 29, 2012, during 100 Huntley Street’s Founders Week.  Starts at 5:02 and ends 6:27. Both Reynold and his father are careful to say he took pictures for his dad for a month, not that he has been working for 100 Huntley Street, CTS or with other Crossroads projects. If David Mainse paid his son Reynold for photos out of Crossroads money, does the Crossroads board know? Would that payment be considered ethical by donors?

Reynold Mainse has a photography business, called Mainse Media Group, which, ironically is endorsed by George Woodward, the Secretary Treasurer of OBFF.

At what point does OBFF become an enabling party to an unresolved investigation?

I don’t believe Reynold Mainse was not warned about his involvement with Axcess Funds. The OSC acknowledges in the settlement with Ron Mainse that Ron Mainse had misgivings. I find it difficult to believe the brothers didn’t talk about concerns. And while Crossroads operates in it’s own bubble, I find it difficult to believe people knowledgeable about investing didn’t sound a warning to Reynold. Would ordination be forthcoming if Reynold had been warned?

The OBFF believes Reynold Mainse lost his home as a result of his involvement with Axcess Automation/Funds and the OSC investigation.

This belief is concerning for a couple of reasons.
Yes, Reynold Mainse moved recently. However if ‘he lost his home’ there are a couple of possible scenarios:

a) he may have made restitution with one or more investors from the proceeds of his house sale, but if he did he would be compromising his defense. What about the losses of other investors he allegedly found, and restitution with them? The OSC is investigating, no lawyer would advise his client to do pay back some people he allegedly brought into the ponzi scheme and not all.

b) perhaps Mainse has handed the OSC funds (restitution/fines) as a goodwill gesture. Hence the house move. That is a possibility if there was been an admission of guilt that has not yet been made public. If there has been an admission of guilt, why is there an ongoing investigation?

c) selling a home could be done to protect assets as a preventative measure against OSC findings down the road. If the new home is purchased, it could be in his wife’s name. The new home could be a rental, assets could be under a trustee.  Divestment can also count against someone under investigation.

To believe Reynold Mainse ‘lost’ his home, opens up a can of worms for the OBFF.

Being an ordained minister is a privilege, and a calling, not a right.  Would a mainline denomination ordain a man or woman who is under investigation? If they did and became aware of an ongoing investigation, would that denomination suspend the ministers licence until matters were resolved?  The denomination could ill afford not to.
Accountability to the body matters,  clear and public demonstrations of consequences speak loudly.  If allowances are made, a door opens to all kinds of abuses.  Followers of Christ and the public deserve better.

Reynold Mainse is innocent until found guilty or cleared, but until then, why isn’t his licence under suspension?

The OBFF management and board have an opportunity to re-evaluate their ordination/licensing decision and do their own investigation.  Boards are tasked with diligence, to avoid all appearance of evil. When a secular agency like the OSC buckles down and does it’s job for investors and society, and followers of Christ lag far behind practising accountability, we are all the poorer.

By Rick Hiebert. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission

Readers of Saturday’s Vancouver Sun may have been surprised to see a photo of a nun dominating the newspaper’s front page.

The August 11 issue of the city’s broadsheet newspaper had a big feature story on the small group of Dominican nuns who are waiting for the 23,000 square foot Queen of Peace monastery to be finished construction near Squamish B.C..

The story points to the new monastery and other ancedotal evidence–such as the fact that two other orders of nuns have recently planted roots in B.C.– as evidence of a new appeal for contemplative Roman Catholic spirituality.

As you may know, Dominican nuns, as the story attests, place great value on quiet and meditation. “We don’t Tweet,” the Sun quotes a nun as saying.

In an age that increasingly seems non-religious, why the increased interest? Well, the reporter guesses, older women may be finding that the nun’s sort of faith is a good fit for them as they start to think about winding down their secular careers.

Sister Claire, the order’s prioress featured in the page one photo, has an optimistic theory:

“Before, people came to religion through their parents, through tradition. It was a custom, it was a given, presumed. And a whole geberation of people let go of that because it wasn’t their personal faith….And now they’re coming back, but it’s a new wave coming back. It’s a personal quest.”

This article in Christianity Today, The Second Coming Christ Controversy, is going to generate discussion in North American evangelical circles.

While the piece centres around the Southern Baptist Convention and it’s business dealings with the copious holdings of David Jang and his Olivet University out of San Francisco, there are interesting ties to The World Evangelical Alliance headed by Canadian Geoff Tunnicliffe.

Five months after Tunnicliffe’s appointment in 2005, the WEA opened an Information Technology Center on the San Francisco campus of Jang’s Olivet University. Several sources say that organizations started by Jang and his followers began to support the WEA financially, and in April 2007, Jang was accepted onto the WEA’s North American Council. Two months later, Olivet University invited Tunnicliffe to be their commencement speaker and presented him with an honorary doctorate. Over the next four years, The Christian Postreporters also began to work for the WEA as press secretaries, and an Olivet graduate became director of communications. The former CEO of Deographics was appointed executive director of the WEA’s IT Commission. An Olivet graduate from The Christian Post and Jubilee Mission was hired as their chief of staff. The WEA’s website moved onto the servers that host the websites of The Christian Post, Olivet, Young Disciples of Jesus, and other Jang-associated organizations. Soon thereafter, the WEA began sharing office space with Jang’s companies. Some 20 organizations associated with Jang have been accepted for membership into the WEA (composing a third of its global partners and a sixth of its associate members). However, none of the former members CT talked to, nor any of Jang’s critics, alleged any wrongdoing by the WEA itself; where there was concern it was simply that the WEA had given legitimacy to Jang and his organizations by associating so closely with them.

Tunnicliffe, who previously worked for The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, responded to Christianity Today questions.

The strong ties with Jang’s people and The Southern Baptist Convention are evident  in the ownership and running of The Christian Post, an online conservative religious news site.  Canadian media organization Crossroads Christian Communications Inc.  affiliates with The Christian Post, providing The World Report, and runs a citizen journalist site called MyVu, partnered with The World Evangelical Alliance.

The core of the concerns which surfaced in Asia about 10 years ago.

Over the last five years, ministries and organizations founded by or connected to Jang have gained influence in American and global evangelical ministries, including the World Evangelical Alliance. Yet in the same period, a number of mainstream Christian organizations in Korea and China have severed relationships with his affiliated organizations after investigating such claims and finding them credible. Other groups have reconfirmed their ties after their investigations cleared him. Now, as Jang’s businesses and ministries have sought greater recognition and expansion in the United States, Christian leaders and ministries here are asking similar questions about Jang, his affiliated organizations, and their theology.

News N Joy, a Korean Christian website, reported in 2004 that it had four conversations with Jang about his career in the Unification Church after Jang objected to one of the site’s articles. In the interview, Jang said the description in the Sun Moon University history book was inaccurate, but acknowledged that he had worked for the school until 1995 (he did not officially resign until 1998). “He explained that the reason he was involved in Sun Moon University was to teach orthodox theology to Unification Church members,” the site reported. “In addition, he added that he led a lot of deluded people to the way of truth.”

Both sides agree that Jang has long had more orthodox ties. According to a résumé Jang submitted to the Christian Council of Korea, he received his M.Div. from Hanshin University in 1990 and a Ph.D. from Dankook University in 1992. That same year, he was ordained as a Korean Presbyterian minister, and by 1999 he was moderator of the Hang Dong Presbytery.

…But according to several sources with experience in Jang-associated organizations and communities, many members of the movement believed that the key event in Jang’s early missionary endeavors is not in his résumé—nor, indeed, in any written source. It was believed, these sources said, that in or around 1992, early follower Borah Lin told Jang that she believed he was the “Second Coming Christ”—not Jesus Christ himself, but rather a new messianic figure that would complete Jesus’ earthly mission. According to several former members, Lin became an important spiritual figure in Jang’s closest circles.

Christianity Today’s Senior Managing Editor Mark Galli – Monitoring Controversy, Why some stories take a long time
Associated Baptist Press – NAE investigating possible Glorieta buyer
The Davidian Watcher blog
Ken Smith blog – Confessions of a Would-be theologian
Anne Brocklehurst: International Business Times and lock-ups
Strengholt: World Evangelical Alliance: In the grip of big money?

Update: The Christian Post responds. Rebuttal by Ken Smith.

via: Bible Belt Blogger

The United Church of Canada has elected it’s first gay moderator.

Ottawa Citizen:

In a historic vote, the United Church of Canada has elected its first openly gay moderator.

After six ballots and nearly eight hours of voting at the Church’s 41st general council in Ottawa on Thursday, Rev. Gary Paterson emerged from a record field of 15 candidates to win the top job at Canada’s largest Protestant church. He is thought to be the first openly gay person to head any mainstream Christian de-nomination.

The 350 voting commissioners at the general council greeted the announcement with cheers and a prolonged standing ovation, and quickly voted to make Paterson’s election unanimous.

United Church news:

The 63-year-old Paterson is married to Tim Stevenson, who is currently a Vancouver city councillor and who made history as the first openly gay person to be ordained in The United Church of Canada 20 years ago. In June, they celebrated their 30th year of being together. He is the father of three girls from a previous marriage and has four grandchildren.

United Church of Canada Organization statistics
United Church Overview of Beliefs