Bethel Church leaders: Step up to compensate victims. Step down to save the church, restore trust.

Bethel Church in Redding, California.

Three years ago, one day after Valentine’s Day, I met with Kris Vallotton, Bethel Church’s second in command, or, as he likes to call himself, Bethel’s chief prophet. It was a noteworthy arrangement, because Vallotton typically shuns secular-media journalists, which includes yours truly, publisher of A News Cafe, right here in Redding, California. ANC has posted numerous stories about Bethel Church over the course of many years. Most — not all — have been critical in nature.

There was also a first-person confession I wrote about my years as a Bethel Church member, from a time long ago when Earl Johnson, Bill’s father, was pastor of the then-Assemblies of God-affiliated Bethel Church in Redding.

Full disclosure, while I’m confessing: In the ’70s my kids’ dad and I were close friends with Bill and Brenda Johnson during our young-married Bethel Church days. In fact, they were among other Wild Olive performers who sang at our wedding.

Wild Olive singers from left: Brenda “Beni” Johnson, Cindy Kilpatrick, Bob Kilpatrick and Bill Johnson.

A fruitless, pointless meeting

Kris Vallotton, second in command at Bethel Church in Redding.

Credit for my Feb. 15, 2023, Vallotton meeting goes to Bethel Church elder Julie Winter, who was then also a Redding City Council member. She reached out to me and Vallotton in a joint email that suggested Vallotton and I should meet. “I believe you both value truth and justice, and that you both want a healthy, vibrant community,” she wrote.

The day I arrived at Vallotton’s Bethel Church office — escorted by his young, pretty assistant — trouble began the moment I sat down and pulled out my notebook, pen, and cellphone to take photos and record the conversation. Vallotton held up his hand. He asked if I could please hold off taking notes and recording, so that part could be off the record.

Well, yes, OK.

As I continued with my questions, which Vallotton answered openly and energetically, I periodically reached for my notebook and phone. Each time Vallotton held up his hand and said he still needed to be off the record.

All the while, Vallotton replied to my many burning questions: Had Vallotton actually claimed that he’d assisted in the restoration of women’s hymens through prayer that had rendered the women born-again virgins? What about the gold dust, the “angel” feathers, the glory clouds, the fire tunnels, Beni Johnson’s grave-soaking, and the attempt to raise toddler Olive from the dead? What about Bethel’s conversion “therapy” to “pray the gay away”? And housing. What about the fact that some Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM) students are crammed sometimes six, eight, or 12 in one dwelling, with some students even sleeping in literal closets? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone if Bethel just built its own dormitories for BSSM students, to help alleviate Redding’s affordable-housing shortage for non-Bethel folks?

These topics are from memory, so I can’t say for sure, because again, what with the empty notebook and lack of a recording device.

However, I do recall several of his answers to the most sensational questions. Unfortunately, I am bound by my off-the-record agreement with Vallotton to not reveal his responses. Had I known when I stepped into Vallotton’s office that day that he would ultimately not utter a single word on the record during our entire 90 minutes together, I would have left. Instead, that entire conversation was a colossal waste of my time.

A day or so later a huge bouquet of red roses was delivered to my home. A card accompanied the flowers with the message, “Jesus loves you and He wants you back! Kris”.

Perhaps Vallotton judged my spiritual status based upon the fact that A News Cafe and I had openly questioned and criticized Bethel Church over the years.

If that’s all it takes to be considered a heathen in Vallotton’s book, then over the last month in particular I’ve unwittingly found myself among distinguished company with literally thousands of people around the world simultaneously questioning and criticizing Bethel Church leaders, now more than any time in Bethel’s history.

Crucial distinction between Bethel flock and Bethel wolves

This is a long post, so before we proceed to the primary topics of prophetic fraud and sexual clergy abuse, I don’t want to bury the lede regarding an important clarification: I am of two sharply divided minds when it comes to Bethel Church as a whole. One mind concerns Bethel’s leaders – supposedly the shepherds. The other mind concerns its followers, the sheep.

It’s precisely because I see those two camps in such a divergent mindset that my car will never display a locally popular “BUCK FETHEL” bumper sticker.

Here’s why: Although I do not personally subscribe to Bethel’s teachings, I have met many, many Bethel followers. Generally speaking, I’ve come to see them as earnest, decent human beings, and true seekers of God. Tens of thousands of people have traveled from far-flung corners of the world to not just marvel at promises of Bethel Church’s charismatic “signs and wonders” but to grow closer to God at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM). Some BSSM students sell everything they own to travel here to enroll in BSSM, or to attend conferences. Some never return to their original homes, so they remain here in the North State where they sometimes open businesses, and spend money.

Even so, once in Redding, many BSSM students — especially those in their teens and 20s — often live in abject poverty. Many share spaces so crammed with roommates that some students actually sleep in closets or sheds. Part of the requirement of being a BSSM student includes contractual expectations that they will participate in all kinds of community service, everything from grimy grunt work, such as cleaning creeks and doing landscaping at Turtle Bay, to working in after-school programs. Basically, BSSM students are farmed out by Bethel like indentured servants.

Free labor! The community loves it!

Plus, while I’m not sure if this is still the case, it’s been reported that students who are “lucky” enough to work as interns for some of Bethel’s top brass must actually pay for that honor, as well as for any travel expenses incurred while accompanying Bethel leaders on trips around the globe. And when they attend classes, they purchase books written by senior leaders; authors who earn royalties from those book sales, such as by Bill Johnson Ministries’ 53 books, and Kris Vallotton Ministries’ 21 books. Bethel also offers so many Authors and Ministries, all of which have books for sale. And that’s not even counting the income from not just BSSM tuitions, but conferences, Bethel merchandise, and opportunities to purchase Bethel’s digital products.

More money for Bethel!

While it’s true that Bethel preaches the prosperity gospel, the money — provided by the flock — is raptured uphill to Bethel leadership, while the sheep continue to live like paupers in the misguided belief that if they give freely to Bethel, they will be blessed freely in return. Meanwhile, they’re still waiting for financial blessings that will never come as they rely on SNAP benefits and food banks.

Students come yearning to be transformed into true prophets and healers, as if acquiring heavenly spiritual gifts is as easy as learning to knit. In fact, Johnson and Vallotton have said that they’ve told students to expect to make at least three false prophesies as they practice the art of prophesy, in a sort of you-win-some, you-lose some miracles-and-wonders game of supernatural darts.

The thing is, what if those failed prophesies are literally a matter of life and death, such as when cancer patients quit treatments because a phony prophet claimed their healing? There are multiple documented cases of ill people who’ve traveled to Bethel for healing. They receive prayer and sometimes a prophetic promise of healing, and their “healing” is announced at Bethel as a glorious miracle, which results in much fanfare, and whoops of joy. Praise Jesus. But when those people soon perish from illnesses that were never healed, Bethel never issues a correction. Instead, other believers who’ve heard the original false claims of healing bring their loved ones to Bethel for an anointing and healing of the similar terminal conditions, which, of course, were never healed in the first place.

Truly, it’s fraud on a criminal level that’s literally killing people.

Finally, what if a flimflam so-called prophet named Shawn Bolz used social media to drum up fake prophetic words, like one that said a young woman should marry a man who later turned out to be a psychopath who nearly killed her, which was exactly the case with a young former BSSM student named Jubilee Dawn?

More about that in a moment.

Bethel leadership: Lifestyles of the rich, famous, entitled, tone-deaf

That second mindset I mentioned? It’s highly critical of Bethel leadership, people who claim to be loving shepherds, but in reality they behave more like arrogant wolves who’ve abandoned the flock, leaving them exposed to groomers, liars, fakers and predators.

No surprise, since people’s true human natures don’t change, here in Bethel’s present season of tribulation, it turns out that Vallotton is as transparent now as he was with me three years ago, which is to say, he is not transparent.

Only this time, he, Johnson, and the entire Bethel Church leadership team is in serious trouble with a literal come-to-Jesus moment. They’re currently in the throes of what must feel like excruciating exposure, scathing scrutiny and well-deserved vilification in the strongest terms possible. This thorough shellacking isn’t led by worldly secular journalists, but primarily other Christians, everyone from Pentecostals and Charismatics, to Bible scholars and even former BSSM students. In past years Bethel has endured – and glibly blown off – criticism galore since its inception. This time is different, thanks to one man named Mike Winger, who posted a bomb-shell video on January 17 that potentially threatens Bethel Church’s very existence.

Winger deserves a Pulitzer Prize for the extraordinary investment of investigative accuracy, due diligence, tenacity and thoroughness into what Winger identifies as Bethel’s “cover-up culture”. He has the dirt on Bethel leadership and those they protected. Winger proves that Bethel leadership absolutely knew bad stuff about bad people who brought harm to the Bethel flock.

Mike Winger. Photo source: biblethinker.org

Bethel leadership is now backpedaling as fast as possible to explain what Bethel knew, when they knew it, and what they did about known predators they’d previously fawned over and promoted, like fake prophet/sexual deviant Shawn Bolz, or Bethel staff member Ben Armstrong, who was recently placed on administrative leave after Winger’s truth bomb revealed allegations of clergy sexual abuse in 2009.

Winger spent hundreds of hours compiling evidence before he blew the whistle on Bethel Church. Winger shared multiple damning details that called into question Bethel’s credibility. These revelations could bring the end of Bethel Church as we know it.

According to Winger, his video reveals “how Shawn Bolz and his victims sent me down the rabbit hole to find generations of fakery, abuse, lies, and Cover-up Culture. Tons of evidence tons of names. Light will shine.”

Winger is a Christian who believes in the gifts of the spirits, such as healing and prophesy. He lives in the Los Angeles area, where he is the featured teacher at Bible Thinker, a ministry dedicated to equipping people to think and live biblically. His nearly six-hour video project was created after several people contacted him and reported being victimized, and said they’d sought help from various Christian leaders, include Bethel’s. As a last resort, the victims sought Winger’s help after they were ignored when they attempted to sound the alarm regarding Bolz’s prophetic fakery, where he scammed people by looking up personal information on social media, then pretending he was delivering a word from God.

And then there’s Bolz’s alleged clergy sexual abuse. Although Bolz lives in Southern California, Bolz’s misdeeds are relevant to Bethel Church because he had close ties with Bethel Church. He had been embraced and praised by Bethel leaders as a spiritual son, and Bolz had regarded Johnson as a spiritual father. Shawn Bolz wrote a forward in Danny Silk’s “UNPUNISHABLE” book. Bill Johnson wrote a forward in Bolz’s book, “Translating God.”

You scratch my book, I’ll scratch yours. 

Winger spent months of digging on his quest for the truth, much of which was buried. He interviewed people, read through reams of information, and dug some more. Finally, he posted his nearly 6-hour masterpiece expose’ that’s received more than 1.5 million views, and has nearly 16,000 comments, including scores of messages from current and former BSSM students and Bethel Church members.

Winger’s project names names, reveals irrefutable evidence, shows documents and plays audios and videos that bring the receipts that uncover some of Bethel’s darkest secrets, now dragged out into the light of day for all to see. It’s ugly stuff, but it’s not new stuff. What’s new is that information previously hidden about Bolz is now public.

The same is true regarding Ben Armstrong and allegations of sexual clergy abuse that doesn’t just reach back to 2009. Somewhere in the mid- to late 1990s evidence existed regarding Armstrong’s sexual proclivities back when he worked as a youth pastor for Bob Johnson, Bill Johnson’s brother, who ran a street ministry called Frontline Assemblies of God church in Redding. According to one witness, members of Bob Johnson’s church knew all about it. They confronted Armstrong and chastised him. He was demoted to custodian and bus driver until he was eventually invited by Danny Silk’s wife, who worked at Bethel’s children’s school, around 2006 or 2007, to work as BSSM’s Revival Group Pastor. That job included overseeing BSSM students, many of whom were young women.

Somewhere out there is the young woman with whom Armstrong was involved in the mid-’90s, back when he and his wife were newly married, and expecting their first child. Did Armstrong refer to that relationship as an “affair” too, or was it another case where Armstrong the youth pastor groomed and assaulted another young woman?

Either way, with each new wave of increasingly incriminating information that’s been revealed, Johnson, Vallotton, and company have vacillated wildly in their responses. They’ve made excuses. They’ve expressed indignation (Vallotton) and disbelief (Johnson). They’ve written statements that sounded like they were penned by 5th graders, followed by statements that sounded like they were drafted by legal teams. They’ve feigned ignorance. They’ve blamed social media. Finally, like frightened, weak-kneed little boys who buckled under the pressure of discovery, they’ve even cried crocodile tears.

An ocean of tears won’t save them now, because with each new disclosure, with each new victim who steps up to tell the truth, those stories empower other victims to come forward and share what happened to them, too.

I’d like to extend to Bethel leadership the benefit of the doubt and belief that in the beginning, they had genuine, pure-hearted motives when they founded the post-Assemblies of God Bethel Church in 1996. Even if true, it appears that at some point they lost their way and misplaced their moral compass. What we know now is that not only did Bethel’s top leaders know about Bolz, but they alerted top-tier staff to no longer deal with Bolz, and they alerted favorite leaders inside select churches. But they failed to alert the flock, which contributed to the creation of new victims, unaware of Bolz’s false prophesies and history of sexual abuse.

The ‘why’ for Bethel’s failure to take action seems obvious, and it’s about more than protecting a spiritual movement: It appears that Bethel leadership cannot relinquish their greedy grip on their old model because they’ve developed an addiction to wealth, power and all the requisite perks. This is a group who went from poverty in Weaverville to enjoying lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous in Redding, where they are treated like Christian royalty. They’ve spent millions on real estate, expensive vehicles, trips, vacations, big-game hunting, first-class flights, and expensive meals at exclusive restaurants around the world. They rake in the dough from Bethel’s cash-cow music ministry, and receive yet more money from book sales and speaking engagements. To further extend their reach beyond Northern California, they have replicated this model in cities around the world, like a highly contagious virus with no cure in sight.

To their credit, they’ve designed quite the clever, multi-level racket that covers all the bases. Bethel has wisely endeared itself to the community by providing the city with a steady supply of BSSM workers at no charge. Likewise, Bethel has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city of Redding, with safety in mind, and what’s not to love about that? Also, Bethel’s revolving door of fresh new BSSM students provides income to Bethel Church members who’ve invested in real estate rented by Bethel students. A quick search for Redding Airbnbs will product a variety of listings that contain titles that offer clues about possible Bethel-affiliated hosts, with code words like hope, blessings, heavenly and spirit.

Disclosure: I have two long-term Airbnbs, mainly for traveling nurses, but they are also sometimes booked by BSSM students. If BSSM closed tomorrow, I would join other Airbnb and VRBO property owners who’d lose money from the absence of Bethel renters. I’ve often said that if Bethel pulled up stakes and left Redding, our economy would collapse. I suppose we shall wait and see how likely a scenario that could be.

Many BSSM students who’ve made Redding their permanent home have helped beautify neighborhoods with tastefully remodeled homes. Crazy as this may sound, but it’s almost as if there’s a Bethel design template that makes Bethel-affiliated homes recognizable by common details, such as natural wood finishes, and lots of black, white, and gray, and a front door with a jazzy pop of color. Affluent Bethel-affiliated folks arrive with cash, and plenty of it, and can easily outbid potential buyers who rely on traditional bank financing to buy not just dwellings, but spiff up formerly decrepit downtown buildings and transform them into hipster new businesses. Often, these businesses are instantly successful, because they’re supported by thousands of fellow Bethel congregants. This ready customer base gives Bethel-affiliated businesses a financial leg up over non-Bethel-affiliated businesses operated by regular folks trying to survive in a highly competitive economy.

Ben Armstrong: Bethel leaders were aware of his predatory nature

Ben Armstrong.

According to Bethel Church’s website, Armstrong is now on administrative leave from his position as Overseer of Prophetic Ministry. This decision followed the release of videos that featured stories from 2009 by two former BSSM students, Sarah, and Rozanne. Sarah was Armstrong’s intern, then in her early 20s. Former Bethel leader, Danny Silk, who wrote “UNPUNISHABLE – Ending our love affair with punishment” – devoted a portion of his book to the story of Armstrong’s so-called affair. From the pulpit, Vallotton has called Armstrong his hero.

Rozanne was a BSSM student from South Africa who was 19 when she says Armstrong groomed her and touched her inappropriately under the guise of helping her heal her of “intimacy issues”.

A trio of victims speak

Sarah

For the first time since Sarah’s alleged abuse by Ben Armstrong at Bethel Church 16 years earlier, she recently shared her story on the Wake up and Win podcast. She explained how Bethel Church leaders characterized the clergy sexual abuse by Ben Armstrong as an “affair”. Sarah said the story about the incidents involving Ben Armstrong was not just untruthfully recounted on multiple platforms, but Armstrong literally capitalized on the abuse by incorrectly characterizing it as an “affair” in Danny Silk’s book “Unpunishable”.

Rather than be fired for his predatory actions with a young female intern, Armstrong was promoted as the Overseer of Prophetic Ministry, while Sarah was ostracized, stared at, and treated like a scandalous fallen woman.

Not only was she Armstrong’s intern, but for a time she lived in the Armstrong home where she felt like part of the family. They ate together and watched movies together. She cared for the Armstrong children so Armstrong and his wife could enjoy date nights. Sarah believed Armstrong when he described himself as her spiritual father. She felt included, and even participated in a ceremonial “adoption” ceremony surrounded by Armstrong family members where she was presented with a small piece of the Armstrong family’s Scottish tartan plaid, a symbolic token of her connection with them. Another time Armstrong blended his blood with Sarah’s from one of their small scratches, similar to a blood-brother ceremony.

Below are excerpts from the Wake up and Win podcast where Sarah describes the last time she was assaulted by Armstrong.

The podcast hosts read a letter from a Bethel couple who tried to help Sarah.

Following the abuse, Sarah said she entered a dark period of her life that lasted for nearly 16 years.

Rozanne, sexually groomed and abused by Ben Armstrong

Rozanne

Like Sarah, former BSSM student Rozanne hadn’t spoken about what happened to her 16 years ago at Bethel Church. However, she recently turned to social media to share her experiences that involved Armstrong, incidents she now classifies as clergy sexual abuse. Rozanne tells her story in this interview that’s received more than 44,000 views, and more than 550 comments.

When Rozanne first traveled from South Africa to attend BSSM as a 19-year-old, she said Armstrong confided that she seemed like a loner. He then initiated some one-on-one meetings, such as on park benches, where Armstrong said he would help her with her intimacy issues; crucial if she ever wanted an intimate relationship with a man. Rozanne said that sometimes, as Armstrong spoke to her, he would sit thigh to thigh beside her, and then drape an arm around her shoulder, letting his hand dangle in front of her chest. Other times he placed his hand on her knee, and then incrementally moved his hand higher up her thigh, until he’d reached the top of her leg. When he asked Rozanne if his touching caused her to feel uncomfortable, and she answered yes, he replied that her discomfort was proof of her intimacy issues. He suggested that her father probably had issues, too, which he theorized contributed to Rozanne’s “intimacy issues”.

Rozanne said it took some time after she returned home from Bethel to realize that there was nothing wrong with her father, or their relationship, but that Armstrong had planted seeds of doubt and villainized her father as a way to justify his grooming and inappropriate physical contact.

Rozanne recalled that at Bethel, Armstrong was known as a “touchy” guy who would sometimes give young female students back rubs in full view of everyone, including his wife. Or he would sit in a chair between two young women, with one arm around each woman’s shoulders. Rozanne said Armstrong’s physicality was normalized with statements like, “This is what friends do,” and “This is Kingdom culture,” and “This is heaven on earth.”

Jubilee, nearly killed by the man she married after a false prophetic word from Shawn Bolz

Jubilee Dawn

Former BSSM student Jubilee Dawn’s story has received nearly 56,000 views, and is prefaced with this statement: “I married a psychopath after following a prophetic word from Shawn Bolz. We now know that Shawn is a con man who got all of his information off of Facebook. Bethel church has been covering this up for years, so let’s trauma dump.”

Jubliee Dawn divorced the man who almost killed her. Since her departure from Bethel she’s been an outspoken critic of BSSM, which she frequently refers to as a cult.

After Winger included Jubilee’s story in his video, Vallotton was said to have told people that he’d reached out to Jubilee, Rozanne, and Sarah, something all three women said was false at the time. (Vallotton may have contacted the women since then.)

Jubilee’s podcast, “Healed-ish” recently featured an interview with Sarah, Armstrong’s intern who was also groomed by Armstrong.

Jeremy, former BSSM student and Shawn Bolz employee, said Bethel knew about Bolz’s abuse and false prophesies

Jeremy

In Jeremy’s video he explains how he came to know Bolz’s true nature after working for Bolz in Southern California for more than seven years. Jeremy, a former BSSM student, went on to work for Bolz as a senior staff member who helped build Bolz’s ministry, which included ghost writing Bolz’s books, publishing content, and managing Bolz’s business systems.

Jeremy’s video describes first-hand observations related to Bolz’s sexual misconduct and boundary violations. For example, Jeremy said that when sharing lodging for ministry-related travel, that Bolz often walked around nude, sometimes masturbated in front of Jeremy and others who worked for Bolz, and sometimes texted penis photos.

“I also explain Bethel’s involvement, my personal relationship with Pastor Bill Johnson, and why institutional blame is often misplaced when abuse occurs in parachurch ministries,” he said on his podcast. “I am not sharing this out of bitterness. I am speaking from a place of health, responsibility, and healing. This video exists for clarity, accountability, and for others who may still be processing similar experiences. Viewer discretion advised.”

Shawn Bolz, perhaps the least of Bethel’s problems

Winger’s video expose’ has triggered an avalanche of new videos by other Christian podcasters who’ve weighed in with their own analysis of Winger’s revelations about Bolz’s fake prophesies and  predatory sexual practices. Meanwhile, Bethel leaders continue to play apology whack-a-mole as each new accusation emerges. They’ve released multiple statements. They’ve preached sermons that alternate between defensive excuses and tearful apologies.

In Vallotton’s “Sheparding in the 21st Century” sermon, he opened the service with testimonials from BSSM students about the awesomeness of BSSM. Eventually, Vallotton found his way to discussing his unfavorable opinions about online accusations, ostensibly as featured in Winger’s video, although Vallotton never mentions Winger by name. In this excerpt below, Vallotton runs the gamut of claims, emotions and appeals for sympathy. His message ranged from Vallotton’s tearful recollection of domestic violence from his childhood, to chastising social media stories, to boasting that he’s such a great debater that he wins almost every debate.

Finally, he addressed the subject of accusations, without one iota of empathy expressed for the victims.

“You have to decide, like, are you really, really, really, really, really, really sure that you want to publicly expose somebody who’s in some form of the process, are you ready for that, because, because you don’t know people like you did when you’re in Weaverville,” he said.

“Like, are you really sure that’s the right thing to do, because as soon as you say, you know,’ Henry is unsafe’ or say something like that, you just destroyed that person’s reputation. You just better be very sure, because putting something on the internet’s like, like the book of life, like, it doesn’t get erased.”

“I’m pointing out that what people say on the internet costs families, and if your father does something that feels wrong, or whatever, and your last name is, I don’t know, let’s say Jones, just because it’s a popular name, or Smith, and you’re a Smith, and your father did something, or your mother did something, and you publicly rebuked that person, you shamed the entire family line,” he said.

“Are you really ready to do that? Because I’m asking myself the question when they come up, are you ready to do that? Because you can’t take that back, and if you find out later, oh, there’s a lot of other circumstances, or that person that you thought was a wolf is actually somebody, and you hear their story, and they’re like, they were raped when they were little, they grew up on the street …”

In one of the first sessions from the pulpit following the Bolz data dump, Johnson, who’s known for his one-liners, spoke tearfully, with a catch in his voice as he looked down and spoke quietly with a slight smile.

“Some things are inexcusable,” he said in almost a whisper. “I’m just glad they’re not unforgivable.”

[Hint, hint. That’s the cue to forgive him.]

Johnson’s overall message was one of contrition, and did include expressions of concern for the victims. Johnson apologized for being slow to act, without mentioning the gaping timelines of when witnesses claim Bethel leadership first had knowledge of complaints about wrongdoing by both Bolz and Armstrong that date back to approximately 2018 in Bolz’s case, and decades earlier in Armstrong’s case, to a time, as Vallotton mentioned, way back when the Vallottons, Johnsons, and Armstrongs were all serving in the same church in the little mountain town of Weaverville.

Reserve judgment until you’ve heard evidence

I know this is a lot to take in. I highly suggest you watch Winger’s entire video. You can speed it up if you’re in a hurry. I watched it over two days at regular speed, and am not sure I could have digested the information relayed any faster.  Likewise, if you feel inclined to stand up for Ben Armstrong, and defend Danny Silk, who made bank with a book about Armstrong’s so-called “affair” then please watch the interview that features Sarah, the young intern who tells how she was groomed by Armstrong, sexually assaulted, and had her life systematically destroyed.

Former BSSM student/Bethel worship leader expects full transparency, immediate resignations

Finally, if you believe that those who speak out against Bethel are just Godless heathens wanting to tear down the Bethel movement, perhaps out of jealousy, then please first watch this video by Jesse Westwood. He’s a former Bethel Church employee and former Bethel worship leader. As he says, it’s easy to criticize. Westwood is a solution-driven guy. He created what he calls expectations for Bethel Church leadership, which you notice is a much stronger word than “suggestions”.

Jesse Westwood, BSSM alum, and Faith Reframed podcaster

Westwood, a Faith Reframed podcaster, fled his decade-long stint at Bethel so disillusioned by false prophesies and questionable practices within Bethel that he eventually became an atheist and bolted from Bethel. On his podcast he describes himself as, “BSSM Graduate, turned atheist, turned to Christ, turned podcaster.” Westwood has posted several podcast episodes about Bethel on his site. Because of his long history with Bethel as a student and worship leader, Westwood is uniquely qualified to weigh in with authority on this subject.

Although certainly, there are deeply loyal Bethel supporters who will rush in to defend Bethel leaders, the fact is that there is a growing number of former and current BSSM students who agree with Westwood’s list of expectations for Bethel leadership. The pressure is mounting as other Christians create podcasts about their take on the Bethel controversy.

In Westwood’s podcast, he presents a list of expectations specifically written for Bethel Church leadership. He says they have a rare opportunity to “do what others have not done” and model what ownership looks like by implementing the following:

•  A truly independent, transparent investigation.

•  Immediate repentance, restitution, and practical support. Some matters do not require investigation to address. They’re already visible.

•  Pull the “Unpunishable” from the Bethel bookstore, and publicly acknowledge the harm many believe it has caused.

•  Finally, senior leadership must step down.

“This is the moment, Bethel,” says Westwood in his podcast. “Transparency across the board. Transparency in investigation. Transparency in repentance. Transparency in restitution. Transparency in leadership transition. Anything else will only deepen suspicion. Anything else will resemble to the very pattern that wider church is weary of watching. Light is not the enemy of the church, concealment is. The eyes of many are watching, and more importantly, the Lord sees.”

“So this is just a simple appeal … I know I may stand alone in some ways, but if you are fellow alumni and you agree with this, then share. I believe what’s written up here. I stand by it, and I do feel like it is the best way forward for Bethel.”

One step further

I agree with Woodwood’s list, with some additional suggestions:

• Not only should Johnson and Vallotton resign, but so should the entire leadership team, as well as any Bethel staff members who subscribe to the current Bethel leadership’s style, ethics and vision. After all, Johnson and Vallotton’s resignations would be pointless if they were only replaced by family members, or those who were part of Bethel’s current cover-up culture that put the flock at risk.

•  Victims of clergy sexual abuse should report any crimes suffered while attending Bethel Church, or by Bethel staff, or Bethel Church affiliates to the Redding Police Department, the Shasta County District Attorney, and, for abuse that happened outside the city of Redding, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.

• If the acronym BSSM must remain, then change its meaning to something like Bethel School of Spiritual Ministry, and ditch the woo-woo supernatural.

•  A massive class action lawsuit should be filed to provide justice and full compensation for Bethel victims who suffered trauma, loss, clergy sexual abuse, and false prophesies that resulted in significant mental and physical damages, as well as any financial harm, loss or trauma. That includes, but is not limited to:

Those who acted upon a false prophesy that pronounced a loved one cured of cancer, so they stopped treatments, and the person died.
Those who believed a false prophesy that God wanted them to relocate their family and/or business from the other side of the world to join Bethel to find prosperity, and they became destitute.
Hopeful couples who received  false prophesy predicting pregnancies that never happened.
     Gay BSSM students who experienced psychological damage from sessions with unqualified Bethel staff who instructed students to date members of the opposite sex, to not say they were “gay”, but rather, that they “struggle with same-sex attraction”, as they continue to renounce their orientations.
Anyone who attended BSSM or Bethel conferences who felt cheated or duped who now requests refunds to compensate them for travel, lodging, food and tuition.

Something immeasurable is justice for the former believers who were so spiritually traumatized by Bethel-affiliated incidents that they left their faith, and gave up their belief in God.

A new Bethel on the horizon?

I recently heard a story about a former BSSM student who recounted asking why Bethel doesn’t preach traditional gospel messages, to which the instructor replied that the gospel didn’t garner as much interest as “signs and wonders.”

That could be the secret to Bethel’s popularity. The ho-hum gospel of Jesus Christ is no match for such blingy fakery as gold dust, angel feathers, fire tunnels, and amputated toes growing back.  Nor can the gospel of Jesus hold a candle to titillating “sermons” delivered by Vallotton that include creepy sex talk, such as asking for a show of hands of the women who are no longer virgins, so Vallotton can pray for their hymen restorations. And sermons by Armstrong that explain that women are more spiritually powerful when they’re on their periods, because of the blood, don’t you know. Or Armstrong talking about how women’s breasts swell while they’re on their periods, and how he makes it his business to know his wife and daughters’ menstrual cycles, which means he knows when they ovulate, which means he knows when they might be more “hungry” for sex during those times. And it gets worse, as Armstrong has even spoken to BSSM students from the pulpit about his son’s wet dreams. And on and on and on it goes, while young BSSM students sit there and take it all it. Nobody challenges the teachers, because Bethel promotes an “honor culture” where leaders are above reproach, because scripture warns to not “be an accuser of the brethren” and to not harm the ministry.

So even if uncomfortable, people just adapted to the discomfort and kept their mouths shut. Or at lease they did, prior to Winger’s project. Now, people are talking.

Johnson: ‘It’s worth it’

Recently Bethel hosted a Q&A session that allowed Bethel Church members and BSSM alum to ask some difficult questions. One question, asked by Havilah Cunnington, a Bethel pastor and member of its leadership team, went to the heart of what many wounded Bethel members are feeling amid the recent shocking revelations:

“I watched all three of you get emotional that Sunday, and I wonder, for those that do feel victim to the prophetic, or to moving their family here, being a part, buying Shawn’s books, attending the conferences, and they are, they feel victim to that for good reason,” Cunnington asked. “What would you say to them? And I know you’ve said a lot, but I really think we want to hear from you.”

Johnson provided this answer:

“I think if I can be totally frank, I think it’s worth it,” he said. “I think becoming a part of what God’s doing here, in spite of the failures, in spite of the blemishes, in spite of the wrong decisions. You know, that’s not who we are. It’s what has had incredible impact.”

Johnson’s reply reveals everything we need to know about his intentions to maintain Bethel’s status quo, even at grave risk to the flock.

Bethel Church is 30 years old. It’s time for Johnson, Vallotton and the other Bethel leaders to walk away from their lucrative posts at Bethel Church and relinquish the reins to a new generation of leaders who have the flock’s best interest at heart. Current Bethel leadership have shown themselves to be weak, unworthy leaders who have fostered a cover-up culture that’s resulted in untold numbers of victims. It’s time for a change of Bethel’s old guard, and with it, a change of heart, soul, and direction.

What would Jesus do?

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UPDATE: Mike Winger posted this alert on social media about negative fallout following his investigations. 

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