They also claimed no one at Gateway had been filmed on their property, which may have been technically true, but several Gateway student and leader victims were taped at offsite properties where overnight events were held. I have three eye surgeries myself in recent years, including a partial corneal transplant which was successful, and I will be more than glad to pray for anyone beginning an surgical eye procedure, yes. A rare man. Thanks for being on top of things. . I have never been in a hyper authoritarian church, but let me contribute this to the conversation. Brians comment up thread and the various responses to it have greatly reinforced the old adage of the wolf in sheeps clothing. He said that communities where information stays on the inside and situations are handled in-house puts children at risk. Though trusted by many, even parents, Newman was a serial sexual . Fixing the mentality behind the protection of evil men? A Dallas man is suing Kanakuk Ministries and its former camp director Pete Newman for negligence, fraud and emotional harm related to sexual abuse. :o). When I first got divorced I considered joining Second Pres. It just strikes me that if these churches et al were as concerned about legally protecting themselves from lawsuits stemming from harboring pedophiles (since its obvious they dont care about protecting children) as they are about legally protecting themselves from their flocks via church membership forms, everyone would be a lot better off. They get to do the wrong or unfair things with no consequences. What does that mean in plain English, please? pete newman was an amazing man that obviously all of you did not know. Dixie stampede is popular. I should add, thanks for the head-up. A professor at the University of Kentucky harassed and molested some of the students. Based on what weve experienced (subtle and not-so-subtle emotional and spiritual abuse of our children at the hands of leaders) and experiences of friends (e.g., a prominent local church knowingly put a child sex offender who was on probation in charge of the high school youth group; he promptly started sexually harassing my daughters 16 year old best friend and my daughter personally witnessed him making cracks about taking care of her best friends boyfriend so as to get him out of the way so hed have free reign over her). I do respect that hes trying to teach the church that a risk even exists. We think that during the liturgy of the altar, the bread and the wine become consecrated and after that point one should think and act in the light of the Real Presence in the Sacrament. I pray frequently for Petes victims healing, and that Pete remains in jail while here on earth. The major media companies wont report on these issues. How did Berny Madoff get the trust of all of his investors, or other finical con artist? And that is not one guilty person. I can respect that. And we had nothing to do with children. Dygert said he signed a non-disclosure agreement with Kanakuk. This just says it all. There is never a real sincere moment even when they seem so sincere. The mega churches I was familiar with kept the big powerful law firm in town on retainer. CEO and Board Chair, and his wife Debbie-Jo, Vice President, who inherited their roles from Joe's parents in the 1970s. It just gets worse and worse. (my mom came back thinking that was as about as low class and crass as one could getunusual to hear such from her) It is all so much worse today, of course. Thanks. . Thanks for clarifying what you meant. Both men said the Frenches' reporting gave them a sense of validation, even as it "rocked the boat a lot," in Dygert's words: They learned they weren't alone. So creepy. I probably mostly agree, but I still think the issue is one of the heart of these supposed leaders and until that changes, we will make no headway. When someone comes across as so special, as so amazing and spiritual, beware. But what happens to them? It's like a pop-off valve on the water heater." Thank you! Killing just for pleasure and flaunting the evidence says a lot about those who do it. It cant fix the heart of the problem, or the culture, or the systems. Victim advocating which might include reporting crimes and bringing a lawsuit if laws are broken. Cause I do. I dont think they are clueless. "Dorking around" was how he referred to this kind of activity,Dygert and Hoffpauir said. For lawyers to suggest that a child in this story is exaggerating the trauma he has went through is repulsive. Thanks for sharing that. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . HUG, I am sorry that happened. Branson is a popular vacation site. It was a power play, which posed as getting rid of those %%%%% liberals. I honestly cannot understand what motivates these people, unless it really is the protect men and pastors first. Churches "Stop knocking yourselves out to distance yourself and let the buck fall at your feet where it belongs.". It read: The Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silent before Him. He sold mini busts of himself at one convention back in the 90s(?). I wish to thank again all of those who have websites and our choosing to shed light on these church scandals. I have already listed what bothered me the most about what he said on the clip but did not mention his emphasizing that his materials were written specifically for Christians (and not the secular stuff, he insisted) and ithey are written shepherd to sheep and sheep to sheep. Finally one judge gets it. The newspaper left a voicemail for Staples at First Baptist Church, of Branson, where Staples serves as family life pastor. Kanakuk located in Branson, Missouri,hasbeen long known as the premier Christian camp in the UnitedStates and abroad. Matthew 23:27 Reporters working for the Springfield. I do t think this is just a Neo Cal problem. News Flash: These guys obviously do not believe this. Its such a relief to be out of that scene. If we can weed out the predators, that is good. According to Red Dirt Report inSandusky-like camp director arrested in Missouri what did Kanakuk's "godlike" Joe White know? Eagle has written a number of excellent articles at his blog Wondering Eagle on this situation as has Amy Smith at Watchkeep. "She's not doing well. Its just my opinion based on my experience with institutional cultures. i love pete newman. is a licensed attorney and a former chief sex crimes prosecutor. Opening up and letting the truth in might knock them off their perceived center. Newman had other suggestions that same night, Dygert said: Dunking a basketball naked from a gymnastics board, for example. Her family has 1 foot in and 1 foot out of their long time church that has gone Neo Cal. My wife likes to go but we have not sent our kids to the Sunday school or camp. And I already used up my EL&P ration for this thread, Association of Related Churches Most lawyers are not in a position financially to do it. Hoffpauir isn't the only person who identifies as a Kanakuk child sex abuse survivor to say that the camp, and well-paid camp leaders,should have known about Newman's abuse and taken effective steps to stop him. Like other young Christianswho crossed Newman's path, Hoffpauir described Newman, then roughly 26 years old,as an ideal person for evangelical youth ministry: "Very charismatic," Hoffpauir told the News-Leader in a recent interview. Few do. Sorry but no one will truly ever know the impact of abuse on a child until its theirs and the parents live with watching their baby fall apart over it. Just think about how this impacted his adolescence and who he is today. I dont get it. There was something that felt off about it so I stopped going there. AND I can see this as a definite wake-up call to churches where men have played church, taken money from people, lorded their power and control over these people, and allowed their children to be abused by their buddies. Thanks for saying this. I just bang my head against the wall. it is almost impossible for a cult situation to develop where submitting to authority is man-dated. When outsiders have to tell Christian leaders what is right and what is wrong, perhaps they are not Christian leaders . There is no licensing for abuse prevention trainers or investigators. So you need both. Jesus did not mince words. I think so. We spent a weekend in Branson back in 06, when it was just getting started. By my reading, the Pharisees were several notches better than these thugs. Those men get promised to be allowed to control, which is so opposite the example of Jesus. I wasnt thinking independent, actually it could be aligned with the denomination of your choice, but just not one interested in becoming a major player or adopting the sell-your-soul-to-grow-your-church groupthink we so regularly discuss here. Apparently he was intelligent and troubled enough in conscience to seek a better situation. They flatter and groom- not just their victims but everyone. http://www.netgrace.org/how-we-help People are drawn to that which fulfills their own needs, and if a church sets up a system where the set-up involves submission, chances are that is fertile ground for trouble and the abuses which occur. The BransonTri-Lake News had this to say. They honestly believe the leaders have the answers. https://thouarttheman.org/2016/08/12/4602/. She was surprised at how many parents just went along. My Comment was Deleted Just a short off-topic note. The concept of a moral conscience trained in Christian formation is what WOULD keep an authoritarian Church from becoming a cult. So why do we need to keep being reminded that evil wears an attractive face? Like Karen Hinckley at Villiage. I just dont know how to fix that except to reject it utterly and leave that type of church. Have a young friend, barely into his thirties, and the head and associate pastor at his wonderful neocal church are painfully young, both about his age, he hasnt been attending this church long, but he absolutely raves about how genuine and humble these guys are. That just destroyed her, and my family was shocked.". I have heard that Dolly Parton has a show/theater there, too. They believed this way before they ever had a ministry, but they did have men in the church and pastors grooming them and telling them that a call from God meant they would do great things. With numerous detailed questions, the newspaper recently reached out by email to 14 members of Kanakuk's leadership team, including owner Joe White and his wife, Debbie-Jo White, and followed-up with a phone call to the camp's main switchboard. The male buddy-system seems to be forged in such a way that tolerance for the presence of an abuser is much greater among these male-headship idolators. I told him, Well, your 30-something pastors, they have a lot to learn, told him to pay attention to what people do, not what they say, and knowing a person well enough to talk them up takes a lot longer than a few months or years, it takes many years, maybe decades, seeing someone at their best and worst and having them see you at your worst and seeing how they take it, before you can pronounce someone genuine. Demanding submission from people is an ugly business. He has no problem taking money from the Church for his own pockets when training them, just not when it comes to getting money for actual victim?? But then I read an article in the (now defunct) Boston Phoenix in 2001, and it was about how the Catholic Church in Boston was using lawyers to basically destroy those who came forward with accounts of sexual abuse in the archdiocese. They *want* to believe that there are people who stand head and shoulders above the rest, spiritually. Because what Im seeing is really, really wrong and its too consistent to be just mistakes. @wartwatch @ThouArtTheMan Would be interesting to see the pay-per-view history from the NAMB guys staying in those rooms. They are not fundamentalists. Thats the hardest thing to understand, but once you accept it things make so much more sense. Most of their employees are members, leaders, sometimes pastors at local churches. Others have the good fortune not to until they are older. . -Newman invited the plaintiff to a conference in Oklahoma where he tried to get the boy to engage in sodomy, was turned down, and finally convinced him to engage in a mutual masturbation session. To know that church leadership is made up of so many with no decency or sense is disturbing. In an effort to be completely honest, Dee got sucked into the hype for this camp and two of our children spent a few summers there. Listen to the promptings. Before that conversation I would have considered Pete to be one of few examples of what living out the faith looked like. ", "A lot of times he called me by my last name," Dygert said. And the bible does not have answers to every single question or conflict that comes ones way, obviously. The letter also demands that Kanakuk release all victims from legal non-disclosure agreements, which civil parties often sign when they settle a lawsuit out of court. :o). So he started a witch hunt over charismata. I found out a year or two ago that my best friend from my childhood was sexually abused by our pastor. -Newman had sexual relations with boys in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Today it gets Oh, it was just some skinny dipping thing.. Bryan Loritts was not the voyeur. last and in between it was always what does the bible say about that and one then was expected to go by what the bible said, not by what one just thought for themselves. He currently resides inBranson, Missouri, with his wife, Debbie Jo. And make use of all they hear! To hold a corporate officer liable, he must have had actual, constructive knowledge of the actionable wrong and participated therein, the document states. My wife came home early from church last week, apparently the sermon was quite graphic about appropriate sex between a man & a woman. Is Fellowship Memphisan unsafe church foradults and children? The motion in opposition cites applicable law, reading that, in Missouri, merely holding a corporate office does not subject one to personal liability for the misdeeds of the corporation. man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. They know what persona will put them beyond being doubted or questioned. Join a small fellowship that preaches Jesus and Him crucified but has no desire to become the next mega/multi-site/church planting hub/trendy/etc. There are almost that many individual variations on this theme. (Like that therapist in South Parks Children of the Corn/Lord of the Flies episode.). To say his affect was hypnotic, would be an understatement. To say his affect was hypnotic, would be an understatement. Because to a performer, his/her appearance and looks are a valuable job asset, part of their on-stage/on-camera presence. As always, other discussions on the Open Discussion thread. Deceiving your own flock is okay, if you choose your words carefully enough? Be still and know that I am God? OK, I'll pray for you. 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