Ep. 495: ACNA and Stewart Ruch, T.D. Jakes, the ERLC

On today’s program, a third prosecutor has been appointed in the trial of Anglican Church in North America Bishop Stewart Ruch after the first two resigned. The Bishop is on trial with the denomination for welcoming abusers into the church, and minimizing the needs of abuse survivors.

A North Carolina church was the victim of an online scam that stole nearly $800 thousand from their new building fund. That was two years ago—we’ll look at where the church is now.

Plus, Brent Leatherwood resigns from the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, just one year after being fired…then unfired. Leatherwood led the agency for four contentious years. We’ll have details.

First, the defense attorney in a lawsuit involving T.D. Jakes has been sanctioned by the court for using artificial intelligence in the preparation of court documents.

The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Kim Roberts, Kathryn Post, Daniel Ritchie, Bob Smietana, Katie Ruth Bowes, and Isaac Wood.

A special thanks to the Biblical Recorder and The NonProfit Times for contributing material for this week’s podcast.

Until next time, may God bless you.

 

MANUSCRIPT: 

 

FIRST SEGMENT

Warren:

Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Christina:

And I’m Christina Darnell, in for Natasha Cowden this week, and we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast.

Warren:

On today’s program, a third prosecutor has been appointed in the trial of Anglican Church in North America Bishop Stewart Ruch after the first two resigned. The Bishop is on trial with the denomination for welcoming abusers into the church, and minimizing the needs of abuse survivors.

And, a North Carolina church was the victim of an online scam that stole nearly $800 thousand from their new building fund. That was two years ago—we’ll look at where the church is now.

Plus, Brent Leatherwood resigns from the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, just one year after being fired…then unfired. Leatherwood led the agency for four contentious years. We’ll have details.

Christina:

But first, the defense attorney in a lawsuit involving T.D. Jakes has been sanctioned by the court for using artificial intelligence in the preparation of court documents.

Warren:

The attorney is Tyrone Blackburn, and he was defending Duane Youngblood in a defamation lawsuit filed by TD Jakes.

Blackburn has been sanctioned by a federal court because he presented documents that contained material fabricated by artificial intelligence.

U.S. District Court Judge William Stickman ordered Blackburn to pay over $76-thousand in fees to cover expenses Jakes had to pay to defend himself against the “AI-generated hallucinations and other misrepresentations in Defendant’s motion to dismiss briefing.”

Christina:

Last year, Duane Youngblood accused Jakes of attempted sexual assault. Jakes has maintained his innocence and filed a defamation lawsuit against Youngblood in November 2024.

Jakes noted that Youngblood is on parole after felony convictions for sexual assault and corruption of minors.

Warren:

According to a statement provided to Dallas Morning News, Blackburn said he purchased an A-I program because he doesn’t employ paralegals and most of his current clients are pro bono. The A-I program generated its own legal prompts and motions, and contained false quotes and case law.

Before he could fix the A-I generated errors, Youngblood asked him to leave the case.

Christina:

But the judge essentially told him that wasn’t an excuse—that he was fully responsible for the accuracy of his legal briefs, regardless of who—or what—contributed to it. It was Blackburn’s signature on the document.

Warren:

Right. Jakes’ attorney said he spent a lot of time—and therefore Jakes spent a lot of money—responding to the A-I generated misrepresentations.

In November, Jakes, who founded The Potter’s House megachurch in Dallas, suffered a massive heart attack while he was preaching. Then in April, he stepped aside from his role as the lead pastor and handed the reins to his daughter and son-in-law, Sarah Jakes Roberts and Touré Roberts.

Christina:

Next, an update on the Anglican Church in North America trial of Bishop Stewart Ruch.

Warren:

Three weeks after the A-C-N-A trial of Bishop Stewart Ruch began, another prosecutor has been appointed—this marks the third person named to this role after the first two resigned.

Christina:

Who is this new prosecutor?

Warren:

His name is Thomas Crapps, and he’s a Florida-based lawyer with over 30 years of legal experience.

In an announcement, he said “Bringing justice to victims is my sole interest in this case. I want to be crystal clear: if they have been sidelined in any proceedings to date, I am committed to faithfully representing their interests going forward.”

Christina:

Ruch is on trial because he has been accused of failing to prioritize the needs of alleged abuse survivors…and of knowingly welcoming individuals with predatory behavior into churches in his diocese without alerting church members.

Warren:

The church trial, which has been rocked by controversy since it began, will determine whether Ruch neglected his duties as bishop and violated church bylaws.

The denomination has issued a statement voicing confidence in the court’s ability to carry out this trial, which is set to reconvene next week, on August 11.

Christina:

Our next story involves an Idaho pastor charged with human trafficking and sexual abuse of women in his congregation.

Warren:

Gregory Wayne Jones, former pastor of Liberty Christian Fellowship Church in Mountain Home, Idaho, has been accused of using his position to abuse women connected to the church. Jones claimed it was a part of the healing process for the victims who sought counseling from him.

Christina:

According to the affidavit, “Jones exploited vulnerable women through private ‘spiritual sessions’ he called ‘The Process’ at both the church and its affiliated daycare, the NXT Dream Center.”

Warren:

Jones is accused of abusing women during these sessions, claiming it was part of their healing journey. He claimed to be a “spiritual father” and threatened his victims with public humiliation and demonic attacks.

He is also accused of trying to get his victims to find other women for him to counsel who needed “spiritual healing.”

The Elmore County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Jones in January after a woman came forward. Now, at least six women have come forward with allegations against Jones. One alleged victim was only 17 at the time of the abuse.

Christina:

Next, another pastor who served his time—and is now back leading his church.

Warren:

Houston megachurch pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell is back at Windsor Village Church. This past Sunday, August 3, he joined the choir onstage to lead worship, marking his first time attending services since he was released from prison last year.

Christina:

What did he serve time for?

Warren:

In 2020, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after he and his co-conspirator Gregory Smith, scammed elderly victims out of more than $3.5 million.

Christina:

Between 2013 and 2014, Caldwell and Smith convinced 29 people to invest in Chinese historical bonds—which are not recognized by the government of China and have zero investment value.

But Smith convinced victims they would receive quick returns, and they should sell other investments so they could afford to participate.

The money went to a number of bank accounts that Caldwell controlled. Caldwell used $900-thousand of his share to pay loans, mortgages, and credit cards.

Warren:

Caldwell was released from prison in September 2024. The pastor has reportedly paid back all of his victims, according to the church.

He is set to deliver his first sermon since his release at Windsor Village Church this Sunday.

Christina:

Warren, let’s take a quick break. When we return, a North Carolina church scammed out of nearly $800-thousand has—two years later—begun worshiping in their new facility. We’ll look at how they overcame the setback.

I’m Christina Darnell, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and we’ll have that story and much more, after this short break.

 

BREAK

 

SECOND SEGMENT

Christina:

Welcome back.  I’m Christina Darnell, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and you’re listening to the MinistryWatch podcast.

Next, the story we promised before the break, a story about a church in North Carolina that could have lessons for lots of other churches around the country.

Warren:

After years of praying and giving, the people of Elkin Valley Baptist Church broke ground on a new worship center.

But in one day, the pendulum swung from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.

In the morning, church staff found out they had been approved for a construction loan through the North Carolina Baptist Foundation. That same afternoon, their hopes were dashed when they found out a cybercriminal had stolen almost $800 thousand out of their capital campaign fund.

Christina:

That was in November 2022. The church called an emergency meeting to inform members that their building project had skid to a halt. Instead of casting blame, leadership decided to move forward in faith.

Now, a little more than two years later, the congregation is meeting in their newly built worship center.

Warren:

Originally, the goal for the building fund had been $1 million. But after the theft, the church ended up raising almost $1.4 million in pledges. The community showed up, with local business owners and church members giving donations, plus materials and labor.

The church also cut costs by doing a lot of the work themselves, handling some of the painting, carpentry and finishing touches, which saved an estimated $400 thousand.

Christina:

The church also took new steps for financial oversight.

Warren:

That’s right. They completely stopped electronic payments. They established a new financial oversight team to approve every building expenditure. And they restructured the financial accounting system, adding security and internal protocols.

Pastor Robbins says “You don’t have to wait for a devastating attack to catch those things up to where they need to be.”

In the end, Elkin Valley carries a loan of around $660,000 for a project that would have cost nearly $3 million. And in September 2024, Elkin Valley held its first service in the newly completed worship center.

Christina:

Next, public interest law firms have been stacking up wins for religious liberty at the United States Supreme Court.

Warren:

In just the last term, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of religious freedom in Mahmoud v. Taylor, allowing parents to opt their children out of radical gender theory lessons that conflict with their beliefs.

Also, in Catholic Charities v. Wisconsin, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the State of Wisconsin could not discriminate against Catholic Charities based on its theological choices.

Plus, religious liberty wins in 2022 and 2023.

And in the upcoming term, the Supreme Court has already agreed to hear several more cases related to religious liberty.

Christina:

Still, cases of religious discrimination continue to happen at the local level.

Warren:

Well, that’s right. First Liberty Institute Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys told MinistryWatch he continues to see many threats to religious liberty across the United States.

Students at an elementary school in Michigan were blocked by school officials from singing a “Christian based” song at the school talent show.

Chaplain Russell Trubey was threatened with a letter of reprimand and visited by the military police because of content in his sermons.

And Jocelyn Boden was fired by Bath & Body Works because she wouldn’t violate her religious beliefs by following the company’s “preferred pronoun policy.”

Christina:

Public interest law firms often represent these churches and ministries pro bono — at no cost to the ministry.

Some of the most active public interest law firms in the religious liberty fights include Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the American Center for Law & Justice, Liberty Counsel, First Liberty Institute, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the Thomas More Society, Pacific Justice Institute, and Christian Legal Society. Together, these groups have total revenue exceeding $220 million.

Warren:

ADF is the largest by far in terms of total annual revenue at over $100 million annually. ADF says it has won nearly 80% of its cases, including 16 at the U.S. Supreme Court.

It receives about 6,000 requests for legal assistance each year and is active in about 1,000 legal matters. It has developed a network of 4,500 attorneys across the country and around the world to which it may refer cases.

Christina:

In our next story, a New Jersey church threatened by eminent domain gets a reprieve—for now.

Warren:

For months, the members of Christ Episcopal Church in Toms River, New Jersey, have been at odds with the town’s mayor — first over a proposal to build a homeless shelter on the church’s property, and then over the mayor’s plan to knock the church down to build a community park.

While plans for the shelter were rejected by the Toms River zoning board last month, a proposal to take Christ Church’s property by eminent domain has apparently stalled.

Christina:

What happened?

Warren:

Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick told the Asbury Park Press newspaper that a vote on the eminent domain proposal — which had been scheduled for July 30 — is off the agenda for now.

A first reading of the proposal had passed back in May, but a second vote is needed for approval.

Rodrick has said that the church property—which has a large parking lot and borders a neighborhood that has no park within walking distance—would make the perfect spot for a park. He said he had hoped the proposal would lead the church to sell its property. But that has not happened.

Christina:

So where do they go from here?

Warren:

We’re not sure. The mayor said he plans to survey the public to see if the community supports the plan to take the church’s property.

But church leaders won’t give it up without a fight. They have indicated they have no interest in selling the property and claim the Episcopal church is thriving.

Church leaders have also vowed to oppose any attempt to take the property in court.

Christina:

Warren, we’re going to take another break. When we return, our lightning round of ministry news of the week.

I’m Christina Darnell, with my co-host Warren Smith. More in a moment.

 

BREAK

 

THIRD SEGMENT

Christina:

Welcome back.  I’m Christina Darnell, with my co-host Warren Smith and you’re listening to the MinistryWatch Podcast.

Warren, we like to use this last segment as a sort of lightning round of shorter news briefs.

What’s up first?

Warren:

Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, resigned on Thursday (July 31), saying it was time for him to move on.

The move comes after a tumultuous year for the ERLC, the public policy arm of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

In summer 2024, after an attempt to abolish the agency failed during the SBC’s annual meeting, the former chair of the ERLC’s board announced that Leatherwood had been fired — only to be overruled hours later by the rest of the board.

Christina:

Last month, nearly half (43%) of the delegates to the SBC’s annual meeting voted to shut the ERLC down — the fourth attempt to defund or disband the agency in recent years.

Warren:

The ERLC has become controversial during the Trump era. While Leatherwood, like past ERLC leaders, was a vocal critic of abortion and same-sex marriage and held conservative views on most social issues, he and the agency supported immigration reform rather than mass deportations, in large part because the SBC has for years passed resolutions calling for such reforms. He, like Southern Baptists in the past, also supported refugee resettlement — which also put him and the ERLC at odds with the MAGA movement.

Christina:

Our next story involves the Giving Pledge. A new study says this initiative is not all it was promised to be.

Warren:

The Giving Pledge was founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010 to encourage giving from billionaires, and 57 individuals, couples, and families signed in the first year. Members pledge to give away over half their wealth, either while living or upon death. Of all the original signers still living, only one couple has fulfilled their commitment.

“The short story is that the vast majority of Giving Pledgers are not on track to fulfill their Pledges,” according to a recent report from the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank.

Christina:

Chuck Collins directs initiatives for the Institute for Policy Studies and helped author the report.

Warren:

He told The Chronicle of Philanthropy he doesn’t think the effort should end. Instead, he thinks officials of the initiative should examine the effort and how it can live up to its potential, particularly considering how much wealthier billionaires are today than they were in 2010.

There are 32 original signees who still have a living family member and are still billionaires.

The study found that there are now nearly 200 signers from the United States, and over 250 total. Twenty-two Giving Pledge signers have died. Of those, eight gave away 50% or more of their fortunes to charity either while living or in their estates.

The study found that if all living 2010 signers who are still billionaires fulfilled their pledges today, $370 billion would go to charity.

Christina:

And there’s been a somewhat unusual corporate transaction in the Christian philanthropy world.

Warren:

Gloo, a technology platform that describes itself as helping “build a more connected ministry”, acquired Masterworks, the marketing and fundraising company that works with ministry nonprofits. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Masterworks will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gloo. Scott Beck, co-founder and CEO at Gloo, and Brad Hill, president of Gloo Media Network, will join Masterworks’ board of directors. Steve Woodworth will transition to the role of executive chairman of the board from chief executive officer at Masterworks. Bryan Brown, current president of Masterworks, will succeed him as CEO.

Gloo serves more than 100,000 faith, ministry and nonprofit leaders and is based in Boulder, Colorado.

Christina:

And each week, at about this time in the podcast, we talk about Ministries Making a Difference.

Warren:

We do, but since this is your column, why don’t you take this one.

Christina:

I will.

Last week, the Army Chaplains Corps celebrated 250 years of ministering to U.S. soldiers. In 1776, Gen. George Washington himself requested that chaplains be added to the army to “meet soldiers’ religious and spiritual needs, and to support good morals and morale.”

Now, chaplains serve in every branch of the U.S. military, as well as throughout a variety of government and private institutions.

That’s why, this week, we’re dedicating this column to chaplains and the difference they make.

Warren:

So who’s up first?

Christina:

Assemblies of God 461 Response Chaplains traveled to Texas last month to minister to first responders after the devastating floods swept through the Texas hill country. Stemming from Psalm 46:1, the disaster response chaplains keep water coolers filled and mingle with responders as they process tragedy, trauma and exhaustion, offering a listening ear and prayer.

Corporate Chaplains of America—the nation’s largest full-time chaplaincy agency—supports businesses by providing dedicated care for employees. It is fulfilling its mission to “build caring relationships with the hope of gaining permission to share the life-changing Good News of Jesus Christ in a non-threatening manner” by serving 1,000,000 employees and their family members through nearly 2,600 company locations, according to CCA.

Warren:

I’ve used Corporate Chaplains myself, with a company I owned in the early 2000s, and they did great work for my employees.

Corporate Chaplains of America has 4 stars and an A transparency grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a high donor confidence score of 97.

But they’re not alone in this space, are they?

Christina:

Marketplace Chaplains USA is another chaplaincy agency that works with companies and their employees. The ministry, started in 1984, provides emotional and spiritual guidance to employees through times of crisis, stress, and change, such as layoffs, restructuring or family strain. Some companies Marketplace Chaplains works with include Christian Brothers Automotive, David Weekley Homes, and Gordon Food Service.

Warren:

Marketplace Chaplains has 5 stars and a C transparency grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a high donor confidence score of 97.

Christina, we don’t have time to highlight everyone you profiled in your column, but I wanted to mention that you also included chaplains with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team. They are often one of the first on the scene after a tragedy or natural disaster. And you also feature the work of the Assemblies of God chaplains in this week’s column.

Christina:

Warren, any final thoughts before we go?

Warren:

Warren Ad-Lib AUGUST Donor Premium.

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Christina:

The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Kim Roberts, Kathryn Post, Daniel Ritchie, Bob Smietana, Katie Ruth Bowes, and Isaac Wood.

A special thanks to the Biblical Recorder and The NonProfit Times for contributing material for this week’s podcast.

I’m Christina Darnell, in for Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Mooresville, North Carolina.

Warren:

And I’m Warren Smith, also in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Christina:

You’ve been listening to the MinistryWatch podcast.  Until next time, may God bless you.