NGC 1566, sometimes known as the Spanish Dancer, is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Dorado. James Webb/NASA
“Once you’re out in the realm of experience, you can’t talk scripture anymore because there’s no scripture that’s relevant to something as wild and bizarre as this” Ronald Enroth.
Mark Driscoll left his DNA all over Acts 29. Then Matt Chandler was supposed to be the kinder, gentler leader. Although he is not the President, he is the Executive Chairman. However, did any of us ask if Chandler and BFFs would change the dynamics of the organization? As you will hear, the same old-same old is still present in the system. You know the stuff-“Don’t gossip,” “Matthew 18 always,” “Women are to be seen and not heard unless they are a gal pal of Chandler’s,” etc.
Acts 29 is like the Calvinist wing of the SBC. The new and improved All Souls Church uses the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith in this story. I did not find it in the SBC Directory, although the search engine recognized the church’s name.
The simple, typical Acts 29 sort of story.
Although Johnna used the name “Pastor H” in her story, I was able to figure out who the pastor was.
An excellent former pastor left Redeemer Church Burbank and was replaced by Harvey Turner, who has ties to Acts 29. The church met in a nice building. Any church with a lovely building should be aware that they will be a target for acquisition by groups like Acts 29, the SBC’s NAMB, and other groups looking to promote their denominational and group distinctives without having to build from scratch.
In short order, he allegedly told the staff he wouldlno longer meet with women and he would no longer take questions from staff in meetings unless he preapproved the questions. He appointed a man who rarely attended the church but was involved with Acts 29 to the elder board. Turner put his wife in charge of overseeing many of the functions in the church, which included worship.
Since there was much grumbling by the members, Harvey and the elders asked The Pacific Network to investigate. There is reportedly a close tie between The Pacific Network and Acts 29.
During this time, the sometimes Acts29 elder board member reportedly showed up to help out… The network was told stories of abusive behavior on the part of Harvey. According to Johnna, the upshot of the supposed “investigation” was allegedly the following.
- Harvey was a good pastor
- The congregation members were goats.
- Some of the dissidents were witches
- If a member doesn’t agree with what’s going on, they should leave.
Over 90% of the church left within short order, purportedly because of the many stories of abusive behavior on the part of Harvey.
Then, Redeemer Burbank closed and reinvented itself as All Soul’s Church.
An observation
It is quite possible that this was the plan all along. Many theodudes have a philosophy about taking over a church. If the membership isn’t buying it, get rid of the ones who don’t play ball, even if it means there are only five people left. Those are the true believers. If one looks at the current leadership team, one would see Harvey and Dave Berndt. Dave was an elder at the church’s previous iteration. This is another win for Acts 29, but it might bode ill for All Souls’ new members who have no idea of the history.
Johnna’s Story: Bodies Behind The Bus podcast ( Quiz: How many remember where this phrase comes from?)
Johnna recorded her experiences on the Bodies Behind The Bus podcast. This group describes themselves as:
The Bodies Behind the Bus is a podcast centering on the voices of spiritual abuse victims from within the Acts 29 network. We are the discarded few. We have been abused, gaslit, ignored, slandered, deceived, intentionally hurt, and betrayed. Our stories were manipulated and our voices were stolen. We were left alone with all the confusion, grief, hurt, and pain but today we begin to reclaim our stories and find our voices once again because we matter, and being a body behind the bus is not the gospel.
Here is a link to Johnna’s story on Bodies Behind the Bus. At the beginning of his podcast, you will hear Johnna discussing some of the rules of her previous church.
- Avoid gossip at all costs, even if it involves abusive behavior.
- One must go directly to the person who harmed you, ala Matthew 18. This may mean having to confront one’s abuser which is dangerous and is not advised by counselors when it involves abuse situations.
- Johnna was accused of not following Matthew 18 even though she met with the pastor and the elders.
Johnna realized that things were coming to a head. She asked an elder to join her in a meeting with the pastor. The pastor called her in a rage that she invited the elder. She told the elder of the encounter. Eventually, he met with her and gave her a general apology but would not be specific. He said he would not speak with her about anything “ministry related.” She was fired shortly after that, but the pastor would not tell the church. Two staff resigned, as did an elder. That was to no avail. The Pacific Network exonerated the pastor, and most church members left.
Today, Johnna continues to receive therapy to deal with the trauma of what happened. She has yet to return to church, as do many who are treated poorly and abused.
Final thoughts
In my opinion, Acts 29 has not changed in any significant way. Let me leave you with some posts I have written regarding this concerning network of churches.
- Would It Surprise You That Churches Are Leaving Matt Chandler’s Acts 29 Due to Transparency and Financial Issues? I Thought So.
- Matt Chandler Claims He Can Keep Narcissists Out of Acts 29. What Was That Thing About the Log in Your Own Eye?
- Steve Timmis and David Platt Appear to Have Misunderstood the Relationship Between the Law and Gospel Which Has Led to Pain for Their Followers.
- Are Acts 29 and North Valley Community Church, Phoenix, Endorsing Mark Driscoll’s Return?
- A Tutorial: How to Assess the Membership Contract at Fort Worth’s CityView Church
- Church Planting in Acts 29: Where Are the Women?
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One ;-)thing I have always wondered.
If a church sees complete turnover of elders and pastor, what is to prevent them from simply shutting things down, selling the property, and taking the proceeds?
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The link to Johhna story not working…
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Jeffrey J Chalmers,
Now I got it to work… weird
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Nothing, they have no scruples.
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Acts 29 huh?
There are only 28 chapters in the Book of Acts.
Am I the only one who sees the hubris?
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From the main article up-top:
“It is quite possible that this was the plan all along. Many theodudes have a philosophy about taking over a church. If the membership isn’t buying it, get rid of the ones who don’t play ball…”
Shepherds with the heart of a shepherd?
Nay, these guys are more like the Huns toward the end of the Roman Empire.
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Brian Howard is VP and CFO of The Pacific Network. He is President of Acts 29. He has a pastor coaching business (https://www.pastorguide.com/about). Plus another coaching website that has received at least some attention in 2023 (https://brianhoward.com/coaching/).
Granted, he’s not also trying to be a pastor of a church and the president of a seminary at the same time as these other commitments. And I get that the coaching business (businesses?) could be a side gig. And I have no idea how big The Pacific Network is.
(Maybe I am putting too many caveats for this to be a worthwhile question. Oh well, here goes nothing.)
But Acts 29 is a ginormous network. How many of these impressive-sounding jobs of his actually require real work?
Back in my days at the not-small community college, I worked for 10 months as administrative assistant for a man who was associate VP of one department, interim dean of my department, and impressive-sounding-title (I don’t remember details) of a regional educational body. I almost quit. Because HE wasn’t the one doing all the dean’s work in our office. *I* was. And everyone knew it, he had a reputation for being a schmoozer who did no actual work. (Super nice guy, God rest his soul. But terrible manager.)
Do these jobs of Brian Howard’s actually require the amount of work their titles imply?
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Muff Potter,
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus….. yup, these clowns are really following the advise of Paul….
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Folks should know who owns the church land, and what can happen to it. Sheesh, more stuff to worry about.
Churches in schism sometimes do fight over the property. Where I live, very old contracts prevent the sale of some church land to the highest bidder. Sometimes it can only be sold to another religious entity. One contiguous plot of land was subdivided in the last century. It went from having one church (not sure what kind) to currently having a Methodist church, a Lutheran church, an interfaith meditation center, and four (4) Baptist churches. Take your pick!
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“Over 90% of the church left within short order, purportedly because of the many stories of abusive behavior on the part of Harvey.”
I don’t think I have ever read that. Usually the story goes that a small percentage of the congregation leaves and the rest either turn a blind eye or put up with it.
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Sometimes it’s half, but yes, 90% seems remarkable.
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Great way to get your hands on some prime real estate!
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Maya Angelou once said, “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.”
“Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces,” Jesus said. Matt. 7.6.
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Would this apply here?
“But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.
“Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
“For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Hell, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment; and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way; and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked (for that righteous man dwelling among them was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds): the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority.
“Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries; whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord.
“But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed, receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you; having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing; forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing; but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.
“These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.
“For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
“For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, ‘The dog turns to his own vomit again,’ Proverbs 26:11 and ‘the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.'” (2 Peter 2)
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“Someone’s always changing
Corporation Names —
Who cares? They’re always playing
Corporation Games…”
— Starship, “We Built This City”, 1985
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The more I keep stewing on this situation, the madder I get… and the fact that this “Network” put their “blessing” on this behavoir…
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I think there are some answers to why that many people left (ie why there was an unsuccessful initial takeover):
1) He didn’t follow the playbook
2) And therefore attacked too many people at the same time who were known to the congregants
3) within a very short time of coming, so he hadn’t built up his own powerbase.
I tried to piece together the timeline. In the podcast (I also found it on Apple here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bodies-behind-the-bus/id1601586078 ) He apparently arrived at the beginning of 2019 and by the end of 2021, the church had the new name (based on a negative Yelp review). So, two years max.
The “playbook” on the Founders’ website: https://founders.org/library/walking-without-slipping/ has the following recommendations under “Instructions for Local Church Reformation:”
“Restraint. Remember the principle of restraint. Don’t tackle the whole church at one time. Choose a few men who are sincere, teachable and spiritually minded and spend time with them in study and prayer. They will help you to reform…”
IOW, don’t attack multiple people at once, but instead build your powerbase behind the scenes before you make any overt moves to “reform” the church. If a new pastor has the self-control to bide his time and get enough of “his” guys on the elder board or other governing board, then he’s likely to “win” a show-down because he’ll have a strong base of support.
This guy, whether for lack of self-control or another reason, attacked too many people at once and so one person’s story didn’t seem incredulous. Too many congregants knew somebody that had been mistreated and the stories corroborated the others. (Wolves should show their teeth to only one person at a time.) Also, he apparently didn’t have the “smarts” to secure NDAs and so staff could still tell their stories.
The question I have is where did the money come from to survive in the interim after 90+ % of the members had left?
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Eyewitness,
“…founders.org…has the following recommendations under “Instructions for Local Church Reformation:”
“Restraint. Remember the principle of restraint. Don’t tackle the whole church at one time. Choose a few men who are sincere, teachable and spiritually minded and spend time with them in study and prayer. They will help you to reform…”
+++++++++++++++++++
what could possibly go wrong…:|
sarcastic central, here.
i cleaned the men’s restroom at church enough times that the association of the two is simply gross and nothing but an omen of bad news.
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Only men, natch.
The comment about reform assumes that the church has a problem, and the men need an outsider to train them to recognize and fix it.
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The Church Universal is evolving.
Its genetic code which in times past produced only male offspring (so to speak), is dying out.
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Muff Potter,
And that’s a good thing, just as slavery and the divine right of kings died out in the Western experience.
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“This city desert makes you feel so cold
It’s got so many people, but it’s got no soul
And it’s taken you so long
To find out you were wrong
When you thought it held everything”
— Baker Street —
Gerry Rafferty 1978
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Eyewitness,
We owned our building outright and had a few generous donors that matched a large donation at the end of 2019 so we had around a million in the bank.
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That fits. Payroll and a mortgage tend to be a church’s biggest budget items. If there’s no mortgage, even a tiny church can limp along for a few years with a few faithful followers and a small staff. Particularly if the pastor is being bankrolled by a church planting network (the last bit being speculation on my part).
So sorry you and your church have gone through this.
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Johnna Harris,
I knew it. Acts 29 and NAMB of SBC are targeting churches with money and buildings. You guys were sitting ducks.
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That is my opinion as well. Some of these groups are buying houses for church planting pastors. The NAMB buys particularly nice houses. Stay tuned for that one.
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“Particularly nice houses” as in 10,000+ sq ft McMansions on actual Estates with interior decor somewhere between IBLP HQ and Goldfinger?
“See how The LOOOOORD Provides for ME His Faithful!”
Must keep up with the Copelands and Furticks.
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Ah. Makes sense.
I am so sorry for what you went through and are still going through. It is sad to see so much destroyed. People are damaged, relationships broken, community blown up for the sake of one guy. Thank you for speaking out to warn those who don’t yet know they are in harm’s way. Even if they move forward for a while, they will recognize the warning signs much more quickly than they otherwise would have without being forewarned.
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Friend,
This explains why my then senior elder (whose mentor, who writes boring books, is involved with former Mahaney associates) has apparently gained the reputation of causing a row every 6 years, to discredit moves for changes.