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Why I Left Christianity After Twenty-Five Years of Preaching the Gospel

good question

Recently, a young Evangelical pastor emailed me and asked me two questions:

  • What made you leave the faith?
  • Why [would] you would leave a faith that you defended for a long time?

I am frequently asked these or similar questions. Usually, I refer people to the WHY? page for answers to their questions, but there’s something about this pastor — maybe it is his age or proximity to where I live — that interests me, so I thought I would attempt to answer his questions.

I was raised in an Evangelical Christian home. From the time I was a child until I was fifty years old, I attended church every time the doors were open. Saved at the age of fifteen and called to preach two weeks later, I was a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Imperfect, to be sure, the bent of my life was towards holiness (without which no man shall see God).

At the age of nineteen, I moved to Pontiac, Michigan to enroll in classes at Midwestern Baptist College — an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) institution. While at Midwestern, I met Polly, and two years later we married. Polly and I spent the next thirty years faithfully serving Jesus. Whether between churches or pastoring them, our lives revolved around the ministry (for good or ill). If I counted my entrance into the ministry from the first time I preached to when I deconverted, all told I preached for thirty-three years. (Unlike most of my fellow college students, I regularly preached all through school at a drug rehabilitation center in Detroit.)

After leaving Midwestern, I began a ministerial journey that took me to churches in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. While I entered the ministry as an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist, my path later led to ministry opportunities at Southern Baptist, Christian Union, Sovereign Grace Baptist, and Non-denominational churches. Along the way, we were blessed with six children, including a daughter with Down syndrome.

Fast forward to 2004. I decided that I was done with the ministry. The reasons were many, but not the focus of this post. Suffice it to say, these reasons played an insignificant part in my loss of faith. Polly and I decided that we were at a place in life where we wanted to help a congregation without being its pastor. We spent the next four years visiting churches in Ohio, Arizona, California, Michigan, and Indiana. We cast a wide theological net, but after visiting over one hundred churches, — attending some of them for months — we concluded that the only difference between the churches was the name over their doors. After buying in home here in Ney in 2007, we primarily attended mainline churches — a sign of our increasingly liberal politics.

As my politics and theology evolved, I asked myself what it was I truly believed? What were the non-negotiables of my life? This led to me carefully and comprehensively reexamining my political and theological beliefs — a process that continues to this day. Polly and I spent countless hours talking about our beliefs. I read aloud to Polly passages from books written by men such as Dr. Bart Ehrman. We talked about what it was we really believed about the Bible. These discussions, and my continued investigation of core Christian doctrines, led me to conclude that the central claims of Christianity were false. Teachings that were once dear to me, no longer made sense. (Please see The Michael Mock Rule: It Just Doesn’t Make Sense.) On the last Sunday in November, 2008, Polly and I attended church for the last time.

These days, I self-identify as an agnostic atheist. Polly is an agnostic, indifferent, and, at times hostile, to organized religion. Our life experiences were very different — even in the ministry — so it should come as no surprise that what motivated our deconversions might be different. Same zip code, to be sure, but different journeys. I am the intellectual of the family. I spent most of my life reading, studying, and preaching the Bible. My experiences are necessarily different from Polly’s, and that’s why our reasons for leaving Christianity vary.

Let me conclude with answering this pastor’s second question: Why [would] you would leave a faith that you defended for a long time?

I am sure this young preacher struggles to understand why I would leave something I dedicated my life to for so many years. Makes sense, right? Most men or women who leave the ministry do so when they are young or youngish. They enter the ministry and find out it is not what it is cracked up to be (and boy, it’s not!) or they had some sort of crisis of faith, and after a few years they decided the pastorate was not for them.

It is rare for men or women to leave the ministry in their 50s. It happens, but not very often. Why are older people hesitant to leave the ministry? Two things come to mind:

  • Commitment bias, also known as the escalation of commitment, is the tendency to remain loyal to a previous decision, behavior, or course of action, even when it leads to negative outcomes. This often occurs as a result of a desire for consistency with one’s past words and actions, especially when that commitment was made publicly. 
  • Sunk Cost Fallacy, the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.

I struggled with these things too. I had spent my entire life in the church. I had spent most of my adult life pastoring churches. Polly, a Baptist preacher’s daughter, and I had committed ourselves to the work of the ministry, regardless of financial renumeration. Both of us, at one time or another, worked outside of the church to provide for our family. Not one time did we doubt that this was God’s will for us — until we did. How could we throw everything away? For what? Atheism?

Only those who have walked in our shoes can understand and appreciate our emotional struggles with leaving the ministry and our later deconversion. Many a tear was shed before we walked away. We asked ourselves, Are we sure? What if we are wrong? Do we really want to throw in the towel and walk away? Does this mean we wasted our lives in the ministry? Wouldn’t it be better for us to fake it — it’s not hard — for the sake of family and social connections? What would we do if we weren’t in the ministry?

While the struggles in the dark of night were painful and real, I eventually concluded that I had to be honest: I no longer believed the Bible was the Word of God. I no longer believed the central claims of Christianity. This meant I wasn’t a Christian in any meaningful sense of the word. (Some Baptists think I am just backslidden, and I am still a Christian. This is absurd.) Truth mattered more to me than the ministry and our Evangelical way of life. This was true when I was a Christian, and it is true today. I am open to having my beliefs challenged, albeit I haven’t heard a new or persuasive argument for Christianity (or any other religion) in years. Ecclesiastes says that there is nothing new under the sun, and that is especially true when it comes to Christianity. I am confident that no new evidence will be forthcoming; so much so, that I am, when it comes to the Christian deity, an atheist. To paraphrase the book of Daniel, I have weighed Christianity in the balance and found it wanting.

Do I miss the ministry? You bet. I miss preaching, teaching, and ministering to others, but whatever yearning I may have, it cannot overcome my desire to know and live the truth. While there was certainly an emotional component — how could there not be? — to my deconversion, the primary reasons for my loss of faith were intellectual in nature. I desperately looked for a place to stop on the proverbial slippery slope, but I slid all the way to the bottom, and, in the end, I concluded I was no longer a Christian. And seventeen years later, I remain an unbeliever. Labeled an apostate, reprobate, or follower of Satan, I am routinely pilloried by God’s chosen ones, ever present reminders of Evangelicalism’s ugly underbelly. If I had any doubts about the veracity of Christianity, I no longer do, having experienced seventeen years of character assassination, threats of violence, and attacks on my family.

Please leave any questions you might have or email them to me. I will do my best to answer them.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Blacks Should be Glad for Slavery, Says Evangelical Pastor Joel Webbon

joel webbon

The greatest moment in history for any brown or Black country is the moment that the White man’s ships arrive and n your shore. He brings the gospel of Jesus Christ, he catechizes you and your children, he brings exports, he brings hospitals, medicine, life expansion increases, GDP and resources increase, medicine increases, and most importantly, you get taught the gospel of Jesus Christ so that you can live longer on Earth and then go to Heaven instead of Hell.

And for those who are of non-European descent, but live in the Western world, you are exceedingly blessed. And the response shouldn’t be, ‘Let’s push back against wokeness and just say nobody talk about race.’ No, the response should be: Stop whining, stop throwing a fit, get it together. God has blessed you, and he blessed you in large part through White people. So stop doing it. And also, as for you and your house, do your part to change the FBI crime statistics and stop killing people.

— Evangelical pastor Joel Webbon, as reported in The Root. Webbon, a Calvinist, pastors Covenant Bible Church in Georgetown, Texas

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

LifeWise Academy Takes Students to Visit Ken Ham’s Monument to Ignorance

lifewise academy bus

— Megan Henry, used with permission from Ohio Capital Journal

At least nearly a dozen LifeWise Academy Ohio programs have taken public school students on field trips to the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter in Kentucky, which claims humans lived alongside dinosaurs and the Earth is only 6,000 years old.

LifeWise Academy is a controversial Hilliard-based religious instruction program for public school students on “religious release time,” that operates in 34 states and plans to enroll nearly 100,000 students this school year, according to its website.

It will also be in almost half of Ohio’s public school districts this school year.

LifeWise Academy programs in Adams County, Holgate Schools (Henry County), Continental Schools (Putnam County), Antwerp Schools (Paulding County), Wayne Trace Schools (Paulding County), Paulding Schools (Paulding County), Central Local (Defiance County), Van Wert (Van Wert County), and Tinora (part of Northeastern Schools in Defiance County) have all taken field trips to the Ark Encounter this year, in 2024 or 2023, according to Facebook posts from those LifeWise programs. [Central Local is our local school district and we have grandchildren who attend Northeastern Schools]

Pandora-Gilboa’s LifeWise Academy Program (Putnam County) has visited the Creation Museum every year from 2021-2025 and Upper Arlington’s LifeWise Program (Franklin County) visited the museum in 2023, according to Facebook posts from those LifeWise programs. 

The Creation Museum promotes young Earth creationism, the belief that God created the universe and everything in it in six 24-hour days 6,000 years ago. 

This comes from a literal interpretation of Genesis 1 where God created the universe. 

The museum in Petersburg, Kentucky depicts humans and dinosaurs living together and characterizes the Earth as approximately 6,000 years old. 

“LifeWise teaches Bible lessons, plain and simple,” Christine Czernejewski, a spokesperson for LifeWise, said in an email. “As such, kids are taught what Genesis 1 actually says — that God created all things and that He created them over the course of 6 different days.” [I bet that children aren’t taught about the divine council or the multiple deities mentioned in Genesis 1-3.]

Scientists have determined Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old. 

“The science (at the Creation Museum), it’s just appalling,” said Daniel Phelps, a retired geologist based in Kentucky.

“They depict dinosaurs and humans as living together. They have many, multiple attacks on the standard view of science, especially things like geology and biology and paleontology. … They misinterpret a lot of the human fossil record, and the Art Park especially has a display that disputes climate science.” [Thanks for speaking the truth, Daniel.]

LifeWise Academy is a non-denominational Christian program [see Letter to the Editor: Lifewise Academy Hides Its Evangelical Beliefs By Saying They Are Non-Denominational] that teaches the Bible to public school students during the school day at a special release time.

“We tend to teach the Bible kind of as it teaches,” said LifeWise Founder and CEO Joel Penton. “We do talk through the six days of creation as outlined in Genesis 1. However, developing a systematic theology of young Earth versus old Earth, we leave that to local churches.” [Most, and I mean MOST, Evangelicals are young earth creationists.]

In January, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a law passed by Republican lawmakers that mandates public school districts create a policy allowing students release time for religious instruction.

It concerns Phelps that LifeWise programs are taking students to the museum and the ark. 

“I would like to call this educational malpractice,” Phelps said. “It simply is not science, and the students are being misled. They’re basically learning to distrust science and follow an extremely fringe version of Christianity.” [Yep.]

A 2019 Gallup poll showed that 40% of U.S. adults believe in creationism, the belief that God created humans in their present form within roughly the past 10,000 years.  [actually it it almost 7 in 10 when you add theistic evolution to the equation]

“Most Christians don’t accept the fundamentalist version of creationism,” Phelps said. “… It’s also going to hurt kids that want to have a future studying science and are going to learn all these things that just simply are not true.”

The Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter are both operated by Answers in Genesis, a fundamentalist Christian apologetics organization that promotes young Earth creationism. 

The Creation Museum opened in 2007 and the Ark Encounter, 510-foot wooden ship intended as a replica of the biblical Noah’s Ark, opened in 2016. 

LifeWise said all field trips require parental permission. 

“LifeWise programs have taken field trips to museums, local parks, sporting events and area churches,” Czernejewski said. [Nice dodge. the focus is on trips to an explicitly Evangelical business that promotes science illiteracy.]

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Why I Don’t Support the Elimination of Ohio Real Estate Taxes

property taxes

Ohio’s Republican legislators are hellbent on making sure that Ohioans pay less taxes. Who wants to pay more taxes, right? Unlike Republicans, I understand that if we want a better society it takes money to make it happen. This means either cutting spending on other programs or raising taxes. Many Ohio residents understand this. All we ask for is that our tax money is spent wisely on things that benefit Ohioans. We are willing to pay taxes to make Ohio a better place to live. That’s not the goal of Ohio Republicans. Their goal is slash taxes to a bare minimum, slashing programs and services to meet the required balanced budget.

On principle, I support doing away with ALL real estate taxes. A man or woman should be able to own their own home without fear of the government selling it at the courthouse square to pay for delinquent taxes. It sickens me when I read of a family losing their home, all because they couldn’t keep up on rapidly rising real estate taxes.

I would support the Republican plan to abolish real estate taxes, but they have NO plan to replace the income school districts and local, township, and county governments will lose if real estate taxes are done away with. I refuse to support the Republicans until they make concrete plans to replace the lost income. Simply put, I don’t trust them to do right by Ohioans.

I attended a Ney council meeting several weeks ago. It was evident that the mayor, treasurer, and council are worried about what they are going to do to replace the income they receive from real estate taxes. Sadly, this is not a complex issue. Council will be required to either cut programs/services/employees or raise taxes. This same scenario will be played out on the township and county level.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Leader Lindsey Whiteside Pleads Guilty to Having Sex with a Minor Girl

lindsey whiteside

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Lindsey Whiteside, a youth pastor at Getwell Church in Hernando, Mississippi, and high school basketball coach, was accused of having sex with a minor girl under her care.

Whiteside’s church bio states:

My deepest passion is for everyone to experience Jesus in the same way I have. Through student ministry, missions, or any other ministry, I am so thankful that the Lord has called me to Getwell Hernando where I can pursue that passion both inside and outside the walls of the church. It is an honor that the Lord calls us all to participate in His Kingdom, and I am grateful to be able to do it within and alongside the community of Hernando.

“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26-28

Channel 5 reported:

A grand jury has returned an indictment charging a former DeSoto County youth minister with having sex with a child under her guardianship.

Court documents allege Lindsey Aldy Whiteside, 26, intentionally and knowingly had sex with an underage girl between May 14 and November 6, 2024.

An indictment was returned earlier this month, charging Whiteside with one count of felony sexual battery of a minor.

Prior to the indictment, Whiteside worked at Getwell Church Hernando as a student and outreach coordinator, and also previously served as an assistant basketball coach at DeSoto Central High School.

“We can confirm that the December Grand Jury of DeSoto County has indicted Lindsey Whiteside on the charge of sexual battery of a minor child by a person of trust or authority,” DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton said in a statement. “Prior to this indictment, Lindsey Whiteside served as a youth ministry leader and basketball coach—positions that carry a profound responsibility to protect and guide others.”

Whiteside served as the assistant girls’ basketball coach at DeSoto Central High until she was hired by Getwell Church Hernando in August 2022.

Church members claim she was terminated after the sexual battery allegations arose.

Getwell Church did not immediately answer Action News 5’s calls for comment.

Whiteside faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Recently, Whiteside pleaded guilty and was sentenced to house arrest. House arrest? She was facing thirty years in prison, yet the judge gave her a slap on the wrist, with NO PRISON TIME. Sadly, all to often judges give lesser sentences to women than they do men. I suspect that is the case here. The victim and others are rightly outraged by the light sentence. The district attorney stated: “This sentence is an absolute abomination of justice. It is not right; it is everything that’s wrong. This is why people actually question whether our institutions actually serve people.”

Fox-13 reports:

There will be no immediate jail time for a female youth pastor who admitted to the sexual battery of a teenager who attended her church.

Lindsey Whiteside’s case first came to light in November 2024. On Monday, the former youth pastor for Getwell Church in Hernando pleaded guilty to a single count of sexual battery, a charge that could mean up to 30 years in prison.

But Whiteside left the DeSoto County Courthouse sentenced to a decade of supervised release, beginning with three years of house arrest, virtually the complete opposite of the sentence sought by DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton.

“We, the State of Mississippi, and frankly, I am extremely disappointed,” Barton said. “The sentence ended up being three years of house arrest, followed by seven years of post-release supervision, for a total of ten years of supervision. This sentence is an absolute abomination of justice. It is not right; it is everything that’s wrong. This is why people actually question whether our institutions actually serve people.”

Whiteside’s victim was nearly 17-year-old at the time of the sexual battery, which by the former youth pastor’s own admission occurred multiple times, though she only faced a single count.

Those crimes occurred while the victim was being mentored and counseled by Whiteside, in her role of trust within the church the victim was attending.

The victim’s family was outraged Whiteside didn’t receive any prison time. Pam Pegram, a member of that family, spoke on behalf of the victim and her family following the sentencing.

“Let me be clear: no adult should ever engage in sexual contact with a child. In no way, shape, or form is the victim ever at fault,” Pegram said. “This adult could at any time have said, ‘Mom, help me; pastor, help me; friend, help me.’ She never did. She plotted and she planned, she deceived and she manipulated so that she could have her way.”

The district attorney said that, as shocking as the sentence was, so was the fact that educators and even a sitting school board member offered letters and even testimony in support for Whiteside, which he said is detrimental for the victim.

“It is true that when you support the abuser, you victimize the victim, and for that, that’s part of the reason that I was so disturbed by the amount of pedophile sympathizers that wrote into the court, and specifically Michelle Henley is an elected member of our school board,” Barton said. “Our victim at the time was a student at one of the schools that Michelle Henley is supposed to help govern. And yet she wrote a letter in support of the defendant; she testified on behalf of the defendant’s good character. Which I submit: there is no good character to someone that would sexually abuse a child.”

Just before handing down the sentence, the judge said no one was going to be happy with the decision. In addition to the ten years of supervised release, Whiteside will also have to register as a child sex offender for the rest of her life. She will face jail time if she violates any of the terms and conditions of her house arrest..

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Kevin Jones Accused of Soliciting a Minor

pastor kevin jones

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Kevin Jones, pastor of Summit Church in Elkins, West Virginia, stands accused of soliciting a minor.

The Inter-Mountain reports:

A nearly three-hour preliminary hearing Tuesday afternoon for the former pastor of the Summit Church resulted in probable cause being found for the felony charge of soliciting a minor via computer.

The charge will now proceed to the grand jury, after Tuesday’s ruling by Randolph County Magistrate Michael Dyer.

Kevin Curtis Jones, 33, appeared in an orange prisoner’s jumpsuit in Randolph County Magistrate Court Tuesday afternoon, represented by attorney James Hawkins Jr.

Jones is also charged with one felony count of distribution and exhibiting of material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit activity. A hearing on that charge has been continued to a later date.

Jones is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on two separate $50,000 cash-only bonds set by Magistrates Benjamin Shepler and Dyer.

The courtroom was full with approximately 20 people for Tuesday’s hearing, including family members of the alleged victim and a witness. Assistant Randolph County Prosecutor Leckta Poling represented the state.

Hawkins brought forward two motions, asking for a reduction in Jones’ bond and for a dismissal of the charge. Dyer denied both of Hawkins’ motions.

Poling also made a motion regarding Jones’ bond, asking for additions such as, if Jones were able to make bond, he should not be permitted to have contact with anyone under the age of 18, and that there should be restrictions to Jones’ access to electronic devices. Dyer approved Poling’s motion.

Dyer found probable cause after more than two-and-a-half hours of testimony from a witness, the alleged victim and the investigating officer, Deputy and Task Force Officer D.A. Cale with the Barbour County Sheriff’s Office and the Mountain Region Drug And Violent Crime Task Force.

During the witness’s testimony, a member of the courtroom’s audience stood up and began to shout at Jones and Hawkins. The audience member was then taken out of the room by courtroom security. The audience member could be heard continuing to yell and shout as they were escorted out of the Randolph County Magistrate Court building by court security and officers with the West Virginia State Police and Elkins City Police, who were also present for the hearing.

There was an unusual level of security present for the hearing, with two Randolph County Court Security officers stationed outside on the sidewalk questioning people who approached the magistrate court building. No one was allowed to bring a cell phone into the building during the hearing. No photographs, and no video or audio recordings of the hearing were allowed to be made by media representatives covering the hearing.

According to the first criminal complaint against Jones, filed by Cale, on Oct. 1, Cale assisted Cpl. C. Parks, also with the Barbour Sheriff’s Office, with a soliciting investigation involving Jones.

Parks told Cale he was “investigating Pastor Kevin Jones for soliciting a minor with a computer,” the complaint states. The alleged victim was an attending member of the Summit Church in Elkins. Cale applied for a search warrant in Randolph County to seize relevant cellular devices, flash drives, storage devices, computers, etc.

On that same day, Cale located Jones in an RV at the Smokey Bottom Camp Ground, off Route 33, the complaint states. A “large amount” of cellular devices and storage devices were seized. Cale also made contact with the alleged victim, who came out of the RV to speak with him.

The alleged victim stated that Jones was their pastor and that they recalled an event where they and other juveniles went to Jones’ house in Randolph County around Christmas of 2023, the complaint states. The alleged victim told Cale that Jones began communicating with them over the phone about being in a “clandestine relationship” with the alleged victim once they turned 18.

According to the complaint, Jones was the pastor of Summit Church “where the (alleged) victim attends, making (Jones) a person of trust over the victim.” Cale writes that he explained to the alleged victim what solicitation of a minor via computer was defined as under West Virginia State Code, and then asked the alleged victim if they thought Jones had solicited them. The alleged victim said, “Yes.”

“It is evident that Pastor Kevin Jones used a communication device to contact the victim to solicit, entice, seduce or lure (them) into a clandestine relationship while he remained married and was a person of trust,” Cale writes in the complaint.

According to the second criminal complaint, also filed by Cale, on Oct. 1, Cale issued a search warrant for digital evidence from Jones’ cellular devices.

Cale allegedly located several images of a juvenile on Jones’ cellphone, the complaint states. The images depicted the alleged victim “in (their) underwear with (their) arms shrugged.” Cale writes that, in each of the known images of the alleged victim, the alleged victim was wearing different color underwear. He writes that one of the photos has a text overlay depicting, “Does this Match?”

Though the alleged victim is no longer a juvenile, the timestamps on the images allegedly found on Jones’ cellphone show that the alleged victim was under 18 years old when the photos were taken, the complaint states.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor Zachary Radcliff Accused of Sexually Abusing Children

zachary radcliff

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Zachary “Zach” Radcliff, a youth director at Oakwood Church in Ypsilanti, Michigan, stands accused of dozens of sex crimes. Radcliff’s father is the pastor of Oakwood.

In October 2024, CBS News reported:

A 29-year-old Washtenaw County church employee was arraigned on several charges, including criminal sexual conduct and charges related to child sexually abusive material. 

Michigan State Police began investigating Zachary Radcliff, a former music and youth director at Oakwood Church in Augusta Township, on Oct. 2, after they were notified that Radcliff had solicited child sexually abusive material from a minor. A search warrant was executed at his office and residence. 

Police say they have identified multiple victims and that victims range in age from 12 to 17 years old. It’s alleged that the crimes have been occurring since 2011. MSP says church leadership has been cooperative during the investigation. 

“The information that we received was shocking,” Oakwood Church said in a statement. “We were told that Zachary had been soliciting inappropriate photos and possibly videos from teens. We have also heard other stories. This information has ripped our hearts apart. The safety and protection of the individuals in our church is what is paramount to us. We are devoted to doing what we can for the care of the victims of these crimes.”

Radcliff, who is the son of Oakwood’s senior pastor, was first suspended with pay on Oct. 3 but eventually fired on Oct. 12. 

“The State Police were notified by families that were involved and our church staff,” the church said. “We are not aware of the full extent of his crimes, and we are doing everything we can to cooperate with the ongoing police investigation.

“We have counseling that is being set up and provided for any youth or adults who have been impacted by this crime. What is being done will be provided to our church family in the next few days. Like you, our hearts are broken. We have a desire to serve our Master in this community, with the understanding that the church family should be one of the safest places we can be involved in. Part of that trust has been broken. Our commitment is to be completely transparent and do what we can to help with this investigation.” 

Radcliff is charged with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of aggravated child sexually abusive activity, two counts of child sexually abusive activity, five counts of using a computer or the internet to commit a crime and one count of using a computer to commit a crime. 

In March 2025. CBS News reported:

A former Washtenaw County church youth group director will now stand trial on 60 charges connected to sexual abuse after a judge added 30 more counts following testimony Tuesday. 

Zachary Radcliff, 29, appeared Tuesday in a courtroom for a preliminary examination, where several young men testified against Radcliff. Following testimony, 14A District Court Judge J. Cedric Simpson added nine counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and 21 counts of child sexually abusive activity. In all, Radcliff faces 60 charges related to first-degree criminal sexual conduct, child sexually abusive activity and using a computer to commit a crime. 

“What I saw with them, they need to be believed, and they ought to be believed. Whether anyone does, that’s maybe for the future. But I believe them. I believe everything they told this court,” Simpson said. 

“I don’t say this lightly at all. Not how I operate my life and certainly not how I operate as a judge. But in my 25-so-plus years, I’ve seen a lot. This ranks up with one of the most egregious predators that I have ever seen as it regards individuals.”

Radcliff is the former music and youth director at Oakwood Church in Augusta Township. Michigan State Police began investigating Radcliff on Oct. 2, 2024, after they were notified that he had solicited child sexually abusive material from a minor. Police executed a search warrant of Radcliff’s office and residence.   

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

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Trump Dump: “Real” Masculinity is Back, Says Monica Crowley

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What a difference the presidency makes, Jesse, [Watters] right? I mean, we are now totally over that destructive, stupid era of toxic masculinity, and now we’re in an era of real masculinity, thanks to the bold, muscular leadership of President Trump, and our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.

We saw that in bold relief yesterday. What an incredible day. I was there. I was so privileged to speak before the president. We had over 20,000 people there, sailors, admirals, Gold Star families, veterans. We had some Marines there as well. They went wild. They love this commander-in-chief. They love the First Lady. They love this administration.

Why? Because of respect for them, for the American people, for our constitution, and for real American strength. Jesse, this is what all of these military anniversaries and big birthday parties are about. It’s about celebrating 250 years of American strength and military might. We are so back, Jesse.

— Monica Crowley, as reported in Crooks & Liars

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Trump Dump: Peter Thiel Wonders if Greta Thunberg is the Antichrist

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The antichrist comes to power by talking constantly about Armageddon, about rumors of war. and scaring you into giving him control over science and technology.

In the 17th, 18th century, the Antichrist would have been a Dr. Strangelove, a scientist who did all this sort of evil crazy science. In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science. It’s someone like Greta or Eliezer.

I don’t think even someone like Bill Gates, who I think is a very, very awful person, is remotely able to be the antichrist.

There are a lot of rational reasons I can give why the one-world state’s a bad idea. Turn the planet into a prison. I think the tax rates would be very high. But I think if you strip it from the biblical context, you will never find it scary enough. You will never really resist.

–Peter Thiel, Excerpt from article on Futurism.com

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Trump Dump: Former Baseball Player Mark Teixeira “Educates” Us About Columbus Day

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Columbus Day is another reminder that Democrats want to erase America’s history to appease the radical fringe of their party. Republicans are the party of common sense — and we know God has blessed us to live in the greatest nation on earth. We should never stop celebrating America!

Former Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.