Pastor accused of abuse top candidate at Tenn. church
“Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, which employed Feltner as an adjunct professor before the allegations came to light, suspended him Wednesday… Feltner is senior pastor of Berean Baptist Church, a non-Southern Baptist congregation in Burnsville [MN]. Berean is investigating the accusations, it said in a statement Wednesday, using ‘outside, neutral and experienced professionals to perform this due diligence.’” - BPNews
If I remember correctly, Berean is where Larry Nelson is a member. Larry, do I remember correctly? Whether I’m right or wrong, not gonna be fun to be in leadership there for a while, to put it mildly. I am personally dreading the possibility/likelihood that my church will see something similar.
The site that has the complainants’ stories is broughttothelight.org. Suffice it to say that there are a lot of references which could possibly tie in with known facts, as well as some pictures that are going to be, shall we say, rather difficult to finesse.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
Just look at the pictures the women provided. NO CHRISTIAN MAN, let alone a youth pastor, should be hanging on his “girlfriend” in the way the photos show, imho. Add to that a trip to Las Vegas AS A YOUTH PASTOR for a vacation where he stayed in a hotel room with a woman he was not married to… oh my.
This is NOT an oops… a youthful indiscretion… or whatever you want to call it.
Making matters worse, if you believe the women, they say his wife knew all of this and still married him.
Finally, the pastor that covered this up needs to answer what gives.
#bombshell and #gamechanger
The Vegas pictures are damning.
He’ll be a car salesman soon (not to diminish or denigrate car salesmen)
I visited Berean’s site today, and it appears that they are going very quiet. Wes Feltner’s blog has disappeared, someone else preached on Sunday, etc.. Time (and evidence) will tell whether they handle things well, but at the very least, they are not waging war on the accusers that I can tell . Also, the Tennessee church that was looking into hiring him has not only discontinued his candidacy, but also has even disbanded the search committee. SBTS has suspended him.
Time and evidence will tell more, but at first blush, it looks like people are handling this a lot better than average. (corrected, see edit below) Praying that we won’t find more victims, but if they’re out there, praying they’ll come forward, too.
Edit: as I re-read the site of the accusers, it does appear that both there is some evidence that all of the churches involved put some effort into trying to silence the accusers, upon which they decided to go public. So my initial appraisal of “better than average” was a bit optimistic, to put it mildly. It is also worth noting that there are several outsiders corroborating their stories. So revise my previous comment to “it looks like the complainants having gone public, the churches involved are minding their manners a lot better.”
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
I just received news that Wes Feltner has resigned
Prayers for Berean Church
The Rev. Wes Feltner has resigned his position at a Burnsville megachurch, following allegations that he had inappropriate romantic relationships with two 18-year-olds when he was in his early 20s and served as youth pastor at the Indiana church they attended.
Feltner, 41, was a popular pastor at Berean Baptist Church in Burnsville, which has experienced tremendous growth in the six years since he started there and had recently opened a second location in Lakeville.
Members of the congregation learned of Feltner’s resignation this weekend when a statement from church elders was read at services.
“After much prayer and deep consideration for his family and the mission of Berean Baptist Church, Pastor Wes Feltner has submitted his resignation,” the statement said. “Pastor Wes and his family are entering a period to seek healing and we will walk with them during this process.”
Earlier this month, Berean Church officials said they had hired an outside firm to investigate the women’s claims while Feltner took a leave of absence. That investigation is ongoing and Feltner is cooperating, according to the Berean elders’ letter.
For the low, low price of $300, I can attend five sessions and learn how to “live free” as taught by Pastor Wes. I can also get a free t-shirt.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
There was an effort, I’ve read, at Berean to give him a severance package with the condition that he submit to church discipline and stay out of the ministry, and apparently he rejected that to do what Jim links. A lot like Tullian Tchividjian, with the big exception that as Feltner’s sins at least appear to have been much further in the past, and hence his rehabilitation could have theoretically been much easier.
Says something that he’s partnering with a guy whose main gig, apart from calling plays for the bane of Minnesota sportsball fans, is to be the announcer for a race track. I remember when supporting gambling was something of a no-no among fundagelicals.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
No problems here. Because youth pastors often date three women at the same time, 2 of which are recent members of his youth group, and takes gambling vacations with them..
No biggy bro!
Hey, he’s a leader! Follow me he says…
[Bert Perry]I remember when supporting gambling was something of a no-no among fundagelicals.
Not a problem for Wes “Las Vegas” Feltner.
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