Recognizing that families inside and outside Valleybrook were adversely affected by the spiritual abuse scandal, the church said in its statement that it has paid for professional counseling for individuals who requested it. Valleybrook Church is a Christian nonprofit organization in Eau Claire, WI that was founded in 1974. Mitchells Tales from the Cult blog series has exploded in popularity since the allegations emerged. There is a clear and widespread pattern of spiritual abuse led by the former lead pastor, embraced by the former co-lead pastor, the former teaching pastor and the current executive pastor, the report says. We are solidly into the post-Christian world, and so the pressure for pastors to bind their congregations to themselves in steadily increasing. This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Its enough to make people think, Maybe Im wrong. I went and checked, said Solberg, who immediately negotiated an 87 percent reduction in the bill, down to $136 a month, after joining the transitional team. Get our FREE Newsletters and special offers! 2023 Nonprofit Metrics LLCTerms of Service and Privacy Policy. Just look for the old movie theater marquee, and you will find us. Valleybrook Church, based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is under fire for what a former leader is calling "abusive practices [that] were inappropriate and pushing the church away from God." Maybe my belief is weak. Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Help us spread the word about Aspire. This Converge Worldwide Baptist General Conference church serves Eau Claire County WI - Pastor Doug Lebsack. Reader's Choice Awards - Voting has ended. We are located in the historic Hollywood Movie Theater. Valleybrook Church 412 S. Barstow St. Eau Claire, WI 54701 Call 480-812-1100 for information Pricing General Admission $25 (plus fee) General Admission ($30 at the door) BUY TICKETS VIP $35 (plus fee) Early Admission for preferred seating Q&A with the speakers and artists BUY TICKETS Group Tickets $20 for group of 10+ That goal has been met. Create a password that only you will remember. If youre on a laptop or desktop, the menu is likely floating around on the left side of the page, indicated also by three horizontal bars. 0:00. Let's pray together to end the cycle of human trafficking and exploitation: Valleybrook 410 Cafe, 410 S Barstow St, Eau Claire 6:30-7:45 pm. See the real faces. Again, more on Converge later. Other Chippewa Valley churches have been supportive through this difficult time, he said, with some even offering to partner in joint ventures. Though they were sad to leave after thinking theyd found their church home, Larson said, they observed several things that sent up red flags, including constant drama and crying in sermons. Friendly Atheist. 2 recommendations for Valleybrook Church from neighbors in Eau Claire, WI. An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account. The church received several notices about unpaid taxes from the Internal Revenue Service, including a notice of intent to levy $12,977 for unpaid employment withholding taxes. Valleybrook Church is a Christian organization in Eau Claire, WI, which was founded in 1974 and has an unknown amount of revenue and number of employees. The Real Faces of Human Trafficking, a video production by Fierce Freedom, Valleybrook Auditorium (Hollywood Theatre), 412 S Barstow St, Eau Claire Learn why human trafficking continues. Chic Sweets sales 10am-5pm People did express disappointment when they heard that, Solberg said. I used to be a staff member of that church. Tales from the Cult is a free effort to bring stories of abuse into the light so they may be prevented from happening again. The offices are located across the street from the Hollywood Theater. Go-to place to discover events for more than 20M people globally. Attached here is the report that Converge1 wrote about Valleybrook Church, following two days of intensive interviews with anyone who had a story to share relevant to Valleybrook Church. A Wisconsin church is under fire for behaving like a GASP! To avoid the pain that can accompany spiritual abuse, Diederich encouraged people to take action and address such situations before they get out of hand. Sign up for our e-newsletter! 501(c)(3) Num. 7:00 PM SHOW6:30 PM GA DOORS OPEN6:00 PM VIP DOORS OPEN. We see something wrong, but we think everyone else seems to think its OK, so it must be me.. Likewise, Lebsack was able to manipulate the churchs overseers and facilitate the departures of assistant pastors who dared question his methods and messages, said Mitchell, who has written about the events at Valleybrook in a series of blogs titled Tales from the Cult., Ideally, the overseers would have stopped that, but many of them were in Dougs back pocket too, Mitchell said. Want more from the Friendly Atheist? Winners to be announced at later date. Valleybrook Church is part of the Organizations industry, and located in Wisconsin, United States. It is my hope that with enough web presence, a Google search will highlight the names of these individuals in an effort to prevent abuse from happening elsewhere. Mitchell also reported that current leaders indicated that several bags of cash (some labeled Kids Offering) were found in former assistant pastor Mary Clarks office, six staff members rang up $6,000 in charges on their Valleybrook credit cards for dining out, and Lebsack, believed to now be leading a church in Grapevine, Texas, received an annual salary of $113,000. Toxic pastors rise to power because they are often among the few people in church leadership educated in ministry, and the volunteers around them dont feel confident to challenge the pastors decisions, Diederich wrote. With the truth-telling voices gone, the abuse was able to increase and take deeper root, Diederich said. Valleybrook Church, 412 S Barstow St, Eau Claire, United States. Transitional leaders understand recovery will take time, and they have been reaching out to former members who left in an attempt at reconciliation. Being told youre with the devil, thats powerful stuff, Burns said. This is exactly how the Bible was passed down for generations yet today people seem to believe that the Bible is a list of dos and donts instead of a beautiful story of love, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption. This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Not only did former Valleybrook staff members cite this practice, but Charlene Burns, chairwoman of UW-Eau Claires philosophy and religious studies department, said she heard multiple examples while listening to just one segment of a recording of one of Lebsacks old sermons. Between 2008 and 2014, $6,488 in church money was used to pay parking tickets. We are within walking distance from family housing, college housing, and apartment buildings. Event StartsJoin us for 3hours full of laughter, learning, stories, and music. The letter indicated Schultz resigned when it became clear to him that the abusive practices were inappropriate and pushing the church away from God. The church also has contracted with an outside bookkeeper to process payroll and payables, Solberg said. 6,802 were here. Interment followed the service at Forest Hill. An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account. Now hes claiming to have a direct channel to Jesus, so hes already set you up to be in real spiritual trouble if you question anything, Burns said. Solberg said average attendance at services, while still down by more than 50 percent from the beginning of the year before the upheaval, has begun to creep back up, recently reaching about 225. Four Valleybrook Church pastors left after widespread . E.g. A downtown Eau Claire church is picking up the pieces after a scandal that tested the faith of the congregation and led to the resignations of the entire pastoral team amid allegations of "spiritual abuse." . Doug Lebsack, resigned because they say the final report didnt tell the full story and, it seems, because they didnt want to be around when it was read to the congregation. Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. She has an amazing way of connecting the pieces while sharing some of the funniest yet applicable personal stories you have ever heard. While it has been a challenging year for Valleybrook Church, it has also been incredible to see Gods hand as we navigate forward, the church said in a statement sent Friday to the Leader-Telegram. They were duped as much as everybody else.. But if youre curious, its like Valleybrooks denominations HQ. At the same time, Diederich said, Lebsack took steps to disconnect Valleybrook from Converge to limit denominational oversight, leaving the truth-tellers with no one to appeal to. New procedures call for bank statements to be reconciled on a monthly basis, reimbursement requests to be accompanied by receipts, two nonpastoral signatures on all Valleybrook checks and payment of cellphone data overages and parking tickets to be the responsibility of staff members who incur them. Indeed, the Hagedorns revealed that before Nate cut ties with them 18 months ago he told them he spent 12 hours a day with Lebsack after the former lead pastor indicated God wanted the two of them to be knitted together. So far as I know, this is the first public report of what is happening at Valleybrook done by an independent source. Stream Live - Valleybrook Church Connect Ministries Messages Give Stream Services - Sundays at 10am Give Online Connection Card Join us at home or on the road by streaming from your phone, tablet, or computer. cult. VIP Doors OpenJoin us for a Q&Awith all speakers and artists. Organization Information Organizations with the same name Location Information Organizations in the same zip code Similar Entities . An investigation early this year by a crisis intervention team from Converge Great Lakes, a denomination with evangelical Baptist roots that helped start Valleybrook 21 years ago in the former Hollywood movie theater building in downtown Eau Claire, generated a report highly critical of practices at the church. Support Local Journalism! Directions. Get our FREE Newsletters and special offers! Stay tuned with the most relevant events happening around you. Boston St Patricks Day Pub Crawl & Block Party! However,I will seek to make sure that repentant hearts are protected, and that it is made abundantly clear whodid what. Burns, who has researched nonintervention, equated that tendency to what is known as the bystander effect the concept that explains how people can watch someone get beat up on the street and not do anything about it because nobody else takes action. That included paying for five pickups a week from a pair of large trash receptacles. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. You have permission to edit this article. The majority of the congregation has no idea whats going on because they see the pastor only on Sundays. Find Best Western Hotels & Resorts nearby Sponsored. Some people here still feel like theyre living under a shadow left by people who are no longer here, but we really want it to be a new day, a fresh start, Haugen said. 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