10 Observations on Bethel’s Sunday Repentance and Confession

On Friday, I wrote an open letter to Kris Vallotton. It generated significantly more engagement than most things I post, which reveals how deeply believers care about how church leaders respond to clergy sexual abuse. Not surprisingly, 52% of respondents were ages 25–34, 33% were 55–64, and only 10% were older than that. This generational divide was explicitly acknowledged by Bethel leadership themselves, who shared that it was their younger senior leaders who helped them see where they had misstepped. 

I want to say clearly that I was deeply blessed by the humility shown by Bill Johnson, Kris Vallotton, and other Bethel leaders on Sunday. There was a genuine request for forgiveness, and I believe most believers are more than willing to extend it. That said, one heartfelt hour does not constitute repentance—but it was a meaningful step in the right direction. True repentance will be demonstrated through sustained change, the very change the rank and file of Bethel have been calling for. 

I am rooting for them.

The Church is rooting for them.

With that said, here are ten observations.

1. I am painfully gullible. If someone looks me in the eye and tells me something, I tend to believe them. It takes a lot for me not to. So it should come as no surprise that I believed the Bethel leaders were speaking sincerely from their hearts—and yet, I also know I must discipline myself to remain somewhat skeptical. Scripture says that “love believes all things” (1 Cor. 13:7), but it also tells us to be “wise as serpents” (Matt. 10:16).



They owned the issue as much as one reasonably could in an hour. For Kris to admit that last week’s message was off took real courage. Even as someone who said just days ago that I no longer believed him, I do believe he was sincere. Still, time will tell whether this represents a genuine shift—from a mentality that prioritizes loyalty to ministers who abuse “little ones,” to one that prioritizes protecting victims above all else. I hope it does. And may it spread.



2. It was significant that Bill addressed his TBN endorsement of Shawn Bolz. He did not have to share the backstory—that he had recently sat face-to-face with one of Shawn’s victims—but he chose to do so, even though it placed him in a worse light. I still struggle to understand how a man of Bill’s maturity could publicly endorse Shawn’s character (not merely his book) just two months later. Nevertheless, he owned it as fully as anyone could, and I honor him for that.



3. I honor Kris for speaking openly about how he handled his interaction with another of Shawn’s victims. I know firsthand what it’s like to be completely overwhelmed in ministry. I can empathize with the pressure to do something you do not believe you are supposed to do. However, he now acknowledges that he was supposed to act. I trust that this will result in meaningful outreach to the victim.



4. I want to ask everyone to pray for Mike Winger. He took a tremendous amount of criticism for doing what he did. He does not have a massive church like Bethel surrounding him with encouragement, yet he acted courageously. I was deeply moved when Bethel leaders Steve and Ruth Moore said through tears, “We love Mike Winger, and we want to thank him for protecting victims and giving them a voice.” (https://youtu.be/QMywWJY5azQ?list=RDQMywWJY5azQ&t=7348).

That statement—made publicly—was worlds apart from the posture taken just a week earlier.



5. That said, I do not believe it was Mike Winger’s video alone that led Bethel leadership to humble themselves as they did. I believe the decisive factor was pressure from their own community and alumni. There is a massive generational disconnect when it comes to clergy sexual abuse. When I took the stand I took a year ago, the overwhelming majority of criticism came from those older than me, while the vast majority of encouragement came from those younger. It wasn’t absolute, but it was roughly an 80/20 split.



Older generations were shaped in an era where misbehaving ministers were protected, victims were silenced or shamed, and public confrontation was considered distasteful. But that era is ending. If you sexually abuse one of God’s little ones, expect to be exposed publicly (1 Tim. 5:20).



6. This generational shift was reflected in the dialogue between Bethel’s older and younger senior leadership teams. I think it’s fair to assume that the younger leaders view clergy sexual abuse as a far more serious and disqualifying issue. I commend the older leaders for listening—and I honor the younger leaders for speaking up.



7. On Passover, we ask in Hebrew, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” In light of recent events, the question becomes: Why was this video different from other videos?



People have been discussing Shawn Bolz’s data mining and fabricated prophecies since at least 2020. I personally heard about it from a well-known evangelist before COVID. The Minor Prophets podcast covered it in detail over a year ago. And yet—no one took responsibility.



What could not be ignored this time were the details of Bolz’s brazen sexual abuse of assistants. Clergy sexual abuse causes deep and lasting trauma. When a trusted spiritual authority exploits that relationship for sexual gratification, it produces profound psychological confusion. “Why would someone who stands for what is right do something so wrong?”



One psychologist describes this as dissonance—“the deep psychological conflict that arises when a person holds two opposing realities at the same time. For victims of sexual abuse, especially when the abuser is a trusted authority figure, dissonance emerges from the collision between trust and betrayal.”



When Mike Winger interviewed Elijah Stephens (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9577FAA2FGA), there was virtually no response from Bethel. But this situation compelled the rank and file of Bethel and BSSM to demand accountability. I do not believe Sunday’s repentance was manufactured under pressure. What I do believe is that leadership took a much deeper look when they realized their own people were no longer willing to look away.



While I applaud their humility, it does not erase the pain of the last five years. Too many in the charismatic world still prioritize protecting the reputation of a fallen “anointed” minister over caring for victims. I pray this marks a turning point—not only for Bethel, but for the movement as a whole.



8. The two women who spoke at the end of Kris’s message the previous week deserve an apology. After a message he now admits was ill-timed and ill-worded, they publicly praised him as “humble” and “courageous.” He has since acknowledged that he unwittingly misused Scripture in a way that implied we should be patient with sexually abusive believers. I am grateful he now sees this—and it did take humility and courage to admit it.



As I wrote in the postscript of my letter, those who love Kris would have supported him regardless of direction. The same people who clapped for him yesterday, applauded him the week before for a message that was 180 degrees different. One of my long-standing concerns about Bethel is that members are not always encouraged to think critically, but rather to rally behind leadership, which appears to foster groupthink. I hope they will explore this dynamic in the coming days. As a result, these women now appear foolish for honoring a message that should never have been delivered. I sincerely hope they are cared for.



9. Despite all of this, I remain deeply encouraged. This is the first time I can recall an organization of Bethel’s size truly humbling itself in response to exposure. This is what so many of us hoped to see at IHOPKC—but never did. While there is room for critique, I do not want to diminish what happened Sunday. Their words of humility were powerful. At the risk of sounding overly prophetic, I believe something genuinely shifted. Their influence is immense, and they have the opportunity to lead real change.



10. My final point: years ago, a phone company had a slogan—“We’re more than just words.” That is my prayer for Bethel.



Actions matter far more than statements. I am genuinely encouraged that they already have a Safe Church website in place, clearly developed prior to this moment. Having an independent advocate to whom abuse can be reported is crucial. A victim should never be required to report abuse to the eldership of someone they consider a friend.



I’ve said for over a year that reformation will not come from leadership alone—it will come from the grassroots. That is exactly what we witnessed this week. What sets Bethel apart from others, including IHOPKC, is that they listened. They humbled themselves. They wept. They took responsibility.



Now the work begins: ensuring that ministers understand adultery and clergy sexual abuse are not issues you simply “repent of” and continue in ministry; that victims are prioritized over victimizers; and that the church becomes a place of safety for the vulnerable—and a very unsafe place for predators.



Stay tuned.