On January 17th, apologist and BibleThinker ministries leader Mike Winger, released an extensive expose on both the fall of Charismatic, self-proclaimed prophet Shawn Bolz and the subsequent leadership failure of Northern California’s, Bethel Church leadership. He cited significant evidence that Bolz’s ministry was fraught with issues, including allegations of false prophetic ministry practices and sexual harassment toward team members, among other concerns. Bethel Church is implicated because of its long-term support and promotion of Bolz and its failure to disclose what ultimately led them to privately break fellowship with him and his ministry in 2019. Under increased public pressure, Bethel leader Kris Vallotton attempted to explain their role in the situation during a Sunday service on January 18th, but his comments only made matters worse. Thankfully, on Sunday, January 27th Bethel offered a much clearer and more helpful response, both in their services and in an online statement. They appropriately owned their failure to be more open, forthcoming, and transparent about their findings regarding Shawn Bolz.

Although it’s easy to view these events as simply another dark chapter in a long history of Christian leadership scandals, I truly believe they will lead to greater good. As a member of the Charismatic movement and a pastor of over 30 years, I’ve seen my share of scandals - some of which I had to handle within my own church. These situations are complicated and messy. There are no easy answers and no perfect ways to navigate them, but there are better and worse ways.

When scandals are handled well, they send a shockwave of accountability through the rest of the kingdom of God. This is what I believe can come out of this terrible situation.

The Charismatic Christian community has become infamous for scandal and low accountability. With a good-hearted desire to create room for the Holy Spirit to move freely, and with an emphasis on grace for messy people, we have too often created environments where bad characters can thrive. Since Pentecost, conservative Christian leaders and skeptics who have aggressively criticized the Charismatic movement and demanded stronger accountability. The more they raise their voices, the more Charismatic leaders often dig in their heels, convinced that such critiques are simply another attempt by the enemy to quench the Spirit.

But when a significant leader within the movement admits to getting it wrong and publicly acknowledges a failure of accountability, the movement listens. Instead of just another scandal we must be embarrassed by - and another reason to feel defensive about our distinctives – we are invited to pause and consider how we have handled similar issues in our own churches and ministries.

I deeply believe God is going to use this as another wake-up call to His Church. In no way do I excuse Shawn Bolz for his choices or minimize the harm he has done both to the Body of Christ and individuals. Nor do I pretend that there is no real damage from Bethel’s decisions. But I do know that God can take garbage and turn it into gold.

We have needed someone in the upper echelons of the Charismatic movement to speak clearly about accountability. Many in the “lower tiers” have tried and only been partially heard. But when a mothership like Bethel acknowledges that they failed to follow through on proper accountability, discipline, and correction, it may finally penetrate the minds and hearts of those who would otherwise continue with business as usual. Bethel is not responsible for policing every leader they partner with, but they are responsible to communicate clearly when a leader they have platformed has been found to be dangerous.



It is unfortunate that Bethel into greater transparency by pressures from wounded people. However, as mentioned, I understand the complexity of handling an issue like this and feeling like you have done enough internally to safeguard your immediate congregation. I understand the conflicting opinions and voices - even within the same staff - on how things should have been handled.

Bethel could have doubled down on Vallotton’s initial perspective that they had done their due diligence. They did not. They regrouped, reconsidered, and chose to walk the difficult road of exposing evil. If you know Bethel’s culture, exposure and public accountability are not their norm. They have intentionally created a shielded environment for spiritual discovery, expansion, and freedom to pursue the radical things of God. What they have now come to terms with are the limits of that culture if they want to remain healthy and safe for the broader kingdom of God.

My prayer is that the rest of us learn the same lesson without having to walk through the pain of more broken lives.