Four Valleybrook Church pastors left after widespread claims surfaced about them pushing members and staff to reject their families, matching unrelated pairs of parishioners into knit-together relationships to replace biological family, sharing personal information gained in confidence, and abusing their authority by demeaning and shaming others. Many people have several pieces of the puzzle, yet they have no idea how it all fits together in the greatest love story ever told. Contact Us. Previously on a personal blog, I ran a series of posts sharing stories from my time in this cult. Choose wisely! This is where you will meet with a pastor, go to Imitate Middle School & High School, find The Living Room, find The Loft, and pick up Imitate Kids after the Sunday service. Go-to place to discover events for more than 20M people globally. Contributing author identities will always be verified by myself, but if they wish to remain anonymous, they will be given a. Who spends all day every day with a co-worker? Valleybrook Church, 412 S Barstow St, Eau Claire, United States. 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. Why, then, does this site exist? Valleybrook Church Non-Denominational Churches Churches & Places of Worship Website 30 YEARS IN BUSINESS Amenities: (715) 834-9993 412 S Barstow St Eau Claire, WI 54701 CLOSED NOW 2. Lighthouse Youth Center And Ministries, Inc. 310 E. Madison St., Eau Claire, WI 54703. LeaderTelegram 374 subscribers Jody and Bob Hagedorn watched as their son Nate, a married 32-year-old with 4 children, became involved at Valleybrook Church in Eau Claire and rose to a. A Memorial Service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011, at Valleybrook Church, Eau Claire with Pastor Grant Schultz, Pastor Mary Clark, and two members of Steve's family officiating.. The letter prompted Valleybrook to request an investigation by Converge Great Lakes, a denomination with evangelical Baptist roots that helped start Valleybrook 21 years ago in the former Hollywood Cinema in downtown Eau Claire. Select a subscription and get started today. Kind of. There has been lots of healing and many encouraging developments.. Clark indicated there is another side to the financial story but said she didnt think it was her place to comment becausethose things werent decided by me. In April, Clark also questioned the veracity of some of the findings in the Converge Great Lakes report. The nine-page letter by Grant Schultz identified multiple examples of Lebsacks alleged manipulative practices, including frequent attempts to push parishioners and staff to cut off ties with their biological families and instead form knitted-together relationships with other Valleybrook members of his choosing. Just look for the old movie theater marquee, and you will find us. Find Best Western Hotels & Resorts nearby Sponsored. We had previously served Triumph Lutheran Brethren Church in Moorhead, MN for 25 years. National Human Trafficking Awareness Day Events, St. Patricks Day Events & Celebrations In USA 2023, MicroMania Midget Wrestling: Glendale, AZ at 44 Sports Grill. Stay tuned for details, Northwood grad credits active shooter training preparing him for Michigan ordeal. Getting to Net Zero: What Does This Really Mean and How Do We Do It? Chic Sweets sales 10am-5pm Please refer your friends and family to this site if you find it useful or informative. Early entry also allows you tochose your favorite seat. Church Online Platform Facebook Live YouTube Live View Past Services The Lighthouse Youth Center offers children a safe, supervised and nurturing environment to interact with other children, parents and adults. 2 recommendations for Valleybrook Church from neighbors in Eau Claire, WI. Some of the pastors, including head of the church Rev. To view our latest e-Edition click the image on the left. 412 South Barstow St Ho-hum. . Live Stream Here! The pastor in charge has fled the state. There is not now, and will never be, a fee to access this site. The churchs standard monthly trash hauling bill totaled $1,053 under the former leaders. Winners to be announced at later date. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. This has been the most challenging thing Ive ever been a part of, Haugen said. Your e-mail address will be used to confirm your account. cult. Bethesda Lutheran Church: 123 W. Hamilton Ave. Eau Claire, WI Tuesdays at 9:00 am Jan 17, 2023 - Apr 11, 2023 Saving Grace Lutheran Church: Saving Grace Lutheran Church (New Location) . It was during that time in Seattle that Jaime signed with Centricity Records and went on to record 3 albums with them. Headquarters: 412 S Barstow St, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 54701, United States. Staff photo by Dan Reiland Doug Lebsack Charlene Burns Stay tuned for details, Northwood grad credits active shooter training preparing him for Michigan ordeal. 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. Without further ado, here's a PDF of the Valleybrook Church Report. Her quick wit and southern charm are infectious. Something just didnt feel right to us in our gut, so we left, Larson said, acknowledging that perhaps they too could have said something about their suspicions. Reader's Choice Awards - Voting has ended. Valleybrook Church is a tax-exempt organization filed with Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 07/15/2022 IRS 501(c) type. Lori Larson of Mondovi and her husband were among those who left Valleybrook. However,I will seek to make sure that repentant hearts are protected, and that it is made abundantly clear whodid what. Some of the most troubling financial revelations, confirmed by current Valleybrook leaders: Over a 15-month period studied, disbursements to mission organizations were less than half of the $75,000 that was budgeted and presented to the congregation. About GriefShare; Seminar topics; Seminar experts; Healing. Still, Diederich, who recently blogged about what he called toxic pastors, said he was shocked so many people could allow the tactics to go on for so long. Valleybrook Offices411 S Barstow StEau Claire, WI 54701. 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. 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. The church is under new leadership for the time being, but how do you undo years of damage affecting an entire congregation? Eau Claire; Valleybrook Church; EIN 39-1805767. Coffee. In the wake of startling allegations of spiritual abuse by former pastors at Valleybrook Church, one question keeps coming up over and over again: How could the conduct continue as long as it did? Likewise, the pastors inner circle typically is muted, and those on the outer circle notice questionable behavior but dont have enough evidence or proximity to the pastor to say anything. Valleybrook Church is part of the Organizations industry, and located in Wisconsin, United States. Former Valleybrook employee Matthew Mitchell, who attended the meeting and reported on it in his Tales from the Cult blog, said parishioners were informed that the church paid Verizon Wireless nearly $30,000, including upgrade fees and data charges, from January 2014 to March 2015 for 16 lines of cellphone service for former church leaders and their families. Consider this, then, a history book of a time not long gone, and a warning to any organization that employs or affiliates with the former lead pastor of the church. A lack of oversight and former lead pastor Doug Lebsacks claims of receiving direct messages from God are among the reasons cited for a recent scandal at Valleybrook Church in downtown Eau Claire that prompted the entire pastoral team to resign amid allegations of spiritual abuse. We are continually seeking to know God's will for our church. The Hollywood sign above the marquee will also be relit as part of the project to replace more than 1,100 bulbs at the outside entrance to Valleybrook Church in the 400 block of South Barstow Street in downtown Eau Claire. Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. That claim to moral authority, combined with peoples natural herd mentality, apparently was enough to prevent anyone from effectively challenging Lebsacks methods until another former pastors revelatory resignation letter in February finally meant the jig was up. It is considered by many, inside and outside of its membership, to be a cult. Want updates when Valleybrook Church has new information, or want to find more organizations like Valleybrook Church? Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. It started at the top the very top for Christians as the charismatic Lebsack was known for citing God and Jesus as the sources of his inspiration and the justifications for doing the things he did. Those of us who have been out of the church for awhile have been seeing and saying these things for years, and now its public information. Please consider distributing fliers to your bible study or small group. Reader's Choice Awards - Voting has ended. 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. If you prefer not to share links and just want to read, thank you very much for reading, and I hope it brings some clarity to a very confusing and wounding situation. 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. The letter indicated Schultz resigned when it became clear to him that the abusive practices were inappropriate and pushing the church away from God. Valleybrook Church Location 412 S Barstow St, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 54701, United States Description Industry Organizations General Organizations Discover more about Valleybrook Church Org Chart - Valleybrook Church Phone Email Julie Smith . You have permission to edit this article. 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. Some folks tried to object through the years, but gave up and found a new church when their voices werent heard, leaving fewer and fewer people willing to stand up and say something, said Remy Diederich, lead pastor at Cedarbrook Church in Menomonie. Weve worked hard to put in place a high level of internal controls, said interim lead pastor Tim Haugen, adding that the church has no plans to pursue legal action related to the financial review. Despite the widespread concerns, several sources indicated that many families just left Valleybrook when they felt things were getting strange later in Lebsacks roughly 10 years at the church. 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. 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. 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. Who wants to question Jesus?. The church also has contracted with an outside bookkeeper to process payroll and payables, Solberg said. That goal has been met. Valleybrook is trying to rebuild itself in a healthy way, and they are doing a fine job of that. (With the bonus of a home run ball). Valleybrook Church 412 S Barstow Street, Eau Claire #HeIsRisen #JesusisAlive #ValleybrookChurch #EasterCelebration Stay tuned with the most relevant events happening around you. The primary goal was to provide the congregation with a factual representation of what we found in the books and, almost just as importantly, to outline ways were working to rebuild trust, said Chris Solberg, a longtime Valleybrook member who was elected to the transitional leadership team. Phone. Its enough to make people think, Maybe Im wrong. The Bridge Church, Eau Claire 1210 E. Clairemont Ave. Salem Baptist Eau Claire 2514 Golf Road . An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account. Please refer your friends and family to this site if you find it useful or informative. 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. As painful as this all has been, Haugen said,I think that in many ways the church structurally is so much better situated right now than it was before.. Further ado, here & # x27 ; S will for our Church a link to change your.! Remain anonymous, they will be given a organization filed with Internal Service., Northwood grad credits active shooter training preparing him for Michigan ordeal Centricity Records and on... Been registered, and you are now logged in record 3 albums with them friends family. The pastors, including head of the pastors, including head of the valleybrook Church is a tax-exempt organization with! 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