Details Emerge About Grace City Church's Jail Chaplaincy Contract with Chelan County

And according to Pastor Josh McPherson, at least one juvenile inmate is being transported to GCC's compound for youth services

Chelan County Regional Justice Center Director Chris Sharp, Corrections Officer Jeremy Reagan, and Grace City Church Executive Pastor Josh McPherson talk about the jail chaplaincy contract on April 25, 2021.

*Update as of 4/5: Chelan County Public Information Officer Jill FitzSimmons denied McPherson’s claim.

*Updated as of 6/5: FitzSimmons said the juvenile was being transported to GCC from Canyon View Group Home, which is a state-funded transitional housing facility in East Wenatchee and not affiliated with the Chelan County Juvenile Justice Center.

More information emerged this week about Grace City Church’s contract with Chelan County to provide chaplain services for the Chelan County Regional Justice Center.

GCC got the contract during the pandemic because the organization that had previously been servicing the contract quit, according to jail director Chris Sharp in a presentation at GCC’s compound in April 2021.

According to the previous contract, which I obtained through a public record request this week, that organization was Victory Ministries. Why they quit is still unknown and I’m following up on that, but Grace City Church took over in January 2021 and I’ve already reported on the details of that agreement.

GCC Pastor Adam James (far left), Chaplain Chris Neuberger (red shoes), Chris Sharp, Jeremy Reagan and Josh McPherson.

During the 2021 presentation, Executive Pastor Josh McPherson brought Sharp, Corrections Officer Sgt. Jeremy Reagan and Chaplain Chris Neuberger onstage and they discussed how GCC pursued and won the contract.

“For years and years and years, no exaggeration, we’ve been trying to get into Chelan County jail. Had a heart to do church services in there, to do live streams in there, to take socks in there, inside joke, to do Bible studies. To just get in there and reach these men and women with the gospel,” McPherson said. “Because you kind of have a bit of a captive audience in there, so to speak. And so we wanted to take advantage of that.”

Neuberger, who McPherson introduces as “your favorite nine-time felon and mine,” expanded, and described how he had lobbied to get the contract for years in a presentation a year later.

“I’d been trying to get into the jail ever since I moved back to Wenatchee. Back in 2016, I went there and applied with Ray Jackson and he said, ‘Come back in next year.’ So I came back in a year and said, ‘Okay, I'm here. Here's my application.’ He said, ‘Come back in two years.’ So I came back in two years. They said, ‘Come back in three years.’ And one day some guys said, ‘You're not ever getting in here, bud. Don't even. Just quit trying.’ And so I kind of gave up and I would volunteer at other places, a rehab center and stuff like that. And then one day God came through and just some things happened,” Neuberger said.

He went on to explain how he explains it to inmates.

“When I'm doing a one-on-one with someone I will tell them like: I have nine felony convictions. I was in prison for eight years,’” he said.

Then he pulls the keys out of his pocket and says: “Now I got the keys to the jail.”

You can read the transcript of that presentation here.

Knowing a reformed felon or two myself – folks who are trying to make amends and deter others from a life of misery and sin – I have heard how hard it is for convicts to get access to correctional facilities.

So I was curious about Neuberger’s priors, when his last conviction was, and how he “got the keys to the jail.”

So texted a private investigator friend.

“One of the longest rap sheets I’ve seen,” he wrote back.

Neuberger’s offenses include identity theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, DUI, and drug charges. Most notable are an assault on an officer in 2010 and domestic violence violation and assault in 2015. He was found guilty of those charges in 2018.

According to Neuberger’s timeline, that’s two years after he started petitioning Chelan County jail employees for the jail chaplaincy contract on behalf of GCC.

I reached out to Neuberger and Sharp this week with a few questions. Neuberger did not respond to my questions. Sharp forwarded my email to Chelan County Public Information Officer Jill FitzSimmons, who answered for him.

Here are my questions and FitzSimmons’ responses:

DB: “Do Chris Neuberger and Grace City Church chaplains interact with any inmates in the juvenile detention center?”

JF: “We will be answering any questions about the juvenile program separately because of General Rule 31 and its relation to juvenile court. I have answered your questions below that are related to the Regional Justice Center.”

DB: “Were the commissioners aware of Neuberger's criminal history prior to awarding Grace City Church the chaplaincy contract for the Regional Justice Center?”

JF: “Everyone who works or volunteers in the jail has a background check. The commissioners do not oversee background checks. However, Mr. Neuberger, in a presentation to the commissioners on Sept. 7, 2021, was open about his former drug abuse issues and his sobriety.”

DB: “Do inmates have to request a chaplain, or is contact with a chaplain a part of every inmate's experience?”

JF: “A request is made.”

DB: “Other than spiritual support, do jail chaplains provide any other services to inmates?”

JF: “The chaplain program responds to requests for counseling as well as requests for items such as underwear, socks, toiletries, etc. The money paid to the program is used for those supplies. While many of the incarcerated adults are able to set up commissary accounts, others don’t have the funds or outside support.”

DB: “Have inmates identifying as LGBTQ+ or anything other than cis-gendered, or "straight," ever been detained at the Regional Justice Center or the juvenile detention center?

JF: “Yes.”

DB: “Have any of those inmates requested to speak with a chaplain?”

JF: “This is not a statistic we would keep track of.”

So it’s basically impossible to know how many inmates who identify as LGBTQ+ who are also so poor that they ask for chaplain services for hygiene kits and clean underwear.

Dead end.

What’s not a dead end is proof of GCC chaplains interacting with juvenile inmates, and I don’t have to wait for the county’s response. Pastor Josh confirmed it recently.

“Another young man, currently incarcerated as a juvenile felon but allowed to come to Grace City youth events, spoke at length with one of our pastors at The Stitch. After the good news of Jesus was explained to him...that forgiveness and newness of life was available through Jesus, he declared, “I have to do this, I want Jesus to change my life.” We’ll baptize him this Easter.”

It’s unclear if GCC has the permission of the juvenile’s parents or guardian, but it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve baptized a minor without permission.

You can read the entire blog post from McPherson in which he admits the youth is attending GCC services here.

I’ll be reaching back out to the county this week to ask about that.

My other questions are really for Mr. Neuberger and GCC, but as usual, they have not responded. I'd like to get a better understanding of how Mr. Neuberger and his team have interacted with inmates who identify as LGBTQ+ or anything other than “straight,” or how they plan to in the future.

Given GCC's teachings on homosexuality and gender, as well as pastor Josh McPherson's recent transphobic comments from the pulpit, these seem like pertinent questions.

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Update as of 4/6/23

On April 5, I reached out to Sharp and FitzSimmons with a few additional questions about McPherson’s claims.

Here’s what I wrote:

“Hi Ms. FitzSimmons and Director Sharp,

I had another question about chaplain services to juvenile inmates. In a recent article written by Grace City Church pastor Josh McPherson wrote that a young man who is "currently incarcerated as a juvenile felon but allowed to come to Grace City youth events" is going to be baptized soon.

Here's the full quote for context:

‘Another young man, currently incarcerated as a juvenile felon but allowed to come to Grace City youth events, spoke at length with one of our pastors at The Stitch. After the good news of Jesus was explained to him...that forgiveness and newness of life was available through Jesus, he declared, 'I have to do this, I want Jesus to change my life.' We’ll baptize him this Easter.’

Here's a link to that article: https://gracecitychurch.com/blog/2023/03/29/heartbreak-in-tn-hope-in-heaven

Is this true? And how does this sort of inmate release work? Are there policies or guidelines regarding this type of situation I can refer to?”

The next day FitzSimmons got back to me:

“Dominick,

I can only speak for our facilities. No, this is not true. Neither the Regional Justice Center nor the Juvenile Center allow people to leave for such events or services.

In a juvenile’s case, it would require a judge to approve. Again, this does not happen.”

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My Two Cents, and a Special Announcement

Personally, I believe in second chances. It’s possible for folks to change and they shouldn’t have to carry the guilt and shame of felony convictions for their entire lives or be punished in perpetuity. However, strongly held religious convictions should not exempt you from the same rules that apply to others, or expedite a process that provides a pathway to interact with inmates, who are an extremely vulnerable group of people.

Like I have said before and will say again – I sincerely want to get McPherson and GCC’s two cents, hear them out, and include their side of the story. But they don’t respond to any of my questions. However, they put enough out on the internet that it’s possible to include their side of the story by just quoting what they say in sermons, blog posts, and in various publications.

In other news, I will be doing an Instagram livestream interview with Tim from The New Evangelicals Podcast on Tuesday at 4 pm EST, or 1 pm on the West Coast.

We’re going to be talking about GCC, it’s impact on the Wenatchee Valley and across the Pacific Northwest. The New Evangelicals are massively influential in the Christian media space and I’m honored to be invited to talk about GCC’s impact on our region.

You can find some of Tim’s Instagram here and watch some of his content here.

And you can watch our full interview here.