Lake Chelan Bible Church Singles Out Minor at Event Focused on LGBTQIA+ Community
And how that has impacted the child and their family
Note: the names of the subjects in this story have been changed due to privacy and safety concerns, as well as the fact this story involves minors.
In the seventh grade, Trinity was outed by a peer and decided to come out as bisexual and gender fluid. They were targeted and harassed by peers for their sexual identity. They were ostracized by some and bullied by others. But throughout the ordeal that was seventh grade, they gained a best friend – a girl named Delilah.
“I had no friends except for one friend, and that was Delilah,” Trinity said. “I only really talked to Delilah.”
Trinity changed her name about two years ago and asked friends to start using that name. Delilah, as well as everyone else in Trinity’s life, acquiesced to their request.
But at a “Truth Town Hall” at the Lake Chelan Bible Church on June 1 titled “Addressing the LGBTQIA+ Movement” Delilah mentioned Trinity by name in a question directed at Lead Pastor David Belcher.
“Hi, I’m Delilah. Um, I have my best friend, like I’ve known her since sixth grade. She welcomed me in, and she just came out as bi, and gender fluid. So that means that they are no longer girl or boy. And she came up to me and was like, ‘My name is Trinity’ and changed her name on Facebook and everything and I was like ‘What is going on?’ I just thought that somebody hacked her and then she came up to me and said, ‘I want you to call me by my new name and gender’ and I see her every day. And I was told by another friend to completely ghost them and do not talk to them anymore,” she said. “But I don’t think I should do that because that’s not showing God’s love, and I’m wondering what to do about it.”
“Did you tell her God’s truth?” Belcher asked.
“I wanted to, and every time she shuts me down and says that God’s word isn’t enough,” she said.
“She’ll never know God’s love if she doesn’t know God’s truth. She’s in rebellion to God. It’s that simple,” he said.
“Second Timothy 3:16!” a man in the crowd shouted.
“There you go,” Belcher said. “All scripture is God-breathed.”
This is about the time Executive Pastor Nick Longmire, who is also an employee of the Lake Chelan School District, chimed in.
“I think part of the real life, because I’m hearing these kind of questions that are in the same categories, some of the difficult things is these are real-life people. They’re family members, they’re friends, um, you’ve done life with them for a long time and so there’s somewhat of that real, right, that I don’t want to lose this friendship if I… But you gotta think beyond that and think about their eternal salvation. I mean that’s something that you gotta keep in mind. And of course, you want to do it, um, respectfully and in love, um, you want to care for the person, you know let ‘em know that you’re not going to abandon them – you’re still going to love them – but, um, to be truthful with ‘em is probably the best part of your friendship that you could give them,” he said.
The betrayal cut deep for Trinity. So they asked her why she mentioned their name in front of her whole church and on a Livestream on YouTube.
“As far as she told me, it was to have a good face for her mother, to keep up her mom’s reputation,” Trinity said. “She said it wasn’t on purpose, she was put up to it and she meant no harm by it.”
But Trinity said they didn’t and still don’t feel comfortable with that.
“These are people who are very extreme and think that I am literally born of Satan,” Trinity said. “I am not ok with that.”
Trinity’s parents, Tom and Nancy, said that Delilah’s parents have told her to shun Trinity.
“Quite literally (they said) you have to turn your back to (Trinity) at the bus stop,” Nancy said.
Delilah’s father is “the enforcer” of the church, Tom said. He stands at the back of the room during services with a firearm, ostensibly to protect the congregation.
“He’s ‘the enforcer’ of the church,” Tom said. “He carries a gun on him.”
Tom said Trinity’s anxiety levels are through the roof, and so are his.
It’s led to insomnia and constant worrying about his family’s safety. He said he’s installed security cameras at their house and checks the perimeter of their property every night before bed.
They said Trinity will be moving to the alternative school in the fall, to avoid further bullying and shunning as much as possible in a small town like Chelan.
“It’s mostly because I have really bad anxiety, I have generalized anxiety, and when I go to my regular school at Chelan High School I have anxiety 24/7,” they said. “And I don’t know very many people that I can talk to.”
They said they feel uncomfortable and worried they and their family with be targeted because of their sexual identity. Although the Lake Chelan Bible Church is only about a year old, they are growing, and the rhetoric is extreme, as far as Tom is concerned.
“These guys are bonkers,” he said. “You never know if one of them is going to see devil horns and shoot you.”
All Trinity and their family want is for Trinity’s name to be removed from the video published on the Lake Chelan Bible Church YouTube channel.
“I just want my name out of that,” Trinity said. “And I don’t want them to be talking about me. I don’t want my family to be in an uncomfortable spot.”
I reached out to the folks at the Lake Chelan Bible Church to ask about the situation, and if they would take the portion of their video that has Trinity’s name in it off the internet.
Here’s my email:
“Hello,
I'm a journalist based in Wenatchee. It recently came to my attention that a minor who identifies as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community in Chelan was mentioned by name and discussed at your Truth Town Hall on June 1. I went to your YouTube channel, watched the video, and found that to be true.
I have a few questions:
1. Have the parents of that minor been in contact with you about taking down the portion of the video in which their child is mentioned by name?
2. Have any members of Lake Chelan Bible Church staff instructed congregants to shun, bully or ostracize the child mentioned in your Truth Town Hall or any other members of the Lake Chelan community?
3. What did Pastor Belcher mean when he asked the child posing the question about her friend if she had told her "God's truth?" What is the truth the girl should have told her friend?
4. Did either Pastor Belcher or Pastor Longmire have prior knowledge that this question would be asked or consider how discussing the sexual identity of a local 15-year-old in a small community like Chelan might affect that child and their family?
Thank you for your time.”
If they get back to me I will update this piece or write a new one covering their response. As of June 19, 2022 the video is still up on the LCBC’s YouTube channel in its original form.
The last thing I would like to note is that according to The Trevor Project, an organization with the mission of ending suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning young people, “LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers.”
Since suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 24, this puts LGBTQIA+ youth on the extreme edge. Being ostracized, shunned, bullied and badgered by your peers and even some adults in your small community can only make that pressure worse for this individual in this case.
Thankfully, Trinity has a supportive family and a good dad in their corner in this case. I would like to commend Trinity for their bravery in sharing this story, as well as their parents and everyone else who has stepped up to support them throughout this trying time.
If you or anyone you know are struggling with a mental health crisis help is always available, call the national suicide hotline at 800-273-8255. And if you’d like to find a way to support or connect with the LGBTQIA+ community in North Central Washington, visit Wenatchee Pride’s website.
I will continue to look into the Lake Chelan Bible Church and its leaders in the future.
It is unfortunate that some people think this is Christianity. How they focus on this child while glossing over their own behaviour. The Lord Himself deliberately and consciously welcomed the people ostracized and shunned in His society. How do they think they are helping anyone by publicly "outing" them and thereby adding to the pressure the child is already under? My heart broke for her when hearing how she is shunned and without friends. This is not the church, this is a sect that unfortunately gives the impression of being the universal church. These people are more like the Taliban. Read the gospels and see how Jesus reacted to the religious authorities of his day. You don't bring someone into the kingdom by shaming them, you bring them in by loving them. Look at your own sins first, look at your own darkness, then if you do that honestly and have the balls to condemn someone else , go ahead and throw that first stone.
I just want to say one more thing about "Pastor Belcher" then I'm going to leave it alone. First time I heard of this was through Dominick Bonny Reports. Thank you for this expose. This is not a new thing, it has been happening alot in America, especially since the presidency of Donald Trump. I suspect that underlying this phenomena there lies a heavy undercurrent of Trumpism. I don't mean to bring politics into this but I believe it is a factor. After watching the youtube video I can see many red flags.
The lack of humility in this gentleman is stunning. He says that 90% of all Christian pastors don't teach biblically. This is ridiculous. What pastors is he talking about, Baptists, Catholics, Orthodox? The point is he implies he is in the 10% group who is doing it right. Watch out. There are many examples of this in recent history from Jim Jones to Larry Titus. It is a way of isolating people from the checks and balances that the mainstream, with all it's failings, keeps people honest. What is his history, where does he come from? Beware of those who insert themselves from outside of the community. Some of these folks research their targets before hand , much like businesses research whether an area will be profitable. Also armed enforcers? Really? This is also a tactic used to emphasize the separation of his "flock" from the dangerous enemies outside. It's a control mechanism. He becomes his own pope answering to no one but himself . Did the apostle Paul use armed guards in his missions? Believe me he faced a much more hostile world than Belcher does. Watch out people. Pray for discernment.