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.
Greg your response is absolutely spot on. It is good to know others are seeing both his subtle & not so subtle messenges. He has gone full cult: no friendships outside of church, commerce or war?! Constant demands for the kids to obey. Abomination being a 'worse level of sin, Adultery and lgbtq being the same thing? 90% of pastors are actually false prophets controlled by Satan, Saying lgbtq people are literally born of Satan? This guy is hyper militant & prepping for war and we all know he's linked up with more of these hate cells. The Chelan community needs to be hyper aware and vigilant. It seemed set up also...'did you tell her Gods Truth? Oh I tried but... that part really did seem prepared. If so my heart aches for Deliliah also, imagine being a child forced to shun her own best friend. Gross.
In the name of some fundamental god or another. Is it any wonder so many wars, murders, suicides and horrible acts are perpetrated. Mankind, what fools are we.
Thanks for following this church and story, Dominick. My heart goes out to this teen and any others who are feeling the building backlash against our LGBTQIA+ community. I'm truly concerned that with some of the extremism we are seeing nationwide that we are moving backward.
I listened to this ‘truth’ town hall and found the whole thing appalling. The bigotry and arrogance of this pastor is breathtaking. It is disturbing to observe the creeping christofascist dominionist theocracy occurring in my own community.
Dom... one of your questions was pretty much answered already:
"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?"
Prior to that, you quoted Longmire as saying, "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"
Not sure why you'd ask given that there was nothing said to indicate that was the case. Beware that publishing your questions carries the weight of implied accusations. I'm not a fan of that practice.
I think it is also fair to point out that the church leaders did not out anyone, it was one of the youth. Your headline is misleading in that regard.
I disagree. The leaders did nothing to stop a minor bringing up her friend by name and then they actively discussed that individual and their sexuality in front of the entire crowd. Some people even chimed in from the sidelines, one shouting a Bible verse. Trinity said Delilah’s mom put her up to it, so I think it’s fair to characterize this as the church as a collective singling this kid out. As for my question, just because I know the answer doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear what they have to say.
OK, I see both your points; they're well-taken. The leaders should have been sensitive enough to stop any public discussion of an individual in its tracks.
There are two parts to this that grieve me. First that they allowed the discussion of an individual to continue. I don't blame them for it having been brought up; I've led youth groups and taught high schoolers myself. Good luck trying to control what *they* are going to say and/or ask. But we in the church should know better than to have a public discussion about any individual regardless of the issue--but most especially this one.
The second part is that a parent cooked this up with their child. At least, that is what the child reported, right? Might be enlightening to get the parent's take. But if that is true, it makes me very sad as well.
Has the video been edited? If they need technical help to do the editing, I will volunteer my time and I have the software tools. I will be the first to say this should be put right.
Yes, with experience in youth ministry myself I agree that it's impossible to control what comes out of kids' mouths, but you can step in and shut it down. And to be fair to Longmire, he did seem to try to walk things back a bit but that was after a good long discussion about Trinity. What you don't get in the transcript is the voice Delilah affected while mimicking Trinity. That's the point I think most pastors would have stepped in, in my experience. I reached out to LCBC to ask if they planned on editing the video, and the parent of "Delilah" should have seen that because she's on staff. I have not heard back.
The youth who outed Trinity told them that she was put up to it. Who do you suppose put Delilah up to it, considering that her parents want her to shun Trinity, and her father is the armed "enforcer" in the church?
Refusing to remove Trinity's name from the video deliberately sets them up as a target. THAT is despicable and indefensible.
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.
Greg your response is absolutely spot on. It is good to know others are seeing both his subtle & not so subtle messenges. He has gone full cult: no friendships outside of church, commerce or war?! Constant demands for the kids to obey. Abomination being a 'worse level of sin, Adultery and lgbtq being the same thing? 90% of pastors are actually false prophets controlled by Satan, Saying lgbtq people are literally born of Satan? This guy is hyper militant & prepping for war and we all know he's linked up with more of these hate cells. The Chelan community needs to be hyper aware and vigilant. It seemed set up also...'did you tell her Gods Truth? Oh I tried but... that part really did seem prepared. If so my heart aches for Deliliah also, imagine being a child forced to shun her own best friend. Gross.
In the name of some fundamental god or another. Is it any wonder so many wars, murders, suicides and horrible acts are perpetrated. Mankind, what fools are we.
Thanks for following this church and story, Dominick. My heart goes out to this teen and any others who are feeling the building backlash against our LGBTQIA+ community. I'm truly concerned that with some of the extremism we are seeing nationwide that we are moving backward.
This church has so much wickedness. Jesus would cast the leadership out and wrap his arms around the children.
During that mess of a Town Hall he went so far as to say that even heterosexual friendships was gay unless it was for war, commerce or the Church!
OMG!
I listened to this ‘truth’ town hall and found the whole thing appalling. The bigotry and arrogance of this pastor is breathtaking. It is disturbing to observe the creeping christofascist dominionist theocracy occurring in my own community.
Dom... one of your questions was pretty much answered already:
"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?"
Prior to that, you quoted Longmire as saying, "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"
Not sure why you'd ask given that there was nothing said to indicate that was the case. Beware that publishing your questions carries the weight of implied accusations. I'm not a fan of that practice.
I think it is also fair to point out that the church leaders did not out anyone, it was one of the youth. Your headline is misleading in that regard.
I disagree. The leaders did nothing to stop a minor bringing up her friend by name and then they actively discussed that individual and their sexuality in front of the entire crowd. Some people even chimed in from the sidelines, one shouting a Bible verse. Trinity said Delilah’s mom put her up to it, so I think it’s fair to characterize this as the church as a collective singling this kid out. As for my question, just because I know the answer doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear what they have to say.
OK, I see both your points; they're well-taken. The leaders should have been sensitive enough to stop any public discussion of an individual in its tracks.
There are two parts to this that grieve me. First that they allowed the discussion of an individual to continue. I don't blame them for it having been brought up; I've led youth groups and taught high schoolers myself. Good luck trying to control what *they* are going to say and/or ask. But we in the church should know better than to have a public discussion about any individual regardless of the issue--but most especially this one.
The second part is that a parent cooked this up with their child. At least, that is what the child reported, right? Might be enlightening to get the parent's take. But if that is true, it makes me very sad as well.
Has the video been edited? If they need technical help to do the editing, I will volunteer my time and I have the software tools. I will be the first to say this should be put right.
Yes, with experience in youth ministry myself I agree that it's impossible to control what comes out of kids' mouths, but you can step in and shut it down. And to be fair to Longmire, he did seem to try to walk things back a bit but that was after a good long discussion about Trinity. What you don't get in the transcript is the voice Delilah affected while mimicking Trinity. That's the point I think most pastors would have stepped in, in my experience. I reached out to LCBC to ask if they planned on editing the video, and the parent of "Delilah" should have seen that because she's on staff. I have not heard back.
The youth who outed Trinity told them that she was put up to it. Who do you suppose put Delilah up to it, considering that her parents want her to shun Trinity, and her father is the armed "enforcer" in the church?
Refusing to remove Trinity's name from the video deliberately sets them up as a target. THAT is despicable and indefensible.