Milk and Honey: Part 1 of the Bethesda Christian Center Saga
A Charismatic Preacher Builds a Christian Empire in the Apple Capital of the World
In 1968, a charismatic evangelical preacher named Larry Titus and his wife Devi moved from Kenton, Ohio, to East Wenatchee, Washington, to take over a failing church called the Faith Temple. Before long, Titus moved the operation 10 miles West to the tiny town of Monitor, changed the name to Bethesda Christian Center, and began building an evangelical empire that would include a radio station, a publishing house, a grade school with close to 300 students, a high school, a non-accredited college, and even a gas station.
“It grew to 1,000 followers, so devoted that many would mortgage homes and give their life savings for the good of the cause,” World Reporter Susan Gillin wrote in 1980. “The cause is Bethesda Christian Center and its pastor, Larry Titus.”
Before its collapse, it would come to light that…