Pedophilia in Kansas Church

[AreYouReady?]

It is my opinion that if a man or a woman has a conviction by faith over something....anything...then by all means they should follow that conviction.

They should not, however, require that all in their presence follow their conviction by faith.

There were times that some of the sisters in the Lord made references to my clothing or trimmed hair, making me feel like I could not be a part of them because I did not share their convictions. The pastor does not have to preach standards but once a year, but the sisters will make sure you follow the leader. If you don't have a "conviction" over clothing or hair, then you haven't heard from the Holy Spirit on the matter. tic

I ended up having walah! the very same convictions just so I would feel a part of the fellowship.

I lost most of my teeth at an early age because of what I believe is lack of vitamins and minerals. I grew up in poverty, sometimes not having a decent meal in my belly for days on end. My teeth crumbled, broke off and fell out.

Imagine my surprise when I overheard two sisters laughing and making fun of the average woman. They were pretending to be wiping off makeup, taking off false eyelashes, fake nails, pulling off wigs and taking out false teeth saying all the while that they hate anything fake. eh?

[CC1]

Back to the topic of this thread - I am pasting below a link to the most recent news article I have found about the Jordan Young arrest. He is being held on $1 million dollar bond and will next appear in court Nov 15. He had a hearing a few days ago that was continued because the case keeps growing against him.

Currently he faces charges in six cases each featuring a different vicitm (all underage males) and police say another 4-7 cases may be filed.

The story also references pastor Edwin Young abruptly resigning the church, moving away, and having taken a large amount of money. No word on the accusations of adultery against Pastor Edwin Young. If his sexual partners were all 18 or older I don't see how he could be in danger of being arrested unless the church presses charges in regards to the money he took.

http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/L...173766971.html

[Chateau d'If]

Originally Posted by CC1

Back to the topic of this thread - I am pasting below a link to the most recent news article I have found about the Jordan Young arrest. He is being held on $1 million dollar bond and will next appear in court Nov 15. He had a hearing a few days ago that was continued because the case keeps growing against him.

Currently he faces charges in six cases each featuring a different vicitm (all underage males) and police say another 4-7 cases may be filed.

The story also references pastor Edwin Young abruptly resigning the church, moving away, and having taken a large amount of money. No word on the accusations of adultery against Pastor Edwin Young. If his sexual partners were all 18 or older I don't see how he could be in danger of being arrested unless the church presses charges in regards to the money he took.

http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/L...173766971.html

CC1, I believe that it's best to forgive and forget. Perhaps admin should remove this thread.

[RandyWayne]

Originally Posted by Chateau d'If

CC1, I believe that it's best to forgive and forget. Perhaps admin should remove this thread.

You can't "forgive" on the part of those molested. Only they can.

[houston]

Originally Posted by Chateau d'If

CC1, I believe that it's best to forgive and forget. Perhaps admin should remove this thread.

What?

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Chateau d'If

CC1, I believe that it's best to forgive and forget. Perhaps admin should remove this thread.

Chateau, I believe you are wrong. Following this terrible tragedy that has resulted in legal action has absolutely nothing to do with forgiving.

As far as forgetting goes it is nuts to try and bury something like this and act like it never happened.

[houston]

Originally Posted by CC1

Chateau, I believe you are wrong. Following this terrible tragedy that has resulted in legal action has absolutely nothing to do with forgiving.

As far as forgetting goes it is nuts to try and bury something like this and act like it never happened.

Right. Justice needs to be met. Regardless if he sincerely asks God and the victims for forgiveness.

It is in the best interest of the victims that they forgive him. Not today or tomorrow. Something like this can take a lifetime. But they can not really move on until they do. (Ex) Victim's pov.

As far as forgetting... you never do. But you can be made whole again.

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by CC1

Chateau, I believe you are wrong. Following this terrible tragedy that has resulted in legal action has absolutely nothing to do with forgiving.

As far as forgetting goes it is nuts to try and bury something like this and act like it never happened.

[Walks_in_islam]

Many of you follow and howl support for these men like sheeple. You full know who you are. When you do you share the guilt and you share the responsibility for what they do and who they hurt and god help you.

[I]"Within a couple years of Young being voted in, Darlyene Westberg had moved to Wichita, Kansas, and Young started preaching that "the honeymoon is over" and blasting people. Several people were stood up in front of the congregation, several were kicked out, and several were labeled as having committed some sin after they left. (For an example of how he would tear into people during a service, read this excerpt from a sermon where it happened once. All this woman had done, was to answer the question of the person sitting near to her. The audio is provided in the videos shown above.)

One man was stood up in service and told that someone had "reported him" as having bought a video at Walmart and had worn short sleeves. He was mocked publicly and told he would have to leave permanently if he ever did it again. A teen was reprimanded in front of the congregation for wearing a knee length denim skirt, ponytail, and collar that came about an inch below her collar bone. She was told not to cry to the pastor when she was raped for dressing like that. One young woman visitor was pointed out in service, confronted in front of all, and told to take off her baseball cap. When she didn't, she was told to leave. (There are some who have convictions to cover their heads during worship, that centers around the same passages that Faith Tabernacle used to support the teaching that a woman was never to cut her hair. Some have been known to wear baseball caps at services, while some wear other hats or cloths. Young, in his effort to correct this woman, may have been unknowingly attempting to persuade her to go against her own convictions.) Edwin Young labeled anyone who wore a baseball cap at any time as lesbian. According to him, lesbians supposedly wear baseball caps to identify each other and send a signal out that they are lesbian. Several other visiting women left when he would pace in front of them, preaching against women wearing pants. Members were told they just didn't want the truth, or had "women's lib, lesbian spirits."

Very often if someone left, members were informed that they had fallen into sexual sin- adultery, fornication, or homosexuality. Homosexuality was preached against hard. Young said that if his own sons ever turned homosexual (he used slang terms that would be inappropriate to post here), they wouldn't be welcomed under his roof. Fornication was preached against very heavily, but since single people were not to hold hands or kiss before they were at the altar getting married, fornication could have encompassed much more than what is typically understood by the term. (For another example of a minister being different in their interpretation of what fornication entails, see the article on Mark Fogarty, a UPC minister who was successfully sued for slander by a former church member.) When the pastor said, "join right hands," that was supposed to be the first time they held hands, and when he said, "you may kiss the bride," that was supposed to be their first kiss ever. So it is possible that people were put out for "fornication" that others would not consider even slightly wrong.

At any rate, there seemed to be an awful lot of people falling into sexual sins and getting kicked out. Young started "tightening things up," by blasting people more. If anyone was reported as having done anything wrong and they weren't close to him (one of his favorites), they knew they would be in trouble. They were not given an opportunity to explain or to defend themselves. They were automatically wrong if the right person said they were.

Girls and ladies were called heifers regularly at Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Church. The term started with Edwin's brother, Thurman Young, seemingly as a funny comment, and was used more and more, in a non-comical manner, as time progressed. The teen boys and singles would follow their pastor's lead and yell at the young ladies after church, calling them heifers and telling them to "sit down, and I'll teach you a few things about submission!" Edwin Young mentioned several times during his preaching that he just didn't understand this generation and how they treated, and talked, to and about women. In his day it had been all, "Baby, baby, baby," and now there were all these worldly rap songs teaching rape and such. His young men weren't learning all their poor treatment and disrespect of women from "the world" though. They were learning it from the pulpit, in the examples displayed by Edwin.

If a woman was upset with the statements from the pulpit, she was told the reference wasn't directed at her... or maybe that it had been without the preacher knowing it. That maybe there was a reason it bothered her, if she was one.

Women were told they couldn't ask or tell their husbands anything, but should "entreat" him (basically flirt him into a decision). Listen to this video and hear for yourself.

They were also told that they shouldn't do certain things because it could reduce their ability to bear children. They were limited in physical activity due to their clothing standards, but were often picked at if they didn't have the greatest figure. If they had a good figure, they were viewed as probably being in danger of falling, and eventually there might be questions of their character or purity- not because of anything they'd done, but simply because of their body type.

Character was often also questioned if a woman had been divorced. Was she "cold" toward men? Did she think she didn't "need a man?" Was she rebellious and "women's lib"... or worse, a lesbian?

There were stories through the years, discussed with laughs and rolled eyes. The woman whose husband turned her over his knee and spanked her with a frying pan, but who "probably deserved it." The newlywed whose husband came home and didn't like the meal she'd prepared and threw it in the garbage, demanding that she cook him something else. The ones who had been hit or hurt in their own homes, by their Apostolic husbands, but were told they could not divorce or separate, but had to go back and be subject to him. If she left her husband, she would be in the wrong. But if she stayed with him and prayed, and he was truly wrong, God would change him.

Still there were more women than men, even divorced women, who were a part of Faith Tabernacle. Some divorcees claimed that because they had married and divorced in church, they should not remarry. However, many of them had been abused horribly by those husbands. Many who chose to remain single were probably quite grateful for their "conviction" against "double marriage."

Women were never to preach. They were not to teach men. Some were labeled "loud mouthed heifers" simply for standing up for themselves or others, even when they had been directed to do so by church leadership.

Although everyone was expected to "preach the preacher" during service, the ladies in the church were expected to remain in their pews, while the men rushed up to the platform yelling "Amen! Preach it!!" They were not to be loud in or out of church. They were not to "out pray" or pray louder than the men. They were to run the aisles, but stay out of the "brothers'" way, since the brothers ran faster than they could in their skirts and heals. If they were married with small children, they were expected to care for the children while attending the service. More than one woman was called out in church for taking a child to the bathroom or nursery at an inopportune moment. (Children could not be fed anything in the sanctuary. A hungry baby had to be taken to the nursery to be fed, even a bottle. Men did not take children to the nursery. Women did.)

In many various group situations, men and women were asked to work together to chaperone or lead. However, in cases where children were involved, women were sometimes left to do the work while men stood to the side and enjoyed each others' company.

[Walks_in_islam]

Below is a memory from a former Faith Tabernacle Church member.

"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." James D. Miles

I saw this on Facebook. It brought back memories. In my former church, the men were expected to be "manly"... to laugh and be tough if others or themselves were hurt. One of the first indications I had that something was dreadfully wrong with Edwin Young was that he sat and laughed while a young man poked the eyes out of a live frog, then impaled the still living frog on a stick and continued playing with it. Both were laughing. There were other youth there. Some laughed, some cringed, but most just ignored what was happening. You were not to correct the pastor or say anything negative about him. (You can hear that in the audio tape we provide where he speaks of pastors.)

The thought of it still turns my stomach. Blood doesn't bother me. Cruelty does. If he'd killed the frog and disemboweled it, I wouldn't have been surprised. It was that the frog was still alive while he continued to abuse it that disgusted me.

I think of that situation that night several years ago, see this picture and quote, and think of the men I now know. Men who seem gentle and kind, who don't see those as weakness or effeminate characteristics, but as strength, and as the fruit of the spirit.

For so many years I listened while my former pastor told me there was something wrong with me. I prayed that "something" would change, that whatever was wrong wouldn't be anymore. And for years it seemed like I lived in fear that I would end up leaving or being kicked out and do my best to stay. It's weird to wake up and realize that all the time you prayed for something, you fought the answer to the prayer. It's strange to realize that I asked God to fix whatever was "wrong with me," not realizing that the thing that was most wrong was that I would stay in that environment to begin with.

I'm thankful that God answers prayers... even when we don't know what we're asking, and even when we don't want or are scared of the answer we're given. He does know what's best for us, He does care for us, and He did answer my prayers

Edwin Young always had, as Westberg before him, announced a list of people he wanted to talk to after church. Sometimes, a person was called to clarify something or to be requested to do something for the pastor. Sometimes a young woman would be called in and told that a young man was interested in dating her. Many organizational church group meetings were held after church in this way as well.

But many other times, those who were called to the office had been "reported" for something. Whether the reports were true or not, they would not be given opportunity to defend themselves, but would be yelled at and mocked, told they didn't deserve anything but hell, that they were full of pride, that they didn't trust their man of God enough... No one ever knew why they had been called, or if that night would bring praise or curses from the pastor. All would wait in line after church, sometimes for hours, while he and one or more of these girls and his wife sat and ate and talked in his office. Once he even told how they sat and laughed as they eavesdropped on the conversations between people waiting in the hallway. Because of practices such as this, more than one member would take a mild nerve relaxant or something similar, to make it through service.


These situations intensified with time. A number of people left, but many were discredited when they did.

It has been reported and alleged that one of the "horsemen" were kicked out of the church for catching, or almost catching, Edwin Young in the act with one of the women during altar call at a service. It has also been alleged that people had approached Edwin regarding his son, Jordan, and were either disbelieved, berated and/or removed from the church. It is said the financial standing of the church has been hurt. Some have reported he stole $750,000 and others that he stole more than 3 million dollars over time. It has been said that Nathan Dudley told the church that they will not be pressing charges against Edwin for the money.

Then on July 23, an elderly member passed away. Her obituary stated that Young would preside over the funeral on July 28. On August 3, a 44 year old man passed away rather suddenly, leaving behind a wife and two children. Young did not preside over that funeral. Sometime between those dates Young tendered his resignation by letter, effective immediately, to the church he had declared to love and protect. It has been said that he left without warning and without saying goodbye. His wife, Brenda Young, is said to be staying with her brother, J.W. Ward, in Missouri. Within a week, there were numerous rumors of sexual misconduct on the part of Edwin and Jordan and some financial issues. There has been talk of offshore bank accounts. There are allegations that Edwin's misconduct may go all the way back to when L.E. Westberg pastored and a woman was accused by them of being crazy and stalking Edwin, saying she loved him. It has also been alleged that Edwin was interested in young girls under 18 while in California, supposedly getting two of them pregnant. (He was in Fresno before moving back to Junction City and pastoring there.) Given the current circumstances, one has to wonder what truly happened many years ago. Was there a cover-up of wrongdoing? So many questions.

Within about ten days, Edwin Young's 25 year old son, Jordan Young, was arrested for aggravated indecent liberties with a child, attempted criminal sodomy and solicitation of a child, with the most recent date as being August 1, 2012.

He was arrested the morning of August 13, 2012 and made his first court appearance Tuesday, August 14, 2012, at the Geary County Courthouse. From Lindsey Rogers, at WIBW: "His bond was set at $250,000. Geary County Attorney Steve Opat says Young has been ordered to surrender his passports and is not allowed to have contact with anyone under the age of 21. ...A status hearing has been set for August 21, 2012 at 9 AM. When asked about the case, Opat reiterated what the police chief said, saying the investigation is ongoing." Cole Thomas G. Lemon, of Cavanaugh & Lemon, P. A. in Topeka, is listed as his attorney. Lemon has not responded to our inquiry.

While yet being held in prison, Jordan Young was re-arrested again on Friday, August 17, 2012 and faces additional charges in the ongoing investigation. The added charges are aggravated criminal sodomy, aggravated indecent liberties with a child and sexual solicitation of a child. He is considered a flight risk because he tried to flee the area before his arrests.

Jordan Young was re-arrested a third time on August 30, 2012. This was for two additional cases. He was arrested for aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child on one of the cases and in the other, he was arrested for indecent liberties with a child and criminal solicitation of a child. His bail has risen to more than $1,000,000.

On September 6, it was announced that nine more victims have come forward. November 15, 2012 is the next scheduled hearing. More details on this are found in the page covering Jordan Young.

A Former Faith Tabernacle UPC Woman Shares- "I watched as people in the church, even members of my own family, were tormented for their mistakes. Ridiculed, preached against, and called in after church for a "one-on-one meeting" with the preacher. People kicked out of the church for making mistakes. I watched as members turned on other members, gossip, spying for the preacher, telling on other members. I really began to listen to the sermons. How mean they had become. Where was the love, the compassion? Why did it seem he was always angry preaching? Screaming and hollering, pointing out the flaws of the people and making everyone so fearful."

"Others were kicked out. They were publicly rebuked or labeled from the pulpit. Over time there was less and less affirmation and more and more rebuke for infractions-a skirt was too tight, a sleeve was too short-but not for real wrongs. We heard the same sermon over and over. It was that our church was great, our pastor was the greatest, he was the man of God and we'd better obey him, one day our church would take over the city, God would bless if we had enough faith." [/I]