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Why Faith Baptist Church of Wildomar is a Safe Haven for Abusers

Eric Skwarczynski • Apr 15, 2020

UPDATED June 15, 2022

Bruce Goddard and his church, Faith Baptist Church, are in hot water...

There have been a significant number of allegations of sexual misconduct made against FBC Wildomar, especially considering the small size of the church. Just yesterday, victims of sexual abuse spent 6 hours attempting to reach some form of settlement, to no avail.
None of these cases is a coincidence. The church has a history of abuse, has developed and perpetuated a culture of abuse, and they've chosen a very specific legal team to defend their abuse.
The History of Abuse
1991 and 1992 – Paul Fox engages in sexual relationships with minors, guilting them into silence. Upon discovering this situation, Pastor Bruce Goddard allegedly ordered Fox to leave the state.

1998-2013 – Youth Pastor Malo “Victor” Monteiro began sexually preying on three teenage girls. Rachel Peach was 15 years old, Lea Ramirez left the church at 15 due to several advances, and April Avila was groomed from the age of 14 and eventually became a victim of sexual abuse.

2013 – Monteiro leaves Faith Baptist Church to start a new church, Menifee Baptist Church.

2016 – Monteiro suddenly leaves Menifee Baptist Church for undisclosed reasons.

2017 – Jerald Arnold Nelson is arrested for possession of child pornography.

2021 – Long-time member, Henry Abott was taken into custody by Temecula Police for attempting to solicit sex from a minor.

2021 – Paul Fox gets two years in prison for sexual assault of a minor

(sources can be found on preacherboysdoc.com/abuser-database)

The Culture of Abuse
The church has a history of both allegations and documented evidence of protecting abusers.First, you have Bruce Goddard allegedly failing to report Laverne Paul Fox's sexual misconduct with minors in 1992 and urging him to leave the state.

This story was used as leverage over Victor Monterio's victims. Victor calmly reminded Rachel Peach that "preacher won't do anything."

But refusing to report abuse is not some unwritten rule at Faith Baptist Church. It is literally a written one.

In January 2020, a former member and victim of abuse from Faith Baptist Wildomar shared the church's three page "Whistle-blower Policy."
The instructions are crystal clear: 
"A supervisor who becomes aware of suspected misconduct should not report the case to an authorized law enforcement officer without first discussing the case with the Pastor, appointed Deacon, Staff Member, or Female Reporter."
It also doesn't help that the church borrows teaching liberally from the church known for it's abuse scandals – FIrst Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. The church is currently advertising a class for young girls called Blue Denim & Lace, based on a book originally developed by cult leader, adulterer, and defender of abusers, Jack Hyles.
The Defenders of Abuse
To anyone who is familiar with the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement, it should come as no shock that, where there is church abuse, the Christian Law Association will often come to the defense – not of the victim, but of the church, of course.

David Gibbs, Jr.'s long-trusted "legal ministry" has been helping IFB churches fight allegations of sexual abuse since the days of Jack Hyles. The years have changed, but Gibb's speeches haven't...
Future Abuse?
Will this current legal battle make any change in the patterns of abuse at Faith Baptist Church? Will it mark just another chapter in the churches dotted history? Only time will tell.

All we can do right now is shout the truth as loudly as we can.
By Eric Skwarczynski 02 Apr, 2023
Dr. Steve Pettit – president of Bob Jones University – a fundamentalist college in South Carolina, resigned on March 31, 2023.
By Eric Skwarczynski 05 Sep, 2021
The texts read as follows: "Please consider the following Bible commentary and commandments related to sexual assault. Scripture: Genesis 39:7-21 What MUST we do when someone makes unwanted sexual advances? 1. Joseph Refused 2. Joseph RESISTED 3. Joseph RAN. 4. Potiphars wife CRIED OUT. See Deuteronomy 22:23-27. Look at Jn. 8 For Jesus’s application in the NT. Note also that this was before Moses received the law. Common sense and human conscience tells us that this is proper. 5. Potiphars wife had EVIDENCE. A coat. 6. Potiphars wife REPORTED the attempt the SAME DAY. She told her husband when he came home from work. 7. Potiphar Went to the POLICE! Immediately. If someone knows to do good and does not do it then they have SINNED. This summarizes a message I intended to bring to our church family but have not been allowed to deliver. Summary: People accuse pastors of covering sin when they themselves did not follow the Biblical Instruction in Genesis 39. I have two other studies on this subject. The passages and topics are as follows: 1st. Pastors are not Policemen. Go to the police immediately to report a Crime! Go to your pastor for Comfort! Study Romans 13:1-6. 2nd. What Sins ought to be covered> See 1 Peter 4:8. Please pass this on to anyone and everyone possible! It’s time to unsheath the sword of the Word of God which is the sword of the Spirit. I should have asked for a copy of the police report when people came with accusations. I was asked to be a detective. Never again.

If you have a car stolen who should you call? Call the police. If you have someone breaking into your home who do you call? Not your pastor. He does not bear that sword of justice. It belongs to civil authority! If you were assaulted or molested and did not report it to Gods other ministers as taught in Romans 13 your car or house is evidently more important than the well-being of your family member. Who has done the cover up?

Please distribute this as widely as possible for the truths sake!!" *A little while later, Kingsbury sent another text*

 "Don’t bother sending it to anyone. Thanks."
By Eric Skwarczynski 27 Jun, 2021
I know what you're thinking... "Oh great, another guy offering his unsolicited takes on purity culture. Just what the world needs." You're probably not off-base for feeling like that. The staggering amount of opinions swirling around the internet right now in the wake of the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting and, especially the now-deleted Matthew West song, Modest is Hottest are exhausting. But if you can find the patience within yourself, please hear me out, I won't be long. I got the less painful side of purity culture. All men do. That's just the truth. It's equally toxic (more on that in a minute), but it's less painful. The majority of the shame, extreme restrictions, and hurtful rhetoric tends to fall on the shoulders of young women. The same women, no doubt, who have been raising their voices to share their rightful hurt after watching Modest is Hottest and seeing it warmly received by many of their fellow Christians. On the surface, it's easy to miss why purity culture and the Christian conversation is, in fact, so toxic. It began, no doubt, in the minds of well-intentioned parents and pastors. It has been shared and developed by well-intentioned Christian authors. It even had a song written about it by a well-intentioned Christian musician that has been shared by well-intentioned Christian fans. But good intentions do not mean good results. As they say, the road to hell is paved with them. One could write a book on the reasons that purity culture and the church's teachings on sex and modesty misses the mark. In fact, several great books have been. I'd recommend those interested to read The Great Sex Rescue by Sheila Gregoire, Talking Back to Purity Culture by Rachel Welcher, Prey Tell by Tiffany Bluhm, or Recovering From Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by Aimee Byrd for a start. If you're not a reader, you can watch an interview like this one with Rachel Welcher.
By Eric Skwarczynski 26 Jan, 2021
The quote above represents just one of the gut-punching passages within Prey Tell , written by Tiffany Bluhm. The new book – releasing in March 2021 from Brazos Press – “explores the dynamics of power and lack of accountability that occur within many organizational contexts and encourages women and men to speak out in the face of unjust systems.” (Publisher’s Summary) Prey Tell is undeniably well-researched, but it also comes from personal experience. In the opening chapter, Bluhm recounts the terror of spotting her sexual abuser in public – the person she spent so long trying to avoid entirely – as well as the racially-charged mistreatment she experienced as an adopted child from East India.
By Eric Skwarczynski 17 Jan, 2021
IFB Sermon Clips on Twitter retweeted clip, confirming the identity. Cavanaugh's bio on Bethel Baptist's website reads: "Since graduating from Providence Baptist College in 2009, Bro Cavanaugh has served in several different ministries including: traveling with Dr. Dennis Corle and Revival Fires, starting a church in Nigeria with Missionary Mark Holmes, and traveling and serving as Camp Evangelist at Cedar River Baptist Camp. Bro. Cavanaugh joined our staff in 2017 and serves as the Bus Director, Dean of Students, and teaches the Faith Builders Sunday school class. He is married to Leah, and they have three boys – Marcus, James and Nicholas." It is notable that the founder and president of Providence Baptist College, has a history of inflammatory political rhetoric.
By Eric Skwarczynski 15 Dec, 2020
By Eric Skwarczynski 03 Dec, 2020
As most of you have seen, I had planned to lead a peaceful gathering of survivors at North Valley Baptist Church in Santa Clara, CA. The event was scheduled for January. After an immense amount of time and thought weighing it out, I’m making the decision to cancel the event. Sincerely, I can say that the motivation behind the event was a positive one. I know the motivation of those attending was also positive. The goal of the rally - like everything I do with the Preacher Boys Podcast - is to try to shed light on abuse, give a voice to survivors, and spark helpful conversations. My reason for cancelling comes from that same place. While there are extremely valid arguments that need to be made, and discussions about NVBC and other fundamentalist institutions that need to be had, I don’t feel comfortable about this particular forum for a few reasons. 1. Context is a crucial element for productive conversations. I try to be very careful not to place myself or others in situations where words can be taken out of context, misconstrued, or ideas can be misrepresented. I do not feel comfortable with the fact that anyone could take a picture of the peaceful gathering and position it as a riot, bitter people screaming at NVBC attendees, or people who hate church on some vendetta. Not one of these things are true, and I don’t want to give people the chance to say that they are. 2. Optics matter. I have been accused of attacking the Church at large, as well as Christianity and local churches broadly. The reality is, I am a strong believer myself. As such, I unashamedly love my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Church. I'm thankful for the reality of the Gospel and the truth of God's Word. As I mentioned in the first point, I don't wish to give others the opportunity to say that this is a full-fledged attack on the Christian religion in it's entirety. Nor do I want to give the signal to pastors that I am going to show up on their sidewalk with a picket sign the minute there is a disagreement. There are people within North Valley Baptist Church and congregants and staff in churches like it who are reaching out for help and guidance, many on the brink of leaving and finding healthier ministries. I don’t want to put those good transitions in jeopardy by giving the vibe that we are exactly how we will be inevitably presented to be. I don’t want to confirm isn’t the minds of those in the congregation that my goal is to persecute the Church at large. My goal is to help good people get out of bad situations. 3. COVID restrictions. COVID rates are on the rise in California right now, and even many within my family have contracted the virus. I also recently lost someone due to the disease. I don’t want to put risk on anyone, and also, want to respect the current mandates and CDC recommendations. Conclusion I feel like the potential cons of this largely outweigh any potential positive. For the sake of the cause at large, I need to take precautions to be - for lack of a better term - above reproach. I still want to project the truth as loudly as possible, but I want to do it in a way that is defensible against scrutiny or misrepresentation. For that reason, I don’t feel comfortable attaching the protest to the Preacher Boys Podcast at this time. I know that there might be disagreement with me, but I truly feel this is the best decision.
By Eric Skwarczynski 17 Oct, 2020
In 2013, Jack Schaap, 62, pleaded guilty to taking a 16-year-old girl he was counseling at First Baptist across state lines for sex. Jack's guilty plea apparently wasn't enough to lose the favor of his devoted followers. 140 letters – written by family, staff, and parishioners – were submitted as exhibits to be reviewed by the judge as he carried out sentencing. They pleaded for lenient sentencing.
12 Oct, 2020
EDITOR'S NOTE: The information in this article was made available by Jonathan Grisham Burchfield, creator of Stop Pastoral Abuse. ( https://www.facebook.com/stoppingpastoralabuse ) TRIGGER WARNING: The following article contains descriptions as of sexual, and mental abuse toward minors, and one photographic piece of evidence of child abuse and neglect.
Protester Holds Sign
By Eric Skwarczynski 12 Oct, 2020
Protester at Paris Hilton's peaceful march at Provo Canyon School holds a sign that reads, "The Kids You Abuse Today Will Be the Ones Who Take You Down Tomorrow.:"
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