The Truth about the Attacks against World Revival Church

As a church of God and steward of His word, World Revival Church always seeks to operate in truth, love and honesty. However, recently the church has been attacked and defamed by false allegations of misconduct and abuse on social media.

In the spirit of truth and transparency, we share these facts. 

 

Fact: The Facebook group was started and is led by former members.

The Facebook group was started and is managed by a few former church members. We have emails from most of them with loving regards for World Revival Church when they left and are saddened and surprised by the lies these former members have felt compelled to circulate.  We recognize their need for help and healing

 Fact: An investigation found no evidence of abuse by church leaders or staff, nor improper response to potential concerns or issues impacting the congregation.

An external independent investigation was handled by a well-regarded female investigator and minority-owned firm based in Georgia with no connection to the church and with the duty to uphold a non-biased opinion.  The investigation found no evidence of abuse by church leaders or staff.  None of the incidents investigated occurred on church property and all were properly handled and investigated by the church staff when the church was made aware of the alleged matter.  In accordance with applicable law, the church alerted authorities.

 Fact: No police reports have ever been filed against the church and the church has never been questioned by the police related to any allegations of misconduct or the accusations posted by the Facebook group.

The independent investigator and the Kansas City police department confirmed there have been no police reports filed related to allegations against the church or church leadership. 

Fact: Despite accusations to the contrary on the defaming Facebook group, the church has never knowingly hired a pedophile or known sexual criminal.

The independent investigator found that to the church's reasonable knowledge, no pedophile was ever hired by the church or put in charge of the children's ministry. Contrary to the accusations shared on social media, the church never prevented a pedophile from going to jail, gave anyone a wife, or attempted to hide any incidents of molestation. 

Fact: The church never conspired to cover up any incident of rape or sexual assault, as alleged by the Facebook group.

According to the Facebook group, a former member of the church was sexually assaulted by a friend and fellow church member in 2015.  The alleged incident occurred at a party at the alleged victim’s mother’s home. The party was not sponsored by the church, was not on church property nor was it a church-sanctioned event. The church was unaware of its alleged occurrence until 2018 when it was reported to the police. The alleged victim was not attending the church at the time of the alleged incident.  To our knowledge, the alleged victim never spoke to any pastor of the church about the alleged incident.  The police investigated the incident in 2018 and 2020 and declined to bring charges.  The police did not contact the church about this matter.

Fact: The current location in Kansas City was bought with funds from real estate sales, not from offerings.

Contrary to the posts by the Facebook group, the church never held an offering in Smithton to generate $200,000 of donations to fund the purchase of the property in Kansas City. 

The money used to purchase the Kansas City properties resulted from the sale of property in Smithton, not an offering. Additionally, the church and its leaders have never been investigated for tax evasion or any other tax-related crimes.

Fact: The church has never misappropriated offerings or donations. 

The Facebook group claims that an offering of $7,000 from a Holland church was misappropriated to buy carpet instead of sending a pastor to Holland.  The person referenced in the Facebook group post was not a pastor but a volunteer and the donated funds in question equaled $4,750 and were never earmarked to send anyone to Holland.  However, the church did offer to pay to send the volunteer but not his wife to Holland. The volunteer did not respond. 

Fact: Pastor Steve and church leadership have never been physically or mentally abusive to members and staff. 

Pastor Steve has never struck, beat or physically harmed any staff member or church member for any reason, including not sitting in a designated area, as claimed by the Facebook group.

Fact:  No pastor of the church ever threatened a high school student with not graduating because the student provided information about another student’s behavior.​

Out of a sense of Christian duty, a student was given discounted tuition as a member of the church. When this student began drinking alcohol, she was counseled that her behavior could jeopardize her ability to graduate but that the school was willing to give her a chance to change her lifestyle.  The student was grateful for the understanding and grace shown to her.  At no time were any threats made toward the student nor was another students behavior mentioned.

Fact: Contrary to the claims of the Facebook group, all investors in the movie, “Three Blind Saints” were repaid in full.

All investors in the “Three Blind Saints” movie were not only repaid in full but also received a higher return on investment than projected. The only exception to this is an investor who declined to receive any interest and only requested the return of the initial investment amount.

Fact: The recent local news story defaming the church is full of inaccuracies, falsehoods and twisted exaggerated stories.

A recent news story claimed that the church has permitted an environment of abuse.  This claim is completely unfounded and unsubstantiated. Not only has the church never been investigated by the police or any other governmental agencies or entities, but the individuals in the news story also noted that their negative experiences occurred within their families, and not by the church, its staff, or its volunteers. 

Fact: World Revival Church responded to all inquiries by the news outlet.

Despite the claim in the news story that Pastor Steve refused to speak to the outlet, the church and Pastor Steve indicated his willingness to answer the reporter’s questions once provided.  After several exchanges, the reporter finally provided some general questions.  Once received, Pastor Steve and the church provided written responses to all questions posed by the reporter. The reporter never followed up with additional questions or to schedule a time for an interview.

Fact: The news story shared the experiences of a handful of former members, none of whom ever logged official complaints with the church.

Over the last 20 years, World Revival Church has been privileged to be a place of worship for multitudes of people from around the world. While we take the feedback and experiences of all our members seriously, the recent social media reflections of approximately ten former members are not representative of the church or its congregation.  Again, most of these ten former members indicated when they moved from the church, that they loved the church, its pastors and members.

Fact: The church is committed to the safety, security, and empowerment of its community and congregation.

The church is resolute in its commitment to the truth and will always operate in the best interest of its congregation and in line with the ethical standards of our Lord and the laws of the country. If any future incidents or allegations arise, the church will work diligently to investigate the issue and address it according to the legal system and the church’s spiritual responsibilities.