Many people have asked if I heard the story of what’s going on at Bethel Church in Redding, California. This is January 2026.
Yes, I have, and I've seen this before.
I want to give few disclaimers before I share my thoughts about it:
- The first is I haven’t watched all the videos or listened to all the sermons and messages, nor have I read all the letters and statements. I have the gist of the story. So I’m not qualified to give a thorough analysis of the situation. That’s not what this is about anyway.
- The second is that I was in that kind of church culture for years, not only as a member, but as a pastor. The culture I partially mean is a culture that practices prophetic ministry and the adoration of charismatic leaders. So I know that this kind of stuff goes on, how it happens, how it often plays out, and how it often ends. I’ve been there, done that.
- Finally, I’ve read the published apology. They say they messed up and are embarrassed by it. It’s hard to not feel suspicious that the only reason they are taking these steps is because they were exposed in such a public, thorough, and humiliating way. Their statement takes ownership and promises rectifying the problem. I hope it's sincere, especially for the victims' sake.
That said, it’s important to look at stories like this so we can see spiritual abuse and coercive control unfolding in real time, understand how they work, and become more aware so we may prevent them from happening again.
A Common Pattern Of Spiritual Abuse
I don’t need to know all the facts of this case to say what I’m saying in this post. I’ve seen this pattern too many times before. This is not just about one church or spiritual leader, but a system that enables this familiar pattern. This kind of thing is happening all the time in the church and other spiritual communities and ministries. I’ve seen it. I’ve experienced it. When a church or spiritual leader uses spirituality as a way to avoid accountability and responsibility instead of dealing with them honestly, that’s called spiritual bypassing. And it’s very effective.
So I thought I would use the recent Bethel controversy as an example of how churches may avoid responsibility and cover up spiritual abuse, even sexual harassment, by using spiritual bypassing.
The Bethel and Shawn Boltz Controversy
A week ago, Mike Winger, released an almost six hour YouTube exposé about how the ‘prophetic’ spiritual leader, Shawn Bolz engaged in fabricating prophecies. Bolz sourced his information by mining social media accounts. While some of this information has been around for years Winger pulls it all together and provides evidence to back it up. There are also sexual harassment allegations. According to Winger, there are at least 12 known victims.
Winger shared evidence that the Bethel leadership knew about these concerns for years and slowly distanced themselves from Bolz without alerting the wider community. What caused further outrage was Kris Vallotton’s Sunday sermon, in which he seemed to protect the leaders and minimize the criticism.
Using Spiritual Bypassing to Avoid Accusations
Vallotton’s sermon is a good example of how spiritual bypassing works. In this case, it’s using spirituality to protect church leaders and silence their accusers.
Let me explain what I mean:
Using Spiritual Language to Avoid Responsibility
Unfortunately, faith language is often used as a tool to avoid reality. Not honouring it. Bypassing it. Instead of taking responsibility for the harm caused, Bethel allowed Bolz to use spiritual language to rebrand his shift in ministry. In January of 2025, Bolz released a statement declaring that his ministry would change focus, but that he would continue his prophetic ministry. What he didn’t say was that Bethel and other leaders had raised serious concerns about his integrity and challenged him on it. Instead of dealing with the actual issues, perpetrators use the language of spiritual bypassing to rebrand themselves. We’re seeing that a lot these days. Aren’t we?
Blaming Outside Forces to Deflect Accountability
Vallotton’s sermon focused on how challenging it is to lead in the age of social media where opinions, accusations, and criticism spread wildly and widely. He basically blamed social media for the source of the controversy rather than on the behaviour of his friend, Bolz. He claimed that the global spread of unsubstantiated stories makes discernment more challenging and exposes leaders unfairly. This is how spiritual bypassing works: it leads your eyes away from the perpetrator and points them toward the public’s reaction instead. Essentially, he communicated that it’s the internet’s fault.
Enforcing Forgiveness to avoid responsibility
A common theme I address a lot is how forgiveness culture can cultivate and protect abuse. Leaders plead for grace and forgiveness over accountability, justice, and responsible consequences. I’ve seen it over and over again where leaders get away with irresponsible, abusive, and even illegal behaviour because, as Christians, and as the Church, we are required to forgive and restore them. When someone preys on a congregation, reducing their predatory behaviour to a moment of personal weakness pressures their victims to forgive and forget.
How to Heal From Spiritual Abuse
Once you recognize spiritual abuse it’s the first very important first step in your healing and freedom. It’s not only most of the cure, but most of its prevention. I’ve written many articles on spiritual abuse and healing from spiritual abuse so that you can read more about it on my site.
Remember, true spiritual growth, doesn’t ignore real pain. It sits with it. It grieves. It asks hard questions and faces hard truths. It acknowledges the hurt, the pain, the trauma, and works towards healing from there.
