I recently posted two articles by Eric and Raymond Ernst. Here is Eric’s story: Personal Story of Spiritual Abuse by Eric . Raymond told his heart-wrenching story of the break up of his precious marriage. In that story, he chose to go by the name “Paul”. He is no longer concealing his identity and goes by his real name, Raymond Ernst. If you haven’t read Raymond’s story, be sure to read it so you can get the full picture: Can Spiritual Abuse Destroy a Marriage – Paul’s Story.
Some may have discovered in the comment section the connection between these two men. They both went to the same church. Although their experiences are quite different, they both came away with the same conclusions regarding their former pastor and spiritual abuse.
In Eric’s personal blog articles, he did not reveal the name of his former pastor or church. He described spiritual abuse, how it has affected him, and discussed his journey of healing in hopes that his experience would help others. He has since had a change of heart regarding concealing his former church/pastor’s identity and has revealed more details. He should know more details because he was mentored by his former pastor and served on staff as associate pastor.
Sometimes you get to the point where enough is enough and come to the conclusion that there are more risks than benefits in remaining silent. Eric got to this point. Going public is not fun. It’s messy. It’s ugly. It’s painful. You may lose relationships. People who had respected you may lose respect. It can be a lonely place. Eric feels this issue is too important to not address. He has chosen to take the very difficult, emotional, and unpaved journey of telling his story to warn others so they don’t have to go through what he, Raymond, and others have gone through.
I do not recommend that everyone publicly disclose the name of their church and pastor as Eric or Raymond or I have done. In fact, I think it should be done with much prayer, thought, and counsel, and as a last resort. This is Eric’s cry of desperation – a plea – a warning to the people of Eagle Heights Community Church in Hammond, LA and to his former pastor, Kevin Dunn.
Read some of Eric’s heart-wrenching words from his blog post:
Why would I share negative opinions about the church that I spent seven years of my life building? Why would I litter my personal blog with information that I know will be perceived by many as extremely negative and damaging to the Church at large? Why would I take the risk of damaging my reputation and losing my voice as a respected minister? Why would I take the drastic step of writing this blog post when I now live 725 miles away from this church? Why not just simply forget about it and get on with my life? WHY??? I have wrestled with those questions repeatedly over the past weeks. But, I have a responsibility. I have a responsibility to warn people. I have a responsibility to share the truth that I know. I have a responsibility to at least try to protect others from what I believe to be a very, very appetizing, yet deceptive and unhealthy environment.
He continues:
Therefore, I do not recommend that anyone become involved with Eagle Heights Community Church for the following reasons:
- It is my opinion that Eagle Heights Community Church is a spiritually abusive and unhealthy church. I believe Kevin Dunn is a spiritually abusive and an emotionally unhealthy pastor.
And more:
-
I have personally witnessed marriages that have ended and family division that I believe were caused directly and indirectly by Kevin Dunn and his teachings. I find that in these situations, he positions himself as a victim, but he is actually the perpetrator. He “plays” the part of the victim well, but he IS the perpetrator. Those who are the true victims are labeled as rebels, reprobates, troublemakers and cut off from the congregation. The congregation is then told not to fellowship with the “troublemakers.” How convenient? The entire story is never told. He uses his bully pulpit to tell “his own version.”
*If you attend Eagle Heights Community Church in Hammond, Louisiana or if you are thinking of attending Eagle Heights Community Church in Hammond, Louisiana -you have been warned. The warning buoy has been set out to inform you of dangerous waters.
These are strong words – words from a man who wants to protect people from danger. Please read Eric’s complete story. It needs to be told. It needs to be read: A “Warning Buoy” for the People of Hammond Regarding Eagle Heights Community Church on his blog.
For the record – – I have looked over Eric’s article carefully. I’m no lawyer, but have a fairly clear idea of what defamation is after recently winning a half a million dollar lawsuit. I used words like “cult”, “creepy”, “spiritual abuse” which were labeled as defamatory by my former pastor. Those words did not meet even the first tier of qualifying for the definition of defamation. Defamation must meet both tiers to be defamatory: (1) intentionally stating a known falsehood (2) stating with malice or the intent to harm. (These are my words, not the legal definition.)
IMHO, Eric’s words are not defamatory – they are his strong opinions and beliefs. Although his speech may be difficult to read, they express his thoughts and opinions and thus are protected as free speech. Feel free to read my court documents to see how my words match up against Eric’s. Eric’s words are tame compared to mine. Be sure to check out the 26-page document showing the attorney fees and court costs my former pastor/church will have to pay for filing a frivolous lawsuit. I hope my lawsuit will deter pastors from making the same mistake as my former pastor. I pray that pastors who are tempted to sue former members would instead humble themselves before God and submit to other respected church leaders for accountability and some soul-searching. ~ja
Spiritual Sounding Board 
Thank you, Eric and Raymond, for sharing your powerful stories. Not only do you give healing words to others but your stories may prevent more harm. My prayers are with you both – and may you also find healing as you share.
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That really is the heart of this issue, Jackie – preventing more harm.
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I too thank you both. I know you don't do this lightly, and your heart is for our Lord and for His church.
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Thanks Julie Anne for using your blogg to expose the abuse that is going on not only at Eagle Heights but all over the country. Thank you Eric for having the courage to speak out against abuse that has affected so many good people. Hopefully with this type exposure, others will be spared the same abuse we have experienced.
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"I find that in these situations, he positions himself as a victim, but he is actually the perpetrator. He “plays” the part of the victim well, but he IS the perpetrator. Those who are the true victims are labeled as rebels, reprobates, troublemakers and cut off from the congregation. The congregation is then told not to fellowship with the “troublemakers.” How convenient? The entire story is never told. He uses his bully pulpit to tell “his own version.” I felt like I could have written the above – and I bet a lot of people could say the same.
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No kidding. And then if you get caught being "friends" with a current member from church, they may be put on the Mark and Avoid list for associating with people who "wage war with God". We wouldn't want to be associated with people who wage war with God, would we? ::::sarcasm here::: So the pastor gets to determine who is "waging war" – – – he doesn't allow the congregation to think for themselves and ask their own questions to come to their own conclusions – – -they are immediately cut off from communicating and finding out the truth. My former pastor thinks he owns his congregation, their minds, their choices, their lives. Cult-like behavior, anyone?
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The above should say "friends" on Facebook – – – yes, he paid attention to who was friends with whom. Tell me, what pastor has time on his hands to be overseeing people's friends list on Facebook?
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Whether he has that time on his hands is one thing. Whether he thinks it's his business is another entirely. It sounds like he would have marked and avoided Jesus for eating with tax collectors and prostitutes.
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Hahaha! Joy. Good one!!!
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Julie Anne, you said, " Tell me, what pastor has time on his hands to be overseeing people's friends list on Facebook?" Might I suggest that has NOTHING to do with biblical "overseeing." It is interfering, spying, etc., and definitely UNfriendly [Facebook or otherwise].
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Eric and Raymond:1. Thanks for the courage to warn folks.2. Our prayers are with you.3. You did the right thing.4. Sorry you've experienced what many of us have at other churches by other "pastors".5. I don't know I chose to respond in number points, but I did LOL :-)6. Julie Anne, great job as usual. You're using the platform God has given you well IMO.–Alex, CalvaryChapelNews.com/CalvaryChapelAbuse.com
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Woohoo! I've tried to comment before on other articles but for some reason they didn't seem to go through…–Alex
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Thanks, Alex. Nice to "see" you here 🙂
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my old pastor is 77 yrs old and has a facebook page with almost 400 friends on it. His 'church' only has about 25 members so you can probably guess where his heart truly is ;)He uses fb to 'police' his flock and he's better at that than the FBI would be! keepin 'em all in line is what he thinks he's called to do.We're so glad to be away from such nonsense!
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I struggle as I read so much of this blog – I want to copy links and send them to people still back at my old church. I want them to understand that the pastor – when he shares his side from the pulpit – is using his pulpit in a very inappropriate manner. My former pastor was – and I suspect IS STILL – very good at putting others down with nary a word. Body language says so much – and yet you can get away with it much easier because no one can report back word for word what is said in body language. Yet, a look down – a slight shake of the head when a name is mentioned – you can even say "God would have us to pray for them" and sound really spiritual while sending a whole message with your body language that says "That couple/family/person has really gone off the deep end and you should stay away from them!" That is my former pastor to a T. He said so much with so few words, when somebody would leave the church – and you'd just be thinking – how sad that they ended up like that. Now I think – wow, they were much smarter than I, and caught on much quicker. But I know what those who are left are thinking of me. And it saddens me. Truthfully, I am not sure what bothers me more – being grossly misrepresented, or the fact that they are being lied to and groomed for further blind obedience the the king of the church. Small k.
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Beloved: Isn't that strange – that we are concerned about what people think of us who are left behind? I get it, though, because I did the same thing. When you are in the church and people leave, they are the enemy because "how could you leave a church like ours?". When the truth is exposed, everything changes. I think the most difficult thing for me is knowing that some simply do not have the ears to hear or eyes to see. For some reason they are blinded and I don't know whether that is a conscious or unconscious choice. I discussed a bit of this issue on this blog post.
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Eddie Joe does not support any allegations made on this blog. God hates alot of things but one thing he despises is discord among brothers!
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Are you Eddie Joe? If not, let's let Eddie Joe speak for himself. What God hates worse is False Teachers and destruction of lives by spiritual abuse. FYI, if you want to comment on the Eagle Heights Church/Raymond/Eric situation, I would recommend commenting on that blog post so that people will understand the context more easily.
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Julie Anne I have a similar story regarding this same church
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Lagirl,
I believe you. I’d like to hear your story if you want to share (either publicly or privately). It’s sad to hear this man is still behind the pulpit when it appears he’s functioning more as a business than a real church.
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I completely disagree with everyone here. Past Kevin even stated how he doesn’t care what church you go to, as long as you go to church. You say he plays the victim. The only thing I’ve seen him as is a man of God. So, Could you please keep the story straight, if you are going to tell it?
Bless you,
Hunter
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Hunter, when I get quite a few people telling me the same story, and some are even willing to risk harm to their personal reputation, my gut it to believe them. Perhaps you have not seen what others have seen. That is the most likely story. Keep your eyes open.
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Psalm 55 envisions the kind of person like that, Hunter. “His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.” (vs. 12)
Manipulators are multi-faceted. They know how to play their supports and they know how to play those they abuse. You are useful to him as a supporter as long as he can convince you, by his smooth and buttery speech, that he would never ever do something like that. However, when you start to believe his victims, you will discover the drawn swords. I had a few pastors and many elders who respected me and treated me well. That was, until I questioned some of their theology or plans for the church. At that point, I started being subjected to subtle spiritual abuse designed to convince other members that I was stupid and worthless. I would propose an idea, have it called the dumbest thing they’ve ever heard, and then six months later, someone else would tell them the same thing and it was the best idea ever.
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And, I would like to know how you see my Pastor of 6 years now as multi-faced. You know, I came to this church as a messed-up kid, and I was messed up while still going. But lately, you know, it’s really starting to make sense. He doesn’t judge people. He judges their sins. He tries to help them. As for Mrs. Julie, I have even keeping my eyes open. You know, I even questioned everything. Pastor Kevin, the church, the bible, and even God. Now I’m sure he is real. Is Pastor Kevin perfect? Of course not. But he isn’t multi-faced, and he isn’t “abusing” anyone. If he of all people are abusing people, then other spiritual leaders are… what? Worse, I guess I can say? Pastor Kevin speaks what God wants him to.
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I’m curious, Hunter. How did you find this article? Did someone tell you about it or did you search his name?
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I searched his name. I was wondering how well known he was. I mean, just two weeks ago, he was talking about a preacher named Billy Graham. It peeked my curiosity.
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Hunter, you have to understand that abusive pastors do not treat everyone the same way. Please do not come here and tell me and the others who personally dealt with him that they are lying. You were not there. How would you know?
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I’m pretty sure a lot of pastors were talking about Billy Graham since he recently passed away.
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‘But he isn’t multi-faced, and he isn’t “abusing” anyone.’
I think this is a rather bold assertion. In it you are declaring that all the people who claiming to be abused liars. Have you conducted an investigation to determine the facts of the matter, or have you only listened to one voice?
I believe Eric’s story because I went through the same sorts of things in a church. Everything seemed great on the surface, but I knew some of what was going on behind the scenes. The church split and the vast majority of members were completely blindsided because the leaders wanted to have a “unified front”. People that left while the two sides were bickering in closed-door meetings were said have “theological disagreements” with our doctrine, when, in fact, they were trying to understand why their friends on one side were bad-mouthing friends on the other side. Everyone who came to the leaders with a legitimate concern were deemed to be on one side or the other and then would face the fury of the opposing side.
If you were one of the ‘normal’ people in all this, and not connected to what was going on, you would have no clue that it was happening.
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“If he of all people are abusing people, then other spiritual leaders are… what?”
You should read about self-deception. You’ve already concluded that he is a wonderful leader, and you are already prejudiced against anyone who would claim otherwise. This is EXACTLY how manipulators work. They maintain a public persona that is unimpeachable among those they want to support them, and then they can do whatever they want to those they want to abuse, because their supporters, like you, have their backs.
Larry Nassar is a prime example. He victimized Kyle Stephens and then when she told her parents and they confronted him, they believed his account rather than hers. That’s because they believed he was a wonderful person. Nassar surrounded himself with supporters who had his back and ignored accounts of people who he was abusing.
The Nassars of the world get away with abuse because people like you who are unwilling to believe that your trusted pastor, or your trusted friend, or your trusted whatever, could actually be an evil person using a position of power and authority to manipulate and control others for their own evil ends.
Remember, the people Jesus attacked over and over were these very same people. The seemingly unimpeachable religious leaders of their day. Do we really think that times have changed?
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The Half has yet to be told what goes on in this group. Abuse of Authority beyond
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I was attending EH early in 2004 and I too suffered spiritual abuse by Kevin Dunn. It caused my husband to become abusive towards me and subsequently I had to divorce my husband. I was called a jezabelle and that I weakened other’s faith. I’m so sorry this happened to you, but very happy you’ve spoken out and I hope that he’s ultimately one day held accountable for the pain he’s caused so many.
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I pray you talk again to Jesus about this & that your blinders are removed that the enemy has placed over your eyes. I have known Bro Kevin for many years. He is not perfect none of us are. I have also dealt with a lot of evil in my life by allowing it to enter. First thing this shows me even if I didn’t know anyone in this story. I would say that posting this for everyone to see instead of facing the person ( Bro Kevin) & dealing with it directly with him is not the way Jesus would have handle this. Now I could be wrong but my personal experiences with the Lord and what I have read in the Bible tell me I am not. This is very dangerous ground to walk on.
I realize this is old but you see even if these relationships are rectified, you have taken this situation and put it in a place that could cause harm to this church or someone God has intended to attend this church. I am in no way try to make you feel bad or judge you. I just wish yours eyes could be opened for your sake. If this were all true and you witnessed it yourself which you did not, I do not believe Jesus told you to do this you did. Just talk to him, read his words, & listen to them. He is not a God of confusion. By you gossiping like this you are spreading a spirit of confusion. I pray that I have not hurt you in anyway , but this has the enemy written all over it. I can tell you something for sure Bro Kevin is human and is no where near perfect & never will be but I believe with everything I have in me that he is a man after God’s own heart. This kinda of stuff right here proves it even more to me. Someone like you who probably loves the Lord with all your heart has allowed the enemy to use you. I have done it many times myself. By the way i was there when all of this took place & spiritual abuse is as far from the facts as you can get. God bless you & please know that I do not wish to hurt anyone. This is just wrong.
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Boy, the apologists are sure late to the game on this article. Where were they 6 years ago when it came out?
Kudos to Lorinda, however. She hit all the major talking points for defending one’s dear guru against the Evil Bloggers. First, the accusation that Julie Anne isn’t acting “biblically”:
Then, trying to guilt trip us into thinking that we’ll be responsible for people going to hell:
Next, the tried-and-true “gossip card”:
Finally, accusing JA of being in league with Satan (or controlled by him, or whatever):
And, just for good measure, implying that the real source of our discontent is that “Bro Kevin” isn’t perfect:
I wonder if she’s reading from a playbook of some kind…. 😉
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Lorinda, please re-read this and re-think your logic here on this story from years ago. Two stories from different sources that are negative about a man who you apparently respect should give you pause, and put you on your guard. Not make you believe in him ‘even more’.
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Good dissecting, SKiJ. I read it, was going to respond, then found myself yawning. I’ve had a number of conversations with people from Eagle Heights over the years (who haven’t commented publicly). The same stuff is going on, but you won’t know it until you are up close and personal with “Bro Kevin.” That’s exactly how it was in my cult church. CON looked impressive on the outside. Those on the inside know better.
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A horse is a horse, of course of course!
Well well well, look who is casting the first stone.Since you don’t agree with Pastor Kevin you have decided to be condescending attack dogs hiding behind the computer. Wow,that’s really christian like or maybe that is the point- we are having to listen to the rantings from a bunch of self-righteous leftist, socialist, anti-Trump(most likely) demigods.
Look I don’t find any credibility to all this character assassination and I don’t agree with Eagle Heights all the time but I don’t need a forum to cry about it, I just face the bull head on. I have been at Eagle Heights for 2 years and have had repeated discussions with Pastor Kevin about things I disagreed with him on or have a different take on things and his response has always been “I respect your position and if that is what God is communicating to you than so it is” That’s hardly the words of a cult leader. You people are freaking crazy. Rules for radicals maybe. I think the way I want to and I tell Pastor Kevin that and he still respects my opinion.
It’s this kind of approach to problem solving that has this country in the shit hole it’s in today. Maybe you should get some post-its or a therapy dog, I don’t know, but psychological projection is not the answer. Stop deflecting.your psychological high-wire act because it is simple exhausting to most of us. Go form your own church and so others can feed you a teaspoon of transference neurosis like you are doing to EH.
Man I wish you people would have been around when I was writing my PhD doctrine, you would have been an awesome case study.
Maybe you should man or women up (god help me if I am politically incorrect even if I am anyway), and approach the pastor face to face with your concerns or do you prefer to take the cowards way out and just attack people on social media forums. Seems like that is how society handles most things today since most of the pre-babyboomers don’t have an ounce of personal communication skills to start with.because of our dumbing down, idiocratic technology.
Have a good life, I really mean it. I hope you all can find a way to crawl out from under this Tandy compression neural blockage.
By the way that will be $200, just pay my receptionist on the way out,
Lil Sebastion
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Tom,
Your comment is not very kind. And it’s quite apparent that you do not know how cults work. Have you ever challenged Kevin? Have you ever criticized something that he has done? Have you questioned him on something that you may have seen that was off? If not, you will probably never see the true Kevin Dunn.
Just because you haven’t seen Kevin Dunn the way that others have does not mean they are not telling the truth. I can tell you that the people involved in this situation have moved on. But I find it interesting that you found this blog article (why were you searching Eagle Heights or Kevin) and am curious to know why you are hiding behind the computer using only your first time to attack someone who had legitimate reason to come forward.
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I have noticed the same behaviors.
When I was in need of help spiritually and emotionally they were there for me for a short amount of time. They even went as far as coming to my house and helping me when my husband died. But then something happen that open my eyes. I I told them I was unable to give as little as a $1 to the church. After that when I approached both Kevin and Lisa they shook my hand and looked over my head as if I was not there. This happen several times. I begin to feel uncomfortable. It open my eyes when he would act just plain silly and talk even more silly during services. I found it to be a blame service and he and Lisa were the perfect leaders. I stop going about 3 years ago but then recently went back twice now. Well the silliness the and verbal comedy act is still in full force. He makes his stand clear against Trump by adding his Lmind set that the people not vote for him. He makes strong remarks against gay people and does not want them in his church. I witnessed 2 or 3 times where he knew this woman was gay and he went to her ille and bashed gays. Yes that was a direct attempt to embrass and discourage her and her partner not to come back. We are all sinners and he should have embraced them. The 2 gay women never returned to the church. I do not attempt to badmouth his and his church. I am stating fact that I witnessed for my self and the gay women.
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No one person or group can tell a person their reply is rude and they not know a meaning of a word and they do not agree. This blog is open for people to express their concerns both positive and negative. and yes I said “THEIR” if you do not like it or agree then so what? That is your opinion. And I criticize anyone for not just respecting and leaving the blame game off this blog. So be nice and if you can not say something respectfully about another person then shut up.
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This blog is only a sample of what goes on in this church. Kevin is cunning and divisive only when he feels that you are a threat to his kingdom. I spent many years in this church and saw nothing but good. But there is another side that most don’t see. But once that veil is lifted and you become a target it all becomes very clear. Everyone who has ever had a calling on their life had to leave this church to pursue it. There is no platform for any one else but king Kevin. I have seen countless lives affected by his tactics and his self victimization. To this day many will not speak to me and others who saw the truth came and apologized for being deceived. He threatened friends that the earth would swallow them up if they went against his authority and did not stand before his church and repent. A very dangerous person who is very good at using his position to manipulate and control. To much more to say but this is enough.
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Thanks for your comment, Donald. You are exactly right about two sides. If everyone saw the bad side, they’d all leave. I’m glad that some have apologized to you after discovering the truth. It’s difficult when your friends don’t believe you.
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I agree. I attended this church years ago. My marriage ended as well as a few others I knew. Kevin is abusive and his teachings are dangerous.
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It’s sad to hear how many have been harmed by Kevin. I’m sorry to hear that you have experienced it too, Kim.
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