Doug Wilson, Sexual Abuse/Assault and Churches

Long-Time Moscow, Idaho Resident Challenges Doug Wilson’s Claims and Provides Factual Information

Julie Anne

Pastor Doug Wilson, Christ Church, CREC, New Saint Andrews, Moscow Idaho, Steven Sitler, Sex Abuse, Trinity Reformed Church


I went to Moscow, Idaho, recently to meet with people who have been part of Doug Wilson’s Christ Church and with people who have been negatively impacted by him. My first priority was to listen to and support those who had felt harmed by him. Secondly, I wanted to get a feel for the Moscow community: how were the people in town treated by Wilson and those connected with his church, college, and/or seminary? How did the long-time locals feel about the CREC presence in their community?

Yesterday, I came across a note written by Rose Huskey to an online group of people from Moscow, Idaho area.  The online group is called Vision 2020, and the group has been going on for quite some time. In fact, last night, I read archives from 2003, and even a dozen years ago, there were concerns raised from people within the community regarding Wilson.

While I typically cover stories from survivors who are part of a particular church, this is different. This is from someone who does not attend Christ Church, but who is airing her frustration of Doug Wilson publicly. She is a long-time resident and is concerned about the goings on in her community. Over the years, Rose has had growing concerns with what she has seen, and you will see from her note below, she has spent a lot of time fact checking to expose what she has found. I think Rose Huskey’s words need a broader audience than the online Moscow community. If a man is professing to be a Christian pastor is not only overstepping bounds in his church, but also his community, this behavior should not be hidden.

Note from Rose Huskey to Vision 2020 Online Group

Dear Visionaries,

Once again the self-appointed pastor of a homemade church, (yes, I mean Doug Wilson and Christ Church – and by extension, his “daughter” church, Trinity Reform, (aka The Fellowship of Grievance – FOG – as Doug used to refer to them) is garnering the negative attention that they so richly deserve. And, which, sadly, also tars our community by geographic proximity.

Rod Dreher of the American Conservative blogged yesterday on the decade old sexual abuse cases that still taint the Kirk (Doug’s feeble effort to pretend his church has connections to Scotland).  Steven Sitler and Jamin Wight, both convicted sexual felons, continue to live amongst us (albeit under the supervision of the Idaho Department of Corrections in Sitler’s case.)  Below is a letter I sent via email to Doug Wilson and Toby Sumpter (pastors respectively to Christ Church and Trinity Reformed) and the officers – who are named so that you will know the jackasses who support their “religious” efforts.  I urge you, to avoid any business whose owners and employee(s) attend and tithe to either church – unless, of course, you support their position on the harmony of ante-bellum slavery; the role of women in the church and home (silent and “always willing to be a garden” tended by their husbands sums it up);  “disciplines”children with whacks followed by prayer, father directed courtship, and glories in the inbreed nepotism of the Wilson empire.

I stand by my words, I sign my letters (Hey there toadie, “Dave” who lacked the balls to sign his last name when he called me a “non-Christian” hater (the remarks were removed from the Dreher website probably by the blog owner), frankly, you don’t know s*** from shinola about me, but I have a pretty good idea what your last name is.

Rose Huskey

XXXXXX

Greetings Gentlemen:

Christ Church Pastors Douglas Wilson and Ben Merkle

Elders:  Csaba Leidenfrost, Gordon Wilson, Matt Gray, John Carnahan, Jeremy Bunch, Bill Church, Ed Iverson, John Grauke, Wes Struble, John Sawyer, Dale Courtney, Mike Lawyer, Francis Foucachon, Jonathan McIntosh, Matt Meyer, Dan Vis

Deacons: Nick Holloway, Gabe Rench, Tim Mortimore, Tom Garfield, Isaac Grauke, Rob Sentz, James Urquidez, Greg Ditton, Rusty Olps, Nethaniel Ealy,Row: Jim Crapuchettes, Andrew Crapuchettes, Phil McMurray, Marc Rust, Mark Wintz

Trinity Reformed Pastors Toby Sumpter, Pastor Joshua Appel

Elders: Chris Schlect, Patch Blakey , Roy Atwood (clearly in absentia), Elder in Training Timothy Van Den Broek

Deacons: Eric Burnett, Randy Cummings, Jacob Harding, Brendan O’Donnell, Rich Schumaker, and Joseph Schoolland,

(Rather than send individual email’s I send this email to the heads of your various organizations.  I trust (that is probably foolish, isn’t it?) they will forward it to those under their leadership.  Just in case someone decides not to share this with you I will be sending this message to Vision 2020 for the community to read, and perhaps one of them will be good enough to pass it along.)

When in the name of God and all that is holy will you separate yourselves from the self-serving lies Douglas J. Wilson continues to tell?  Recently the mishandled sexual abuse cases which plagued your church ten years ago have reached critical mass nationally.  Yesterday, Ron Dreher published a story about the abuse and graciously allowed Doug Wilson to respond. Doug offered many untrue or misleading remarks in his defense.  I’ll offer a few examples:

“Steven was caught in March of 2005. I counseled the father of the victim to turn Steven into the authorities immediately. That happened the following day, and Steven was arrested. He was immediately expelled from New St. Andrews College.”

The timeline that Doug describes is deliberately inaccurate.  Please read a report made to the Latah County Sheriff’s office by the father of the victims, four days after his heinous discovery. And, by the way, you might ask yourselves why Mr. X reported that Steven Sitler attended the University of Idaho and didn’t mention New Saint Andrews College?

Steven confessed to Mr. X in the late afternoon of March 10, 2005.  Later that evening Mr. X called Doug Wilson who asked the X parents to come to his office after lunch the next day.  Steven remained in their home until the morning of the 11th.  Authorities were not contacted.  The next morning –  after 9:00 a.m. Steven left for his home in Colville, Washington.  After lunch the parents met with Doug Wilson in his office.  He arranged for Greg Dickison, family friend and Christ Church member to contact authorities (after Sitler was safely across state lines). The X family left for a pre-planned family vacation.

Steven Sitler was never arrested as Doug Wilson must have known that.  An arrest warrant was filed but never served. He was taken into custody on September 26th 2005, (follow the clear direction to access Steven Sitler’s court record) more than six months after the molestations were discovered.

To understand how this issue was controlled and contained for several months amongst some (if not all) of the officers, please consider the religious affiliations of the principal players in this tragedy.

Victims and family = Christ Church members

Family Attorney = Greg Dickinson Christ Church member

Perpetrator = Steven Sitler, NSA student, Christ Church attendee, excommunicated by home church and joined Christ Church after hearing.  His father is now a church office at Holy Trinity Church, Colville, Washington

Perp’s  Attorney = Dean Wullenwaber, Christ Chruch member

Do you understand how this incestuous relationship casts doubt on everything surrounding the way Doug orchestrated this sickening mess?  You have a source for primary court documents do they conflict with what you were told?  What/who is more reliable, official court documents or your pastor who has spun, and continues to spin his own self-interested story?

It is the case that you gentlemen have chosen with your hearts and minds to follow Doug Wilson to hell and back – while pretending to proclaim Christ in your heart and lives.  For the sake of your souls, your family, and your interest in the community of Moscow, I beg you to turn your back on Doug Wilson and all he represents, with one exception.  As he formed his own church in the early 1990s you too can do the same thing.  You can worship God with joy and freedom without the specter of Doug Wilson, his dirty deeds and rapidly declining reputation infecting you and yours.  In the meantime, if I were on the faculty of NSA, Logos, or employed in any other business in Doug’s empire, I would begin to look for another position.  At some point his kingdom is going to fall into a thousand pieces (God is good and He is great) and you will need to feed and care for your families.

If Doug publicly repents then you might, (after a suitable and penitential exile) consider allowing him join with you in worship as a member, not an officer.  I beg you to read and meditate on Ezekiel 34 and I say sorrowfully, (not on your behalf but on the behalf of your families and congregations) and in truth to you, you are wicked shepherds, and there is a great cost associated with that behavior.

Ezekiel 3421st Century King James Version (KJ21)

34 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds: Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe yourselves with the wool, ye kill the ones that are fed; but ye feed not the flock.

4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

5 And they were scattered because there is no shepherd, and they became meat to all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.

6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains and upon every high hill; yea, My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

7 “‘Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

8 As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because My flock became a prey and My flock became meat to every beast of the field because there was no shepherd, neither did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and fed not My flock,

9 therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.

10 Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require My flock at their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock, neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more. For I will deliver My flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

Rose Huskey

*UPDATE from Rose Huskey 10/2/15 Yesterday I posted a note on Vision 2020 that was a copy of an email I mailed to Christ Church and Trinity Reformed Church.  I relied on the church websites to obtain the names of the church officers.  Matthew Breese was included in the named officers of Trinity Reformed.  I have learned that his name should not have been included as he is no longer a church officer.

JA has edited to remove his name.  ~ja

Related links:

  • The Truth about Moscow – this site contains primary source documentation, court documents, articles about Doug Wilson, pedophile cases, etc.
  • Doug Wilson Archive – this is a brand new site compiling articles and blog articles

29 thoughts on “Long-Time Moscow, Idaho Resident Challenges Doug Wilson’s Claims and Provides Factual Information”

  3. I think we’ve had rather more than two or three witnesses against Doug Wilson vis a vis arrogance for quite a long time. It is pure wickedness that he has not been removed and that high profile leaders continue to enable him. One can only assume they would handle things just as he has done, because they are not saying a thing to the contrary by their actions. Disgusting wickedness.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Rose has done a great job. I agree: God is great and good. No one should give up on God, but everyone needs to hold Doug (and his office bearers and associated ones) responsible.

    Liked by 2 people

  5. That is an excellent point Melody, why would a group of “leaders” continue to enable and defend him if they are NOT of the same mind ? I’m beginning to think that a bunch of these supposedly legit “men of God ” are wolves in sheeps clothes. Some are no doubt involved with the same type of corruption as Wilson.

    When a man claims that a 13 year old can consent to being fisted by an adult THE LINE HAS BEEN CROSSED. None of these leaders are fit to lead, they are all an embarrassment to the CROSS, unwilling to take a stand and speak up against the evil Wilson is propagating.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. @Scott,

    Agreed. It’s also time the Idaho Legislature kicked it in gear and copied other states’ mandated reporting laws for clergy and custodians of records (making it a crime for them not to report) and really overhauled their state’s laws. Idaho’s laws seem so incredibly weak and ineffective – i.e. Steven Sitler should be sitting in prison for pedophilia and not permitted to walk the streets – that it seems that the holes in those laws are wide enough to fly a Boeing 747.

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  8. Deepest respect to you, Rose!
    Thanks for all that you have done for your community and for these victims!

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  9. That was a noble pursuit, JA. I can’t imagine anyone actually seeking me out to physically be with me, listen to my story and comfort me during my church fiasco. That gives a new face to WWJD? You are something else. 🙂

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  10. Also, that courage and risk emerges from the female quarter (Rose Huskey, JA, Natalie Greenfield, Katie Botkin, and others) seem to be matched only Boz Tchividjian’s on the male side. Something seems amiss here…half the church indeed.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Scott,
    There’s a sentiment out there amongst the Fundies I’m not too long removed from of “Touch not the Lord’s anointed.”
    I have a quote from a guy that seems to pride himself on discernment and looking out for false doctrine – “God has called & placed those called to be pastors over certain areas. We may not see why, but it’s His call not ours.”
    He’s not a Fundy. This attitude is very prevalent – shockingly prevalent. It’s ok for the sheep to call out the Joel Osteens of the world for false doctrine and high living, but if a pastor “gets the gospel right”, then he’s called of God and we can’t touch him, even if he’s marrying off pedos and defending rapists.

    I bet even the devil would “get the gospel right” if it meant we’d follow him. And he’d have a church packed with seminary boys.

    I don’t get it.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. I find it appalling that anyone is giving Doug Wilson a pass on the basis that his “theology” might be “correct.” Are Christians really so desperate for someone else’s narcissistic interpretation of the Bible that they’re willing to listen to a guy that defends pedophiles?

    Liked by 2 people

  14. “There’s a sentiment out there amongst the Fundies I’m not too long removed from of “Touch not the Lord’s anointed.”

    I think the following is one of the best studies on the “Touch not the Lord’s anointed” statements I have ever read. A friend of mine presented it to the church board with the following preface to the paper.

    “This paper was presented as a response to my church board after my pastor refused to fire and report the 22 year old youth leader that had sexually abused my 15 year old daughter several times. The pastor and his wife actually attacked my daughter verbally. The youth leader was finally arrested and convicted after a plea bargain, with 4th degree criminal sexual conduct. The board eventually fired the pastor but I became a marked man for daring to come up against the pastor and “Touching the anointed of God”. The following, written by “Let Us Reason Ministries”, is my response:” F.M.

    http://www.letusreason.org/Pent47.htm

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Govpappy, You bring back such warm memories for me. When I was 28 I exposed a pastor church wide for fraud, lying ( about everything) and pushing certain people out the door that disagreed with him. His enablers all threw that line out, ” touch NOT God’s anointed”. One idiot actually called me and said “even if he has killed someone we should support him because he is the pastor”. The pastor resigned a week latter after calling for church discipline for me, repeated denials of facts that were proven with a dozen witnesses. We got a new pastor, he was worse than the first so I left after a year. Some people truly deserve the leadership they have.

    Most of the folks at that church were way too dumb to know that scripture was being taken out of context and perverted to defend great dishonesty . That is the big problem with Christianity

    Liked by 2 people

  16. An independent and reasonably competent church governing board would, at a minimum, put Doug Wilson on leave while investigating these matters. Although I must add that the evidence available to date suggests that Wilson’s dismissal and deposition from ordained public ministry would be more appropriate.

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  17. “An independent and reasonably competent church governing board would, at a minimum, put Doug Wilson on leave while investigating these matters.” – singleman

    True enough. However we are talking about Doug Wilson’s church – Christ Church – known for its incompetence on just about everything: arranging for a pedophile to date and marry a young woman, covering for a sex offender from their church/seminary, who was sexually abusing a young girl, asking for light sentences for their church’s sex offenders, threatening decent parents with church discipline and victims, and having a victim’s mother divorce her husband and bail on her daughter.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Ugh, Scott, that’s painful, and very familiar. Got my own story too that I witnessed. For another time.

    I just have little patience for this particular species of crazy.

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  19. “There’s a sentiment out there amongst the Fundies I’m not too long removed from of “Touch not the Lord’s anointed.”

    Wasn’t that a favorite proof text/tag line of Benny Hinn?

    Liked by 1 person

  20. @Dash:

    I find it appalling that anyone is giving Doug Wilson a pass on the basis that his “theology” might be “correct.”

    Purity of Ideology, Comrade.
    Purity of Ideology.

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  21. @Scott – absolutely-why would any Christian be deceived by the arrogance and attack we are seeing? Is anyone qualified to lead if they cannot discern character? If pastors are supporting Doug Wilson, can we assume they have or at least would have treat(ed) abuse victims similarly? I’m not in a mood to name names, but I am wondering if my hopes for humility and repentance with some guys are pointless because perhaps they do not know our Lord, and are thus incapable of it. I don’t know. May He rebuke them.

    Doug’s behavior in this matter is evil, and to support him in blatant documented online spiritual abuse is so disgustingly heartless there is no other descriptor but wickedness. The people of God really cannot trust any pastor who even tacitly supports this kind of bullying behavior. Those are very dangerous men with no business being in leadership positions. I still pray they repent, but wow.

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  24. I wondered if your excellent article has brought about any changes regarding the pseudo counterfeit wilsonite cultic groups which call themselves “Christ church” and “Trinity Reformed”?
    I have quite a lot to say to contribute to this topic.
    This group – these groups – are so evil on very many different levels.
    They use evil mind control techniques.
    These change synapses in the brain and they thus cause mental illness. Everyone I have known who has been in wilsonite group has been mentally ill. Even after leaving, even years later still having terrible delusions.
    I do not want to write in a public format yet however. I would like to talk to you or email.

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  25. “even a dozen years ago, there were concerns raised from people within the community regarding Wilson”

    It actually goes back another 30 years (around 1973) when Jim Wilson — literally looking for an unsuspecting town they could take over — arrived in Moscow and opened a bookstore on Main St. Jim Wilson was an odd bird from the start. I patronized his store to purchase reference & other related materials for my N.T. Greek classes at U. of Idaho. Despite our obvious common interest in N.T. it seemed impossible to establish any kind of mental connection with him. Looking back at it, there was a complete — almost psychopathic — lack of empathy. By the time I left Moscow in 1976, his church and their activities were already raising eyebrows. And the rest is history ….

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  27. I listen to Doug Wilson and Toby Sumpter on YouTube – also listened to Beka Merkle’s recent documentary on Eve in Exile. Wonderful film and support their views that line up with standards of the Bible. I have greatly benefited from their teaching. Nebraska

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  29. @Jill

    You stated “….and support their views that line up with the standards of the Bible.”

    Precisely what standards are you attributing to the Bible that D.W possesses? Please, test the spirits as the Bereans were commended for doing so, for not every spirit is of the LORD. Did Jesus, our Living Savior, live, preach or teach the precepts of the individuals you collaborate with? And did our Master Jesus not say, “And ye shall know them by their fruits?” A resounding “Yes!”

    Julie Anne labeled correctly, “It’s a dangerous cult,” which has caused much destruction in its wake. Please heed wise counsel here.

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