Ep. 398: Bible Society of India, Alistair Begg, Morningstar Fellowship

On today’s program, the former president of Bible Society of India has been arrested for financial corruption related to his position at another ministry…raising questions about how he handled finances at the Bible Society. We’ll take a look. And, an Illinois pastor has made it his mission to provide his community access to healthy food…by setting up a low-cost grocery store in a food desert. Also, Alistair Begg announces his 20-25 retirement. But first, Morningstar Fellowship Church in South Carolina is facing two more lawsuits that are alleging sexual abuse. Two more lawsuits have been filed against MorningStar Fellowship Church in Fort Mill, S.C., and its leaders for not reporting sexual abuse allegations to law enforcement. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Kim Roberts, Jessica Eturralde, Bethany Starin, Tony Mator, Aaron Earls, Brittany Smith, Christina Darnell—and you, Warren. A special thanks to Lifeway Research for contributing material for this week’s podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.   MANUSCRIPT   FIRST SEGMENT Warren: Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha: And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado. And we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren: On today’s program, the former president of Bible Society of India has been arrested for financial corruption related to his position at another ministry…raising questions about how he handled finances at the Bible Society. We’ll take a look. And, an Illinois pastor has made it his mission to provide his community access to healthy food…by setting up a low-cost grocery store in a food desert. Also, Alistair Begg announces his 20-25 retirement. Natasha: But first, Morningstar Fellowship Church in South Carolina is facing two more lawsuits that are alleging sexual abuse. Warren: Two more lawsuits have been filed against MorningStar Fellowship Church in Fort Mill, S.C., and its leaders for not reporting sexual abuse allegations to law enforcement. A previous lawsuit was filed on August 7 against MorningStar and its leaders alleging that Erickson Lee used his access to children through the church’s “Young Special Forces” program to groom and eventually abuse children in the church. Lee was arrested in May on charges of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and on September 5 entered into an offered plea deal to serve nine years in prison, according to Randy Hood, attorney for the plaintiffs. Natasha: What are these new lawsuits? Warren: Two more alleged victims have come forward to seek accountability for their abuse from Morningstar Fellowship Church and its leaders. All of the lawsuits have been filed anonymously by John Doe #1, John Doe #2, and John Doe #3 who are now over age 18, but were 13 years old when the alleged abuse began. Leaders named in the lawsuit include Rick Joyner, David Yarns, and Erickson Lee’s father, Douglas Lee, who was the former head of security for the church. “This is about accountability and responsibility,” Hood said. “Churches have to create policies and procedures to protect children. They need to monitor and supervise people who are over children.” Natasha: Because of previous allegations of sexual assault at MorningStar in the early 2000s, the lawsuits claim that Joyner, Yarns, and Lee knew of the risks and had a duty and opportunity to protect vulnerable children from being exploited and abused while participating in the youth programs at MorningStar. Warren: Instead, the lawsuit asserts, the leadership ignored “signs of provision of alcohol and pornography to minors and signs of sexual exploitation or abuse of minors by church staff, members, or volunteers.” The claims against MorningStar and its leadership are for negligence, gross negligence, recklessness, civil conspiracy, and the intentional or reckless infliction of emotional distress. Natasha: Next, an official associated with the Bible Society of India was arrested for financial corruption. Warren: Last September, Anglican Bishop P.C. Singh, who served as the president of the Bible Society of India from 2019-2022, was arrested for criminal breach of trust, cheating, forging documents, and criminal conspiracy while transferring the government land given on lease to the Church of North India. Singh is accused of selling land that didn’t belong to him for 30 million Rupees ($360,000) then keeping the money. He was later arrested again for money laundering charges. Singh was removed from leadership in the Church of North India in 2022. Natasha: How is that linked to the Bible Society? Warren: Rev. Chittranjan Polson, who served as auxiliary secretary for the Allahabad Auxiliary of the BSI, is uneasy about Singh’s former leadership role at BSI and whether he and his associate B.K. Patnaik might have been part of covering up financial irregularities Polson discovered while examining the auxiliary’s finances. According to social media posted by BSI, Singh was first elected as its president in 2019. Polson brought these irregularities and concerns to the attention of the United Bible Societies (UBS) in July 2023. He reached out again in June of this year. He says his service at the BSI auxiliary was terminated after he raised his concerns about the alleged corruption. Natasha: Did the United Bible Societies respond? Warren: After several requests over the course of a few weeks, UBS told MinistryWatch that “there has been no indication or evidence of financial misconduct involving BSI funds that would have triggered any internal reviews, either by the BSI or UBS…The BSI operates under a constitutionally established leadership structure, where the General Secretary, as Chief Executive Officer, is solely responsible for overseeing financial and administrative matters.” UBS clarified that Singh’s position as president was honorary only with no financial authority at BSI but was removed from that position “after the controversy surrounding him became public,” which was in 2022. Natasha: Next up, a pastor has been sentenced for Fraud. Warren: A federal jury has sentenced Miracle Mansion CEO Michael Mandel Baldwin to two years of prison for using the mansion project to front an investment scheme. On August 20, the jury sentenced Baldwin, 55, to 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on charges of wire and securities fraud. Natasha: Can you give us some background? Warren: In October 2021, authorities arrested Baldwin for allegedly swindling members of a Charlotte, N.C., church out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to the indictment, he used that money to fund his personal lifestyle. Court records say that Baldwin deceitfully obtained over $740,000 from investors by promising to use their funds for the development of the Miracle Mansion, including purchasing land. According to court records, Baldwin misled prospective investors and victims by claiming that high-ranking administrators at Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby, as well as The Kennedy Center, had approved and backed Miracle Mansion. High-ranking officials from Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A, on the other hand, testified during the trial that they were unaware of Baldwin and his idea and did not endorse it, refuting Baldwin's allegations. While operating as the Miracle Mansion’s CEO, Baldwin was working as the assistant pastor and musical director for Crossroads Baptist Church in Northern Virginia, where his brother is senior pastor and his father is the church’s founder and pastor emeritus. Natasha: Warren, let’s take a quick break. When we return, Heavenly Square Grocery fills a gap in an Illinois food desert. I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and we’ll have that story and much more, after this short break.   BREAK   SECOND SEGMENT Natasha: Welcome back.  I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and you’re listening to the MinistryWatch podcast. Next, the story we promised before the break… Warren: When you walk into Heavenly Square Grocery in Danville, Illinois, you’ll notice three things: it’s clean, everyone is friendly, and the food is priced fairly. Heavenly Grocery opened its doors this past spring, on May 1, in a part of Vermilion County that’s considered a food desert. Pastor Thomas Miller, pastor of New Life Church of Faith, which owns the shopping center where Heavenly Square Grocery is located said “There are 11,000 people in a 2-mile radius of our location, and they have no access to healthy food,” “The purpose for this location was that we saw a big need to support the community.” Natasha: Timothy Meneely, medical director of Carle Medical Office Center at The Riverfront in Danville. Noted that Illinois has 102 counties and Vermilion County ranks at 100 in the state for health outcomes. This grocery store is trying to make it easier to access healthy food for those who need it most. Warren: In addition to the grocery store, there is now a community garden, a mobile market that drives through main sections of the county, and a kids program that educates about health and diet. They even worked with distributors to get Heavenly Square Grocery re-zoned, so pricing was lowered appropriately for the area’s needs. Once Heavenly Square Grocery is turning a profit, Miller said he plans to use those funds to open a restaurant or a laundry mat, something that provides support to the community. Natasha: Our next story involves a defamation case Warren: The Supreme Court of Texas heard oral arguments this week related to the case of plaintiff Jan