Ep. 413: My Faith Votes, Turning Point USA, Gateway Church

On today’s program, Jason Yates—the former president of the Christian advocacy group My Faith Votes—has been charged with possession of child pornography. We’ll have details. Plus, Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA is rallying young people to become active in politics by establishing chapters on Christian college campuses. We’ll take a look. And, results from our quarterly survey of ministry leaders—revenue decline remains the top ministry challenge. But first, Gateway Church has removed four of its elders over former pastor Robert Morris’ sexual abuse scandal. Four elders at Gateway Church, whose senior pastor Robert Morris stepped down earlier this year, have been removed after the results of a law firm’s investigation of sexual abuse allegations against the pastor were announced in a sermon on Sunday (Nov. 3). 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, Kathryn Post, Tony Mator, James Russell, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell. 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, Jason Yates—the former president of the Christian advocacy group My Faith Votes—has been charged with possession of child pornography. We’ll have details. Plus, Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA is rallying young people to become active in politics by establishing chapters on Christian college campuses. We’ll take a look. And, results from our quarterly survey of ministry leaders—revenue decline remains the top ministry challenge. Natasha: But first, Gateway Church has removed four of its elders over former pastor Robert Morris’ sexual abuse scandal. Warren: Four elders at Gateway Church, whose senior pastor Robert Morris stepped down earlier this year, have been removed after the results of a law firm’s investigation of sexual abuse allegations against the pastor were announced in a sermon on Sunday (Nov. 3). The removals are the latest responses by one of the country’s largest evangelical Christian churches to allegations brought by Cindy Clemishire in June that Gateway’s founding pastor, Robert Morris, 63, had molested her in the 1980s, when Morris was in his 20s and she was 12. Natasha: Soon afterward, also in June, the church retained law firm Haynes and Boone to conduct an investigation, what did they find? Warren: Church elder Tra Willbanks announced on Sunday, the investigation found that all but three elders had been aware of Morris’ history with Clemishire, now 54, and her age at the time of the alleged abuse. While Willbanks declined to identify the elders who were removed, the names of elders Jeremy Carrasco, Kevin Grove, Gayland Lawshe and Thomas Miller no longer appear on the church website, according to multiple news accounts. Natasha: The investigation’s results also prompted reforms to Gateway’s leadership structure and bylaws. Warren: Church staff will no longer serve as elders. Willbanks said, “We must bring this level of independence and objectivity to our eldership, and it has been lacking in the years past,” The summer’s allegations prompted state legislators to call for changing the statute of limitations for sexual assault, harsher penalties for mandatory reporters who fail to follow up on accusations and reforming nondisclosure agreements for sexual abuse survivors. Secular and religious advocacy organizations have been pushing for such reforms, as well as the elimination of the use of nondisclosure agreements in sexual assault cases. Natasha: Next, Former MY Faith Votes CEO has been charged with serious crimes. Warren: Jason C. Yates, the former CEO of My Faith Votes, has been charged with eight felony counts of possession of child pornography. Each of the eight charges, filed in McLeod County, Minnesota, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Yates has a prior conviction and is a registered predatory offender. According to court records, Yates was released on his own recognizance on November 4. As a condition of his release, he is to have no contact with persons under the age of 18. Natasha: How did this come to light? Warren: The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension began its investigation into Yates’ alleged crimes on July 31. The probable cause statement also includes descriptions of eight of the images, which allegedly include children between 5 and 7 years of age. In September, officers met with Yates, and he admitted to having a prior conviction for child pornography that had been expunged. Natasha: Sadly we have a similar story from Texas. Warren: A former volunteer youth leader at Beltway Park Church, a multi-site large Southern Baptist congregation in Abilene, Texas, has been charged with possession of child pornography. Natasha: What’s has happened since? Warren: At the time of reporting, Goff was being held in the Taylor County jail on $100,000 bond. Beltway learned about Goff’s actions in June 2024 and immediately contacted the proper authorities, according to the letter sent to the congregation by the lead pastor. Goff had been a youth volunteer for about three years, starting in 2022. He passed a routine background check before he became an active volunteer, the letter said, and again in 2024 as part of the routine background check protocol. “[W]e currently have no indication that any minors from our church were involved in any inappropriate activity with this former volunteer,” Beltway Park’s letter stated. “We have tremendous grief for any children in any location who may be proven to have been harmed by this person’s actions.” Natasha: Let’s look at one more story before our break. Warren: The principal of a now-closed Missouri boarding school that has been the subject of abuse allegations has been charged with sex crimes involving a former student. Craig Wesley Smith Jr., who was the principal of Lighthouse Christian Academy in Piedmont, was charged with forcible sodomy and attempted forcible rape, according to ABC News. According to allegations in the probable cause statement, Smith told the girl he would kill her and “make it look like she committed suicide” if she told anyone about the abuse. Natasha: And this isn’t the first time Smith has been accused. Warren: A 2009 federal lawsuit also accused Smith of sex acts with an unnamed female student, but it isn't clear if that alleged victim is the same one involved in the present criminal case. Natasha: Multiple people at that school have been accused of abuse. Warren: In March 2024, the Musgraves were arrested on first-degree kidnapping and abuse charges. However, on October 15, a Wayne County judge dismissed the charges. Caleb Sandoval, son of the school’s director Julio Sandoval, was also charged with abuse of a child for injuring a 15-year-old boy while boxing. In July, he pleaded guilty and was given five years of probation. ABM Ministries closed Lighthouse Christian Academy in March after the Musgraves’ arrests and the Missouri Department of Social Services began investigating whether the boarding school effectively addressed calls to an abuse hotline about the facility in the past. Natasha: Warren, let’s take a quick break. When we return, the next in our series highlighting a group engaged in the ‘new paradigm’ of missions…training local missionaries to reach their own people. 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: This is another in the MinistryWatch series highlighting groups engaged in the “new paradigm” in missions: equipping near-culture missionaries to reach their own people. Christians are operating a general store in northern Nigeria “under the nose” of terrorist group Boko Haram, reaching their neighbors with the Gospel and hosting a worship service in their store’s back room. They are indigenous or near-culture disciple makers who have been trained under a model developed by Global Disciples. For 28 years, Global Disciples has been committed to training indigenous or near-culture leaders to make Christian disciples among their own people. Natasha: How do they do that? Warren: Founder Galen Burkholder said that rather than sending western missionaries to plant churches, Global Disciples works with a local cluster of churches to develop a training program for their own people to be near-culture disciple makers. Then the new converts want to gather and grow spiritually so they establish churches. According to Global Disciples, 2,500 disciple makers were trained around the world by the nearly 3,500 active training programs operating in 76 countries around the world last year. More than 69,000 new believers were reached with the Gospel based on the efforts of the over 25,000 disciple makers that have been trained in these programs. Natasha: That’s amazing! What areas are they serving? Warren: Some of the most active discipleship training programs are in Africa and South Asia, often in some of the least-reached areas. For instance, Global Disciples has 231 training programs across the country of Myanmar and are reaching people with the Gospel in remote villages. In the MinistryWatch database,...