We believe healthy ministry begins with a strong community, effective leadership, and steady pastoral care. This season has shown us how important it is to strengthen these foundations. In the past several months, we have made intentional changes to put our local church and staff first.
A Letter to Our Church Family and Wider Community
In the past few months, we have listened to feedback from our congregation, staff, Board of Elders, BSSM Alumni, online community, and leaders from across the Body of Christ.
This feedback was moving and important. It has shown us areas in our leadership and culture that need attention and reform. Since February, we have been working hard to make positive changes to our culture and structure.
Strengthening Our Church Community
We believe healthy ministry begins with a strong community, effective leadership, and steady pastoral care. This season has shown us how important it is to strengthen these foundations.
In the past several months, we have made intentional changes to put our local church and staff first.
That work includes:
- March 2026 - Reshaped Wonder Conference to focus on serving and ministering to the women of our own church community.
- April 2026 - Canceled the Healing Conference to redirect time, focus, and resources toward this priority.
- April 2026 - Began gathering staff feedback about areas in our culture that need to be improved.
- April 2026 - Began developing a volunteer focus group made up of team members across our organization to help strengthen accountability, connection, and mission.
- May 2026 - Reshaped our men’s conference into a more locally focused event centered on discipleship, community, and connection.
We are committed to showing real change through our actions, lasting cultural shifts, and a renewed commitment to live according to the standards that Scripture calls us to.
Where We Are
We want to update you about our ongoing progress in leadership, governance, church culture, platforming, and community support. Looking back, we recognize specific challenges which could have been handled more consistently with our biblical principles. The engagement of outside professionals earlier may have been helpful, and we could have provided more open communication and offered clearer, timelier responses. At times, our emphasis on internal discussions and confidential processes may have appeared to limit accountability, resulting in unintentional harm to individuals both within and beyond our church community.
Governance & Leadership
Some of that work has included the following:
- We have engaged external leadership consultant Martin West and XGap to review our governance, organizational structure, leadership culture, and operational health. Martin/XGap has worked with many organizations and churches around the world, helping build healthier leadership, teams and culture.
- Our day-to-day operational, financial, and leadership is now being carried by an Executive Team. This team is led by Steve Moore and Richard Gordon.
- Pastors Bill Johnson, Kris and Kathy Vallotton, and Dann Farrelly will continue in their roles as founders and senior spiritual leaders. As part of strengthening healthy governance practices, decisions regarding organizational structure, cultural review, and accountability processes are being guided by appropriate oversight structures, independent input, and executive leadership.
- We have increased involvement and oversight from our Board of Elders. Pastor Bill is on a sabbatical, originally planned with members of the Board of Elders in the summer of 2025.
Reporting, Accountability, & Safety
That work includes:
- February 2026 - An independent organization with expertise in complex investigations is leading the inquiry into allegations involving a specific leader and our response. We will not comment further while the investigation is ongoing. Because the process is independent, we do not oversee its timeline.
- February 2026 - Continued third-party Safe Church reporting pathways through Mitratech (formerly known as Syntrio).
- March 2026 - Expanded review, escalation, and follow-up processes related to Safe Church reports, including clarified reporting and escalation pathways, strengthened follow-up expectations, and additional review measures for concerns involving misconduct, coercion, misuse of spiritual authority, and leadership dynamics.
- March/April 2026 - Began consultation with outside professionals in clergy accountability, misuse of authority, and leadership dynamics in preparation for increased training this summer.
- April 2026 - Strengthened review processes for allegations involving misconduct or misuse of spiritual authority.
More than just building stronger systems, we believe God is calling us to create a healthier culture. We want our church family to be known for God’s presence, purity, power, humility, wisdom, integrity, healthy leadership, accountability, safety, and real pastoral care.
Wider Cultural & Ministry Review
We have also begun a broader cultural and ministry review, with input from internal stakeholders and external experts to provide greater objectivity, accountability, and an independent perspective.
Areas currently under review include:
- Leadership culture and accountability
- Prophetic ministry oversight and training
- Pastoral standards and conduct
- Reporting and escalation processes
- Platforming practices
- Restoration processes and leadership reinstatement
- Reviewing Biblical theology and cultural frameworks that have helped shape our community and culture, including teachings related to honor, accountability, restoration, reconciliation, and authority structures. Examining how these frameworks are understood, communicated, and applied by Bethel leadership and throughout the Bethel community.
- Public ministry accountability
- BSSM as a formation environment, including leadership culture, power dynamics, spiritual authority, student experience, and the systems and structures that shape community life and development.
Platforming
One of the biggest things we want to acknowledge is that our platform carries real weight and responsibility to be used consistently with our biblical principles. We also understand that restoration and reinstatement are not the same thing. Restoration is about healing, repentance, redemption, and helping someone be made whole again in Christ. Reinstatement is about returning someone to a previous position of leadership, influence, or responsibility, which requires rebuilding trust with those impacted, those they lead, and those responsible for oversight and accountability, along with demonstrating the fruit of repentance which reflects Godly character, wisdom, and accountability. We should always pursue restoration, but reinstatement must be approached with wisdom, because grace offers forgiveness, but it does not remove the need for stewardship, consequences, and rebuilding trust.
As we review platforming, we want to follow clear biblical standards for public ministry leadership. Scripture calls leaders to live above reproach and to show self-control, faithfulness, humility, integrity, and care for those they lead. Public ministry influence is a responsibility, not a right.
1 Peter 5:2–3 reminds leaders to shepherd God’s flock, not lord over those entrusted to them, but to be examples to the flock.
We will not make decisions about platforming based solely on rumors, pressure, or unverified claims. At the same time, credible concerns may lead to further review, discernment through appropriate reporting, and accountability processes. If there are proven patterns of behavior that do not align with biblical standards, we cannot continue to platform, endorse, or support that person for ministry leadership here.
During this time, we also want to be clear about our relationship with some outside ministry leaders we have worked with or platformed in the past. We believe clarity is an important part of accountability, and we want our church family and community to understand our current relationship, level of support, and status regarding these individuals.
Following internal review and discussion, we’ve made the decision to confirm publicly that we no longer platform the following individuals:
- Todd Bentley
- Mike Bickle
- Shawn Bolz
- Bob Hartley
Specifically regarding Bob Hartley, Bethel took action after concerns were raised in previous years. We restricted his ministry involvement, informed our church community, and later limited his access to Bethel’s campus. As part of our current review, we want to clearly state that Bob Hartley is not endorsed, platformed, or permitted to serve in ministry influence at Bethel.
Personnel Matters
We also want to address past partnerships and employment matters.
California's constitutional privacy protections limit what employers can share about their employees. Therefore, we are unable to publicly discuss or disclose personnel matters involving current or former employees. We recognize that for some, these limitations can contribute to concerns around transparency. However, this restriction does not mean we are indifferent, inactive, or unwilling to address serious concerns. When allegations involve staff, we handle them through appropriate reporting, review, investigation, and accountability processes.
We also recognize that past issues may have impacted members of our church family, and we understand that previous experiences may have affected trust in both leadership and reporting systems. In response, we have continued to strengthen our reporting pathways, oversight, and accountability processes to deliver clearer, safer, and more consistent responses.
Please keep praying for us as we seek God’s presence, purity, power, integrity, humility, godly character, righteousness, and a healthy church family.
With Humility and Love,
Bethel Church Senior Leadership Team & Board of Elders
