Update from Bethel Leadership: Third-Party Involvement

Since our letter on January 25, 2026, and subsequent updates on February 15, 2026 and February 27, 2026, we have continued to deeply reflect on this season with sobriety and care.

We have been in ongoing conversation with and listening to members of our community—including those who have been impacted, current and former students, staff, and trusted outside voices.  

As a broader leadership team, we want to understand and address how we can do better in the future by bringing in a third-party expert to review our governance, leadership structure, and culture. We want to ensure we have established clear accountability structures, prioritized the safety of all those engaging with Bethel, and upheld the standards that Scripture calls our leadership and culture to reflect.

We believe this kind of accountability isn’t just right, but necessary, and we will share concrete next steps for what that looks like in the coming weeks. As we have said before, we do not take the pain that those who have spoken up are experiencing lightly, and we are not moving past it quickly—this process matters deeply to us, but more importantly, to the heart of God.

We can also confirm that Sintra Group Investigations, an organization with over 20 years of experience in investigative work, including trauma-informed investigative protocols, is leading the independent investigation into the allegations concerning Ben Armstrong.

Safe Church is a platform to provide a safe, confidential, and independent channel for anyone in the Bethel community to report concerns about harmful or inappropriate conduct—including by senior leaders. Reports are received by a third-party provider, Mitratech, enabling individuals to report concerns anonymously if they choose, ensuring full privacy and preservation of the report in its original conveyance. This gives the reporter the assurance that it cannot be altered or edited in any way.​​

For more on Bethel's Safe Church guidelines that seek to support physical, emotional, and spiritual health within the Bethel community, and this reporting process, go to bethel.com/safechurch.