This is going to be a short post to announce that on the evening of July 14, 2022, a jury convicted Glen Alan Uselmann of five counts of second degree sexual assault. This came after a three day trial with multiple witnesses. A date for sentencing has not yet been announced. His bail was revoked and he was taken into custody, being held behind bars at the Dane County Sheriff’s Office’s at their Public Safety Building, a medium security facility. This is Dane County Case Number 2020CF001760.
Glenn Alan Uselmann convicted of five counts of 2nd degree sexual assault on July 14, 2022.
Glen Alan Uselmann was born on May 19, 1959 and the charges against him are from when his victim, Rebecca Martin-Byrd, was from 12 to 16 years old. She was born in 1976, so there is a 17 year age difference. The crimes occurred when both parties were members of Calvary Gospel Church, which is currently located at 5301 Commercial Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin. During the years in question, John Wesley Grant was the pastor of Calvary Gospel Church and is yet the bishop. Roy Howard Grant, his son, was not in the position of a pastor at this time, as he wasn’t brought in until early 2013. Glen Uselmann was wrongly granted a local license from the United Pentecostal Church in 2013, which was after committing multiple sexual crimes against minors, and either lost or relinquished his license in 2019.
Glen Uselmann in prison, July 14, 2022A much younger John Grant.
John Grant testified at the trial yesterday, after attempting to get out of it more than once. On July 7, the parties discussed possibly allowing him to do video testimony due to his claims of being too ill, but the judge rejected this. Then on July 13, they discussed about him allegedly being hospitalized. (The judge had previously shared that she wanted him in the courtroom unless he was in the hospital.) He and his wife, Darlene, did show up the morning of July 14 and he testified.
Then & Now: Changes to the United Pentecostal Articles of Faith: Conscientious Scruples. Comparing 1952 to 2022.
The United Pentecostal Church formed in 1945. Here we will examine what the Articles of Faith have stated about conscientious scruples.
As a side note before we go into the current topic, in the third installment of this series I wrote, in regard to the two groups who merged to form the UPCI in 1945, “David Bernard, the current General Superintendent, has downplayed the fact that the two groups had differences in beliefs.” Quotes were shared from Stanley Chambers and W.T. Witherspoon, showing that there were differences in beliefs, to the extent that one stated that they “diametrically disagreed” on some issues. There were apparently enough differences that the PAJC shared that the following year after the merger, there were ministers who broke away from the UPCI. (Yes, the PAJC is still around.)
From the PAJC Articles of Faith and Constitution: “In the year of 1931 the P.A.W. and the Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ merged together forming the P.A.J.C. and continued until 1945. Then in the year of 1945 the P.AJ.C. and the Pentecostal Churches, Inc. (P.C.I.) merged together forming what is now called the United Pentecostal Church (D.P.C.). [Note: that should be U.P.C.] From 1945 to approximately August, 1946 this continued. Then a group of brethren who became dissatisfied revived the charter of the P.AJ.C. and continued on with the charter. In the spring of 1948 the Churches of the Lord Jesus Christ met with the brethren of the P.A.J.C. and a proposal of merger was proposed. In August, 1948 the merger became complete.”
1952 Conscientious Scruples1952 Conscientious Scruples continued
Above is how conscientious scruples appeared in the 1952 UPCI Manual. David Bernard explains this section in Understanding the Articles of Faith: Revised Edition. “At the time of the merger, such status was available under United States law only to people who were members of a religion that took such a position. Now, however, it is available in time of a draft if individuals can simply show that they have a personal scruple, whether or not they belong to an organization that advocates this approach. Prior to the merger, some ministers were jailed for refusing to serve in the military because of their convictions. According to Nathaniel Urshan, general superintendent of the UPCI, this article was designed to enable ministers to serve in the military as conscientious objectors and to instruct them to do so rather than refusing to enter the military when drafted.”
2012 Articles of Faith Conscientious Scruples
In 1984, the following sentence was added at the end, “We further believe that our military personnel must live in a manner consistent with the Articles of Faith.” This most likely is in reference to holiness standards. The quote above shows part of this section, where the sentence had been added.
Conscientious Scruples Resolution
On August 29, 2012, David Bernard announced in an email, “In 2011 the General Conference approved two amendments to the Articles of Faith. To be adopted, all such amendments must be approved by a two-thirds vote in two-thirds of the districts. The article entitled ‘Atonement’ was approved by 100% of the districts and the amendment to ‘Conscientious Scruples’ was approved by 79% of the districts, so both are now part of the Articles of Faith.” This change was a complete overhaul of the section as you will see below. The new version first appeared in the 2013 UPCI Manual.
2022 Conscientious Scruples
David Bernard, in his book Understanding the Articles of Faith: Revised Edition, had this to say about the changes, “While the purpose of the former article was to ensure that United Pentecostals could qualify for conscientious objector status in the military, the language expressed it as the organization’s view rather than merely the protection of a minority view. A General Board discussion in 1992 revealed that a strong majority of its members held this view, but a similar discussion in 1998 disclosed significant differences of opinion. In 1996 the General Conference called for a committee to study this matter, but the committee never reached agreement on an amendment. In 1998 the General Board decided that the matter could be handled by a position paper saying it was a matter of personal conviction. In 2009 the General Board determined that the statement in the Articles of Faith did not represent a consensus and adopted a proposal to replace it. In 2010 the General Board decided to present the new article to the 2011 General Conference, where it passed. The new article was ratified by the districts and became effective in 2012.”
To read the entire 1952 UPCI Articles of Faith, go here.
Then & Now: Changes to the United Pentecostal Articles of Faith: Atonement. Comparing 1952 to 2022.
The United Pentecostal Church formed in 1945. Here we will briefly examine what the Articles of Faith have stated about atonement.
There was no mention in the Articles about atonement when the UPCI formed and it continued like that for decades. It wasn’t until 2012 that it was added and it first appeared in the 2013 UPCI Manual.
2022 Articles of Faith Atonement
The 2022 version of the Articles of Faith states the following concerning atonement:
“The Lord Jesus came ‘to seek and to save that which was lost’ (Luke 19:10). The divine act of atonement is dependent on the blood of the Lamb of God and is the foundation that makes salvation possible. For ‘without the shedding of blood is no remission’ (Hebrews 9:22). ‘In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace’ (Ephesians 1:7). ‘Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood’ Revelation 1:5. Salvation is by grace through faith based on the atonement provided in Jesus Christ by His death, burial and resurrection (Acts 2:38; 20:28).”
On August 29, 2012, David Bernard announced in an email, “In 2011 the General Conference approved two amendments to the Articles of Faith. To be adopted, all such amendments must be approved by a two-thirds vote in two-thirds of the districts. The article entitled ‘Atonement’ was approved by 100% of the districts and the amendment to ‘Conscientious Scruples’ was approved by 79% of the districts, so both are now part of the Articles of Faith.”
In Thomas Fudge’s 2003 book, Christianity Without the Cross, he wrote on page 135, “Historic Christianity has often affirmed the centrality of the cross as the very heart and focus of the Christian faith.” On the following page he continues, “It is of note that the ‘Articles of Faith’ of the United Pentecostal Church contain no substantive mention of the cross or the doctrine of atonement.” Thus, part of the reason for the title of Fudge’s book.
Continuing on page 142-143, “It is possible to argue that the atonement is misunderstood in the United Pentecostal Church, detached as it is from the life and living of Christ, and restricted to the moment of death on the cross which raised other theological, principally Christological, problems. It must be admitted that the UPC preaches the crucifixion, but not the cross. The latter is the power of God for salvation. The details of the suffering of Christ are enumerated but the message of the cross itself lacks significant analysis. There is a crucial difference between the crucifixion and the cross. The idea of redemption is understood in United Pentecostal theology as a legal transaction, which helps to explain the absence of emphasis on grace. The lack of theological articulation devoted to the preaching of the cross, grace, justification and the atonement can be put down to the stress placed on the doctrines associated with the Name of Jesus and Acts 2:38.”
Thomas Fudge spoke with 139 ministers and observed that there was a “clear division of opinion regarding the place of the cross in the theology of the movement generally and specifically as it relates to the doctrine of salvation.” (page 136) The interviews noted in this section of his book went back as far as 1998. Even with those he spoke to in the 1990s, some ministers felt there should be a mention of atonement in the Articles of Faith.
It only took more than a decade after those interviews for the organization to do so.
This is the fourth installment of my coverage on former United Pentecostal Church minister, Don Giovanni “Donnie” Martin, who plead guilty on October 28, 2021 to the second degree rape of an 11 year old minor. He is currently serving his time at the Baltimore City Correctional Center, a minimum security level facility in Baltimore, and will soon be up for parole.
If you have not yet read the first three installments, please do so. (First article, second, third.) You will not be able to see the egregious nature of what happened if you don’t. In those it is shared what Don Martin did in 1990 to an 11 year old minor, how she told her sister and mother, and how the pastor set up a meeting with Martin. It also explained the second meeting between Martin and three other ministers in 2003, where Martin admitted to his crimes and yet was allowed to return to Abundant Life Church. The licensing process was also detailed, as Martin became a licensed UPCI minister in 2019, with pastor David Reever endorsing him, even though he was present at the 2003 meeting.
David Reever District Superintendent
We will now start to cover the judicial procedure, as a complaint was submitted to the General Board against David Reever for his wrongful actions in this case. When a complaint is against a minister who serves on a District Board, one needs to go directly to the General Board. While the majority of complaints filed against any minister will be handled by a District Board, this is why the complaint was sent to David Bernard instead of the Maryland-Washington DC District, as Reever is the District Superintendent.
I’ve known about this case since June 24, 2021, when on Twitter BaptistAccountability shared a news report about Martin’s arrest. While the article did not mention that Martin was affiliated with the UPCI, I saw in the Directory that he held license and started gathering information. The following day the article was posted on Facebook. While Martin’s profile was available at that time, it was removed at some point between then and sentencing.
June 2021 Don Martin’s Facebook profile
In late October I was made aware of Martin’s plea agreement and a second post was made. At that time, I learned that the victim wanted the UPCI to investigate, as David Reever had been elected as the District Superintendent during the same year. I shared the current UPCI Manual with the person who had contacted me, so they could read about the judicial procedure and how it worked.
David Reever April 2021 District Superintendent
Nothing more was heard until March 2022, when I learned that a complaint had been filed against David Reever on March 22. A certified letter was sent to David Bernard and a response was received by email on March 30, via his Executive Assistant.
The complaint was filed by the victim and her sister. (Redacted screen shot 1, screen shot 2) Below is what was written, with some redactions:
“Dear Dr. Bernard,
“I am submitting a written complaint about District Superintendent, David M. Reever. I am asking for judicial procedures to investigate, David. The following is my sister, [name redacted], and my knowledge of details leading to a known pedophile, a church and district backing him, and him being jailed.
“Myself, [name redacted] and my sister, [name redacted] attest to the following information. David was our pastor for some time (about 1997 till 2008). He was aware of sexual abuse that happened to us by Don G. Martin while he was our youth pastor (prior to him pastoring us) at Dundalk UPCI (since renamed Abundant Life UPCI, where David is pastor). After the abuse we told our mother, [name redacted] and she told our then pastor, Chris Tharpe. They moved Don to the Curry’s church (another local UPCI church) where he again abused, but he waited till she [redacted] was 18. After this he came back to Abundant Life Church, even though [the victim] was a member. Later we both left Abundant Life Church.
“David knowing this recommended Don to be a licensed minister-local, general and ordination. He was preaching and baptizing people per their online presence. When my sister, [name redacted], contacted David and asked how he could recommend him to be a minister and put him on a platform-knowing his past abuse. David told [name redacted]; he hopes she finds healing. Worried that Don would use his position again to hurt another child. She felt the only thing she could do was involve the law. She did that and enclosed are court documents naming these incidents.
“Judge Cahill thankfully sees the importance of this not being allowed to go unpunished. Unlike David, the church, or the district board. On the day of the sentencing trial, anywhere from 15 or more church members, including some ministers came to stand with Don surprising the district attorney and Don’s council. Don’s council would not allow them into the court since it was his sentencing and it looked so unbecoming for him.
“The Abuse and Misconduct adopted by the General Board in 2019 says, “It is the responsibility of every local church to cultivate a culture of protection, both to prevent abuse and to support victims who have been abused.” This you will not find in Baltimore, MD by David M. Reever, the congregation of Abundant Life Church or the Maryland/DC District. They stand behind and support a known pedophile(s) and recommend them to local, general, and ordination licensing. Please stop this kind of thing from happening in the future! No, we are not UPCI members but as victims it feels unsafe to have Pastors, Ministers, and Superintendents that support known pedophiles and turn a blind eye to victims. Please investigate this, discipline and change the way this is done so that other children might be protected.”
David Bernard quickly responded on March 30 (redacted screen shot):
“Your complaint was received in our office. We will process it according to our Judicial Procedure.
“A committee will be appointed to investigate. The committee chair will contact you to set up an interview. If you are willing, we need contact information for both of you. Please include email addresses and phone numbers.
“As soon as we appoint the chairman we will inform you of the individual’s name so you know who is contacting you.”
At the time of David Bernard’s response, it was shared with me that, “We do hope they make changes, but my hopes aren’t high. David Reever is a long-time minister and highly loved in the organization.”
David Reever
As of April 11, they had not heard anything further. It wasn’t until about the second week of May that they met with the UPCI committee for the first time via Zoom. Before that happened, the investigative committee had contacted David Reever.
In the next installment we will look more closely at what followed.
This is the third installment of my coverage on former United Pentecostal Church minister, Don Giovanni “Donnie” Martin, who plead guilty on October 28, 2021 to the second degree rape of a minor, a felony. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison, with 18 of them suspended, and he must serve five years of supervised probation. He is currently serving his time at the Baltimore City Correctional Center, a minimum security level facility in Baltimore.
If you have not yet read the first and second articles, please do so. You will not be able to see the egregious nature of what happened if you don’t. In those it is shared what Don Martin did in 1990 to an 11 year old minor, how she told her sister and mother, and how the pastor set up a meeting with Martin. It also explained the second meeting between Martin and three other ministers in 2003, where Martin admitted to his crimes and yet was allowed to return to Abundant Life Church. The licensing process was also detailed, as Martin became a licensed UPCI minister in 2019, with pastor David Reever endorsing him.
It is also important to note that the Martin family goes back decades in this church. Don Martin’s father, also Don Martin, had been involved there since it’s inception, or close to it, though he and his wife recently moved away. Perhaps this sheds some additional light on why David Reever was so supportive of Donnie, allowed him to return to the church, and endorsed him for licensing, despite being aware of his crimes.
2021 Don Martin, Donnie’s Father
The church features a picture of Donnie’s father on the main page of their website and in March 2021, their YouTube channel featured him in a “Teach & Talk presentation.”
Ministers in the United Pentecostal Church let this survivor down multiple times. Chris Tharp was the first minister to learn of this and even though Martin denied it at the time, Tharp should have contacted the police. While he was not legally required to do so, it would have been the right thing.
David Reever
Instead, Martin was allowed to leave the church and it is alleged that another person was harmed in the next church he attended. This was known at the time of the 2003 meeting, as it is why he wanted to return to Abundant Life. Who knows how many people may have been abused by Martin between 1990 and 2021 when he was finally arrested. It is also alleged that these two are not the only victims.
None of the three ministers who met with Martin in 2003 reported his crimes at that time. This includes David Reever, Raymond Almsteadt and Andrew Smith. Raymond has personally apologized to the victim for his failure to do so. Neither he, nor Smith, presently hold a UPCI license. Reever went on to become the Superintendent of the Maryland-Washington DC District in 2021, a position which he presently holds. It is troubling that the organization is apparently comfortable with him remaining in this important leadership position, knowing the ways in which he blatantly violated UPCI rules.
Proof of small group meetings
At some point after David Reever allowed Don Martin to return to the church, he was permitted to hold a small group at his home, where children would sometimes be present. This has been verified by more than one person. One woman who confirmed that children were present in the small group held in Martin’s home stated, “I was not made aware of Donnie’s actions until charges were brought against him.”
Yet David Reever, when interviewed by police in 2021, claimed that the reason he allowed Martin to preach at the church was because he didn’t have access to children. I do not believe for one moment, that from 2003 until 2021, Reever had Don Martin closely watched and ensured that he was never near any minor while at the church or at any church function. Nor do I believe that any announcement was made to the church warning parents to keep their children away from him.
Church members in court hallway
Since 1997, David Reever has served as the pastor of the Abundant Life Church, an affiliated UPCI church. I previously reported how members of the church turned out in support of Martin at his sentencing. Some even wrote the judge letters of support.
It has been shared that when people would ask Reever or Martin what was going on after Martin’s arrest, they would say that they couldn’t talk about it. Because of this, most church members were left in the dark, and many may still be in the dark as to how deep this goes and the many ways in which the ministry failed to protect people and allowed a known pedophile to receive a UPCI license. Raymond Almsteadt and his wife personally contacted a number of members after they saw how the church was supportive of Martin, including two UPCI ministers, one who then accused Almsteadt of having an ‘unsubmitted heart.’
This is a message that this UPCI minister sent to Raymond, after he had made a post about the court case. He still holds license. I have slightly redacted it and broke it into paragraphs for easier reading.
“To respond to your post via [the victim]: I did ask questions about this situation, but was told that no one was to talk about it, so I never found out any details from anyone. At the courthouse we were not in the courtroom, so I still never heard any comments from [the victim], Donnie or Judge Cahill that were made during the hearing. Since the court date yesterday was over, I found out that my daughter and son-in-law knew things, but they never said one thing to me or my wife about it.
“Furthermore, how could you even say that I ‘INTENTLY thought about supporting the perpetrator and gave no thought of the 11 year old child who was raped,’ when I had no knowledge whatsoever and no one was willing to tell me. I’ve always considered you smarter than this.
“You said to ‘Please don’t talk to you about forgiveness, I have done my work on this many years ago.’ Well, someone needs to talk to you about it, because your work on this subject has apparently been in vain, but that is a lot of your problem… you don’t want to submit to anyone to tell you anything. That is the spirit of this age. You are filled with bitterness that will destroy you if you don’t allow forgiveness like the Bible teaches to work in you.
“This is not to suggest that we overlook accountability either, but a person can be right by law, but be dead wrong by the spirit they manifest in trying to prove they are right. I detected arrogance and bitterness along with a judgmental spirit in your post.
“You said that I surprised you by me being there. Well, you have surprised me over the years, too, I must say. I am praying for you that you will get to the place that you can truly and sincerely pray for those that have despitefully used you and hurt you, and fulfill true forgiveness as the Bible teaches us to.
“I do not intend to go back and forth in dialogue with you about this. I felt compelled to respond to you, because of misconceptions that were not true. But, as I told [the victim], my heart aches for everyone that has been hurt in this situation, and I am praying that each one is saved when it is all said and done. On that day we will all be judged by the Righteous Judge, Jesus Himself.”
Raymond had written, “Ok, noted. You chose to support someone and not ask questions about what you were supporting them about. You thought intently about supporting the perpetrator and gave no thought of the 11 year old child who was raped.
“Please don’t talk to me about forgiveness, I have done my work on this many years ago. This was about a system that does not embrace a sense of accountability to the law and protecting children. If David had responded to the concern with integrity, the victims may not have pursued this case.
“We often look to the church, and pastors to be the highest moral bar but in this case David, the church and even you in this conversation chose the mob. You chose the crowd that you identify with and benefit from instead of the marganilized victim. No need to apologizes to me, I am grateful to finally see it, I was just surprised… we all were.”
This same minister sent the following to the victim, after she had made a post.
“To again respond to your post, I am totally ignorant of what you said happened. I am in shock and sickened about what you said happened when you were only 11 years old. I knew absolutely nothing about it. My heart goes out to you and any others that were victims. You mentioned a situation that took place with the daughter of Brother [name omitted], which is also astonishing to me. I’m surprised that your mother and Brother [name omitted] didn’t file charges as soon as they knew it had happened, because I am a parent of a daughter, too, and I would have been enraged if something like this had happened to her.
“I can understand your anger and frustration, but please let Jesus bring healing and peace to your soul. The devil would love for nothing better than for bitterness to grow within you to the point that it destroys you. I am praying for you to be among the saved when this life is over as much as I am praying for Donnie to be saved when we reach the other side by God’s grace. One thing is certain is God’s Word is true and His Word declares that there is power in the blood of Jesus to wash us all clean after we have been born again from our fillthiness and ungodly actions. John wrote ‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleansed us from all sin.’ I’m not trying to preach to you here; I’m just trying to help you to focus on the Lord rather than the horrible things you have experienced. God’s grace is sufficient for everyone of us.”
In the next article, I will start to share about the 2022 judicial procedure against David Reever.
You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.
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