Category: United Pentecostal Church

On March 23, 2019, another former member of Calvary Gospel United Pentecostal Church (CGC) in Madison, Wisconsin came forward and started to publicly share her story of child sexual abuse in a United Pentecostal (UPC/UPCI) church. Like Debbie McNulty, she was a pre-teen when her abuse began and when her pastor, John Wesley Grant found out, he did not report it to the police either time. Now in July 2020, her alleged perpetrator is being charged with two counts of sexual assault from when she was a minor.  After almost a year of investigation, a criminal complaint was filed against the perpetrator on July 15, 2020. The house of cards at Calvary Gospel is continuing to fall.

So I was unlucky enough to catch the eye of one of my Sunday School teachers, who also helped out as a youth leader. …In the eyes of Calvary Gospel Church, my predator was a great young man, a burgeoning minister. He was also 17 years older than me. …I was 12 the first time he sexually assaulted me. …This went on for years until we had full intercourse when I was 14. He was 31. – Rebecca, former member of Calvary Gospel Church

(Some statements in this article are what have been alleged by the survivor. There have been no convictions as of yet and to my knowledge, the alleged perpetrator has not openly admitted guilt.) This is Part 36 of an ongoing series and the eleventh one pertaining to this particular affiliated United Pentecostal Church (see links at the end). I will be writing more than one article on this case and in this installment, I wish to focus on the fact that this man was able to become licensed by the United Pentecostal Church, despite John Grant’s awareness of his alleged sexual assaults.

Rebecca Martin-Byrd started sharing her story more openly after her youngest daughter turned 18, as prior to then she wanted to shield her from the things that she experienced. Rebecca was one of several people interviewed by Katelyn Ferral for a story on the decades of unreported child sexual abuse at Calvary Gospel Church. Stolen Childhoods was released August 7, 2019 by the Cap Times. Later the same day, she and Debbie McNulty spoke in support of legislation proposed by Wisconsin lawmakers to remove the statute of limitations, as well as the clergy privilege loophole regarding reporting. That same day Rebecca also met with detectives and reported the repeated sexual abuse she endured for years at the hand of Glen Alan Uselmann, starting when she was a pre-teen. She met with them several times after this and detectives interviewed other people, including UPCI minister John Wesley Grant.

There are two reasons that Uselmann should never have been considered for licensing. It is extremely disturbing that John Grant, a minister who had been licensed for decades and served as a District Superintendent for many years, would allow this man to be so active in the church, including preaching, and then go on to allow him to be licensed. In order for a person to be considered for licensing by the UPCI, their pastor must sign the application. Without the endorsement of the pastor, their license will not be considered.

Inasmuch as the ministry is the highest office on earth, no person shall be eligible as a minister if after having been baptized in Jesus’ name and having received the gift of the Holy Ghost said person has been divorced for any cause save fornication or adultery on the part of the one from whom he or she has been divorced, and has remarried; or after having been baptized in Jesus’ name and having received the gift of the Holy Ghost said person has married a person who has been divorced for any cause save fornication or adultery on the part of the one from who he or she has been divorced. Further, if fornication or adultery is claimed as the grounds of divorce, sufficient evidence other than his or her own personal testimony must be presented to the District Board. – UPCI Manual, Article VII, Section 8

Prior to being licensed, Glen Alan Uselmann spoke numerous times at Calvary Gospel Church from at least 2010 through 2014, as well as for years afterward, according to their website. (See screen shot one and two.) He was also involved in the church in other ways, such as teaching Sunday School.

Glen Uselmann was licensed by the United Pentecostal Church when his alleged past actions should have disqualified him according to what has been clearly outlined in their  Manual, which is released every year. First, he had been divorced and remarried when he applied for license in 2013 and the divorce was filed under irreconcilable differences (see above quote from the UPCI Manual). At no time during the divorce did he claim Rebecca had been unfaithful. Second, because of the alleged sexual crimes, he was disqualified from ever holding license or preaching in a United Pentecostal church (see quote below from the UPCI Manual).

1. For the purpose of ministerial membership in the United Pentecostal Church International or for ministering in a United Pentecostal Church International church, immoral conduct shall be defined as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, incest, and/or any other sexual acts determined by the District Board to be perverted or immoral (Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:9; I Corinthians 6:9; Romans 1:24-28).
2. Any minister affiliated with our organization proven guilty of adultery or fornication, or committing any other immoral offense, shall forfeit his or her papers immediately. Immoral offense shall include sexual molestation of minors. – UPCI Manual, Article VII, Section 9

Uselmann first appeared in the 2015 UPCI Directory with a local license, the lowest level of licensing and he never attained a higher level. This is usually reflective of him receiving license in 2014 as the directories are issued in January of each year, however in the Oct/Dec 2013 edition of the UPCI’s Forward magazine for ministers, he was listed as receiving license between July and October 2013 (screen shot). Either Roy or John Grant would have needed to sign his license application. At this time, John E. Putnam was the Wisconsin District Superintendent.

Calvary Gospel Church, located at 5301 Commercial Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin, became an affiliated UPCI church in 2016. For many years prior to this, Calvary Gospel Church was not legally affiliated with the organization. [Every church whose pastor holds license in the UPCI is considered a United Pentecostal church. In this, there are affiliated and non-affiliated churches. In the former, there is a legally binding agreement between the local church and the organization.] John W. Grant, an ordained UPCI minister, became pastor of CGC in 1972. By 1982 he also held the position of the Wisconsin District Superintendent and remained in that position through part of 1999 when John E. Putnam was elected. Putnam was replaced by James Booker in March 2018. Grant has since retained the position of Honorary Presbyter in the District and Honorary General Presbyter on the national level. During November 2014, he was inducted into the United Pentecostal Church’s Order of the Faith. In early 2013, John Grant brought his son, Roy Howard Grant, in as a co-pastor and the following year elevated himself to the position of bishop. On the weekend of February 28, 2015, Roy was officially installed as the senior pastor. John Grant has remained active in Calvary Gospel Church the entire time through the writing of this article.

Here is the heart of my allegation against John Wesley Grant and Uselmann’s license. In the criminal complaint against Glen Uselmann, it was noted that when Rebecca was 12-13 years old, she wrote letters to a pen pal about what was happening and then that girl’s sister gave the letters to John  Grant. It is alleged that Grant brought Rebecca and her parents into his office and warned Rebecca that if she talked about this, it could ruin Uselmann’s life and damage the church.

In addition, on February 26, 2020, detectives interviewed John Grant about his knowledge of Uselmann’s sexual assaults. He claimed to have first heard about it when Rebecca and Glen had been married for 12-13 years and Rebecca had confided to one of the other church pastors. [Note: This time frame given by him is incorrect as the marriage ended in 2006.] Grant claimed he met with Uselmann after this and that Glen made it seem like it happened one time and admitted to Grant that they had sex before they were married.

Rebecca and Glen married in 1995, so 12-13 years later would have been in 2007-2008, many years before Uselmann was granted license with the United Pentecostal Church in 2013. Grant was well versed in the UPCI Manual since he was a District Superintendent and was supposed to uphold their teachings and regulations. Yet, knowing that Uselmann had divorced and remarried on grounds other than sexual infidelity, and knowing that Uselmann allegedly admitted to sexual activity before he married Rebecca, he did absolutely nothing to prevent this man from receiving license. This is inexcusable and yet another reason why the UPCI needs to do something about this minister and Calvary Gospel Church. There is no way that headquarters is not aware of the many allegations against Grant and CGC and yet they remain silent.

Glen Uselmann retained his license with the United Pentecostal Church from 2013 through part of 2019. It appears that at some point after the Cap Times article, he either had his license revoked or he relinquished it himself. He no longer is listed in the 2020 edition of the UPCI Directory.

In my next installment, I will be covering the criminal charges against him.

December 9, 2021 Update: A jury trial is set to start on July 11, 2022 and continue through July 15, 2022.

May 1, 2022 Edit: A jury status hearing is set for June 27, 2022, with jury selection on July 11. The trial is set for July 12- 15, 2022.

Articles:
Charges filed in sexual assault case linked to Madison’s Calvary Gospel Church– July 21, 2020 Capital Times
Columbus man charged with sexually assaulting child while working as Madison church youth minister – July 22, 2020 WKOW
‘My initial reaction was absolute shock:’ Madison woman affirmed after her alleged, childhood abuser charged with sex assault – July 23, 2020 WKOW (video)
Man charged for sexually assaulting girl at Calvary Gospel Church in Madison – July 23, 2020 WMTV NBC15 (video)
Criminal complaint alleges former youth pastor sexually assaulted girl for several years – July 23, 2020 WISC
Former Youth Minister At Columbus Church Charged With Child Sexual Assault – July 23, 2020 Seehafer News
Probable cause found in sex assault case against Columbus man – August 6, 2020 WKOW

You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.

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After reading my last post about the unreported sexual abuse of several minor boys involving a former Youth Pastor at a United Pentecostal Church in Colorado, one person shared with me the following:

I came to this church right after this youth pastor left. No one said anything even to this day. Yes, this person still is a pastor and is friends with former members of this church. I met them once at the church in May 2000 and by at least in September 2000 they were gone and new youth pastors were in. Something happened with him as well, and he left and became a pastor in California for awhile and he is currently a UPCI minister in another state.

The history of youth pastors is true and the list continues on. What I witnessed there was that most sins went unannounced and were swept under the rug. It’s not only sexual abuse at this church, but emotional/verbal abuse from the senior pastor’s wife and the present pastor’s wife.

This is part 35 of a series of articles and part four involving a United Pentecostal Church in Colorado that allegedly failed to report cases of child sexual abuse. (Some statements in this article are what have been alleged by more than one individual. There have been no convictions as the cases mentioned were not reported to the police at the time and to my knowledge, the alleged perpetrator has not admitted guilt.)

In the last article, it was shared how the United Pentecostal Church has had a long-standing rule that any minister who has committed sexual sins/crimes is to forfeit their ministerial license. This is nothing new and is printed every January in their yearly Manual which is distributed to every licensed minister. District officials are supposed to uphold this rule. If a minister is suspected of sexual wrongdoing, it should be reported to their District and the officials should investigate, abiding by their Judicial Procedures. The District has the authority to rescind their license if charges are proven guilty, whether it be a sin or criminal act. Any licensed minister should be well aware that any sexual crime, or suspected sexual crime, is to be reported to the police.

[2024 Note: Since this article was written, the UPCI added a new policy in their judicial procedure where the districts will no longer handle sexual abuse cases of a minor as these will be handled at the regional level.]

It is reprehensible that this doesn’t always occur in the United Pentecostal Church and there are men licensed today who should not hold license based upon the UPCI stand against sexual sins/crimes. Unfortunately, if a case even reaches a District Board and isn’t covered up or handled ‘in house’ by individual pastors, District Superintendents are granted some wiggle room in following UPCI written policies. I don’t know how many cases I have heard over the years where the son, or other relative, of a UPCI minister has been sexually immoral and yet gone on to be granted license. Written policies have no real meaning when things like this happen. They are empty words and quite hurtful to victims and their families.

Last fall, at the UPCI’s annual General Conference, almost two years after I started this series about sexual abuse and five years after our first individual article, the General Board adopted a new position paper regarding Abuse and Sexual Misconduct. While we applaud them for making a more detailed stand, we are also hesitant in believing it will make a difference. Actions always speak louder than words. If they are now committed to doing what is right, they need to look into the cases we, and others, have already documented and remove the licenses of ministers who are guilty. (You may want to read what I previously wrote about this position paper and what I feel the organization needs to do in my coverage of UPCI pastor Howard Wayne Geck failing to report child sexual abuse committed by Dexter Hensley.)

In addition, we believe that they should also revoke the licenses of those ministers who fail to report any alleged or known instances of child sexual abuse to the proper authorities. It is my firm opinion that any minister who handles instances of sexual abuse ‘in house’ is negligent, irresponsible and unethical, and should the perpetrator assault anyone in the future because they chose to not report it to police, that they are partly to blame.

Thankfully, one man who had been licensed in Wisconsin, Glenn Uselmann, who never should have been considered to be a minister, either had his license revoked or he turned it in sometime last year.

I have a collection of UPCI Directories, which are released in January of each year and the following information comes from them. Unfortunately, I only have some of the 1980s and 1990s. I believe the licensed Youth Pastor I wrote about in the last article might first appear in the 1988 and 1989 editions under his first name instead of how he was later listed by his middle name. He is noted as holding a general license in 1988 in a Northwestern state, followed by Colorado in 1989. There is no listing for him in the 1987 or 1981 editions. (I do not have Directories from 1982-1986 or 1993-1998.)

Starting in 1990, he is seen listed by his middle name and is likewise seen in 1992 and 1993. By the 1999 edition or before, he is no longer listed, but is seen once again in the 2000 Directory, still in Colorado with a general license. The 2001 Directory is the last one showing him as being in Colorado.

It is important to understand that because these directories were compiled near the end of the previous year, they are more reflective of the year prior to their publication. Because of this, it shows that he was in Colorado for at least some of 2000 but could have left the state prior to 2001. According to one witness quoted above, he was no longer the Youth Pastor by at least September 2000. He continued to hold license until either 2010 or 2011. He was not listed in the 2012 edition.

Let’s look at what happens in a case like this, when a licensed minister, who had also been the Colorado District Youth Secretary and then the District Youth President the following year, is alleged to have sexually abused multiple minor boys. Instead of taking appropriate action, where he should have been made to forfeit his license and been reported to the police, he is permitted to retain his UPCI license for at least ten more years.

• He gets to move to an unsuspecting state in the north Midwest followed by another in the Gulf Coast.
• By 2003, he rises from a general license to being an ordained minister in the UPCI. This is their highest level of licensing. (To learn about the levels of licensing see this article.)
• By 2004, or possibly 2003, he establishes a new non-affiliated UPCI church in New Jersey. (Any church whose pastor is licensed by the UPCI is considered a UPCI church. They can go a step further and have a legal affiliation with the organization. He did not.)
• By 2006, he gets elected to serve as a District Presbyter, a position he holds until 2009 or 2010. He and the church are last seen in the 2011 edition, which could mean he was still UPC that year or may have left the prior year.
• As of the writing of this article in June 2020, he is yet a pastor, approximately two decades after leaving Colorado. Are there other victims? How many could there be over a twenty year period and three states?

Now read what another former member of this church shared with me near the beginning of last November. It has been edited to remove names and the edits are in brackets.

I was a member of [a UPCI church in] Denver, Colorado. A few years ago there was a church break up and chaos. Many old members were told they were going Hell by the Bishop and Pastor [last name removed] as well as [the pastor’s wife], who was the cause of much chaos and lies. I left the church awhile after the 1st break up. There have been three as of today. We left due to a cover up of several young boys being sexually abused. It was covered up and the Youth Pastor was then asked to leave. During that time [the pastor’s wife] never spoke to us, but continued to tell people to stay away from us, don’t talk to them. Even a few months ago one of her entourage told a good friend she wasn’t to speak to me… it’s been almost two years. But she continues… Last night I attended a District event with friends where [the Bishop’s wife] was speaking. She had [the pastor’s wife] and [her granddaughter] testify. They both quoted this scripture, Psalms 119:165. When the event ended [the pastor’s wife] grabbed me by the arm. I thought she was going to be genuine and talk BUT… I hugged her and told her we need to talk. She then turned vicious, angry and pointed a finger and said, “If you ever speak of my father, the man of God he is, or ruin his integrity you will pay! You will pay! Stay away from my people!” Really her people, in my mind, her cult. Her daughter [who testified] came in and chimed in Psalm 119:165, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Really. Really. As we stood in the church. I am so furious upset and last night [was] my breaking point of [these leaders and this church]!! The ABUSE, ACCUSATIONS, THREATS OF GOING TO HELL has to STOP !!!

[Because there may be other sexual abuse victims from Colorado reading this, some may wish to review this PDF document, which covers the law, statutes of limitations and potential sentences and was valid as of at least 2015. In 2020 Colorado officials have been working on eliminating the statute of limitation for civil lawsuits for sexual abuse crimes. The bill was postponed in June 2020. You may also wish to read this article of why it is important to report possible cases of sexual assault. Never assume a pastor has reported child sexual abuse, especially in a state like Colorado or Wisconsin where children are not fully protected by the law due to clergy privilege.]

You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.

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This is part 34 of a series of articles and part three involving a United Pentecostal Church in Colorado.

(Some statements in this article are what have been alleged by one witness, though there are several others which have corroborated various aspects of the account given below. There have been no convictions as the cases mentioned were not reported to the police at the time and to my knowledge, the alleged perpetrator has not admitted guilt.)

In writing these articles, people have contacted me about additional instances of both proven and alleged sexual abuse in the United Pentecostal Church. This installment will cover a second alleged situation that involves this same well-known church in Colorado. (See Part 1 and Part 2 for information.) Between the two sets of asterisks below is one person’s account of cases that involve the alleged sexual assault of minor boys- yes, plural- by a man who was given the position of Youth Pastor. It appears these crimes may have occurred between 1999 and 2000. During 1999 the alleged perpetrator would have turned 35. He is currently the pastor at a church in New Jersey, where he has been since the early 2000s, and no longer holds license with the UPCI.

In looking into this situation, I conversed with several people, including eyewitnesses to the service described in this report, and based upon their accounts I do not doubt this meeting took place, nor do I doubt that more than one boy was sexually abused. There will be at least one additional article about this.

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For a few months, we didn’t have a youth pastor. Numbers dropped, many young people stopped coming to youth services altogether. Our pastor and his wife took on the role of youth pastor for awhile until things started dwindling down and we rarely had a youth service anymore.

Then one Sunday it was announced that we had a new youth pastor and family coming in! I was so excited, this was the BEST news. They weren’t as smooth or polished as the previous youth pastor, but the guy, whom I will call Youth Pastor Z, was so down to earth and genuine. From the moment I met him and his wife, I was smitten. They were charismatic and instantly made you feel like family. Their adorable baby girl was so sweet and full of life and laughter. What a refreshment!

Nearly a year went by and I couldn’t imagine ever having been without these amazing people. Youth Pastor Z was an incredible mentor and he seemed to really take it upon himself to reach out to the “unpopular” young men that other youth pastors never paid any attention to. He included the ones from single mother homes, those who came to church without parents, etc. He was known for having youth sleepovers with some of the boys in the group and then taking them all fishing or camping or hiking.

As a young girl, I was a little jealous of this, because I didn’t know why he seemed to only cater to the boys. Why didn’t his wife do a girls sleepover once in awhile?

Then…it happened again. It almost felt like a horrible déjà vu. A Sunday night service came and went without Youth Pastor Z one Sunday…and again the visitors were asked to leave the service because of an “all church meeting.”

Youth Pastor Z was asked to resign and we were not allowed to have any contact with them. They were also leaving the state immediately. No details were given.

I was so sick to my stomach. What happened this time? Why is our youth group cursed?

This time, I didn’t hear for years whatever happened with Youth Pastor Z. This story was kept under wraps for a long time. He moved away and has since pastored a church in another state.

The Truth Comes Out
About a year or so ago, I reconnected with someone I had grown up with in this UPC church via Facebook. As we talked and complained about the PTSD we still experienced from time to time after being a part of this cult, it came out that he had been molested by Youth Pastor Z.

As it turns out, Youth Pastor Z was asked to leave his position and the state of Colorado because he had been molesting young boys in the church. Instantly, those youth sleepovers came to my mind and I wanted to vomit.

Yet again, no charges were filed. Youth Pastor Z was allowed to leave with his reputation intact.

I have found out from a couple of the victims that after everything came out, the church pastor asked to meet with them and their parent/guardians. They were instructed not to involve the authorities in both of these cases because it wasn’t “biblical.” The pastor said that he wanted to allow God to deal with them and that God’s punishment would be far greater than anything the law could ever do to them.

You may be shaking your head at this and saying, “what parent in their right mind would agree to this?” A church member never went against the pastor. Ever.

I cannot fathom how a pastor would ever think that not reporting sexual abuse under his own roof is acceptable.

Wait. Yes, I can.

Why Weren’t the Victims Protected?
I have asked myself over and over…why wasn’t anyone protected? What was the reasoning?

The only conclusion I can come to is that this prominent and well-known pastor didn’t want his name dragged through the mud. He didn’t want to lose church members. He didn’t want the UPC to think less of him. So, he hid it. He allowed sex offenders to go free. He never defended the innocent children. He even allowed them to take blame. To save his name and his reputation.

I wonder if this had happened to one of his grandchildren if he would have allowed the child molester to go free? Me thinks not.

As I mentioned in both above stories [NOTE: See Part 1 for the first story], each youth pastor has moved on to pastor churches in other states. Which begs me to wonder, how many others have there been? How many more children were subjected to sexual abuse because these men were allowed to go free “in the name of the LORD” and His justice?

How many more?

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The rules in the UPCI Manual are clear- if one has been sexually immoral, they are not qualified to hold license, nor to minister in a United Pentecostal Church. It appears that at the time of these alleged crimes, this Youth Pastor held license and was able to retain it after leaving this church. Meanwhile, the victims received no justice and were made to suffer in silence. Their lives would be forever changed, while the pastor of this church gave the pedophile his freedom, and with that freedom enabled him to potentially harm others.

You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.

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