Category: unhealthy churches

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.

This is case number C-03-CR-21-002614. You may read some of the court documents in PDF format here.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

I previously wrote an article on the United Pentecostal Church Rules Regarding Sexual Immorality & Ministers as well as a six part series with information on licensing in the United Pentecostal Church and the rules for ministers.

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

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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.

This is case number C-03-CR-21-002614. You may read some of the court documents in PDF format here.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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This is the second installment of my coverage on former United Pentecostal Church minister, Don Giovanni “Donnie” Martin. Read part one here. He 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. This is case number C-03-CR-21-002614. You may read some of the court documents in PDF format here.

I am going to share some details of the licensing process and UPCI rules. This case will give you insight into UPCI pastors wrongfully endorsing people for license, as well as what can happen in their judicial procedure. I am not going to jump right into the judicial procedure as there are important aspects of this case that need to be understood. Some may consider this to be tedious or unnecessary, but it is crucial in understanding the egregious nature of what occurred.

On May 18, 2017, Don Martin graduated from the Purpose Institute that was conducted at Abundant Life Church. The church held a ceremony for the four graduates. Purpose Institute is not a college, nor is it accredited. It is a “ministry training institution that partners with local Apostolic trainers” and “enables trainers to develop leader’s ministry skills and to clarify their individual purpose.”

The UPCI has three levels of licensing: local, general and ordained. Many start with a local license, though those who have attended one of the Bible colleges may start with a general. In order to apply for a local license, the applicant must be at least 17 and complete the mandatory requirements set by the organization, of which I will only point out that one includes preaching an average of once a week for six months and another is that the UPCI Manual must be read. They will then meet with the District Board of their state, where they will be examined.

They are expected to “labor in cooperation with, and under the supervision of, their local UPCI pastor until they enter ministerial responsibilities that remove them from their local assembly.” Additionally, a minister holding local license is not permitted to conduct marriages unless they are a pastor or have been authorized by their pastor to do so.

Don Martin applied for, and was granted, a local license in 2019. For this case, there are three important aspects of the application.

On page five, question 38 asks, “Have you ever been convicted of or pleaded guilty to child abuse or a crime involving actual or attempted sexual molestation of a minor? If yes, please explain.” First, no explanation should be needed if the response is ‘yes’ as such should prohibit them from being licensed. That should be an instant denial.

Second, because Martin had not yet been arrested or convicted for his crimes, he could respond to this with ‘no’ and not be lying. The UPCI needs to add to this question, if they have ever been accused of those things and/or ever committed those acts, but was never accused or charged. Had this been added, Martin would have had to answer ‘yes’ and explain what happened…or lie, and answer otherwise.

On page six, two questions are asked which pertain to the reading of the Manual. One asks, “Have you read the Articles of Faith and do you agree with them?” The next asks, “Have you read the ministerial obligations and rules and do you agree with them?” Keep in mind that Don Martin had to read the Manual before obtaining license. Later in this article you will see what he read, which should have shown him that he was not eligible to be licensed or to even preach in a UPCI church.

On the final page of the application, you will see where the pastor, or another ordained UPCI minister, must sign. Applicants need to have the recommendation of their local pastor. That brings us to the inexcusable actions of Martin’s pastor, David Reever, in endorsing him for his license. He clearly violated United Pentecostal Church policy in doing so.

You will recall from the first article, that in 2003 David Reever and two other UPC ministers met with Don Martin as he wanted to return to Abundant Life Church. Reever was not the pastor when Martin raped the victim in 1990, but had been the pastor since 1997. Don Martin admitted at the 2003 meeting to ‘having sex with’ the victim and claimed that she was attractive and came on to him.

When Reever was interviewed by police in 2021, when they were investigating the crime, he remembered who the victim was and shared that Martin admitted to having sex with her when she was a minor. Knowing this, Reever STILL signed Martin’s license application and apparently did not inform the Maryland-Washington DC District Board about his knowledge of Martin’s past. If he did, that makes this extremely more troublesome. In addition, in 2019 when the license was approved, Reever was the District Secretary and most likely was present when the Board met with Martin and voted to approve his license.

Why is this inexcusable? No matter how David Reever viewed what happened, even if he saw it as Martin described, with the 11 year old coming on to him, he should not have endorsed Martin. A minor, especially not one so young, can never consent to intercourse with an adult. If Reever viewed this as repented of and forgiven because Martin confessed in the 2003 meeting, he still should not have endorsed him. A person is disqualified from holding license in the UPCI if they have committed sexual abuse. This was not an affair, nor adultery, nor consensual intercourse- it was the rape of a minor.

David Reever obtained his UPCI license sometime after 1980 and before 1986. (I do not have a complete set of Directories from the 1980s.) The 1981 UPCI Manual, even back then, clearly stated that, “For the purpose of ministerial membership in the United Pentecostal Church International or for ministering in a United Pentecostal 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.”

The 2019 Manual, which was released that January, stated the same and was in effect when Don Martin was granted his license.

Remember that one of the requirements of obtaining license is that the applicant must preach an average of once a week for six months. It is not unreasonable to assume that David Reever would have allowed Don Martin to preach at times before obtaining his license, in order for him to meet this requirement. That would be despite the clear mention in the Manual that said, “or for ministering in a United Pentecostal International church.”

The 2019 Manual continues saying, “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.

“In the event a minister confesses in writing to immoral conduct and surrenders his or her fellowship card, no trial shall be granted. In either case, such minister shall never be qualified for reinstatement into the ministry of the United Pentecostal Church International.” Note that the sexual molestation of minors was specifically mentioned.

While the Manual does not specifically state that this applies to those seeking licensing, it should be clear that Martin’s actions and prior confession would have permanently disqualified him from obtaining one. You will later see that this is true.

I am attaching the entire local license application in PDF form. I have previously written an article on the United Pentecostal Church Rules Regarding Sexual Immorality & Ministers as well as a six part series with information on licensing in the United Pentecostal Church and the rules for ministers.

The June 23, 2021 video below is UPCI minister Scott Graham, describing the local license application.

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

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This past Tuesday, June 21, 2022, was a year ago that United Pentecostal minister Don Giovanni “Donnie” Martin was arrested and charged with second-degree rape, second-degree sex offense and second-degree assault of an 11 year old girl in 1990. Martin would have been 25 at the time of his crime and was married. Pay attention to dates, as these will be important in what I will share in a subsequent post. This is case number C-03-CR-21-002614. You may read some of the court documents in PDF format here.

The assault happened at Martin’s apartment during a youth group sleepover at which his wife was also present. Martin was a youth pastor at Abundant Life Church, previously the Dundalk United Pentecostal Church, and lived on Havenwood Road in Baltimore County.

Martin had been known to flirt with girls in the youth group, including the victim. While the others were asleep, Martin and the victim went out on the balcony where he kissed her, pulled her pants down and penetrated her from behind.

The day after the rape, the girl told her sister and mother. It was reported to the pastor, Chris Tharp, who set up a meeting with the victim and Don Martin. Martin’s wife was also present. Martin denied the accusation and his wife is said to have yelled at the victim. After this, the Martin family left the church and went to Christian Revival Center in Reisterstown, where Charles Curry was, and still is, pastor. Meanwhile, in late 1997, David Reever became pastor of Abundant Life.

In 2003, Don Martin wanted to return to Abundant Life Church due to something that happened at the other church, so a meeting was held where Don Martin and David M. Reever were present, along with two other UPC ministers who worked with Reever, Raymond Almsteadt and Andrew Smith. In that meeting, Don Martin admitted to ‘having sex with’ the victim and claimed that she was attractive and came on to him.

When Andrew Smith was interviewed by police in 2021, he recalled the meeting and shared that Don Martin admitted that he was unfaithful to his wife and that it may have involved a minor. When Reever was interviewed by police the same year, he remembered who the victim was and shared that Martin admitted to having sex with her when she was a minor.

Ray Almsteadt shared that he spoke to David Reever in an attempt to prevent Martin from returning to the church, but he was told by Reever that he had unforgiveness in his heart and needed to forgive Martin.

Martin, born March 26, 1965, originally had five charges against him, but in a plea agreement on October 28, 2021, he plead guilty to second degree rape, a felony, and the other charges were dropped. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison, with 18 of them suspended, and he was ordered to serve five years of supervised probation. Unfortunately, he was not required to register as a sex offender due to how long ago the crime occurred.

On November 29, 2021,  a petition for modification of Martin’s sentence was filed by him and on December 22, 2021 it was denied by the court. He is currently serving his time at the Baltimore City Correctional Center, a minimum security level facility in Baltimore.

One man shared on social media that he was shocked to show up at court and see church members who arrived to support Martin, including David and Christina Reever. The authorities were also shocked that so many showed up for the sentencing of a rapist. How is this consistent with the 2019 UPCI position paper which calls for its ministers and churches to prioritize care for the victim? (“The UPCI charges our ministers and our institutions to create a culture in which victims can safely share instances of abuse and receive necessary care and protection throughout the process.”)

This is not the first time I have heard of this happening, where church members and/or ministers attend court proceedings in support of a perpetrator, instead of the victim(s).

The man wrote, “This came out 30 years later because the perpetrator was given a license to pastor even though his endorsing pastor was aware of the abuse that happened. When the victim confronted the endorsing pastor he dismissed her feelings and said ‘I hope you find healing.'”

The endorsing pastor mentioned is David Reever, the current Superintendent of the Maryland-Washington DC District of the UPCI, having been elected in April of 2021. He has been the pastor of Abundant Life Church, an affiliated UPCI church, for more than two decades.

It is important to note that when an individual applies for a UPC license, the pastor must endorse them and sign their application. This is what David Reever did, after the 2003 meeting mentioned above. Let that sink in. This clearly goes against the rules outlined in the UPCI Manual. Martin never should have even been considered for a license as his crimes forever banned him from obtaining one, as well as being forbidden to ever preach in one of their churches.

Don Martin first appears in the 2020 UPCI Directory, indicating that he received his license in 2019, as the Directories are issued every January. Chester Wright was the District Superintendent then, with Reever the District Secretary. It is extremely important to note that this license was granted after at least four UPC ministers had been made aware of his crimes. There was also at least one other alleged assault of which I am aware, that happened after this victim, but she was not a minor. Martin was asked to resign his license in 2021, which he did.

The crime was reported to police in early 2021, after the victim learned that David Reever permitted Don Martin to preach at Abundant Life. She first reached out to Reever, asking why he was allowed to have influence, as Martin had returned to the church and later became licensed. As shared above, Reever’s response to her was, “I hope you find healing.” When interviewed by police, Reever stated that he allowed Don Martin to preach there because he didn’t have access to children. This is untrue and has been confirmed by more than one individual.

After this was reported to police, they suspected there could be more victims (like in the ongoing Scott and Travis Huse cases in Wisconsin). It is well known that a pedophile does not abuse just one person. In all the years which have passed, there could be many survivors out there and if so, we hope they will come forward. Maryland has no criminal statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. Baltimore Police can still be contacted at 410-307-2020 if you were a victim, or know of a victim. Callers may remain anonymous.

I previously wrote an article on the United Pentecostal Church Rules Regarding Sexual Immorality & Ministers as well as a six part series with information on licensing in the United Pentecostal Church and the rules for ministers.

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

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