Category: sexual abuse

(Some statements in this article are what have been alleged by others. The allegations all appear to be involving adults and not children. There have been no convictions or criminal arrests and to my knowledge, the alleged perpetrator has not admitted guilt.)

This is Part 39 of an ongoing series. Back in March, I posted about a situation in the Western District of the United Pentecostal Church, where it was alleged that one of their pastors had been accused of multiple instances of sexual misconduct. (See Part One.) A complaint had been filed with the Western District in January 2019 and they held an investigation under their judicial procedure and found the minister to be guilty of several serious allegations.

Due to what has been stated in their Manual for years, I believe it is abundantly clear that this minister should have had his license revoked immediately at the end of the investigation. Instead, John Shivers [Video has since been deleted.] was told to resign from the church and undergo more than a year of sexual predator therapy. Because his license was not immediately removed, it is alleged that this continued to be covered up and it was made to appear he was yet the pastor. In addition, as of the 2020 UPCI Directory, which was printed in January, as well as the UPCI online church locator in March 2020, John Shivers was still shown as an ordained minister, with his name listed as the pastor of Centro Vida Church, as well as other churches, though he was no longer mentioned as a District Presbyter, a position which he held for years.

It is my opinion that Shivers may have been treated differently because he married into a famous name within the organization- the Kenneth Haney family. It wouldn’t be the first time a minister was given preferential treatment because of their name or status in the organization. Besides being a pastor, Kenneth Haney served as a General Superintendent, among other things. His father, Clyde, started a UPCI Bible college in Stockton, California, which Kenneth took over after his father’s death. Kenneth and Joy Haney had five children and John Shivers married their daughter, Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Haney.

Besides the accusations against John Shivers, [Note: He has since removed this Facebook profile, but yet has this one.] there are allegations that Kenneth and Joy Haney covered up Shivers’ alleged sexual assault of a student at Christian Life College. It is alleged that Liz Haney was also aware of at least some of the accusations. This entire situation runs very deep in the UPCI and if it is true that the Haney family covered up the sexual abuse of a student, that is inexcusable and reprehensible. Joy Haney yet holds license in the UPCI. The current General Superintendent, David Bernard, would have been made aware of allegations against Shivers at least as far back as when the Western District complaint was filed by one of the victims. The position paper on abuse and sexual misconduct, adopted at the 2019 UPCI General Conference, was at least in part inspired by what has happened in this case.

Despite all this, Shiver’s still was seen speaking at the church on August 5 and guess what he is speaking on? Unforgiveness. (NOTE: Some time after we shared this, the video was made private.)

I will end this by sharing a post made by one of the alleged victims of John Shivers, that was made public by them on Facebook on Sunday, August 2, 2020. [August 8 note: This person has since removed or made private the post.] Please note that the victim mentioned who was allegedly “ignored by the elders of Centro Vida Church and by Bruce Howell” is a currently licensed United Pentecostal minister. It should also be noted that Tim Moran is married to one of the Haney’s daughters. Nathaniel Haney is Kenneth Haney’s son.  Bruce Howell is the Global Missions Director of the UPCI. As you can see, this situation has tentacles running throughout the United Pentecostal Church.

PLEASE SHARE this post so that victims who have been silenced, shamed, and threatened, can come forward. Shame belongs to the perpetrator, the enablers, those that covered for the sexual predator. It never belongs to the victim.

“Making it possible to avoid the consequences…” [Lois’ Note: part of the definition of enabler.] How does a (former) minister of the United Pentecostal Church get away with sexual assault, sexual harassment, attempted rape, and 20+ years of being a sexual predator? They are enabled. Kenneth and Joy Haney knew of John Shivers sexual assault of a student at Christian Life College. (as did his wife Elizabeth Shivers, documented and verified) They did nothing. John Shivers was never disciplined. Their lack of action enabled him as a sexual predator for the next 20+ years. After one of his victims was repeatedly ignored by the elders of Centro Vida Church and by Bruce Howell, finally was heard by the Western District Board, John Shivers was investigated and unanimously found guilty. Part of the discipline enacted by the Western District Board was John Shivers was required to resign as pastor of Centro Vida Church. However, it was hidden from the saints at Centro Vida Church as Nathaniel Haney, and Tim Moran, lied to the Centro Vida church (from the pulpit, on video) about the reason John Shivers was no longer in the pulpit. Quote from Nathaniel Haney addressing the Centro Vida Church:

“your pastor never takes any time off, he burns the candle on both ends, but after a while you start getting empty if you don’t take some time to fill back up. . . so Pastor Shivers is filling up right now, so he can come back and feed his people, …we want Pastor Shivers to have that time alone with God… let’s pray that God will speak to him, God will give him new revelation and he will move deeper in the Spirit that he has ever been.”

Tim Moran lied (from the pulpit, on video) to the saints at Centro Vida about John Shivers no longer being the pastor. Instead of telling the truth he instead on a Sunday morning before Elizabeth Shivers took the pulpit (she refused to leave the church even though her husband was no longer pastor, furthering the cover-up of her husbands resignation as pastor) told the church:

“Sister Shivers will be speaking this morning….Her (Liz Shivers) and her husband (John Shivers) are the Pastors of Centro Vida and oversee Life Church. We are the Pastors of Life Church, but we are accountable to them, and they are the seniors pastors. So if you want to know how it’s organized, that’s how we’re organized. We all have to have accountability, we all have to have authorities in our lives.”

After repeatedly failing to adhere to the discipline set down by the Western District Board, John Shivers was stripped of his UPC ministerial license and permanently banned from the UPCI by the Western District Board.

Victims of John Shivers or any other UPC minister/pastor should know that you have as allies, David Bernard, and the Western District Board. They will take action on your behalf. You will not be ignored, you will not be shamed. Your voice will be heard.

Unfortunately, the voices of the women from Calvary Gospel Church have not been heard by David Bernard or the Wisconsin District Board.

Part Three

August 24, 2022 edit: Today the Stockton Record released an article about John Shivers. You must have a digital subscription to read it. See https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/2022/08/24/pastor-john-shivers-accused-sexual-assault-preaching-stockton-centro-vida-pentecostal-church/5695797001/

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

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(Some statements in this article are what have been alleged by the survivor and some other people. There have been no convictions as of yet and to my knowledge, the alleged perpetrator has not openly admitted guilt.) This is Part 38 of an ongoing series and the thirteenth pertaining to this particular affiliated United Pentecostal Church (see links at the end). In part one of this case, I addressed why Glen Uselmann should never have been given license in the United Pentecostal Church and how pastor John Wesley Grant, a member of the United Pentecostal Church’s Order of the Faith, was reckless and irresponsible in allowing such to happen as he was well aware of at least some of what Uselmann had done. In part two the charges against Uselmann are covered. As a brief recap, a criminal complaint was filed against Uselmann on July 15, 2020. This is Dane County case number 2020CF001760. Uselmann was charged with one count of second degree sexual assault of a child and one count of first degree sexual assault of a child. [EDIT: The first degree count was later dropped and then he was charged with five counts of second degree assault.] Rebecca Martin-Byrd, the survivor, was 12 years old when the sexual assault started. At the time of the alleged events, Glen Uselmann and Rebecca Martin were both members of Calvary Gospel Church (CGC), which is located at 5301 Commercial Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin. Grant is yet the bishop of CGC. 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.

There are multiple people who can corroborate various aspects of Rebecca Martin-Byrd’s allegations against Glen Alan Uselmann. These are two of those witnesses. These testimonies demonstrate that John Grant was acutely aware of accusations against Uselmann as far back as at least 1989 and chose to not report it to police and instead went on to allow Uselmann to be actively involved in the church, to preach in services and to obtain his ministerial license.

Rebecca Martin’s Letter Confirmed By The Pen-Pal

In the previous article, I wrote the following paragraph:

When Rebecca was 12-13 years old, she wrote letters to her pen pal about what was happening with Uselmann. Her sister, who attended Calvary Gospel Church, allegedly gave the letters to John Wesley Grant, the pastor, who is now considered the bishop of the church. John Grant then brought Rebecca and her parents into the church office and warned Rebecca that if she talked about this, it could ruin Uselmann’s life and damage the church. Rebecca claims that, “Uselmann later confronted her in the church parking lot shortly after her meeting with [John Grant]. Uselmann pushed her into a car and said, ‘You talked!’ Uselmann told her, ‘You cannot tell,’ and also told her they ‘had something special.’ She was terrified at the time and knew she was in trouble.”

I was able to contact Bonnie, the pen-pal that is referred to in the criminal complaint. Bonnie was interviewed by detectives in October 2019 for approximately one and a half to two hours. She was born in 1975 and is less than a year older than Rebecca. It was her sister Lucy, who she referred to as “an awesome big sister” at the time, who took the letter to pastor John Grant. Bonnie was a member of the Immanuel Apostolic Assembly in Wisconsin Dells from the age of four and left in 1991. I questioned Bonnie about her memories of these events and she gave permission to share them as well as use her name and picture as a child. This whole experience has left her very uninterested in any type of organized religion.

I showed her what was recorded of her interview in the criminal complaint and she acknowledged its accuracy. That statement is posted after this section.

Bonnie shared that she remembers Rebecca “before he [Glen Uselmann] really started to prey heavily on her. She was a happy girl and a really fun long distance friend. I got to spend the night at her house once and I thought her house was so HUGE! We had fun in the way 12 year old girls should have fun. I know we wrote several letters back and forth where he was not the focus of her letters. Sure, there was ‘boy’ talk…since I started to ‘date’ one of the other boys at her CGC. I would sort of pry and see what was going on with him and if he was flirting with other girls (he totally was – jerk) – so funny. Then the Glen stuff took over and she wrote a few letters, with him being the focus, of him paying her a lot of attention and she gushed over how she felt so much ‘better’ than the other girls (not in a mean way – just in a pride way) that he had ‘picked’ her. She would talk about how many things he would buy her and how much money he would spend on her.”

Rebecca commented, “I did feel so special. This older minister picked me. I must be worth something.”

When asked if she could share about Rebecca writing that she didn’t want Glen to touch her, she responded, “One thing that really stands out is that she stated she had her menstrual period when he was trying to finger her on the roller coaster at Great America and she said it made her extremely uncomfortable since she was fairly new to having her menstrual cycle and was wearing maxi pads.”

Rebecca responded, “It was my first month with my period. And we went to Great America for a birthday party.”

Bonnie told her sister about the letters and recalls Lucy making copies “and then me feeling a little scared about when ‘shit hit the fan’ – I was scared that I might get in trouble somehow for sharing.” She went on to add, “Once the letters were given to Grant, her letters to me were almost absent and no details on Glen anymore. I probably got 2-3 more letters and it was over. I always wondered what happened to her. I found out that they got married and thought it was really fucking odd.”

When I asked Rebecca to comment about the letters ending she stated, “I did stop writing to her. I felt humiliated and terrible that I had involved her. I was embarrassed.”

Bonnie went on to share, “Remembering those letters always made me uncomfortable and knew it was wrong. I guess I did my part in reporting to an adult. The adults failed her time and time again. I have always wondered about her dad’s part in this ordeal. He was a fucking cop. Seriously? Not only failed by your church leaders, but your own father – who is a cop? This could have so easily been me. I am sorry it happened to Rebecca but am grateful it didn’t happen to me. I was a curvy girl growing up and got some unwanted attention from men not in the UPC – so I know the feeling of not wanting the attention.” More will be written about former Madison police officer Gregory Nowell Martin in a future article.

Bonnie’s Statement From the Criminal Complaint Against Glen Alan Uselmann

BJL’s statement
On 10/31/19, Det. Ware and Det. Bauman met with BJL, who reported the following: When RAM was 12 or 13, Uselmann “paid [RAM] a lot of attention.” She remembered being with RAM when RAM was 12-13 years old and described that RAM was “gushing” about Uselmann. RAM talked about how Uselmann told her she is pretty. She and RAM sent multiple letters back and forth, as a way to keep in touch when she (BJL) was at home. When RAM was 12 years old and she was 13, she remembered receiving a letter from RAM in the summer. She described RAM as being “12 ish.” In that letter, RAM told her about going to an identified business. In that letter, RAM told her Uselmann “tried to touch her up her skirt.” “He (Uselmann) basically tried to finger her on a roller coaster.” RAM also wrote she didn’t want Uselmann to touch her. When she read that letter, she remembered it making her uncomfortable. She described the letter as “graphic” and which is probably why she still remembers it today. She remembered the letter being “super significant” because at that age, it contained “sex stuff.”

Remember John Wesley Grant’s Position

In this case, it is very important to remember that when these events occurred, John Wesley Grant wasn’t just the pastor of Calvary Gospel Church, but he was also the Wisconsin District Superintendent. By 1982, Grant was in this position and remained through part of 1999 when John Putnam was elected. Putnam was replaced by James Booker in March 2018. Due to him holding this position, he was automatically a member of the General Board as a General Presbyter. This is the Board on which the very top elected officials in the United Pentecostal Church preside. John Grant has since retained the position of Honorary Presbyter in the Wisconsin District and Honorary General Presbyter on the national level. In 2014, he was inducted into the United Pentecostal Church’s Order of the Faith, which ironically noted, “He has taught ministerial ethics and Christian principles in a very easy to understand and unique way.”

Rebecca’s Letter Taken To John Wesley Grant

Lucy was interviewed by detectives last fall for approximately two hours. She is Bonnie’s older sister and was born in 1969. She had been a member of the Immanuel Apostolic Assembly in Wisconsin Dells from the age of six through 18, now known as TurnPoint Pentecostal Church. Winton E. Maki was her pastor. While a senior in high school, she was engaged to a man from Calvary Gospel Church, who was 21. They married in 1987 and then she was a member of Calvary Gospel until August of 1990, a little more than a year after this incident took place. John Grant’s handling of this situation was a major contributor in her exit. She had two young daughters and wanted to protect them. As a child, she herself was abused by her step-father and from the age of nine she was considered by others in the UPCI to be a liar, promiscuous and possibly possessed by demons. Lucy’s sister Bonnie remembers being in her wedding when she was 12, “so I knew many of the people and when I continued to visit – which was often – I got to know them much better.”

I questioned Lucy about her memories of the letter Rebecca Martin had written to her sister. She gave permission to share these as well as use her name. I showed her what was recorded of Bonnie’s interview in the criminal complaint and she acknowledged its accuracy. When her sister was very young, she read one of Rebecca’s letters to her over the phone. As this was “a huge red flag of abuse,” Lucy immediately drove to get her sister and the letter. She recalled only seeing one letter that was very long and she made a copy of it. She believes this was in 1989.

When she approached pastor John Wesley Grant with the original letter, it is alleged that Grant proclaimed that she had written it to herself “to get attention.” He proceeded to call Lucy a “liar” and kicked her out the choir for a year. She shared that, “Singing was and is my life.” When the year was over, she approached Grant about rejoining the choir and he allegedly told her to leave his office as she had lied and tried to “strike down” God’s anointed, meaning Uselmann.

In addition, Grant informed Lucy that he would not have her stand in front of the church and repent, so as not to put her husband in a negative light. (Her husband was very involved in the church but did not hold an official title.) Lucy’s husband wouldn’t go with her to see Grant as he deemed it to be “childhood issues.” Grant kept the original letter but was unaware that Lucy had made a copy.

Grant would periodically make members he deemed to have sinned, stand in front of the church and confess to everyone. Lucy shared that, “If he says it you are guilty.” He even did this with children. Will John Grant hold himself to this same standard and openly confess all the things he has done wrong and covered up all these decades? I wouldn’t hold your breath, but he does appreciate a standing ovation from church members, as he did on August 11, 2019 after a local expose was released, sharing several cases of unreported child sexual abuse at the church.

Lucy recalls that the setting in Rebecca’s letter was a theme park and a roller coaster. Uselmann was holding Rebecca’s hand in public and was trying to hide it. It mentioned him kissing Rebecca. Lucy claims to have seen abuse at the church outside of this letter. She recalled trying to approach Rebecca about Uselmann earlier and she ran away. When she spoke to Rebecca after giving the letter to John Grant, she shared that she told her she had the letter and that she took it to Grant. Lucy explained that it was not appropriate for Uselmann to do those things to her and that what he did was abuse and not love. She shared that she had been “hurt” as a little girl and that she’d always be there if she wanted to talk. Lucy claimed Rebecca said nothing and seemed agitated. This still makes her cry for Rebecca.

After Lucy gave the letter to John Grant and he falsely accused her of writing it, he then brought Rebecca and her parents into the church office and warned Rebecca that if she talked about this, it could ruin Uselmann’s life and damage the church. Rebecca claims that, “Uselmann later confronted her in the church parking lot shortly after her meeting with [John Grant]. Uselmann pushed her into a car and said, ‘You talked!’ Uselmann told her, ‘You cannot tell,’ and also told her they ‘had something special.’ She was terrified at the time and knew she was in trouble.”

When I asked Rebecca about Lucy trying to talk to her she replied, “Lucy did try to talk me. We were at a youth function and she asked to talk to me. I was so scared that I avoided her. I don’t think she really had the opportunity to actually talk to me, as I figured that was what she was going to talk to me about, and so I avoided her. It was a bit after I was sending Bonnie the letters. I figured at some point someone would tell. So when Lucy asked to talk to me, I knew it was about the letter. So I avoided her like the plague.”

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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But in the background, where everyone knew but wouldn’t talk about, was a massive problem. I think because sex was such a forefront issue, and because you were only allowed to marry other UPC-ers, couples were often getting married extremely young and the only compatibility goal was your mate be UPC too. …So affairs, sexual crimes, porn addictions, and unprotected sex was rampant. It was as if most everyone knew – I mean come on, I was a child and could see it, there’s no excuse for the adults not seeing it too – but no one talked about it or addressed it. No one would open that can of worms. Just as I sit typing this I can think of 7 examples of older men dating underage girls, just from my age group and circle of friends.  – Rebecca, former member of Calvary Gospel Church

(Some statements in this article are what have been alleged by the survivor and some other people. There have been no convictions as of yet and to my knowledge, the alleged perpetrator has not openly admitted guilt.) This is Part 37 of an ongoing series and the twelfth one pertaining to this particular affiliated United Pentecostal Church (see links at the end). In part one of this case, I cover why Glen Uselmann should never have been given license in the United Pentecostal Church and how pastor John Wesley Grant, a member of the United Pentecostal Church’s Order of the Faith, was reckless and irresponsible in allowing such to happen as he was well aware of at least some of what Uselmann had done.

I don’t have any comments. That is ridiculous. I don’t want to comment on that garbage. – Glen Uselmann to the Cap Times in August 2019

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. They happened when both parties were members of Calvary Gospel Church, which is 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 received his local license from the UPCI in 2013, after the alleged sexual crimes, and either lost or relinquished his license in 2019. I cover this more in depth in my previous article. He is presently a resident of Columbus, Wisconsin.

If anything ever comes of this, I will know that I fought for the child I was once was. I have grown up now, and have promised myself to never be that willingly vulnerable again. I can see myself as that young child, and I will be what she once needed, and somehow, hopefully someday, bring her some justice and healing. – Rebecca, former member of Calvary Gospel Church

After almost a year of investigation, a criminal complaint was filed against Uselmann on July 15, 2020. This is Dane County Case Number 2020CF001760. Uselmann was charged with one count of second degree sexual assault of a child, 948.02(2) a Class C Felony, for sexual intercourse with a child under age 16 (Rebecca was 14 years old when this first occurred.) and one count of first degree sexual assault of a child, 948.02(1) a Class B Felony, for sexual contact with a child under the age of 13 (Rebecca was 12 years old when this started.). For the first charge he is facing a possible fine of not more than $10,000, or imprisonment of not more than ten years, or both. For the second charge he is facing a possible sentence of imprisonment up to twenty  years. The offense date for the first charge is between July 21, 1990 and July 21, 1992 and for the second charge it is July 21, 1988 to July 21, 1989. [EDIT: The first degree count was later dropped and then he was charged with five counts of second degree assault.] The prosecuting District Attorney is Ismael R. Ozanne. On July 20, 2020 Christopher T Van Wagner was entered into the record as representing Uselmann. His first court appearance is currently scheduled for August 6, 2020 at 10:30 am, with a preliminary hearing set for August 27, which was later changed to September 10. The investigators involved in the case are Detective Bradley Ware, Detective Hall and Detective Bauman.

The effects stick with you, one way or another. The pain may subside, but the scars remain.– Rebecca

Other Allegations Apart From This Case

It has been alleged by more than one person that prior to when he assaulted Rebecca, Glen Uselmann had repeated sexual contact for months, possibly a year, with another minor girl who may have been 15-16 years old. He was at least well into his twenties. In addition, Debbie McNulty recalls a time when Uselmann approached her during the handshaking time at a church service, asking why she was looking blue. (This was during the time Steven J. Dahl was allegedly molesting her when she was 11-12 years old.) Debbie responded that she didn’t think anyone would ever want to marry her. She shared with me that he was definitely flirting with her when he responded. “He smiled at me and said he’d be happy to date me. Then asked how old I was. When I said 12 he said that was too young.”

The Charges: First Degree Sexual Assault of a Child

When Rebecca Martin was in third grade, her parents took her out of public school and enrolled her in the one operated by Calvary Gospel Church. Rebecca was ten years old when Uselmann started showing her attention and grooming her. When the alleged sexual assaults started, Rebecca was twelve and he was 29. From the age of twelve through thirteen, she reports repeated sexual assaults, but not intercourse, at the rate of about once a week. It is alleged that Uselmann would kiss her neck, put his arms around her, finger her vaginally (often in his car), and put her hand on his penis to rub it. It is also alleged that more than once he put only the tip of his penis into her vagina. Uselmann told her not to tell her friends.

When Rebecca was 12-13 years old, she wrote letters to her pen pal about what was happening with Uselmann. Her sister, who attended Calvary Gospel Church, allegedly gave the letters to John Wesley Grant, the pastor, who is now considered the bishop of the church. John Grant then brought Rebecca and her parents into the church office and warned Rebecca that if she talked about this, it could ruin Uselmann’s life and damage the church. Rebecca claims that, “Uselmann later confronted her in the church parking lot shortly after her meeting with [John Grant]. Uselmann pushed her into a car and said, ‘You talked!’ Uselmann told her, ‘You cannot tell,’ and also told her they ‘had something special.’ She was terrified at the time and knew she was in trouble.”

While it appears from the court record that Grant didn’t acknowledge this incident, the pen-pal, who received the letters from Rebecca, was interviewed and acknowledged them. She specifically recalled one letter  where Rebecca shared that Uselmann “‘tried to touch her up her skirt.’ ‘He (Uselmann) basically tried to finger her on a roller coaster.’ [Rebecca] also wrote she didn’t want Uselmann to touch her.” When the pen-pal read that letter, “she remembered it making her uncomfortable. She described the letter as ‘graphic’.” To her it was “super significant” because it contained “sex stuff.”

However, 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 Jon Eckenrod, one of the other church pastors, about some of her past sexual abuse. [Note: This time frame given by him is incorrect as the 1995 marriage ended in 2006.] Grant claimed he met with Uselmann after this and that Glen made it appear like it happened once, but admitted to Grant that they had sex before they were married. Grant claimed Uselman told him, “I know I did wrong and it was a long time ago.” On March 9, 2020, Eckenrod was interviewed by the detectives and acknowledged that in late 2005, while a pastor at Calvary Gospel Church, Rebecca came to him in an emotional and distressed state and “alluded to sexual acts as early as 12 years old.”

The Charges: Second Degree Sexual Assault of a Child

Rebecca was 14 when Glen Uselmann, 31, allegedly first forced her to have sexual intercourse. That same week Uselmann had volunteered to be a chauffeur for United Pentecostal Church evangelist Elton Leroy “Lee” Stoneking, who was a speaker at the Wisconsin church camp. He spent a lot of time that week with Stoneking, even taking him out to eat. Rebecca claims that Uselmann “had long obsessed over Stoneking.” After turning 14, Uselmann often drove Rebecca home after church and much of the sexual intercourse occurred in his car, a black Mazda MX-6. He would often park his car somewhere at night while in the process of driving Rebecca home. Assaults also allegedly occurred on his couch at his then residence on Stein Avenue in Madison. It is alleged that Uselmann would first “scroll through his TV channels until he came upon a pornography channel” where the “picture would not tune to see the picture so only the sound could be heard” and then he would start sexual acts with Rebecca.

According to the court records, Rebecca shared that “she spent time at church, school, and youth groups and no matter where she was, Uselmann showed up. [She] said there was ‘no getting away from him.’ [She] said the adults in the church did not seem to see the problem and encouraged it. [She] said her parents allowed Uselmann to see her at their family home. [She] said Uselmann also took her out to eat, bought her things such as clothing, and drove her around.”  Rebecca also recalled an incident where Uselmann picked her up from a friend’s home and took her to his residence in Madison, when he was supposed to be taking her to lunch. His roommate happened to come home when Uselmann was on top of her and he hid her in his closet.

Rebecca took her first pregnancy test where Uselmann worked when she was 15. She claims he never wore a condom and that he made her read Bible verses out loud after every time they had sex. There was one time she remembered “where Uselmann stood over her and threatened to urinate on her if she didn’t do what he wanted.” She remembers once when she was 16 and her father, a Madison police officer, caught her and Uselmann together. Glen hid under Rebecca’s bed and she alleges that her father did nothing. More will be covered about former police officer Gregory N. Martin in a subsequent article.

Corroboration From Others

Besides interviewing Rebecca Martin-Byrd, John Grant, Jon Eckenrod and the pen-pal, the detectives also spoke with others. One of them used to babysit for Rebecca and her sister and recalled Uselmann showing “up with [Rebecca] at different events when [Rebecca] was 13 or 14 years old.” They also noted that she “often left with Uselmann in his car after church.”

Another person shared that after meeting Rebecca when she was 11-12 years old, that she told her about Uselmann. They mentioned that church members would refer to Rebecca as Uselmann’s “little girlfriend.” They recalled that Uselmann spent “tons of time together” with Rebecca, even driving her to dinner after church services and that Rebecca would write him “little letters and notes.”

They also remembered witnessing Uselmann kissing Rebecca around 1991, when she would have been 14 or 15. This witness also shared one time at Uselmann’s home while watching television, Rebecca was sitting between his legs and he was kissing her neck and face. They noted that Rebecca was “sitting upright and not moving while the kissing was happening.”

Prior to these events, they also noted that when Rebecca was visiting at the witness’s home, Uselmann would come over to the house a lot, but didn’t come inside.  Rebecca would go out to Glen’s car and sit in it with him for long periods of time. It was also mentioned that they saw them kissing once outside the car.

Not only was I preyed on by my perpetrator, who I previously referred to as “Ben”, but inappropriate behavior was common. On my wedding day, I was carried out by one of “Ben’s” friends, while they did the kidnap-the-bride thing, and his friend stuck his hand up my wedding dress and held onto my lady bits (sorry, oddly enough I feel weird saying “genitals”). I squirmed and tried to move, and asked him to stop, but he just kept it up and laughed at me. I couldn’t get away from him as he was carrying me, and he thought it was funny. It wasn’t until all this came up that I have even told that story. I realize now that this guy was so bold that he sexually assaulted his buddy’s wife on their wedding day. But even then I knew no one would believe me or care if I did tell. I have since learned that this same man had previously assaulted two other women, and he was actually made to apologize to the congregation for one assault, but he was still allowed to be a minister there. – Rebecca, former member of Calvary Gospel Church

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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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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