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UPCI Rocky Mountain District Trouble Part 2

There is an interesting side note to the article about trouble in the Rocky Mountain District of the United Pentecostal Church.

As I was looking into the situation, I discovered a cached version of the opinion article to Sweetwater Now from Jeff Ramaj on Wayback, which showed that there was one, probably two, people attempting to have it removed. A man had visited their office the same day that it posted, asking that it be removed. After this, an attorney contacted them, also asking that it be removed. Since someone had already been to the office (and, to me, while there he must have changed his mind about having it removed as it still exists today), they requested that the attorney have their client appear in person. They did not comply. Because of this, the paper posted a video of the man who visited the office, asking for the public to clarify who it was. Below is what the paper wrote.

UPDATE — According to Attorney Danielle M. Mathey, the letter we received was sent by someone who accessed her client’s tablet computer, she asked that the letter be removed. We asked that she have her client come to our office and identify himself via photo ID, as just prior to her call, a man identifying himself as the person who sent the letter to the editor to SweetwaterNOW visited our office asking that it be taken down.

Since she refused the request for an in-person identification, we have no choice but to publish the video of the man who came to our office in hopes that the community will be able to identify him to confirm the sender’s identity.

The video indeed showed that it was the actual author, Jeff Ramaj, who had visited the office. In a discussion on the newspaper’s Facebook Page, Ramaj explained, “It is unfortunate that letters such as this have to be written it is however sometimes neccessary in order to get peoples attention after seding this in to sweetwaternow i realized the wrong letter had posted this one was meant only for the district the other letter was meant to demonstrate our resolve in continuing the fight against an unjust situation.” In response to a woman who mentioned the subject of separation of church and state and that she didn’t see this as a Rock Spring problem, he replied, “We watched lives diminish here a once prosperous church now gone”.  One woman with UPC ties tagged pastor Keith Riley and his wife, Tanua, acknowledged it. At the time of this discussion, Ramaj shared that they were “hoping to bring this to a close soon.”

It appears the original letter that Ramaj wanted posted was never submitted. The situation also seems to indicate that another party unsuccessfully attempted to have the article removed via the attorney. It makes no sense to me that Ramaj would have gone to an attorney, either before or after he visited the paper, since he was the one who sent it, the article has remained available all these months, and these events happened the same day it was posted. It also seems very suspect to me that an attorney would refuse to have her client appear in person at the newspaper’s office. Note that according to the paper’s statement, Mathey didn’t seem to indicate that her client was the author of the letter, but rather that she stated it was her client’s tablet computer that was used to send it. Also, if Ramaj had hired the attorney, and since he had visited the paper, it would be ridiculous to refuse another appearance. Because of all this, it does appear that someone else, who obviously did not wish to be identified, hired the attorney in an effort to have it removed.

UPCI Rocky Mountain District Trouble

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UPCI Rocky Mountain District Trouble

There appears to be problems in the Rocky Mountain District of the United Pentecostal Church, involving Samuel Keith Riley, pastor of the United Pentecostal Church of Rock Springs in Wyoming (aka Revival Center of Rock Springs). The situation also involves UPCI ministers Matthew Pearce (Arthur Matthew Pearce, Jr.) and Steven Carnahan, both officials of the District. (Carnahan is pastor of the Abundant Life Church in Gillette and Pearce is pastor of Pentecostals of Rawlins – now Rawlins Family Church) All are ordained ministers in the organization and the Rock Springs church is an affiliated church (meaning they have a legal affiliation with them).

TROUBLING ACCUSATIONS

According to the article linked to at the end of this section, Jeff Ramaj claims the following of pastor Keith Riley, “The examples of false doctrine preached by Riley are legion, but the messages listed here were among the most frequent. As we began to resist his false doctrine, Riley’s favorite saying was that one cannot come against a man of God without being killed by Jesus.”

Ramaj has accused the Rocky Mountain District of not investigating this church/pastor and stated that their inaction led to a lawsuit which was filed in January 2016. The law office of Lemich Law Center, particularly Jon Aimone, appears to have been hired to contact the parties involved prior to the actual lawsuit. After it was filed, Riley allegedly ignored a judge’s order compelling discovery, and the District failed in an attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed.

At an August 2017 court hearing, “The judge entered partial default judgment in our court case and sent our attorney to the church to get the documents we requested.” As a result, documents and computers were seized and they have allegedly uncovered evidence “to show that the Rileys diverted monies from the general fund to their own personal enrichment”. It is further alleged that “There is evidence that inculpates Matthew Pearce and Steve Carnahan in Riley’s actions.” Ramaj also claims, “In 2015 and 2016, the W2 that was submitted to the IRS for Samuel Keith Riley said that he was paid just under $24,000. Church records and bank records show that he was paid tens of thousands of dollars more than that each year—the difference in 2015 is more than $34,000.”

The article also alleges that a former ordained UPCI minister from Montana, Kenneth Hogue, “embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the District and was not prosecuted.” Hogue used to be a presbyter as well as the District Secretary and was pastor of the United Pentecostal Church (aka Grace and Truth UPC) in Butte. He also was the District Foreign (Global) Missions Director and served on the Global Missions Board. His wife, Teresa, also served in the District. His name is last seen in the 2016 UPCI Directory, indicating that 2015 was probably his final year.

Ramaj calls for Keith Riley’s license to be revoked and for both Carnahan and Pearce to resign. These are serious and troubling accusations. Are they true or false? Time will tell. Meanwhile there is a public battle going on. In the linked article below you will find additional information on Ramaj’s accusations.

OPINION: For The Last Two Years, We Members Of The United Pentecostal Church Of Rock Springs Have Been Begging For Help by Jeff Ramaj- October 30, 2017

August 30, 2019 Update: According to a press release from the Montana Department of Justice, on August 29, “The pastor of the United Pentecostal Church in Butte appeared today on wire fraud charges and admitted to embezzling $288,757 from the organization over a four-year period, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

“Kenneth Emmett Hogue, 66, of Butte, pleaded guilty to wire fraud as charged in an information during an initial appearance. Hogue faces a maximum 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. He has a sentencing date on December 12, 2019. See also Butte pastor to plead guilty to embezzling from United Pentecostal Church. Kenneth Hogue had been elected secretary and treasurer of the Rocky Mountain District in April of 2012. A $5,000 bank transfer transaction made in May 2015 is what triggered an investigation. In March 2018 he admitted his scheme to the FBI.

On December 19, 2019, Kenneth Hogue was sentenced “to five years of probation and ordered to pay $288,757 for embezzling from the church organization over a four-year period.”

A PUBLIC BATTLE

Jeff Ramaj August 2016 Facebook post

Jeff Ramaj and others were (and may still be) having home and other meetings according to The Pentecostals of Rock Springs Facebook Page (no longer available). Their first service was held in August 2016 at 1695 Sunset Drive, Suite 104. You can see a few pictures of Ramaj at a service there. It appears that Ramaj is the pastor and it involves a small number of people.

Tanua Riley, Keith’s wife, publicly accused Ramaj of stealing the image for Revival Center of Rock Springs via this Facebook account. (Her main account is here.- This has since been closed down.) I find no reason to disbelieve her as that could easily be proven. She also appears to accuse him or someone else of not supporting their children.

The public feud includes an accusation by Ramaj that even though the organization has one, an area pastor (assuming Riley) claimed that the United Pentecostal Church didn’t have a retirement fund, so the church needed to pay him money for retirement.

Ramaj made it clear on the Page that it was not associated with the one operated by the Rileys, stating The Pentecostals of Rock Springs “in no way endorse or promote the pastor and his families unchristlike behavior. We do however keep those few who remain there in our prayers. Our prayers are that the truth will be revealed and the church will be renewed.”

In March 2017, he also posted, “There are many unanswered questions as to why we left revival center and have filed a lawsuit against the pastor. Here is the short answer. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. -Ephesians 5:11 [other passages follow] …This is the apostate church of which revival center has become under the leadership of an ungodly man who worships money and himself. I once asked him if he was a self made man who worships his creator his reply “yes”. Supporting you pastor is a scriptually correct practice unless he is not in line with the word of God. I tried for over a year to help him but he refused to listen. Will you or will you blindly follow him on a path that leads to destruction? Choose this day whom you will serve.”
On October 13, 2017, Ramaj posted two pictures, allegedly of items seized from Revival Center of Rock Springs as a result of the lawsuit. He also commented that “the district is also working to resolve this matter.”

Keith Riley used to have a Twitter account but it has been removed. Google had a cached version which was only available temporarily. The website listed for the church, revivalcenterrs.org, is not available.

March 15, 2024 Note: Screenshots have been added to this post, links have been checked, and some revisions were made. Many links were no longer available as the Facebook Pages for The Pentecostals of Rock Springs and The Revival Center of Rock Springs were taken down at some point after we posted the article. Some profiles were also deleted.

UPCI Rocky Mountain District Trouble Part 2

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Top February 2018 Posts

In February 2018, the blog section of the spiritual abuse website had 10,431 visits, with 6462 being unique. Below are the top ten read posts for February from three different authors.

We are always looking for new people to join our group of bloggers, so please consider registering and watch your email for more information. How frequently you post is up to you. Let your voice be heard and help others recover. You may find healing for yourself as well. Read here for more information.

Commenting directly on the blog is an encouragement to our writers as they often cannot see all the places where their words are shared and discussed on social media.

The United Pentecostal Church and Sexual Abuse – author Lois (accessed 1583 times)

A UPC Church Responds To Sexual Abuse – author Lois (accessed 1522 times)

A Pastor Who Should Not Have Been Part 2 – author Lois (accessed 615 times)

A UPC Minister’s Sexual Fantasy – author Lois (accessed 558 times)

A Pastor Who Should Not Have Been Part 1– author Lois (accessed 402 times)

Woman ‘in the Spirit’ on a Jamaican Flight – author Lois

Traumatic Submission – author Grace

A Pastor Who Should Not Have Been Part 3 – author Lois

When the church betrays us, pt 4 – author Through Grace

When the church divides, part 1 – author Through Grace

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When churches silence, part 4

A few studies have been done on narcissism within church leadership. Not many, but a few. In the general population, results of such studies show that 1-6% of the population is narcissistic. Within church leadership that rate may be as high as 30%… and a few studies demonstrate it may be even higher than that.

Dictionary.com defines narcissism as

extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own talents and a craving for admiration, as characterizing a personality type.

One article in Psychology Today describes it as:

grandiosity, a lack of empathy for other people, and a need for admiration. People with this condition are frequently described as arrogant, self-centered, manipulative, and demanding. They may also concentrate on grandiose fantasies (e.g. their own success, beauty, brilliance) and may be convinced that they deserve special treatment.

Sound familiar? Compare this to some of your experiences with former church leaders, or compare it to this list.

Is it any surprise that someone with grandiose views of themselves, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others might silence those who would otherwise speak out about their wrongdoing? They require the silence of those who disagree with them to preserve their illusions. They demand it to maintain their control. They need to silence anyone who might oppose them to have any hope of satisfying their enormous appetite for admiration.

But how do they silence? By gaslighting, by shaming, by blaming. By making us doubt ourselves or think that everyone else is on the side of the abuser. By grooming us for mistreatment. By calling us names, dehumanizing us so that others feel less guilty for joining the mistreatment… for making them afraid not to join because if they don’t, they’ll also be mistreated. And oddly enough, also by being silent — by ostracizing, shunning, and giving he silent treatment to their targets.

Have you been silenced by a narcissist or another abuser? How were you silenced? And what will you do about it?

6 Tactics Narcissists Will Use To Silence You
The Sound of Silence

When churches silence, part 1
When churches silence, part 2
When churches silence, part 3
When churches silence, part 4

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When churches silence, part 3

I sat in service shocked and numb. The former pastor’s son had been convicted of molestation. Some of the families and some of those boys were in the congregation. The new pastor was preaching about forgiving and moving on. God would miraculously heal wounded hearts. Just come forward and pray and God will take care of whatever it is. It sounded too eerily familiar. It sounded too much like what the former pastor had preached, about how God would just take care of anything that he or his family was doing wrong, IF there was anything wrong at all. Don’t talk about it. Don’t do anything. Definitely don’t involve authorities. Just pray, and God will fix it.

God does fix some things. But God also made people with brains and hands and feet. He didn’t create puppets and he didn’t make us so that he could drag us around, doing everything for us. He wants us to think and to act. He never told people to remain silent in the face of injustice or wickedness. He never suggested that people should sit by and let sin continue while they waited for Him to miraculously save them from something they should have long since saved themselves from. And he never asked us to sacrifice our children – or ourselves, or HIM – by our silence.

1 Cor 5:1 I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. … 9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers…. 11 I  meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people…..

I’ve had that passage used against me. I was convinced for about a year that if I ate with anyone from my church, I’d be causing them to sin, tainting them with some unknown sin in my life. But when I take out the parts that we heard emphasized in the preaching and look at the rest of the verses in the passage, and especially when I look at it in another version than King James, the words surprise me. Don’t keep company with abusive people? Did Paul reprimand anyone for talking about what the man in this passage was doing? No, he only told them they should not have boasted.

How many church leaders fit the description in verse 11? And should we remain silent?

Yes, there are good pastors. There are good church leaders. But there are also bad ones, and pretending they aren’t there will not make them go away. Someone needs to speak.

When churches silence, part 1
When churches silence, part 2
When churches silence, part 3
When churches silence, part 4

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