I recently received word a man I knew from my former church passed away after battling a long illness for years. While the details of his illness are not known, the part that stands out to me is whether or not the individual made peace with his family as well as with his Maker.
I attended and worshiped at the same church with him for over 16 years. We sat in the same lectures from the pulpit about how we were to place our “calling” above all other relationships, including those with our loved ones. Some of us had intimate relationships with a significant other (I had a girlfriend when I joined the church, and still maintain my involvement ended our relationship). One of the Scriptures used to teach us the priority of our ministerial calling was found in Matthew.
Matthew 19:29 (KJV) – And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
We were told for the longest time that if we spent more of our vacation/leave time with our families instead of the church, we were wrong. Some of my friends in the church admitted they completely ruined their relationships with parents and siblings all in the name of obedience to the church and its teachings. I was fortunate not to have done this, but nonetheless my own family relations were strained.
My friend who passed recently was one of those whose devotion to what he felt was God’s calling – remaining single, forsaking family, and devoting every waking moment to the ministry – took a serious toll on him over the years. As his health deteriorated, the one question unanswered is this: did he reconsider some of his decisions and make amends with loved ones who weren’t part of the church? I pray he did, but will never know.
Some of the men who still attend are in similar straits. Their only family is in the church; their natural family relationships are strained almost beyond repair. A couple of them are left with no option as they have no surviving family members left. That is just as bad, as they have no one to turn to outside the church.
I still believe Jesus wants us to place Him first, but not completely sever family ties in doing so. How can destroying a relationship with one’s parents fulfill this Scripture?
Exodus 20:12 (KJV) – Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Answer: It doesn’t.
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United Pentecostal Pastor Stephen Barker, Raul Rodriguez & A Lawsuit Part 2
This is the 44th installment in this series and a follow up to my first article on this lawsuit, which is found here. This concerns a lawsuit filed on December 3, 2020 by United Pentecostal Church pastor Stephen Barker against Emily Calderon. She is a former church member, who since 2020 has been very outspoken about multiple cases of alleged sexual abuse involving Raul Rodriguez, a long-time member of Mount Zion Apostolic Church in Visalia (Goshen), California. There are at least four different allegations of such behavior against him. The defamation lawsuit is also against twenty unnamed individuals and seeks payment of a half million dollars. This is case VCU285173. A settlement conference is scheduled for December 20, 2021, with a jury trial scheduled for January 31, 2022.
Before going further, I want to make clear once again that this lawsuit is a public record, I believe the pastor would be considered a public figure, and as such people are free to discuss this case and the issues involved with it, sharing their thoughts and opinions. In addition, the issue of sexual abuse is unquestionably a very public issue.
There are several things which have happened since my August 29th article.
On July 15, 2021, Mount Zion Apostolic Church filed a civil petition for harassment against Emily Calderon and a temporary restraining order was denied on August 2. The court case was scheduled for September 15, 2021 where it was dismissed, no ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution). I was aware of this civil action when I wrote the first article.
Raul Rodriguez passed away on September 5, 2021, after a battle with COVID. He was just shy of turning 40. He was not one of the people who filed the lawsuit and more information on his church involvement is found in the first article. Raul was never arrested or charged before he passed away.
Due to the overwhelming legal costs involved in such a lawsuit, in mid October Emily had to let her attorney go. At that point she claimed to have gone into debt for $40,000-$50,000. While she has counter sued and is asking that they be made to pay for all her attorney fees, that won’t be decided upon for awhile yet. She has had some people contribute toward the cost. I don’t often share fundraisers, but am doing so now as it is my opinion that the lawsuit filed against her is ridiculous and frivolous, meant to shut her up, as well as bankrupt her (more on this below). For anyone interested in helping, she can accept funds through Zelle using Acts238steven@icloud.com and through Cash app or Venmo using @EmmieLuWho. She also recently set up a PayPal fundraiser that is time limited. As she now has over 10,000 followers on TikTok, if everyone gave just $5, she would have her debt paid. For those who will, please pray for her.
Unfortunately, Emily has received much harassment due to being vocal, sometimes coming from people setting up fake profiles on Facebook. She has shared some of these. While it hasn’t yet been proven who has been responsible for those, anyone doing such should understand that Facebook, or any other social media, knows how you are accessing their platform and they record your IP address. They can also identify that with a real profile and people can risk losing access to their platform. None of these places permit harassment or threats to others.
In the first article there were several things shared that had gone missing online, something I have seen time and again through the years when an issue is exposed. Since then, Mt. Zion Apostolic Church also removed their Sunday School Facebook page. (This link will not work.) At least one screen shot from there was shared in my article.
On November 1, Ron Craig Barker, the father of Stephen Barker and Kristen Rodriguez, passed away. In a recording made where he was speaking with Emily’s husband, he can be heard saying that he was going to “sue you guys until you ain’t got nothing left.” It appears he was the main person pushing the lawsuit. You can hear his words for yourself here. It has been felt that it was Ron’s money that financed the lawsuit. It is yet to be seen whether his passing will bring an end to it.
There seems to have been a problem in the Western District with the letter Emily’s lawyer sent to the Board in the summer. It appears that this letter, along with a copy of the lawsuit, was not passed on to all the members of the District Board. USPS tracking showed that it was picked up the morning of June 28, 2021. Gaylen Cantrell is the District Superintendent. As shared in the first article, Mount Zion Apostolic Church previously had as its pastor Harvey C. Cantrell, who is Gaylen’s father. Harvey was the pastor 17 years ago when Meghan Estrada (now Robles), a preacher’s kid, was allegedly groomed and molested for over a year by Raul Rodriguez, starting when she was 13 years old and he was 23.
The non-distribution of the letter was discovered after Emily Calderon released a TikTok on October 7, 2021 about a sermon made by Western District board presbyter Steven McDaniel on July 7, 2021 at Revival Worship Center, the church where he is pastor. By late evening the following day, the video of this sermon disappeared from the church Facebook Page after having been available since July 7. On October 7 I also posted about the video but only addressed him pondering if one could be a Christian without going to church. Emily had questioned the timing of the sermon due to the fact it was preached after the post office delivered the letter to the District. In the message McDaniel talked about fornication and sexual impurity, about if a preacher falls and people being unforgiving. He spoke against social media, and stated there are bitter people, “hoping and wanting and looking for some sort of moral failure.” Despite the video having been removed, some of us recorded parts of it.
On October 9, Emily shared that one board member had responded saying that members had not received the letter or the copy of the lawsuit. To me, this would mean that whoever picked the letter up at the post office did not pass it along to the other board members. Whether this would be the secretary, the superintendent or someone else, we do not know.
What I can say is that I believe some actions of the United Pentecostal Western District have been extremely disappointing and wrong. Another of their presbyters, Jesse Pinheiro, recently spoke at Centro Vida Church, where the board previously found John Shivers guilty of several charges and had told him to step down as pastor. Despite this, Shivers is still considered the pastor, the church website touts him as being in charge, even though he no longer holds license with the UPC. According to their rules, he shouldn’t be speaking in any UPC church, nor should UPC ministers be speaking at his church. More on this will follow in an upcoming article.
Added November 14: Sign Emily’s petition here.
You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.
Giveaway: Heretics & Politics: Theology, Power, and Perception in the Last Days of CBC
This is only open to those with a USA mailing address.
This is your chance to receive a new copy of Heretics & Politics: Theology, Power, and Perception in the Last Days of CBC by Thomas Fudge. It is the second book in his series on Oneness Pentecostalism. It sells for $29.95. It covers the United Pentecostal Church sponsored Conquerors Bible College that was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1953 and abruptly closed in 1983. Fudge attended this college. Former UPCI minister Don Fisher is addressed in this book as he used to be the president of the college. Some will also be interested in his daughter’s memoir, The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher’s Kid, by Ronna Russell.
This giveaway is a drawing and not a first come, first served giveaway. To enter, just leave a comment to show you wish to be included. The drawing will close on November 4, 2021 at 6pm (eastern time), after which I will draw the winner. Be sure to check back to see if you have won as in the past some people have not responded after winning and so a new winner had to be drawn. You will then need to email me your mailing address if I do not already have it, so be sure to watch your email and check the spam folder. There is absolutely no cost to enter. Don’t be alarmed if your comment does not immediately show as they require approval when you are commenting for the first time.
We always provide these at no charge to our readers. If anyone would like to help with the expenses involved in providing material to people, you may do so via our Fundraiser at GoFundMe.
Some might be interested in a series of lectures by Thomas Fudge on the history of Christianity from the Roman Empire until the Reformation. https://youtu.be/WgTDplQabRk
Giveaway: C.H. Yadon and the Vanishing Theological Past in Oneness Pentecostalism
This is only open to those with a USA mailing address.
This is your chance to receive a used copy of C.H. Yadon and the Vanishing Theological Past in Oneness Pentecostalism by Thomas Fudge. It is the third book in his series on Oneness Pentecostalism. It sells new for $29.95. The copy we are giving away does not have its dust jacket and appears to be unmarked inside. It covers Oneness Pentecostal history, and highlights the United Pentecostal Church, of which Mr. Fudge was once a member. The emphasis is on the life of C.H. Yadon. Yadon turned in his UPC license in 1993 when the affirmation statement started being required of all ministers. Over the years, the UPCI has pushed various people out of the organization for one reason or another.
United Pentecostal General Superintendent David Bernard did not want this book to be published and his comments are included in Fudge’s work. His comments alone are a good reason to want to read this book as the UPCI doesn’t want aspects of their actual history known. This is what he wrote:
“I do not recommend the book for publication, for the following reasons: (1) The audience is extremely limited. The focus and tone are too narrow to appeal to most scholars. The subject matter is of interest primarily to Oneness Pentecostals, but C.H. Yadon is not a well-known figure in the movement’s history, and those who would be interested could be repelled by the harsh anti-UPC rhetoric. Thus, the most likely readers are those who have left the Oneness Pentecostal movement or who are considering it. (2) The research does not meet scholarly standards. It doesn’t adequately engage the latest scholarship in the field. It doesn’t consider or interact meaningfully with opposing evidence or alternative views. It relies excessively on marginal, questionable, or unverifiable sources with inadequate attention to readily available, documented, and credible sources. (3) It is a mixture of historical analysis and theological debate, but doesn’t fully complete either task successfully. In any case, the author has already covered this ground in a previous book. (4) It gives excessive space and coverage to a little-known, insignificant work by a nineteenth-century, semi-Arian writer. Since that work doesn’t represent a significant position within Oneness Pentecostalism, it has limited historical or theological value. (5) The family of C.H. Yadon opposes publication.”
This giveaway is a drawing and not a first come, first served giveaway. To enter, just leave a comment to show you wish to be included. The drawing will close on October 17, 2021 at 6pm (eastern time), after which I will draw the winner. Be sure to check back to see if you have won as in the past some people have not responded after winning and so a new winner had to be drawn. You will then need to email me your mailing address if I do not already have it, so be sure to watch your email and check the spam folder. There is absolutely no cost to enter. Don’t be alarmed if your comment does not immediately show as they require approval when you are commenting for the first time.
We always provide these at no charge to our readers. If anyone would like to help with the expenses involved in providing material to people, you may do so via our Fundraiser at GoFundMe.
Some might be interested in a series of lectures by Thomas Fudge on the history of Christianity from the Roman Empire until the Reformation. https://youtu.be/WgTDplQabRk
Former United Pentecostal Minister Roland Stirnemann Sex Offender
The 43rd installment in this series about sexual abuse in the United Pentecostal Church takes place in Michigan. This concerns a former UPCI minister, Roland “Ro” Stirnemann, who plead guilty in January 2009 to two of four sexual abuse charges involving a minor, starting when she was six years old. At the time of his arrest in 2008, he had not been licensed through the UPCI for several years. However, one of the charges involved the time when he yet held license. He is a registered sex offender in Michigan [screen shot]. (He is non-compliant as of at least June 21, 2023. screenshot He has since been compliant as of at least July 11, 2023.) As Stirneman similarly asked in his article, Sodom’s Subtle Seduction, I will similarly ask, “How did Roland Stirnemann get to the place where he was able to overlook the obvious immorality of his actions, time and time again?” [Warning: this article shares details of his crimes.]
Roland K. Stirnemann was born on September 11, 1962. He married his wife, Sue Ellen, in 1981, a year after he graduated high school, and they have two sons, which were adopted from the UPCI endorsed Tupelo Children’s Mansion. He’s a 4th generation Oneness Pentecostal and yet touts himself as a minister [source]. Roland first appears in the 1990 UPCI Directory with a general license, which means he received it in 1989, and it shows him as living in Fall River, Massachusetts. At that time, his brother Jay was pastor of an affiliated UPCI church in that town and Roland started helping at his brother’s small church after graduating from Bible College, but before obtaining his license, which was granted soon after moving there. He preached and taught some at the church, gave personal Bible studies, and taught the high school Sunday School class. Stirnemann claims that God spoke to him almost 30 years ago, that he was to be a watchman and an intercessor on behalf of the church [source: The Last Trump, page 9].
Prior to this, he helped for years at the Faith Apostolic Church of Troy, a UPCI church in Michigan, as did his late father, Robert Walter Stirnemann. I am told he was considered an elder at Faith Apostolic. He claims to have done missionary work in Africa, Central and South America and the Caribbean [source]. It appears this work was done through the United Pentecostal Church’s AIM (Associates in Missions) program, which is a short term entry-level missions program that any UPC member may request to attend. He was never appointed as a missionary in the organization and it has been shared he collected donations to help pay for these trips.
In 1991 Roland is listed as living in Clawson, Michigan and in 1999 he is seen in Auburn Hills. [Note: I do not have 1993-1998 Directories.] He is last seen listed in the 2001 UPCI Directory, which means he could have no longer been licensed near the end of 2000 or some time in 2001. I am unaware as to whether he dropped out of the organization or if they dismissed him. His brother, Jay Robert Stirnemann, was licensed long before Roland and has served as the District Superintendent of the Massachusetts/Rhode Island District since 2010. Jay has also been the pastor of Christ Temple United Pentecostal Church in Tiverton since 1986.
This is case 2008-223287-FH. The charges against Roland K. Stirnemann were 750.520c (criminal sexual conduct in the second degree; felony; multiple variables), 750.520e (criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree; misdemeanor), 750.520c1b (criminal sexual conduct in the second degree; felony; relation) and 750.520d1d (criminal sexual conduct in the third degree; felony). Regarding 750.520c, it’s the second most serious form of criminal sexual conduct in Michigan. It mainly applies to sexual contact of victims under particularly egregious circumstances [source]. The charges spanned from 1997 through 2008. Stirnemann was represented by attorney Jerome L. Fenton, who appears to now practice in Arizona.
It appears Roland Stirnemann was attending the Apostolic Church of Auburn Hills at this time as Steve Warman, then a UPCI minister, was listed among the 28 potential witnesses in the court records. That church is last seen in the 2013 UPCI Directory, so the church could have left anywhere between late 2012 and at any point in 2013. Apparently Stirnemann has been unhappy with the direction the church has taken as can be seen in his Apostolic Witchcraft article, which he also posted on at least one Facebook group. In it, he partially laments about being “greeted at the door by a lady in slacks with hair chopped to her shoulders, her face laden with makeup and jewelry.” The woman was 4th generation Apostolic and neither her husband, who was there with her, or the church elders said anything about it. And, gasp, another 4th generation woman, a praise singer, wore tiny earrings! He claims that God spoke to him about his sons’ rebellion at the time and pointed out how they “see rebellion in their local church from the greeting at the front door to the platform.” I have seen too much of this where men who are strict or very judgmental about these standards (and other things) are often found to be hiding something in their lives.
On January 15, 2009, Stirnemann entered a guilty plea for 750.520c and 750.520c1b and the other two charges were dropped as a result of the agreement. On February 4, 2009, he was sentenced by Judge Wendy Potts to 365 days in prison and was given credit for 20 days. He was ordered to pay $5,000 restitution, as well as some other fees that totaled $680.00. In addition, he was to pay a supervision fee to the Department of Corrections in the amount of $3,000. He was to be on five years of probation where he was to have no contact with children under 18 and was forbidden to be in a leadership role in schools, churches or sporting events, nor could there be any activities with children under 18. He was also ordered to have no contact of any kind with the victim or her family and he had to stay at least 500 feet away from their home, places of employment and school.
On March 3, 2012, the court allowed Stirnemann to return to his marital home. It appears that at least part of the time after his arrest he had been living at his parent’s home in Madison Heights.
In an article he wrote in 2018, Roland Stirnemann claimed to be a seeker of truth. With that in mind, let’s look at the truth of the sexual crimes he committed. None of his brazen intentional actions can be identified as mistakes, nor accidents. Each was deliberate, with him knowing exactly what he was doing. It wasn’t a one-time event, not that this would be acceptable, but these happened over the course of 11 years- 11 years. Had he not been reported to the police and arrested in 2008, every sign pointed to the fact that he would have continued and probably would have eventually raped this young girl. In cases such as this, one must also wonder if there are other victims, as people who do such things usually don’t stop with one person.
Based on the testimony given at Stirnemann’s probable cause hearing in October 2008, these are his crimes:
- In 1997 or 1998 in her bedroom, when the girl was only six years old, he put his hand up her skirt and touched her vagina with his hand.
- In 2006 or 2007 at her grandmother’s home, he came up behind her where she was sitting and put his hand down her shirt, touching one breast under her bra.
- In June or July of 2008 in the hallway at her home, he put his hand up her skirt, touched her vagina with his hand underneath her underwear and inserted his finger.
- In August 2008 in her bedroom, after asking if anyone was there with her, he reached out and touched her breast with his hand.
- At Stirnemann’s home when she was 13 or 14, he came up to her while both were standing, placed his arms around her and forcefully starting kissing her on the lips with his lips and tongue. After she resisted, he stepped aside and said, “I need to teach you how to kiss.”
All of the above occurred when other people were present in the homes, but was not witnessed by them. In addition to these, the following also occurred, but these charges were not included in Stirnemann’s arrest as they happened in an area outside the jurisdiction of the court. They were allowed to be presented under MCL 768.27a. “When a defendant is charged with a sexual offense against a minor, the prosecution may now introduce evidence of a defendant’s uncharged sexual offenses against minors without having to justify the admissibility of the evidence.” [source]
- In 2005 or 2006 at a cottage in Michigan, he stood in the bathroom with the door open and his pants and underwear down, exposing himself to her. [NOTE: I have been in contact with one woman whose sister alleges that Stirnemann did this on more than one occasion to her from inside his home, in front of a picture window. It was shared that at times he walked around his home naked in front of this window when his wife was not present.]
- Another time when she was going to walk into the living room, he grabbed her hand and put it up his shorts, forcing her to touch his penis under his clothing.
- Another time when she was standing in the kitchen, he came up behind her and put his hand down her skirt and underwear and touched her vagina.
After he was released from prison, he wrote three religious related books: Who Am I?: Your Son’s Search For Identity released in 2017, The Last Trump: A Clarion Call To End Time Believers in 2019 and Marred in the Potter’s Hand: A Collection of Inspirational Devotionals in 2020. Stirnemann also started a blog in November 2014, which is no longer in operation.
What is especially sickening about this blog is an entry titled, Maintaining My Character In The Middle Of Hell, which Stirnemann wrote about his imprisonment. He starts by stating, “This is the most transparent I have been since the founding of my blog” and shares it was originally written in the Spring of 2010, which would have been after he’d been released, but was yet on probation. He calls this a “traumatic experience” and goes on to state, “The enemy did his best to destroy the strong bonds and beautiful family my wife and I had cultivated over a long period of time but he lost.” [screen shot]
No, ‘the enemy’ did no such thing, as Stirnemann was arrested and charged for sexual crimes he had been committing for a decade. After reading the testimony of the victim, this article is infuriating, how he attempts to describe what he and his family went through with no concern shown for the harm he repeatedly inflicted.
About 9 months before my arrest I had begun going to the church every morning for about an hour to pray with a group of men from my church. …I knew God was preparing me for something. I thought He was getting me ready for my next step of personal ministry. …I had no idea that all of that preparation was God’s way of building character in me for the 14 months I would end up spending in jail separated from my family. I honestly don’t believe I would have made it emotionally, mentally, and spiritually through that time period had I not spent those 9 months in regular prayer preparing for this test. – Roland Stirnemann, posted on his blog December 23, 2015 [screen shot]
In other words, in his mind God prompted him to pray like this to prepare him for his arrest and imprisonment, a ‘test,’ but amazingly God apparently never bothered to prompt him to pray before each of the numerous times he molested this girl, in an effort to prevent the abuse. Apparently God wasn’t interested in ‘building his character’ during those eleven years that he sexually abused her.
He never shares or even hints at the reasons why he spent time in prison and specifically referred to this time as a “test” and “things life can blindside us with.” He never once mentions his victim, nor what she would have endured and experienced due to his repeated criminal actions. Never once is any concern shown for what she might face throughout her life because of his perverted sexual desires. Absent are any concerns of how his actions may have affected her spiritually.
In his final paragraph he writes in part, “Yes, character is essential to making it through the tough times in life, but what most do not understand is that character is developed moment by moment through the most mundane routines of life before trouble ever comes our way. I think for me the greatest testimony to my own personal character has been the way others have responded to me since I have been released from jail. I thought some might treat me like a pariah but that has not been the case. I have been welcomed and hugged with open arms by many whom I didn’t even think really knew me. But it is now apparent to me that all those years of treating people properly and just being consistent in my daily good living is bearing fruit in how others are responding to my family and me in our time of need.” [screen shot]
Against the rules of Facebook, as they do not allow registered sex offenders on their platform, Roland Stirnemann had a personal profile [screen shot] as well as one where he featured his books [screen shot]. Facebook removed them prior to the writing of this article.
You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.
