The web site of Victory Fellowship Church in Council Bluffs, Iowa, has much in common with conservative evangelical churches that host fraudulent “ex-gay” ministries:
- It sells “sexual purity” to people who have been trained to feel “broken.”
- It preaches an emotion-driven pentecostal outlook which is not held accountable to history, science, or the constitutional rights and freedoms of minorities.
- Its leaders and school have few apparent credentials or certifications.
- Its youth ministry and home fellowship groups have no listed safeguards to protect participants.
- Its sole political objective in the 2010 elections was to prevent LGBT people from marrying by hijacking the state supreme court. The church expresses no concern whatsoever about the Iowa GOP’s growing fiscal mess, health care, racial prejudice, rising child abuse, Iowa’s rising and costly prison population, corporate pollution of Iowa’s air and farm water, the energy crisis, or any other moral concern.
Victory Fellowship’s pentecostal good feelings, its disinclination toward accreditation and accountability, its desire to harm LGBT couples, and its obliviousness to the consequences of its political actions, all made the church ripe for exploitation by an antigay sexual predator whose idea of curing homosexual men was to molest them, much like other antigay thugs practice corrective rape to “cure” lesbians.
In the wake of the arrest of Brent Girouex, 31, on 60 counts of suspected sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist, the church’s confession leaves much unsaid:
STATEMENT CONCERNING ABUSE CASE
Submitted by Teresa Nichols on Wed, 03/16/2011 – 2:09pm
Most of you are probably aware of the sad news concerning Brent Girouex who had been a trusted volunteer, Youth Pastor, and Elder at Victory Fellowship Church for over six years. This is a very difficult situation, and we are doing our best to do the right thing for each person involved.
Once the allegations were made known to us, it was with a heavy heart for the victims that we immediately demanded that Brent turn himself into the proper authorities.
To our knowledge, none of the crimes that were committed occurred at Victory Fellowship or during any church-related events. Regardless, our hearts still go out to the victims and to Brent’s family. We have secured and are providing a licensed counselor for these victims and have encouraged them all to undergo any necessary counseling. Thank you to everyone who has expressed their kindness and prayers for the victims as well as your generosity toward the family. We will continue to pray for the healing and restoration of each victim.
We are cooperating fully with the police in this case and recommend that any person having any information about this case should contact the Council Bluffs Police Department.
Thank you for your sensitivity and prayer for the victims.
LONNIE AND ELDER BOARD
The church was directly involved in Girouex’s “sexual purity” ministry, and it owes the public clearer answers.
- Action was not taken until at least four alleged victims came forward. How much time passed between the first report and the fourth?
- What safeguards were lacking, and what guidelines will the church enact to police its leaders and to protect congregants and area youth?
- What has the church learned about ex-gay sexual predation — anything at all?
- What donations were received by the church since 2007 on the basis of Girouex’s “sexual purity” ministry?
More broadly, the public should ask whether Girouex’s “sexual purity” ministry is substantially different from that of ex-gay guru, author, and former PFOX president Richard Cohen and his full-body “touch therapy” ministry, or the nude-encounter weekends that have been promoted by ex-gay think-tank NARTH.
Like other conservative churches that house antigay counselors, Victory Fellowship Church did too little to prevent abuse, and thus far has done too little to prevent further abuse in the future. Is the church’s ultimate goal the safety of its community — or political bluster and plausible deniability?
“all made the church ripe for exploitation by an antigay sexual predator whose idea of curing homosexuality was to practice it in an abusive fashion.”
Is this a joke?
This dirtbag’s a stone cold pedophile. He wasn’t out to cure s**t and he sure as hell wasn’t practicing homosexuality. He just lured his victims to his house with an offer of salvation instead of a more traditional form of baby raper bait, such as candy.
Fundamentalist Christianity is pure evil. It has no redeeming qualities at all. It tries to fake morality and charity, but all of that is as fake as the WWE.
To our knowledge, none of the crimes that were committed occurred at Victory Fellowship or during any church-related events…..this is known as trying to cover their big,fat, GUILTY asses and prevent law suits. I hope the victims sue this s**t-hole ‘church’ into oblivion.
[...] 1. A former youth pastor at an anti-gay church in Iowa is charged with 60 counts of sexual exploitation after he told police he molested young males to purify them in the eyes of God. Brent Girouex, 31, of Victory Fellowship Church in Council Bluffs, said he wanted to help the victims with homosexual urges by praying while they had sexual contact with him, according to police. “When they would ejaculate, they would be getting rid of the evil thoughts in their mind,” Girouex allegedly told authorities. In 2010, Victory Fellowship Church used its website to call on people to oust three Io0wa Supreme Court justices who voted to legalize same-sex marriage. Read more on Girouex’s church at Truth Wins Out. [...]
You know what else is sickening? If a youth pastor had counseled LGBTQ youth that it’s alright to be LGBTQ and that people can reconcile their faith with their sexuality, then they would have been kicket out and excommunicated in a heartbeat. It’s amazing that if religious leaders preach love, tolerance, and acceptance (things discussed throughout the New Testament) then they are immediately disavowed and defrocked. However, if they sexually, emotionally, or spiritually abuse their congregants, then they must be forgiven and prayed for. Is that really what Jesus stood for?
“Is that really what Jesus stood for?”
As far as I can tell, Jesus would stand for anything any church does at any time. Otherwise, every catholic chuirch in the world would be a smoking mass of ruins 500 years ago.
Hunger, good point — I have reworded that sentence. Thanks.
At the risk of being tedious, from what I’ve read the majority of his victims (or at least the ones known to date) were underaged.
If he’d restrained his activities to adults I’d be in point and laugh mode. But assaulting kids isn’t funny.
The Bible does not teach tolerance, God is intolerant to all sin.