N O R O O M F O R H I M • W i t h i n r e l i g i o u s h y p o c r i s yPDL tactics within AG-USAKEVIN BISHOP was saved in anAssemblies of God church in 1985and was called by God to preachthe gospel of Jesus Christ. In 1992he graduated from one of thedenomination’s premier schools, Central BibleCollege in Springfield, MO, excited and eager toserve the Lord and win people to Christ.Immediately after graduating from thisesteemed Bible school he served as a youth pastorin Delphos, OH, starting with 13 young people.Within eight months the group grew to over 80 ineach mid-week service, and more than 100 at theFriday night outreach. Young people from everywalk of life were being transformed. The serviceswere filled with a sense of the presence, powerand glory of God. It was a most rewarding time inKevin Bishop’s early ministry.2Editorial Note: Following our exposé of AG-USA in CETF 36 and the joint email campaigncarried out by James Sundquist and PhilipPowell a number of AG-USA “pastors”have responded. In the Letters pages ofthis issue of CETF we have published someof the responses. The following true storyis another piece of evidence that all is notwell within Assemblies of God. We wonderhow many more Ray Barnetts, Saied Adoursand Kevin Bishops have been victims ofthe high handed tactics of AG leaders likeThomas Trask and Arden Adamson et alin USA, and how many in other countrieshave fallen foul of the same “lording it overGod’s heritage” tactics by their hierarchies.Those who, after reading this article,which, in the first place, came to CWMunsolicited, who have a similar story to tellare invited to contact the publishers—seefront cover. The attitude and action of theAG-USA leadership towards Kevin andSharon Bishop and their young family arealmost unf<strong>org</strong>ivable. They lost their churchbuildings and the church family that theyhad built up over several years. They wereeffectively driven into the embrace of theheretical Word Faith movement. Kevinstill struggles between their clearly falseteaching on the one hand and the kindnesson the other of a group which reached outto him when his own “kicked him in theteeth’. That struggle continues and we, inCWM, and our associates in USA, want tostand with Kevin and Sharon Bishop as theyget to grips with the real issues. Telling theirstory is part of that support.By KEVIN BISHOPwith PHILIP L. POWELLIn 1993 he married Sharon. Together theyserved faithfully and saw numeric growth in theiryouth ministry as they began to flourish spirituallyas a team. Being appreciated and well supportedby the church they also led praise and worshipand so served in a double role. The church wasgrowing and prospering. Then the senior pastorfell from grace and split the church. At that timethe congregation was close to 300 but was soonreduced to seventy-five.In the midst of the turmoil Kevin and Sharonprayed for guidance regarding their future ministryand received a number of offers and wereinterviewed at various places. Then the boardof the church where they were serving as youthpastors invited Kevin to be their pastor.They were appointed in 1995 with the fullbacking of the congregation, which increasednumerically to become one of the strongestchurches in the area. People were led to the Lordand filled with the Holy Spirit. Once more theDelphos, OH Assemblies of God was growingand prospering. Challenges associated with theprevious senior pastor’s fall were faced by thisyoung couple and were overcome and turned intovictories with the Lord’s help and by His grace. By1999 the financial debt on the sanctuary had beentotally discharged.Then Kevin and Sharon sensing a new burdenof ministry and with the total support andrecommendation of Robert Crabtree, Ohio’s AGdistrict superintendent began to send out resumesacross the country. Their future seemed brightwithin Assemblies of God. They were strongleaders and God had blessed their ministry withgrowth and success. They were full of energy andenthusiasm ready to take on the next challengein ministry.In the autumn of 1999 the late Cecil Dewitt,board member of a struggling church in WisconsinRapids, WI invited Kevin to send them a fewpreaching tapes. A few weeks later, the boardof deacons invited the Bishops to an interview.Mr Dewitt told Kevin that his was the kind ofministry that was needed in the church. The RapidsAssembly of God comprised of a 48,000 squarefeet building with multiple classrooms, offices, alarge sanctuary and hardly anyone attending. Kevinsaw the potential. He and Sharon ministered anda business meeting followed the serviceThere were approximately 40 memberspresent. The vote fell just short of the 85% minimumset by Kevin and Sharon so they respectfullydeclined the offer and returned home. On arrival,there was a message from one of the districtofficers on their answering system asking themto reconsider. He told them that the total votesin favour was above the minimum required andassured them that their type of ministry wasexactly what the church needed.Kevin went to prayer about it and thencontacted the Wisconsin Northern MichiganDistrict Council (WNMDC) of the Assemblies ofGod and stated that he would accept the pastorate.In November 1999 Kevin, Sharon and Levi, theironly son at that time, moved to Wisconsin Rapids,WI. They went full of faith, to see people saved,healed and delivered. The struggling church beganto grow under the blessing of God whose presencewas felt among His people.At the first service after installation, twentypeople accepted or rededicated their lives to theLord Jesus Christ. After that service Cecil Dewitt,the deacon, cried as he told Kevin that this wasthe first altar call he had ever seen in almost sevenyears in that church. The news began to spreadthrough the city and surrounding areas. In a matterof months the Rapids church was numbering closeto a hundred. Approximately six months after beinginstalled into the church, Joel Pavia, the districtsuperintendent, asked Kevin to meet him for lunchand told him that he was doing a great job.During this lunch meeting Kevin was informedthat the church had experienced some majorstruggles in the past with two large splits. Thisalarmed him yet he responded with faith andcourage. In the year 2000 Kevin invited RobertPerdue, a close evangelist friend to conduct arevival campaign. He was an older man of Godand Kevin’s mentor, who teaches solely on prayer.It was planned to last for one week, but extendedto six with people coming from all over the area.The church experienced another growth spurt toover two hundred.Sometime in 2001 Kevin received a letter fromthe Assemblies of God stating that the churchhe was leading was one of the fastest growingchurches in the area. Kevin and Sharon and theircongregation felt excited and honoured. The futurewas looking bright and full of potential.Unfortunately Joel Pavia resigned from hisoffice in the district. Arden Adamson replacedhim and this is when the Bishops’ troublesbegan. Adamson used his power to pressure thisyoung man of God. One night he and anotherpresbyter showed up at a meeting uninvited bythe young pastor. They claimed that Kevin wasdoing everything wrong and that his affiliationwith World Harvest Ministries 1 in Columbus, OHwas alarming.Adamson wanted Kevin and his deacon boardto come to Waupaca to “sort out their differences”.1 Word of Faith (WoF) style Church so AG were right tobe “alarmed” but hypocritical seeing Thomas Trask et alhave clear links with WoF doctrines and Churches. This isdishonest —Ed.
W i t h i n r e l i g i o u s h y p o c r i s y • N O R O O M F O R H I MKevin Bishop outside the church building that was stolen from him by the AG–District.The church secretary called the district to cancelthe meeting and was told, “You cannot do that. Allthe presbyters will be here for the meeting”. Kevinknew something was wrong. He sensed they weretrying to force him out of the church.Rapids’ board of deacons worked hard torewrite their constitution and bylaws to preventdistrict control of the local church. They presentedthe rewritten constitution and bylaws to thecongregation, who approved and adopted the newdocuments. The church thought it was freed fromany district control. They had acted lawfully and“by the book” so they thought.However the district filed a suit against Kevinand his ministry, laying claim to the building andassets. Also, a pastor of another local AG churchcontacted him and told him that he had received aletter from the district stating that he was to “stayaway from Bishop”. Rev Perdue also received athreatening letter from the WNMDC forbidding himfrom preaching for the church any longer.About the same time Kevin received a callfrom a friend in Texas claiming that he had aprophetic word for him that the “denominationwill tell others to stay away from the uncleananimal”. The local church pastor who informedKevin of the letter, leaked it to members of hiscongregation. Rumours and lies started to pile upin the small town of Wisconsin Rapids. Attendancebegan to wane and the struggle took its toll on theministry. This led to inner turmoil, gossip andbackbitingThe district hired some slick attorneys andbegan to destroy the psyche of Kevin and thechurch that was now struggling to stay afloat. Thedistrict’s attorney 1 aided by the General Council(AG) in Springfield, MO found some loopholesin the constitution and claimed the building andassets of the church. The struggle took its toll1 An attorney in USA would be called a “lawyer” inAustralasia and Britainon the Bishops’ marriage, health and ministry.Finally, after enough fighting, loss of attendees,legal bills and a destroyed financial base, Kevinresigned as pastor.His health deteriorating, his marriage strainedand his own personal well being almost destroyedby the conflict, Kevin was ready to walk awayfrom everything. He did not know how muchmore he could take. At one point he contemplatedsuicide. However, his wife and a small group fromthe original church encouraged him to keep ongoing and together they formed Living WatersFellowship Church now called CornerstoneCommunity Church of Wisconsin Rapids, WI.After Kevin started this new church, the AG-WNMDC was still in pursuit of the building andparsonage. Two local church board members dealtwith the district including Clifford Smits, who wasassured that the WNMDC would pay all the finalbills that were incurred by the corporation if thebuilding and properties were just handed overto them.Smits agreed and the paperwork wascompleted and signed in a closed meeting.Kevin Bishop was not present in that meeting. Thedistrict lied again. The attorneys for the WNMDCsent the bill collectors to the Bishops’ house. Kevinhad to appear in court to defend himself. He hiredanother attorney who suggested that he file forbankruptcy to protect himself from the multiplethousands of dollars of debt. To this day Bishophas an attorney defending him in matters of thestate and federal government for back payroll taxesnever taken care of by the corporation or by the AGdistrict notwithstanding their promises.The WNMDC sold the church for $500,000and the parsonage for $120,000—much less thanthe joint value. So the district walked away with$620,000 while burdening the Bishops with theoutstanding bills of the corporation. This ghost ofthe past is still following Kevin and his ministry.If it weren’t for the grace of God, he would havewalked away from ministry altogether. This is theAssemblies of God in USA and how they will treattheir ministers if it suits their purpose.This frightening past continues to hinder hisministry in the town where Kevin serves as pastorin the small church he started. To this day, peopleattack newcomers. Being a small community it’slike everyone knows everybody. As soon as anyonevisits Cornerstone Community Church, Kevin andhis group are attacked with lies and rumours.By the grace of God Kevin continues to holdhis ground, believing that God has called him tothe city where he now serves. A wonderful wife,family and congregation stand with him in thework. The road has been rough, but they have andwill persevere notwithstanding the emotional painthat Kevin still suffers. He and his family and theirsmall Church Fellowship know that it is God whosustains them and will see them through.This is written as a genuine expression ofconcern about the trend of a one time godly“movement” which Kevin and others of us wereproud to serve our Lord among. Sadly, experienceindicates that it has become a self servingdenomination that is increasingly controlled byambitious self serving men who claim to be godlyministers.3
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