The youth leadership director of a large, multi-site megachurch in Ohio was fired last week after he was found to be secretly recording women working out at a local gym.
Joel Firebaugh, head of the Next Gen ministry at Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, was dismissed after police contacted Crossroads last Thursday, said an email to congregants from Senior Pastor Brian Tome.
The email, obtained by El Informe Roys (TRR) and local media, said police reported “Joel secretly filming women who were working out without their consent” at Crunch Fitness in the city’s Oakley neighborhood. Crossroads also al corriente the email on its website.
Tome described the alleged conduct as a gross violation of the standards expected of church employees and said Firebaugh “has been removed from staff.”
Cincinnati police have opened an investigation into the alleged recording, according to the email.
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The alleged incident at Crunch Fitness in Oakley comes amid broader public concern over voyeurism and secret recording in gyms and other businesses. Customers often expect a measure of privacy in such settings despite the presence of security cameras and smartphones. Although it’s considered rude and intrusive to record people working out without their consent, it may not be illegal.
The church said it is “fully cooperating with all parties involved.” Police have not yet released a public incident report.
The Cincinnati Police Department did not immediately respond to inquiries from TRR.
No details were immediately available about possible criminal charges, how many women may have been involved, nor what device was allegedly used to record the videos.
Erin Caproni, director of public relations for the church, told TRR via email on Sunday that Firebaugh “(s)tarted on staff in 2021.”
While not detailing Firebaugh’s work history, she said all Crossroads “staff as well as any volunteers who serve with children and students” undergo a background check as part of the onboarding process.
Caproni said the checks are “redone every three years and (all) those people also go through regular training about protocols in place to protect minors including things like adult to child ratios where an adult isn’t alone with a student or child. Security cameras are also installed in all of our student and kids’ spaces for safety.”
In his email, Tome said, “We’re grieved that this occurred and willing to offer any support to those who were harmed.”
“We’re grieved that this occurred and willing to offer any support to those who were harmed,” Tome’s email said.
The message added that this is the first time “anything like this has been reported relative to Joel.”
Church leaders said they have “no additional knowledge of any additional incidents” of similar behavior involving the Crossroads community or its facilities.
Crossroads said it is undergoing “additional due diligence” to determine whether any other incidents occurred. The church invited anyone with information to reply to the church email or contact Cincinnati police.
In the message, Tome wrote that he and staff members are “grieved over this and are doing some processing and prayer of our own.”
The email framed the situation in terms of Christian teachings on confession, sin and accountability.
Firebaugh served as director of Crossroads’ Next Gen program, which the church describes on its website as a track for “potential young leaders” to “explore a career in ministry and develop (their) leadership skills.”
Church leaders said they are working to ensure the staffing change “does not negatively impact the ministry of Next Gen or connected families.”
The email encouraged congregants to contact staff at their site for space “to process, pray, or ask questions.”
Crossroads was founded in the mid-1990s and has grown into one of the largest churches in the United States.
The interdenominational megachurch has multiple locations in Ohio and Kentucky and maintains a sizable online audience.
Previous media reports and public descriptions state an average weekend attendance of about 22,700 across five Cincinnati-area sites in 2015.
It has since expanded to nine physical locations in Ohio and Kentucky. The church is independently governed and is not formally affiliated with a specific denomination. It is generally described as evangelical and interdenominational.
This article has been updated to include statements Crossroads sent to TRR on Sunday.
Mark A. Kellner is a reporter based in Mesquite, Nevada. He most recently covered statewide elections for the Correo de Nueva York and was for three years the Faith & Family Reporter for el tiempo de washington. Mark is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands and also attended Boston University’s College of Communication.
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8 Responses
“It is generally described as evangelical and interdenominational.”
“Interdenominational” denotes two or more denominations as influences or in some kind of cooperation. It would have been good journalism to find out what the two or more denominations are. As an alternative, the reporter could have determined that “interdenominational” is an incorrect term.
Interesting situation. Making audio or video recordings of people in a public setting is generally considered “not really a thing” by the law unless the recordings include minors or are used in a crime such as blackmail.
Based on my experience, interdenominational usually means not adhering to the distinctives of any denomination. People of various evangelical denominational backgrounds would feel comfortable attending there. Kind of like what a “community church” in small towns used to be.
How would that be different from “non-denominational”? Just the word? I once attended a church that was “interdenominational” in the sense that the pastor and the founding team represented three specific denominations. (I don’t remember what they were: I was a teenager.)
“Interesting situation. Making audio or video recordings of people in a public setting is generally considered “not really a thing” by the law unless the recordings include minors or are used in a crime such as blackmail.”
The videos were no doubt being used for sexual gratification or to be shared online. I consider that to be inappropriate.
I think it’s wrong, as well, but that doesn’t mean it’s illegal.
I have attended Crossroads since moving to Cincinnati 5 years ago and recieved the email.
What strikes me about this is that it was the church that blew the whistle on itself. Crossroads did not try to hush this up. It did not wait until police actions made this public or to see if any laws were broken.
The email also stated “Bad and sinful choices should never be concealed but brought into the light.”. It seems to be doing just that.
In yesterday’s service Brian Tome also stated that he is going to be releasing an article this week about how churches in general should respond to these kinds of situations.
Brian Tome has NDAs for behavior perceived as racist by the multiple employees who quit over it. He’s been accused of bullying and sexual harassment. He also broke up a happy gay marriage with kids (happy per the woman who left it).
Like, what people do at CR is fantastic, but when BT talks, don’t assume it’s necessarily from a place of credibility. (Also, if Kyle quotes the results of a study, look up the study because he may be lying.)
Julie, What should they have done differently? They found out, they fired him and told the congregation. That is what churches should do, right? People sin. Always have, always will. When they are leaders, they are held to a different standard. Clearly Crosspoint held him accountable. When a church covers it up, please be a whistleblower.