An Illinois megachurch pastor, who resigned after being accused of mishandling alleged sexual misconduct by his son, a former pastor, is starting a new church.
“It is obvious that God is doing something amazing and miraculous in Song and Sword,” said Mike Baker, previous pastor of Eastview Christian Church (ECC). “Same old pastor, same old town, but a brand-new work that God is going to do in us and through us.”
Baker made the announcement during a Vision Sunday online sermon on Aug. 20 for Song and Sword, the online ministry Baker launched in April. Song and Sword also seems to be the name of the church that Baker said he will launch at the Chateau Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington, Ill., on Sept. 10. Baker said he has signed a one-year contract with the Chateau.
Baker’s son, Caleb Baker, resigned from a pastoral position at ECC in 2016 amid allegations of sexual misconduct, which remained secret until earlier this year. Shortly after resigning from ECC, Caleb Baker took a position at Central Christian Church (CCC), a megachurch in Arizona.
In February of 2023, CCC fired Baker from his role as lead student pastor and associate preaching pastor, following a separate allegation of an “extramarital relationship” with a CCC employee. The same month, Mike Baker resigned from ECC, following allegations he covered up the 2016 misconduct.
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In June, ECC published a third-party investigative report finding that Mike Baker, “more likely than not” withheld information from staff and church elders about the sexual misconduct allegations against Caleb Baker. The report also found that Caleb Baker likely used his pastoral role at ECC to “persuade women to engage in sexual activity.”
When the investigative report first came out in June, Mike Baker said he wouldn’t read it and said he hasn’t changed his story. Baker has denied any wrongdoing and has called the whistleblowers’ claims “untrue.” He also has complained that the ECC elders mistreated him.
TRR submitted a list of questions to Mike Baker, asking about the accountability structure for Song and Sword and whether any family members, including Caleb, would be involved in the church. Baker responded by saying he’d agree to an interview only if he was given full editorial control. TRR does not relinquish editorial control to third parties.
Baker told listeners last Sunday that the past six months have taught him how “gossip” works. He said his family experienced a “category five soul hurricane,” causing “tidal waves of just emotional pain.” He defined gossip as when people “whisper some stuff.”
“Here’s some good gossip,” he said in his sermon. “With a clear conscience, with the Holy Spirit as my witness, I’m not seeking revenge. I don’t hate Eastview. I don’t hope they fail. I love Eastview Christian Church.”
Eastview Christian Church is making repairs, looking for new pastor
Since the investigative report was released, ECC has spent the summer holding meetings with victims and staff. Elders also have been meeting with third party advisors to learn how be a healthier and more transparent church with better accountability, according to elder updates on its website.
“The first and most important steps we are taking as a church include working toward restorative justice, including times of confession, opportunities for forgiveness and healing, and taking intentional steps toward the restoration of trust,” ECC’s Elder Leadership Team (ELT) wrote.
Specifically, the church has sent out anonymous surveys, inviting female staff’s perspectives on how they’ve been treated. And the church has decided to change its structure so the pastor is not the go-between contact between church staff and the board.
From now on, the elders will meet regularly with the director of finance and the director of HR without the senior pastor present, church elders announced. The lead pastor also is no longer allowed to terminate key positions without elders’ approval. And all executive leaders must now submit annual 360 evaluations of the lead pastor to the elders.
The church also plans to hire a new HR professional and its looking to engage an outside HR firm to be available to receive reports of concerns, elders added. The church also has begun searching for a new senior pastor.
The ELT also reported recent growth in both attendance and donations.
“Eastview is getting healthier and continuing to grow,” the Eastview elders wrote in a statement to TRR. “We are focused on being accountable to the lessons of this trial and the amazing work the Lord continues to perform through the staff and congregation of Eastview. We are also excited to focus on the search for our next lead pastor. We are confident that in the meanwhile, God has been preparing someone to launch into a new chapter with us.”
Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.
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12 Responses
WOW!!
Never ends – same ol’ song and dance from abusers – crying the victim – so standard among evangelicals in so many ways.
Regardless, I like what I am hearing ECC is doing – and hope they continue to have a collegial/elder led authority – NOT monarchial/pastoral – the former being Biblical – the later being totalitarian rife with abuse as we have endlessly seen ad nauseum…????
I’ve read the published statements of Baker Sr., and nowhere does he acknowledge the sins of his son. Or his own. Instead, he resorts to playing the victim card. In his Youtube video, he uses the tried and true “Satan is after me” narrative. I’ve read the Wagenmaker & Oberly report. It is much worse than I imagined. The statements, “It is more likely than not…” in Section 2 a, b, c, and d, are a clear indictment.
Given the extent of Eastview’s current program of changing itself, it is arguable that what Mike Baker was and has been charged with at and by Eastview, was actually part and parcel of what Eastview previously was. Such that what Mike Baker argues was his ‘mistreatment’ by Eastview, has an indeterminate degree of validity. Where something like an incipient impulse by Eastview to change itself, coincidentally used events involving Caleb Baker, as a fulcrum for that change. Where a degree of misrepresentation arises as claims as to untoward behaviour by Mike Baker come to be that fulcrum. Here the institutional aspect of Eastview, and not Mike Baker alone (where that institutional aspect to some indeterminate degree required Mike Baker to act consistently with it); are what caused and allowed failure-to-safeguard outcomes. If Eastview can be celebrated for what it is currently doing to see itself changed, might we not with even-handed interest watch what emerges from Mike Baker’s attempts to process and spiritually move on from mistreatment (as he has experienced events) of an individual (Mike Baker in this regard) by an institution and its processes. Viva the emergence of better safe-guarding on the part of an institution. Viva the determination of an individual to not be existentially defeated by institutional mistreatment.
** “It is obvious that God is doing something amazing and miraculous in Song and Sword,” said Mike Baker … **
Seriously? Who even says this kind of thing? What are his criteria for determining whether “God is doing something amazing and miraculous.”?
I suspect it has to do with his having generated enough funding to put down the deposit for a year’s lease on a venue. I wonder where the money came from.
I noticed the same thing. I ALSO noticed Eastview claimed God was doing a work in that church. I think language like this reveals a profound insecurity in the part of anyone who uses it. They cannot take responsibility for their actions or the consequences of them and so they attempt to use God as a rubber stamp to validate their lives. I think God is always working, but I think it’s a mistake to claim to know what he’s doing in any specific situation. To know he loves us and is working for our good is enough in any situation. All that said, it seems like Eastview is going in a direction toward accountability and democratic government; I believe that will ultimately result in a healthier organization.
“I think God is always working, but I think it’s a mistake to claim to know what he’s doing in any specific situation.”
Well said. I also agree that, despite the jargon, it seems as if Eastview is taking some wise steps.
What is clear, is that Mike Baker may believe he is doing something amazing and miraculous. Whether God is truly at the center of it or behind it is open to question.
James 3:1 (ESV): “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”
Well, this went up pretty quickly. Still no apology to staff or coworkers. It’s a business, not a church. It’s his retirement plan, not a ministry. https://www.songandsword.com/category/all-products?page=2
Just like the Catholic Church, the pervs and pedophiles get moved to another location and sing the praises of the lord and do it all over again. Hypocrites.
sorry, no; “apples/oranges”….ECC is NOT a) covering up these mens crimes, nor b) “sending” this man elsewhere…nice try though!
Agreed. He tucked tail and ran. Once leadership found out what was really happening he fled. ECC has been very transparent in its findings and is clearly working towards changes and restoration.
Can we be done hero-worshipping self-promoting charlatans claiming moral authority? The ridiculous personality worship of dominant thought-leader males who claim a ‘call’ and reign as demi-gods is what (finally) led our family out of the church, and eventually out of religion entirely. May people begin questioning every single thing that goes on in their local church. It is time. No more service, no more money and no more allegiance to a system that cannot free itself from this persistent model. Life is too good-and too wonderful-to sit under the influence of narcissists.
P.S.Thank you Julie Roys, for not complying with his demands for the interview. Good grief.