Despite marrying his son’s ex-wife, and allegedly grooming and dating her while she was still married to his son, a Minnesota pastor remains in his position. The pastor’s son, however, is now going public with the 14-year-old, shocking story on TikTok—and his videos are going viral.
Andrew (Drew) Matthews told The Roys Report (TRR) that he shared his story on TikTok to warn others about spiritual abuse at his father’s approximately 200-member, word-of-faith church—Solid Rock Church in Elk River, Minn. Drew’s father, Bill Matthews is the lead pastor at Solid Rock. And Drew’s former wife, now his father’s wife—Ana Lorena Matthews—also serves as a pastor at Solid Rock.
Through a string of TikTok videos spanning months, Drew explained how their family split apart after his father married Drew’s ex-wife, following Drew’s mother’s death. Drew’s first video, which published last August, got 43K views. His second video, published four days later, attracted nearly 480K views.
@notreallysur.e #dadmarriedher #stepmom #dadmarriedmywife #trauma #veteran #johnycash #ringoffire
Since then, Drew has published 21 videos, unveiling the stunning story.
TRR tried multiple times to reach Bill Matthews through email and phone, but he did not respond.
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According to Minnesota Family Law Attorney Johanna Clyborne, Bill Matthews’ marriage to Ana Lorena may not be legal. This isn’t because of Bill’s family connection to Ana Lorena. Clyborne said Minnesota is a “no-fault” divorce state, and citizens are free to divorce and remarry as long as they’re not related by blood or adoption.
However, Bill was reportedly counseling Ana Lorena at the time the two began a romantic relationship. And Minnesota Statute 609.344 states that a clergy member who engages in sexual activity with someone he’s regularly counseling is guilty of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Clyborne noted, however, that the one Minnesota case that’s gone to trial testing the law concluded the court had limited jurisdiction over spiritual leaders due to the separation of church and state.
Drew recounts his father’s grooming of his ex-wife and marriage
According to Drew, in 2009, his mother, Mary, became sick with stage 4 cancer. While Drew was away serving in the military, his father, Bill, relocated Lorena and the couple’s two-year-old daughter into Bill’s home to look after his dying wife.
Then, when Mary died, Bill prophesied that God had a new wife for him: Lorena.
@notreallysur.e #CapCut #realdad #dontquit #fyp #singledad #breakthecycleoftrauma #betterdays #mentalhealth #dadmarriedmywife #familytrauma #churchabuse
In another video, Drew gave an account of what his father said in the hospital room right after Mary died.
“The first thing out of his mouth, when he walked in, was that God had prepared for him a new wife—not to worry, everything was going to be fine,” Drew told TikTok viewers. “God had told him she was going to die and that God had already given him his new wife. Now keep in mind, that wife was Lorena, and she was currently married to me when he was saying that,” he finished.
At the time of his mother’s death, Drew and his wife were experiencing difficulty in their five-year marriage. Lorena eventually filed for divorce. And Drew claimed his father advised him to cooperate with the divorce.
“Go ahead with the divorce, and if it is God’s plan, He will bring you back together,” Drew claimed his father told him. “Little did I know he is already dating her at this point.”
Drew said he will never forget the day he was told his dad would marry his ex-wife. Drew and Lorena were still married at the time. His sister called a family meeting, gathering all of Drew’s siblings, his father, and Lorena. Drew said his sister asked her father, “Let’s talk about the elephant in the room . . . We’re all curious about how you and Lorena seem to be having a relationship.”
Four months later, Drew and Lorena divorced.
Drew’s father and Lorena wed in January of the following year—only nine months after Mary’s death. Drew and Lorena agreed to split custody of their daughter 50/50.
Pastor Bill Matthews then became both grandfather to his son’s daughter and her stepfather. And Lorena Matthews became both mother and grandmother to her daughter.
Solid Rock Church then instated Lorena as a pastor to accompany Bill.
Although Bill told his congregation that God told him to marry Lorena, much of the congregation left after the scandal, according to Drew.
@notreallysur.e Replying to @girlyjillian #relationshipadvice #relationshiptrauma #divorce #dadmarriedmywife #drewmatthews
Drew claims his father had the process of onboarding Lorena planned for months and prepped the congregation to accept the transition with strategic sermons, revelations, and prophecies from God.
“Now they are married and pastor the church together. My daughter is stuck in this abusive situation,” Drew said.
Bill Matthews’ concerning past
Bill Matthews has pastored Solid Rock Church for about 30 years, during which several association turnovers occurred.
Solid Rock began as an Assemblies of God (AOG) church in 1977. In the 1990s, Solid Rock also belonged to the Association of Faith Churches and Ministers (AFCM).
However, AFCM told TRR that the two organizations separated long ago.
Solid Rock also separated from AOG in 1997, but Bill kept the church and parsonage.
In 2000, a judge dismissed a case against Bill, which claimed he allegedly stole Solid Rock Church through amendments to the bylaws that eliminated member voting rights.
The judge dismissed the case without prejudice, saying the claims did not fully meet a Minnesota court rule, requiring that allegations be stated with sufficient detail.
In 2011 Bill pled guilty to a felony charge for stealing thousands of dollars from his elderly mother-in-law. Court documents say he was convicted at the misdemeanor level for Financial Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult in 2012.
Clergy Sexual Abuse
The Matthews’ family affair not only raises questions about marrying family relations, but also about clergy sexual abuse.
According to Attorney Clyborne, Minnesota law forbids clergy from sexual contact with anyone he or she is counseling regularly, regardless of consent. Even if Lorena had agreed to the relationship, sexual contact within a ministerial relationship lacked true consent due to the disparity in power between Bill and Lorena, and Lorena’s emotional vulnerability, Clyborne said.
She added that when a person in a position of authority has a romantic relationship with a vulnerable person looking to him for spiritual guidance, the more powerful person is “acting as a predator in their role.”
Darryl W. Stephens, who teaches at Lancaster Theological Seminary and gives workshops on clergy ethics, told TRR that sexual misconduct between a pastor and someone in his care is “professional malfeasance,” not an “affair.”
“The clergyperson has a duty to act in the best interests of the parishioner, to maintain professional boundaries, and to refrain from using that relationship to personal advantage,” Stephens said. “Sex in a pastoral relationship violates the sacred trust of ministry.”
Sexual contact between counselors or “mental health professionals” and their clients is illegal in nearly every state in the US. However, only 13 states included clergy in these laws in 2010, according to a study by Baylor University.
The study, which remains the most recent public report on clergy misconduct laws among US states, says that these laws, which have been passed in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia—vary on how they are worded and are widely debated on the state level.
A cult that ‘destroyed’ a family’s life
Drew Matthews said his dad’s church is a cult that “absolutely destroyed or potentially could have destroyed my entire family’s life.”
When asked why he waited 14 years to tell his story, Drew told TRR that he struggled with feeling ashamed and did not want the situation to affect his daughter further.
Drew said it wasn’t until his daughter stopped visiting due to being “groomed and alienated” that he took to social media.
A friend whose husband married her mother encouraged him to tell his story. “She told me to sit down and do a 60-second video,” Drew said.
“I think opening eyes to this story could save a lot of people. Since this all came out publicly, I have had so many people tell me stories of things that happened to them in these churches. I would absolutely consider it spiritual abuse and not Christianity.”
Since the videos took off, Solid Rock has experienced a small surge of negative Yelp reviews and a decreased Chamber of Commerce rating of 2.7.
Solid Rock’s only online presence—a Facebook page—has no reviews setting, and public commenting is disabled. Its website is no longer active.
“No matter what, I’m not going to be silenced,” Drew said. “If I get zero views or if I get one view, I’m not going to be quiet.”
Jessica Eturralde is a military wife of 18 years and mother of three who serves as a freelance writer, TV host, and filmmaker. Bylines include Yahoo, Huffington Post, OC16TV.
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34 Responses
So, Bill Matthews your ex daughter in-law is now your wife, your son is now your wife’s ex partner and your grand daughter is now your step daughter. Betrayal of the worst kind and on top that using “Gold told me” as a cop out. Bill Matthews models 2 Peter 2:14 very well “With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!”.
Honestly, if this basic storyline, even without details, were incorporated into one of those Lifetime movies, and the church kept functioning on any level, nobody would watch because it would be waaayy too far fetched to ever happen. And yet this man has lived it.
His father / pastor is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. His wife may have been vulnerable to the father-in-law’s advances but she is also in the wrong and needs to repent. It sounds like the son’s delay was done due to misplaced loyalty of some sort as to family relations. Your father destroyed your nuclear family and you owe him no loyalty in this scenario.
Perhaps this is what comes of being raised and conditioned to believe in authoritarian pastors. This so-called pastor knows exactly what God wants. And no surprise, it’s exactly what he wants! People need to be wise as serpents. That emphasis and wisdom has been lacking in the church.
I feel so sorry for the young daughter/granddaughter. stepsister/stepdaughter.
The state rightly recognizes that he is the culpable one as the person in authority and the person giving spiritual counsel. I wish all states had laws on the books naming that it’s illegal for clergy people to be in relationships with people who are under their counsel. The fact that he moved her into his house shows the power and control he had over her the whole time to manipulate and groom. She is a victim of his power and control. He had declared this to be the will of God- and she is in a system where he has the ultimate say. We wouldn’t blame kidnapping victims and we shouldn’t blame her.
Well written and thank you!
More details can be found on James417.org. “So, if you know what is the right thing to do and don’t do it, to you that is sin.” Paraphrased
So similar to Paul’s rebuke in I Corinthians 5: “ Everyone has heard that there is sexual immorality among you. This is a type of immorality that isn’t even heard of among the Gentiles—a man is having sex with his father’s wife! 2 And you’re proud of yourselves instead of being so upset that the one who did this thing is expelled from your community. 3 Though I’m absent physically, I’m present in the spirit and I’ve already judged the man who did this as if I were present. 4 When you meet together in the name of our Lord Jesus, I’ll be present in spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus. 5 At that time we need to hand this man over to Satan to destroy his human weakness so that his spirit might be saved on the day of the Lord.”
This came to mind for me as well.
I have no words.
The atrocities pastors are getting away with every day could fill volumes.
They are blind guides, wolves who live off the sheep and betray others for their own gain. The amount of pride, lust and greed oozing from this situation is enough to make me sick. Thank you for reporting. It’s so heavy though, so frustrating.
Sounds like I Corinthians 5:1 in reverse — instead of “a man has his father’s wife,” a man has his son’s ex-wife. Either way, Paul condemned such relationships as “sexual immorality . . . of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate.” And, in subsequent verses, the apostle gives clear instructions about how a church should respond.
Drew Matthews needs our prayers for what he describes, in appropriately dark humor, as “you can’t make this stuff up.”
It sounds like he “had” her before she was is “ex-wife”. he was pursuing the relationship and declaring that the Lord has a new wife for him LONG before the divorce.
As things stand, we have at least two crucial factors in play, where this interplay should give pause. Firstly, marital relationship breakdown and consequent divorce: very often involve the partners to that relationship, offering very different testimony about the whys and wherefores of the breakdown; and where the pain and despair of the breakdown can introduce unreliability into the testimonies of one or both partners. Secondly, testimony led out on social media, can and often does become self-affirming and self-proving, and this across complex well-documented dynamics.
Events may have been exactly as Drew has it in his online testimony. However any expert in cross-examination could raise serious doubts about many details of that testimony, and on very sound ground. In that regard, allowing ourselves to be drawn into simply accepting Drew’s testimony, in the absence of secondary corroboration of such details, carries significant risks. One such detail is what Drew claims his father said on his wife’s passing. Another is a degree of conflation of relationship and affair; in the absence of corroboration that a sexual relationship was occurring at a particular time. Again, what was involved in “grooming” and “locating” would have to be laid out in detail and then corroborated.
On the other hand, if Drew has truth on his side, then what he is doing is incredibly brave and hard. Albeit I have concern for the daughter, if caught in conflicting views offered by significant others.
the devil doesn’t need an advocate here. there are reporters who, I’m sure, looked into the viability of the claims (and talked to people other than just the son).
Jen. Maybe you are right. TRR journalism aspires to high standards. I’m just hard-wired to think like an advocate or defender.
You need to think about who you’re defending. You haven’t been hired as an attorney for this pastor, yet — free of charge — you jump in and cast doubt on his son’s testimony, the gist of which is indisputably true.
I’m not saying that everyone claiming abuse should be 100% believed 100% of the time, but I also don’t think that abusive pastors lack a litany of toadies willing to sling mud at victims. I’m not sure I’d choose that lot. And if you’re hardwired to do so, I assure you that prayer, counseling, therapy and coaching can help.
Colin, there are more details located on James417.org concerning this sordid affair and others. There is a letter from a sister that unveils what the father was up to concerning the son’s wife.
Colin, I think you bring up a valid point, and I appreciate your perspective on this.
I have chosen to expound here because it is important for us journalists in this delicate space to demonstrate full due diligence in reporting both sides of a story when we can.
This story was and is a serious reminder that “sensational” sin in ministry is not entertainment, and we (I included) are not spectators. Therefore, I wrote this story with much sorrow.
I attempted multiple times to reach the pastor and staff associated with this article. In my messages and to those I spoke to, my goal was to hear their perspective and report it genuinely.
I spoke to a staff member very close to Bill who did not want to come on the record, which of course, is their prerogative. Close to publishing, I contacted him once more encouraging him to come on record so I could include their comments. I also made several attempts via email and phone to reach Bill to hear his account of what happened.
They chose not to reply, and again, that is their prerogative. We are not going to harass people, but respecting them, we should not catch them by surprise. Both sides have the right to be heard—if they want to be heard.
I hope that helps.
I definitely agree with you! To be fair many have tried to get Bill and Lorena to speak out but they will not. In a courtroom that is the right to remain silent I would think…I’m not a legal expert. There is no debating they are married, there is no debating the timeframe of divorce and marriage, and there is no denying the position of power nor the fact they moved in together before a legal divorce. I don’t think there is a debate that Bill or Lorena are leading a good example as ministers of Christ either. I will never claim that I am innocent or haven’t made mistakes. I also am not a pastor or leader. I’m simply a blue collar worker that is deeply saddened by the situation and hope awareness can occur. Thank you for your insight. Sincerely, drew.
He stole the church, his dying wife’s mother’s money and his own son’s wife. The curse on this church goes back to Hoogenboom and his consigliere Mapson.
This is what happens when you rely on so-called prophecy and personal words from God instead of relying on scripture to govern your behavior.
Wow. Just. Wow. Of course, this is the logical outcome of the prosperity gospel heresy that plagues much of American Christianity. Richard Foster has written that almost all sin flows from three categories: money, sex, and power; and this has all three. This “pastor” is a false prophet who slanders the gospel of Christ.
In many ways the evangelicals have become the Catholic Church. Pope-cardinals-bishops-priests and do not challenge their standing with god. God talks to them and we are guided by their words. Sounds like the same as pastor-and you better not challenge anything they say. Especially if they are richer than you. Everything they say is directly from god to rock star pastor to you and you be damned to challenge us. Wake up people. Small local churches and do not be afraid to say to any pastor “I don’t agree with you and this is a word of knowledge from god to me”. Just read TBN blew 130 million on a theme park. Now selling land. That’s a lot of tithes going for Gods work. Err I mean someone’s pocket. Hey olsteen ya figure out how 600k in cash ended up in a bathroom wall yet? People if you survived the eighties and the grifters on TV then wake up.
I am all kinds of disturbed about this but what shocks me the most isn’t Bill Matthews because there will always be narcissistic perverts out there, but all the people who sit there in the congregation week after week paying him to represent God who are allowing this to continue–plus the guest speakers who I see coming to this church to preach. Preaching, I guess, about everything except repentance.
Thank you Tyler for speaking about the people who enable this behavior and never confront but automatically accept what is being said from the pulpit because it’s the pastor saying it…
I still can’t wrap my mind around this. Is this the church or the plot of a bad Lifetime movie?
Lord, come quickly.
Yes Lord Jesus come quickly! Deception is rampant in these last days. I attended his church once , he B.M., is a misguided soul doing Satan’s bidding please pray for that whole family! So so sad. Maranatha
Surely this is an abominable act regardless of the perpetrator’s occupation?
Should the headline “Plumber marries his son’s wife” be any worse than the actual headline “Pastor marries his son’s wife”?
I don’t live in Minnesota or watch Tik Tok but this incident seems more mainstream news rather than religion.
“Pastor Marries His Son’s Wife” is without a doubt much, much worse than “Plumber Marries His Son’s Wife.” That’s why James says a teacher will be judged more harshly. And it’s why there are not laws in multiple states making it illegal for plumbers to sexually offend with their customers.
This is not difficult.
John McCollum: That he is still in ministry despite being called to a higher standard as you point out”
The difficulty then is, if a plumber can do it and continue as before without moral, legal or social consequences, then…
Whose fault is it that this pastor is still in ministry?
1) The elders?
2) The law of Minnesota ?
3) The congregants ?
4) Christian peers?
5) The Bereans ?
6) Anyone else ?
“However, Bill was reportedly counseling Ana Lorena at the time the two began a romantic relationship.”
Why was a father-in-law counseling a daughter-in-law at all? That’s an obvious conflict of interest. Are there no other pastors in Minnesota who could counsel this woman? No licensed mental health professionals in Minnesota? It appears that dad could have had his eye on the son’s wife long before he started “counseling” her.
This is definitely a WTAF story. Well reported. Clear and well-written. But now I feel dirty having read it. What is wrong with people!?
We, the congregations, are the problem. We just are.
Ewwwwwww. Technically. Drew’s ex wife is now his stepmom. Wow. His dad is even more creepy after realizing that.
I attended and (ashamedly) was part of leadership in this so-called ministry. I experienced the ever-so-slowly brainwashing that occurs. People-wake up! Do not sit and idly listen to a man who claims to be preaching God’s Word. Check your Bible. Pray for wisdom and insight. And DO NOT just believe everything that is preached from behind a pulpit. Pastors are just men. Jesus is our Savior and Teacher. This particular pastor is evil incarnate.
“FOR THERE IS IMMORALITY AMONG YOU, OF A KIND THAT HAS NO NAME EVEN AMONG THE GOYIM!”
— some Rabbi from Tarsus