A story about a disgraced megachurch pastor hired by leadership guru John Maxwell and an article on the “revival” sweeping Asbury University topped our list of the most-read stories of 2023.
Also leading the list were two exclusive exposés. One dealt with the alleged sexual abuse by International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) Founder Mike Bickle. Another reported alleged abuse, manipulation, and lies by former Vineyard Pastor Alan Scott, now pastor of Dwelling Place.
Now entering its fifth year, The Roys Report (TRR) recorded a stunning 12 million views in 2023, while attracting more than 5 million unique users.
This is unheard of for a tiny media organization, with a budget under $300,000 and only one full-time employee and numerous freelancers. Other Christian media, attracting similar numbers, have multi-million-dollar budgets and staffs with dozens of employees.
But TRR continues to report stories other media outlets often don’t because we believe exposing the filth in the church is essential to eradicating it. Or, as former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis stated, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.”
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Just last month, two top IHOPKC leaders resigned in the wake of TRR’s reporting. And we continue to hear from readers and church leaders that TRR is changing the way churches operate.
One reader wrote us, saying he had followed TRR for a while but had thought of stopping because, “I didn’t think I could take another awful story of Christians behaving so badly.” But he added, “Then I realized that is very much the problem, isn’t it?”
This reader said he continues to read—and pray. And he added that recently an incident came to light at his church, which the leaders handled very well.
They immediately terminated the staff member involved and informed the church “with appropriate details,” he said. “I am fairly certain our church leadership is aware of your work and I would not be surprised if it had an impact on how this was handled.”
So, I hope you, too, continue to read our important stories and exposés at TRR—and like this reader, you continue to pray. Here are the top 10 most popular original TRR Stories of 2023.
The Roys Report Top 10 Stories of 2023
As I’ve often said, it’s like we’re playing “Whack-a-Wolf” in the church, with disgraced pastors re-platforming after the news cycle of their latest scandal has died down. This happened in March, when Jeremy Foster—former pastor of Hope City in Houston, who resigned after admitting to an adulterous affair—was hired by Christian leadership guru John Maxwell as a C-level leader. Days after TRR contacted Maxwell Leadership for comment, Foster issued a public apology for the affair, which had resulted in the dissolution of his marriage and re-marriage to another woman.
Allegations that IHOPKC Founder Mike Bickle had abused multiple women, spanning decades, shocked the worldwide 24/7 prayer community when it first came to light in October. But it wasn’t until we published our exclusive report with a main, alleged victim that the public heard details of how Bickle reportedly perpetrated the abuse. According to the victim, Bickle used dreams and prophetic words to manipulate her into allowing sexual abuse.
Last February, news of “revival” sweeping Asbury University became a national news story, attracting tens of thousands to this rural, Kentucky town. TRR was one of the first Christian media to report the story, with first-hand accounts of how a small worship gathering following a chapel service grew into a 24/7 revival-like phenomenon. “We’re all encouraging each other to have this posture of radical humility,” one student told TRR. “It’s not about us. It’s about Jesus. And I think that’s why it continues.”
In 2022, Alan Scott shocked those in the Vineyard movement by separating his church, Vineyard Anaheim—the flagship church of the Vineyard movement worth tens of millions of dollars—from Vineyard USA. This year, TRR exclusively reported allegations of Scott’s abuse and lies by nearly a dozen former pastors, staff, and volunteers from three Vineyard churches where Scott pastored. An independent investigation commissioned by Vineyard churches UK and Ireland and Causeway Coast Vineyard later confirmed these allegations. Scott continues to pastor at Dwelling Place, formerly Vineyard Anaheim, but attendance there has reportedly dropped dramatically.
TRR’s second top-10 story on disgraced pastor, Jeremy Foster, reported that Foster had gotten divorced from his longtime wife and remarried another woman within a year of resigning from Hope City due to an adulterous affair. Foster remarriage to a woman he was living with just a month after his resignation from Hope City apparently had the blessing of his father, W. Mark Foster, a minister in the United Pentecostal Church International. Jeremy Foster’s marriage license listed Mark Foster as the pastor who officiated his son’s second marriage.
As TRR reported in numerous articles, which preceded Harvest Bible Chapel’s decision in 2019 to fire its pastor, James MacDonald, MacDonald had an alleged pattern of cruelty, bullying, and mobster-like behavior. However, in April of 2023, TRR was the first to report that police in California had arrested and charged MacDonald with felony assault and battery after allegedly attacking a 59-year-old woman, leaving her with “serious injuries.” In October, a judge ruled that MacDonald was eligible for a mental health diversion due to MacDonald’s claim that the woman had triggered MacDonald’s PTSD caused by “being vilified by Julie Roys.” If granted, the charges against MacDonald could be dismissed. A hearing to determine the mental health diversion is scheduled for February, so be watching for TRR’s reporting on that.
The third, and last, story on Jeremy Foster in our top-10 list reported the heart-breaking posts by Foster’s oldest daughter, Jayden Foster, calling out her father’s affair and the devastation his actions have inflicted on his family. “From the moment I found out he had an affair, my dad moved in with his mistress,” Jayden Foster said in a video posted online. “. . . And then, a month and a half after my parents’ divorce was finalized, I got an email—because I don’t have communication with him—got an email, and he was telling me that he had gone ahead and gotten married. . . . And it, like gutted me—like it really, really wrecked me. And I don’t know if I can adequately put into words how that felt.”
For the past two years, TRR has reported that John MacArthur and his Grace Community Church (GCC) has a pattern of shaming and punishing abuse victims, while protecting their abusers. This year, the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, the oldest and largest biblical counseling organization in the world, removed Bill Shannon, who oversees the biblical counseling ministry at GCC, as an approved biblical counselor. The action reportedly came after a complaint to ACBC by Hohn Cho, a former GCC elder who resigned in the wake of TRR’s reporting on GCC’s pattern of harming victims.
The scandal at the Australian-based, megachurch Hillsong continues to have ramifications here in the U.S. and around the world. One of the clearest examples of this is the “celebrity preacher’s scam,” which enriched not just its creators—Brian Houston and Christine Caine—but also American celebrity pastors and ones in the U.K., South Africa, and Indonesia. This article lists the top 10 churches and pastors who benefitted from the “scam.” These included several pastors with the scandal-plagued Association of Related Churches (ARC), like Todd Mullins and Andrew Gard, and also celebrity Pastor Judah Smith.
News of the alleged sexual misconduct by famous preacher T.D. Jakes broke in late December. But due to Jakes’ massive platform, the nature of the allegations, and Jakes’ response (“if everything was true, all I got to do is repent”), this story quickly garnered tens of thousands of views, catapulting it into our top-10.
Certainly, this is not the end of this regrettable story, which we will be watching in the coming weeks.
Those who follow TRR know this is not the first time Jakes’ name has been included in our reports. It was the appearance of Jakes at James MacDonald’s Elephant Room 2 conference in 2012 that first alerted bloggers to issues with MacDonald and led to the discovery of massive debt at MacDonald’s Harvest Bible Chapel.
Also, leaders at the Moody Bible Institute, where I was working in 2012 as a national radio host, killed a commentary I wrote about the controversy, noting that James MacDonald was our “friend.”
Yet Scripture doesn’t urge friends to cover for the sins of friends. Instead, Proverbs 27:6 states, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”
And so, TRR will continue exposing wrongdoing in 2024, as we did in 2023. And let’s hope this next year brings repentance and renewal to the church—and true revival that changes the landscape of the church for the next generation.
Julie Roys is a veteran investigative reporter and founder of The Roys Report. She also previously hosted a national talk show on the Moody Radio Network, called Up for Debate, and has worked as a TV reporter for a CBS affiliate. Her articles have appeared in numerous periodicals.
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4 Responses
Thanks for keeping us informed like a watcher on the wall. The verse you quote is one of my favorites. Better the slap of a friend than the kiss of a enemy. Pro 37?
Grace & peace 2 U in your ministry!!
Pastor David. Hollidaysburg Alliance Church
Including T. D. Jakes in your listing is unfortunate since – as of yet – there is no real proof. Please research more than just reading the click bait titles that are on YouTube; which feature videos of nothing but accusations, prophecies and dreams, as well as predictions by a prophetess who also believes in half-people being made with animals by scientists.
Your ministry is too important to risk becoming another tabloid.
We refrained from reporting the Jakes’ situation until he commented on it. His comments, especially the one asserting that if true, all he has to do is repent, made this worthy of reporting.
So thankful for the work you and your team do Julie!! I too, often feel I can’t take another story of Christians behaving badly. I am so saddened by the horrors you and your team report on, especially abuse but corruption and bully behavior as well, but I always know you’ve done your homework and you are all just trying to do your best to shine the light where there is darkness. I was so bummed that I had to stop my monthly financial support for a time while I was unemployed but glad to be back as a monthly financial supporter. You’re doing God’s work and you’re doing it well. I sincerely pray you out of a job! May God continue to bless your work and may you continue shining a light on the darkness.