A pastor in west Texas has issued an ominous warning to anyone who publicly calls out a preacher in televangelist Mark Barclay’s “Righteous Preachers Network.”
Speaking specifically about those who “lied” about James Randolph, Barclay’s son-in-law who’s been charged with sex crimes, Pastor Jeremy Pfeil of Accelerate Church in Amarillo, Texas, said:
I’m not going to allow people like that around here and I’m letting you know that. They’re not going to come and video. . . . And if you still talk to them and listen to them, you’re gonna be sniped and taken out. Don’t come crying to me later. I’ve warned you and warned you and warned you and warned you!
Randolph is an associate pastor at Living Word International Church in Midland, Mich.—the church Barclay founded. He’s currently facing seven felonies in Michigan, including a child sex crime.
Pfeil made the comments at a service at his church Wednesday night, which was livestreamed but has subsequently been removed.
However, Mark Drapak, who has been a vocal critic of several Righteous Preachers Network members, grabbed excerpts of the service and posted them on Facebook.
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“Holy crazy! The infamous Jeremy Pfeil from Accelerate Church casually threatening people who expose him defending his ‘friend’ James Randolph (recently accused of heinous crimes in a Mark Barclay Ministries hideout/church),” Drapak wrote.
“Did Jeremy just say ‘you’re gonna be sniped & taken out’?!? And of course, the victims are ‘liars’ according to Jeremy. He HATES when his ‘sheep’ are exposed to reality through the evil ‘social media’.”
Pfeil and Randolph are apparently members of Barclay’s Righteous Preachers Network. The purpose of the network is to help “gospel ministers worldwide, coinciding with their degree of relationship to Mark Barclay Ministries,” Barclay’s website states.
The Roys Report (TRR) reached out to Pfeil and Accelerate Church for comment, but Pfeil declined to respond.
Barclay has been a frequent guest speaker at Accelerate Church. That includes preaching at a conference last fall at Accelerate attended by another “righteous preacher” accused of sexual misconduct—Canadian pastor Keith Johnson.
As TRR previously reported, at the time of the conference, Johnson was evading officials who tried to serve him a lawsuit, charging Johnson with sexual, physical, and psychological abuse.
Speaking from the pulpit, Barclay encouraged congregants to give to a “love offering” for the accused pastor, which Barclay kick-started with a donation of $1,000.
In a court order issued on July 6, 2023, Canadian Justice Bardai cited Accelerate Church for helping Johnson evade being served the lawsuit. “The evidence is that members of the Accelerate Church . . . are shielding Mr. Johnson,” Bardai stated.
On Wednesday, Pfeil claimed Randolf would be exonerated on Thursday of all charges and urged congregants to trust him.
However, on Thursday, Randolph had a hearing at the 75th District Court of Midland County, Mich., court records show. According to a court clerk who spoke to TRR, the court denied a motion brought by Randolph’s attorney to amend the terms of his bond.
A subsequent court examination hearing was set for Dec. 15, and the clerk stated the case is expected to proceed to circuit court.
Yet, according to Pfeil, no “righteous preacher” could ever be guilty of sex crimes.
“If you’re dumb enough to believe that righteous preachers that I’ve known for years in my life, that have always challenged me to live right, are perverts—you’re a blooming idiot!“ said Pfeil.
Pfeil also urged congregants not to believe information reported by news outlets and shared on Facebook.
“The only access that a lot of this has to you is your social media. Get off!” yelled Pfeil. “What are you doing listening to people that are idiots? If you sit there and give them your ear, you’re going to be up out of here soon.”
TRR spoke with a former member of Accelerate Church, who requested not to be named due to alleged past threats by Pfeil.
“This is strictly for manipulation and to control the narrative,” the former member told TRR. The former member, who had posted the story about Randolph on Facebook, added that Pfeil and his staff constantly monitor social media as part of a high-control church culture.
Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith, culture, and public policy for several media outlets. He and his family live in the Washington, D.C. area.
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20 Responses
Cultish control and manipulation.
His denial of the possibility that there can be wolves among us can only mean that he is a wolf himself.
Who exactly is allowed to use social media? Just his wife? The church? No one else should be on social media?
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=1320411290&name=xhp_nt__fb__action__open_user
Typical of religious hypocrites. “Rules for thee, but not for me!”
This is exactly what authoritarian leadership wants. That’s how they demonstrate their status and power to their flocks and of course, each other.
And that’s why they protect their own.
Because nothing speaks “righteous” and “Christlike” like yelling, threatening and berating people sitting in the pews of your church. Dear people, please leave churches where a so called leader talks to you like this.
Actually, one of the most disturbing things about these videos is the affirmative crowd noises.
These videos make me nauseous. The obvious manipulation and words that Jesus would never say literally make me sick. And to hear the people cheering him on when he uses words like “sniping”… I just hate that Jesus’s name is associated with this stuff in any way… not to mention how the victims must feel hearing this. All allegations may not be true in these sorts of situations, I realize that, but to hear someone this way from the pulpit, in this instance and in others, just breaks my heart. Thank you for exposing this stuff.
Proverbs 3:5,6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart ,and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths. Proverbs 18:2 A fool has no delight in understanding,but expressing his own heart.
Is that your response April because he’s still your “man of God”….or are you describing him as the fool for his “expressing his own heart”….yeah, probably not. Because the culture of your cult-like church is the scripture applies to everyone, except y’all…. unless of course it involves the prosperity of money 🙄
This is disturbing and also sad. This is level of control and manipulation of the congregation is happening far too much and it’s not just in the USA but throughout the western church. Here in Australia it is also happening and not just at Hillsong but in other churches including the Baptist church here in Queensland. I just pray people have their eyes opened to what is happening and leave with their faith intact. This guy is speaking against the Bible in relation to exposing those in leadership where the are a number of witnesses to their sin.
For those interested, do a bit of research to find out things ended for Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, in Carthage, IL. Telling people what they can and can’t say is kind of a big deal.
This is the downside of independent (non-denominational) churches. In several cases they can exercise excessive control over others and set their leaders up as those above criticism and there little to no accountability from within to call them out when they do
American evangelicals are increasingly turning into domestic terrorists.
Considering how many were arrested for the Jan 6th insurrection, I am not surprised.
What sayeth the scripture?
Romans 3:10–12 (ESV): “None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good, not even one.”
What sayeth the scripture?
Matt. 5:48 (ESV) “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Frankly, I’d settle for these “Christian” leaders simply being decent human beings.
BW,
Thank you for quoting Jesus and not a man.
“Frankly, I’d settle for these “Christian” leaders simply being decent human beings.”
There is no such thing as a “decent human” only sinners that try to earnestly follow God’s will, and those that say/pretend to, or deny God’s authority/existence, living their own version of the truth.
““The only access that a lot of this has to you is your social media. Get off!” yelled Pfeil. “What are you doing listening to people that are idiots? If you sit there and give them your ear, you’re going to be up out of here soon.””
If they only applied this standard to themselves, and actually read MMLJ (it would expose most of them as false teachers), they do not honor God or HIS Son, only fallen men that allows their control/income to go unquestioned.
This is so out of context!! Whoever wrote this article is deliberately trying to make my pastor look like a criminal, when he’s the most moral man I’ve ever known!!
Get the whole truth and report the whole truth – where is your proof?!?!?!? What happened to innocent until PROVEN guilty?!?!? Why not post the ENTIRE service instead of just excerpts that were carefully doctored to make him look bad?!?!?!?!?
The devil is the one who is out to steal, kill, and destroy! Stop helping him do that!!
Sorry Shari. That man you claim as your pastor literally allowed threats to be issued from his same pulpit last year. That a Canadian women would “lose her very life”. And thus a mentally unwell person was violent against her and her children and set her house on fire…
“… you’re gonna be sniped and taken out. Don’t come crying to me later. I’ve warned you and warned you and warned you and warned you!” How exactly does that “line up with the Bible”?
Apparently, your “pastor” decided to delete this sermon off of his church’s social media. Ask him ‘why’, okay? Because then we could see every excruciating minute of his unhinged sermon. If he won’t, I’ll happily share those embarrassing moments when he talked about having LGBT people in his private vehicle, shouting that he is NOT a perv, beating his kid with a wooden spoon until he feared Jeremy, etc…
Hiding the video was his choice, not mine. If necessary, I’m happy to post every minute I have but I KNOW he won’t like that very much…
You’re “honorable” man of God hides his sermons!!
Also, how about that update about James Randolph??
It’s disgusting what you all that are still at Accelerate support & make excuses for.
Pastor Jeremy tells us FREQUENTLY not to take his word for it, but to check for ourselves that what he’s preaching lines up with the Bible. He tells us to run from Accelerate Church if we ever catch him being unbiblical or unrighteousness. That’s the exact opposite of a cult!!
Shari,
So how do you defend his comments that he deleted? Or will you stick your head in the ground and pretty nothing happened?