Bethel Leaders Admit Failures in Response to Allegations against Shawn Bolz
Leaders of Bethel Church in California have apologized for failing to act promptly and transparently in response to allegations that Shawn Bolz engaged in sexual misconduct and misleading prophetic practices.
The Jan. 25 statement from senior associate leader Kris Vallotton, senior leader Bill Johnson, and lead pastor Dann Farrelly opens by acknowledging “mistakes and failures in the way we navigated our responsibilities to the global Body of Christ” – and comes after apologist Mike Winger posted a video online detailing allegations about Bethel and Bolz. That video was titled, “The Skeletons in Bethel’s Closet Are Now Going to Speak.”
“We take responsibility for the fact that we did not properly and fully bring discipline, closure, or clear and timely communication regarding the gravity of our concerns with Shawn Bolz,” the joint Bethel statement said. “This was someone we platformed to preach and prophesy in our house and with our teams on many occasions up until 2019. We are clear that we are not responsible for Shawn’s sin, he is. But we are equally clear that we are responsible for our sins, actions, and inactions after the fact. James 4:17 states, ‘So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.’
“The truth is, we have hurt and scared people because we did not tell the truth enough, early enough, long enough, or loud enough, and this is a just criticism,” the statement continued. “Our hearts are grieved, and embarrassed. When we sin or mess up publicly as we have, it’s important to take responsibility publicly, to listen as people share their frustration, sadness, fears, and corrections. We have been hearing a lot of this, and expect to hear more in the season ahead, as sometimes it takes a while for the frustration to land, and for people to really trust you’ve heard them. We are not rushing past this.”
Vallotton said Bethel first learned of allegations of sexual harassment against Bolz in 2019, but Bolz then denied any wrongdoing. Bethel leaders then investigated the issue, speaking with three of Bolz’s former team members, and concluded the allegations were credible and that “this was a culture within Shawn’s team,” Vallotton wrote in his own statement.
Around the same time, European church leaders contacted Bethel, alleging that Bolz used social media to gather personal details in advance and present them publicly as “words of knowledge” – meaning information was portrayed as divinely revealed but obtained through ordinary research.
“Danny and I began a series of additional confrontations,” Vallotton wrote. “I also flew down to Los Angeles to confront Shawn with my findings. He denied the allegations in what became a four-hour meeting, the heart of which was, Galatians 6:1 – confrontation to a friend who had sinned. Again, he denied the allegations, and at that time, I warned him that if someone else must confess his sin, it would be far worse than repenting and doing the right thing. We felt we should give him time to choose repentance, until Shawn stopped engaging with us on the accusations entirely.”
The Bethel team removed Bolz from its platform, including taking down his books, resources, and sermons, Vallotton wrote.
“But here is the challenge and my mistake: I did not realize until just a few days ago that my approach was merely that of helping a friend, because he was not on our staff or our teams, and we had confronted his board with our findings on several occasions,” Vallotton wrote. “We did not feel taking things further was our responsibility, and felt that we had done what we could. However, this was a major mistake. We should have told our church and wider community in 2020. We did not. That was wrong. We platformed him because we believed in him, and when phe failed, and failed to repent, it was our responsibility to tell people that we no longer trusted him in order to protect them. That was my decision to not communicate more widely, and my error in judgment.”
He wrote of Winger’s video: “It grieves me that someone would need to put out a video to prompt us to action.”
Johnson, too, acknowledged his own failure to act sooner.
“I firstly want to apologize for the position I took on the initial accusations brought to our team. Kris and Danny were both willing to bring correction in this, and I was the one who slowed things down,” Johnson wrote. “My great strength, and in this instance weakness, is that I believe in people when they don’t deserve it. But in this situation, it became unsanctified mercy. In my commitment to wanting to see Shawn in a place of health, I didn’t see what I needed to. I didn’t want to believe the accusations against Shawn were true, and it blinded me to reality in my loyalty to a friend, neglecting that there was a real issue that needed to be addressed. I could’ve chosen to see through the eyes of my team and access their discernment, but chose not to. As a result of my inaction, which slowed this process down, more people were affected, and additional injuries in the prophetic and trauma in Shawn’s own team took place.”
Meanwhile, Bethel said it is directing abuse allegations to an independent third-party reporting and investigation system launched last year. More information is available at bethel.com/safechurch.
“We took time on Sunday, January 25, at all morning services to share with the Church our heart and repentance. Our time of worship was deep and powerful, and we were grateful to speak during that time,” the Bethel statement said. “As we continue in this time of sober reflection, we are allowing the Lord to sift our hearts that we might walk in holiness, righteousness, purity, and the fear of the Lord before Him and before those whom He has entrusted us with.”
Bolz deleted his social media accounts. Winger wrote in a Jan. 24 post on X/Twitter, “Shawn Bolz announced today that he is stepping away from public ministry but hints that he plans to return to it after a break.”
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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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Originally published January 27, 2026.
