WINGS Note: In the 2019 letter pasted below, Robert Eberhardt states “I was a sexual offender”. He has recently advised that he was referring to “consensual relationships” in this letter. Adult consensual relationships are entirely different to child sexual abuse or adult abuse/assault.
His letter was written to explain why special arrangements were being made for convicted CSA offender Price Turner to attend meetings in Wisconsin.
His call for mercy does not necessitate attendance at meetings, nor should it form an obligation on victims. This letter, and the various circumstances that have been exposed recently, raises issues that need to be considered deeply.
Robert Eberhardt is the current overseer of AL/MS/LA. He has labored in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. He has been the overseer of MO/AR, WI, and AL/MS/LA.
For more information about the specific case of Price Turner see https://wingsfortruth.info/2023/05/23/price-g-turner-iii-wisconsin/
8/23/2019
Dear <redacted>,
<redacted paragraph – news of recent visits>
You have asked me to explain Bruce Shaw’s question regarding gospel meetings where a registered sexual offender would be present. If you are looking for someone to assign blame to for this you may put it all on me. What may appear to you as a single worker’s obsession with helping sexual offenders and rapists, is in fact the whole purpose of God in establishing this ministry and our being His servants in it. Paul in his first epistle to Timothy chapter 1, verse 15: This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
I previously wrote to you the following: Yes, the concern you would have for your children is taken seriously. I have spoken with Bruce this morning and have advised him to restrict Price to an as yet to be formed Sunday morning meeting that would be absent of children. The generally attended gospel meetings will now be off limits to Price, but some restricted gospel meetings where no children are present he will be permitted to attend. The Special meetings, union meetings, Wednesday meetings, and conventions will also be restricted from him and anyone else is the same situation.
In all of my years in this ministry I have been reminded from time to time of what our old brother, George Walker, advised; In judgment it is better to err on the side of mercy.
I know that you and some others are not willing to meet with sexual offenders. Because of this, I have written the few sentences above with the hope of alleviating your concern for the safety of your children.
In this attempt, I have been self-condemned as a hypocrite. You see, in the past, I was a sexual offender. The only reason for my being here today is because of the mercy and grace of God. He included me into His family and fellowship. How can I exclude others from fellowship, when I wasn’t?
There is a way for the sinner to be accepted, for righteousness to prevail and God to be glorified.
I hope that you will understand that the safety of your children is no less important to me than the salvation of some poor sinner’s soul.
May God, the Father of us all, keep us united and safe from every evil thing.
You may share this with anyone you wish.
With love in Christ,
Robert Eberhardt
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This letter is disgusting.
Aw! The great lie by George Walker: “it is better to err on the side of mercy”
Actually, it’s better and always right, to tell the truth in mercy.
Psalms 85:10
If there’s dishonesty, there’s no mercy.
Your decisions are proving over and over that you are choosing deceit and ignorance. Not only are you hurting the victims all over again, you are doing an injustice to the predator too. Oh how many times have predators said, “no one stopped me”!
Be what you claim in your preaching “a man of God”, and care about the predators enough to not have them with their target addiction. Would you serve alcohol to a drunk for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
Your policies are completely hateful!!
@Henorriir, perhaps George Walker was thinking on what Jesus said—-But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. I don’t think any of us know when or where God condemns or forgives another human being for their past sins. We can go ahead and use our own judgement and condemn them until they meet our standards or realize that we may be in serious trouble by condemning those who God has forgiven and views them guiltless because of the blood of His Son.
@Henoffour, I might add the first time I heard that saying I want to err on the side of mercy was a couple of days after my wire and I first professed. At that same meeting a lady who lived close to us, but we had never met, also professed. We were told where the Sunday morning meeting was and were asked to pick this lady up and bring her with us. The worker told us that she had been divorced and remarried , but added that it was obvious that she had received the Spirit of God, and then added who am I to deny her fellowship and wanting to err on the side of mercy. Of course it was all new to us, we didn’t dream it was even an issue. I am glad to say we had many years of wonderful fellowship with her and even later her husband who professed. They both finished their course faithful to the end.
At some point after this statement that sexual offenders would not be allowed in meeting with children, Rob and Bruce Shaw changed their mind and multiple CSAs attended the general gospel meeting in Appleton, WI. Not all parents were informed of the CSAs in the meetings and children were present at those gospel meetings for 3+ years until Glenn Gasser recently removed CSAs from meetings with children. Rob and Bruce Shaw were responsible for causing great division in the Appleton field and contributed to numerous young families avoiding or stopping coming to meetings.
I believe that sexual offenders past or present do not belong in the work in any capacity . When I had made mistakes in my marriage which caused my wife to ask for a divorce, he told me this: you’re a grown man so deal with it. He never attempted to have any discussion with me or my wife regarding the situation, he just ignored me. Rob, you should apply the same standard to your life instead of being promoted through “mercy “ that you weren’t willing to give others…ie. being a hypocrite. I’m not afraid of giving my name. If I’m punished for being truthful then so be it as it wouldn’t be the first time being truthful caused to be restricted from participating in meetings in the Western states of Arizona and Oregon.
William, I have had similar interactions with Rob, you are not alone.
A very hard unkind man without the heart of a servant.
That’s because the west coast, the pacific, and az all have their own doctrine
William, this reminds me of what someone got up and convention and said in his testimony – We tend to view the faults of others as failures and wrongdoing. We tend to view our own faults as struggles and weakness. I’m impressed with your honesty regarding your wrongdoings in your marriage. But then you castigate Rob for not trying to fix your problems. The fact that Rob understood that he was not a marriage counselor is true wisdom in my book. I think workers got themselves in over their heads by trying to be counselors on a variety of things. I hope that all the ministry knows that we love them as our spiritual counselors and that when we expect free marriage/financial/other counseling from them, that the workers will feel free to tell us to seek professional help, and there are a lot of free services available for those who can’t afford much.
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When I read your comment, Willam, I think you don’t realize that you may be falling into the “offender feeling like a victim” trap. It sounds like Rob was siding with your wife in this situation, and feeling that your immaturity had gotten not only you into this trouble but had hurt your whole family. Man up, or rather, adult up, own your problems, and do whatever you can to overcome them and make things right by those you have hurt. Especially your children if you have any. Your bitterness is simply a mental form of alcohol allowing you to avoid facing up to the problems you have caused. But I can promise you – when you humble yourself and do these things, I think you’ll be overwhelmed with the love and support you receive.
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When we fall into the trap of wanting total incrimination and condemnation for those who have evidently made some bad decisions, we end up just like them. I can tell you that some in my family had some personal experiences with Dean Bruer that had nothing to do with anything sexual at all. His rigid rules and merciless reactions made him seem like the righteous one and everyone else the guilty sinner – and now we know these were simply a cover up for his own horrible secrets. Don’t be like that. Love knows the right way to deal with wrong things.
Educate and Empower: you speak loudly while hiding behind a false name/anonymity. Cowards do that so I give very little credibility to your statements. I am a victim/survivor of sexual abuse by a worker named Jay Wilson in 1965 when I was 14/15 years old. I stand by my statement concerning Rob Eberhardt. Your attempt to shame me into accepting his actions will not succeed. His recent actions supporting abusers over victims is nothing short of disgusting. He refuses to accept the zero tolerance for sexual offenders. He’s against allowing people that’s been divorced and remarried participating in meetings. His obvious position is that if anyone commits a sin that he’s committed then all should be forgiven.
Your opinion of calling me a mental alcoholic is laughable if your ignorance wasn’t so obvious. You’re quick to pass judgement on a situation you know very little about so I must have touched a nerve with you just as I now know I did with Rob as well. Rob never admitted to me that he was a sexual offender… do ask yourself why, however he made his comment to me under the guise of being truthful when he wasn’t.
Jesus said anyone who lusts after another is guilty of adultery…tell me that you haven’t lusted after another. Your false accusation of me being an offender feeling like a victim is similar to Job’s friends… making assumptions/accusations in ignorance.
I simply went to Rob as the Bible instructs and instead received no evidence of him being a shepherd concerned about the flock. If my behaviors have consequences then why shouldn’t his behaviors have similar consequences? See the double standard you and he have? You preach/judge me based on your opinion yet excuse Rob completely for his actions and support of abusers just because Rob has abused his position of being in authority as a minister of God and truth. Did you speak to Rob as you have spoken to me? I seriously doubt it.
I have just seen your response which likely was timely as Rob has recently proven himself even more aligned with those who have credible allegations against them. Perhaps you might feel the need to revisit your sermon to me.
William Johnson
Not one who hides behind anonymity for fear or any other reason. Perhaps you should “man up” as you obviously don’t practice what you preach.
Restrictions to participation is usually abuse of power. With few exceptions, those staying silent would contribute bread to a meeting and bring the Spirit. West Coast would benefit from a healthier fellowship if they had merciful forgiving policies.
Right? You can dress super sexy, designer clothes, makeup jewelry all that, but a DIVORCE???? Well clutch my pearls. That’s the worst thing of all. Whatever
By naming himself as a sexual offender he has given the very reason that he shouldn’t be in the work imo.
I find this extract interesting “George Walker, advised; In judgment it is better to err on the side of mercy”. I disagree with the esteemed George. A better motto would be “in judgment it is better to err on the side of protecting the vulnerable”.
I agree also. I remember someone saying “Man’s mercy is not necessarily God’s mercy.” Mercy is not about allowing sexual offenders to mingle with anyone and everyone. They can have access to meetings when the situation is controlled and safe for all. Forgiveness isn’t about never remembering. It is letting go of anger and bitterness – for your own sake. Forgiveness is allowing God to take the burden from us. It is being yoked with Jesus so he can help us find rest in laboring.
People are angry right now and that’s OK. Righteous anger has its place. What I pray for is that we all might be able to let God heal us from the anger before it becomes so deep-seated and turns into bitterness. Satan would love to spread bitterness among God’s people because it would destroy God’s work.
‘
I don’t want to write and say I agree with or disagree with how Rob handled these situations. But I can say that the more others post about him, the more impressed I am with him. It seems clear to me that he was truly seeking to do the right thing by all involved and yet be mindful of his own humanness. And as humans we have all been guilty of being completely convinced that a certain decision we are making is the only right thing to do. But then later with better information/understanding we realize that we were completely wrong.
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I think of Saul/Paul that we are so thankful for in the New Testament. What he was doing before he repented was terrible, and he totally (rightfully) ruined his reputation in the eyes of those early Christians and apostles. But in fact he did it all with a clear conscious and the thought he was doing right before The God of Heaven. He was part of the “system”, he drank the kool aid, sitting at the feet of Gamaliel. But… he was teachable. When the truth came to light, he did a complete and thorough about face and never forgot the mercy of God for him.
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When Paul dealt with that bad situation in I Cor 5 where everyone was puffed up about that brother having an affair with his father’s wife, Paul told them that they should have rather mourned, and that there should be a separation, to deliver such a one to Satan – for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit might be saved. They should be partaking of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, not of the leavened (highly infectious) bread of malice and wickedness. It seems that indeed they quickly responded to Paul’s writing to them. Paul continued to talk about this situation in II Cor 1 he said he spared them by delaying coming to them, it seems to me so that they could process and rectify this evil amongst them. And then Paul says, “Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but we are helpers of your joy; for by faith ye stand.” He might have seemingly ordered people around and gave a lot of commands and strict recommendations, but he was quite aware that he was simply a helper in their joy and not in dominion over their faith, and he wanted them to be clear about that also. Then he continues to write about this situation and his own feelings in the 2nd chapter. It seems the campaign worked because now this inappropriate man was full of godly sorrow. And now Paul had new advice for them – forgive him, comfort him and confirm your love toward him. And Paul explained why at the end of that chapter – whoever they forgave, he would forgive too – [because] – lest satan get an advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
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These are the things our overseers read and I cannot believe it does not weigh on them in these kinds of cases. But love isn’t just accepting everyone as they are and give them the defense that they are “minor attracted persons” and were born that way (I hope that sick movement doesn’t get any traction ever). Love marks things wrong even as Paul said for them to do, so that the offender can keep from hurting others more and add more condemnation to themselves. Love sets boundaries, sometimes permanent, that not only protect the past and potential victims, but also helps the offender from giving into hurtful temptations.
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If Rob made his decisions in clear conscious and with honesty and prayer, then when he is confronted with errors in his judgments, the test of his true nature is his willingness to change accordingly. And for myself I can see that we have a bunch of overseers that have made some very quick changes to the way they were handling things. They need our appreciation and support so that we can unite with them to effectively deal with those who are unmoved due to their own dishonesty. And these types often use the good guys as the pawns to take their fall. We can’t afford to be deceived by that.
The issue was after this email Rob went against the wishes of the parents with children. If you read my comment before it says he let CSAs attend gospel meeting with children even though parents were not aware or were aware and were not willing to meet with CSAs.
Dear Concerned parent, Thank you for clarifying this for me. When I stayed neutral regarding what he did or did not do correctly, that really has the effect of saying that I’m complicit in his behavior, which was certainly not what I intended to imply. Of course I don’t agree with how he handled the situation. But what I was impressed with, was that he seemed to do things with a desire to do the right thing based on what he understood at the time. Trauma is never about just one person. Of course the child who has experienced the CSA is the one that is the priority, and then that also includes those that would be potential victims. But it doesn’t negate the fact that it usually turns the lives of the offender’s families upside down with often very traumatic and lasting effects, especially if there are young children involved who get to bear the consequences of their parent’s hurtful decisions, even if they themselves were not the recipient of the CSA. And I know that an honest overseer would be aware of all of these things and seeking to mitigate as much damage as possible while still doing the right thing. And no matter what, they will bear the blame. One thing I think has been a real positive in this current situation is that it has given honest overseers a clear direction to take – even though it will certainly still cause lasting trauma to many people. But now they can realize that is not their responsibility – they can give love and comfort and spiritual counsel as always, but the law gives them clear direction. And that’s why I said it’s like a litmus test will be to see if this clear understanding makes a difference in their reactions. Of course, these laws are not brand new – and their ignorance caused its own trauma which is certainly indefensible. And I know also that as an institution where children are very much involved, even more requirements need to be implemented that are above the minimum expectations of the law.
”What may appear to you as a single worker’s obsession with helping sexual offenders and rapists, is in fact the whole purpose of God in establishing this ministry and our being His servants in it”.
Really? The WHOLE PURPOSE of God in establishing this ministry is to help sexual offenders and rapist? Then this “overseer”proclaims, “I was a sexual offender”.
This overseer is very arrogant. He thinks he is God’s focus because he was a sexual offender? Now this overseer expects unfettered access because he has said he has overcome his sexual offender weakness?
The overseer then says, “I hope that you will understand that the safety of your children is no less important to me than the salvation of some poor sinner’s soul”. A sexual offender talking of “the safety of your children “?
This overseer has so many red flags that would terrify me if I had children. Children are the focus of God! Not a rapist or sexual predator, who has odds to offend again. This overseer is a leader? This is the best person available to be a leader?
Rapist and sex offenders make up a small fraction of society and this demented demographic doesn’t have many that did their harm only once. And this demographic has a huge chance to be evil again.
And the victims of the sexual predator don’t just easily move on in their lives. They live with the consequences of the sexual abuse.These people who are sexual abuse victims are also the focus of God. God is for the victims.
This overseer quoted the religion’s founding father’s, William Irvine’s sidekick saying, “what our old brother, George Walker, advised; In judgment it is better to err on the side of mercy”. None of these people should be in, “judgement”. They will be judged. No sexual predator has any room for judgement.