{"id":18261,"date":"2026-02-09T08:03:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=18261"},"modified":"2026-02-09T08:03:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:03:22","slug":"complaint-filed-against-bethel-sydney-over-ties-to-bethel-redding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=18261","title":{"rendered":"Complaint filed against Bethel Sydney over ties to Bethel Redding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/> By  Leonardo Blair<span class=\"quiet\">, Senior Reporter Friday, February 06, 2026<\/span><a class=\"reporter-twitter\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/leoblair\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Quick Summary<\/h2>\n<p>AI Summary<\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul\">\n<li>A complaint filed against Bethel Sydney raises safety concerns over ties to the parent church in Redding.<\/li>\n<li>Allegations include mishandling of sexual misconduct claims against minister Shawn Bolz.<\/li>\n<li>Bethel Sydney is scheduled to officially launch on Feb. 15 and has established safeguarding measures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"summary-disclosure\">An artificial intelligence-powered tool created this summary based on the source article. The summary has undergone review and verification by an editor.<\/p>\n<p>See <span\/> Summary<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"photo-des\">Matt and Elisabeth King are the senior leaders of Bethel Sydney in Australia.<\/span> | <span class=\"credit\">YouTube\/Bethel Sydney<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A formal complaint has been filed with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, raising concern about the ongoing ties between the new Bethel Sydney campus and Bill Johnson\u2019s Bethel Church in Redding, California, where leaders have admitted to mishandling allegations of data harvesting to generate fake prophecies and sexual misconduct against Christian minister Shawn Bolz.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint, which was reviewed by The Christian Post and appears to have been filed anonymously, raises concerns about public safeguarding and potential risks associated with the new Bethel Sydney Campus in light of the most recent admission by Bethel Church leaders last month that they mishandled the abuse allegations against Bolz.<\/p>\n<p>Bethel Church previously stated in 2025 that they had confronted Bolz about the allegations more than five years earlier and had distanced themselves from him when he didn&#8217;t provide a satisfactory response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no doubt that Bethel Sydney is an extension of the Bethel Church, Redding California ministry. In the statement dated January 25 2026, Bill Johnson and other Bethel leaders acknowledge receiving corroborated allegations of sexual misconduct against a minister, Shawn Bolz, who they platformed globally as early as 2019, and admit they failed to disclose this information to their church and wider community in a timely way (many years), contributing to further victims and harm caused,\u201d the complaint against Bethel Sydney, led by Matthew and Elizabeth King, states.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson and Kris Vallotton, a senior associate leader at the global megachurch, joined several leaders on stage during a service in 2024 to commission the Kings as the senior leaders of Bethel Sydney, which is scheduled to officially launch on Feb. 15. A recent statement from Bethel Sydney said Johnson is expected to be a part of their campus dedication service.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFollowing a powerful weekend at the Bethel Sydney Conference, we\u2019re gathering again \u2014 this time as family \u2014 to dedicate this house to the Lord and mark the beginning of a new season in our city,\u201d the church noted Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re honored to welcome Bill Johnson to speak at our dedication service, carrying a heart for revival and a deep love for Jesus and His Church. This will be a moment of consecration, faith, and expectation as we make room for all that God wants to do in Sydney and our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Responding to questions about the relationship between Bethel Church in Redding and Bethel Sydney, Pastor Matthew King told The Christian Post in an emailed statement that while the churches are connected through \u201ca shared statement of faith, values and spiritual leadership networks,\u201d Bethel Sydney is an independently governed operation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBethel Sydney is an independently governed Australian charity with its own board, constitution, and accountability structures. While Bethel Sydney maintains a relational connection with Bethel Church in Redding through a shared statement of faith, values and spiritual leadership networks, there is no constitutional, financial, or operational control exercised by Bethel Redding over Bethel Sydney,\u201d King noted in his statement. \u201cGovernance, decision-making, and safeguarding responsibilities sit entirely with the Australian board and leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He further noted that even though Bethel Sydney hasn\u2019t yet launched as a public church congregation, and won\u2019t launch formally until later this month, the church has already \u201cdeveloped a comprehensive safeguarding and accountability framework.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs part of its establishment process, Bethel Sydney has developed a comprehensive safeguarding and accountability framework prior to launch. This includes policies covering safeguarding and child safety, sexual harassment prevention, whistleblower protections, complaints and grievance handling and pastoral code of conduct,\u201d the Bethel Sydney leader noted. \u201cThese policies have been reviewed and approved at a board level and form part of Bethel Sydney\u2019s commitment to ensuring a safe, transparent, and accountable church environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>King also explained that the leadership of Bethel Sydney have been in communication with the nearly 3,000 members of their community about the allegations against Bolz and offered pastoral care and other support. They have also directed people to Bethel Church\u2019s statement on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would like to note Bethel Sydney has instructed its legal representative to notify the ACNC that we are willing to answer any questions they may have regarding our compliance requirements,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The ACNC complaint against Bethel Sydney made it clear that the pattern of Bethel Church leaders mishandling abuse in the church isn\u2019t just confined to Bolz.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint states that since Bethel Redding leaders admitted to mishandling the allegations against Bolz, additional allegations of clergy sexual misconduct have been made against Bethel leader Ben Armstrong involving young adults, some of whom were interns at the time the alleged misconduct occurred.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBethel Church fully knew about the incidents as they addressed it with the church at the time, asking for God\u2019s forgiveness and then fully restoring Ben Armstrong back to ministry in a promoted authority position he holds today as \u2018Prophetic Overseer,\u2019\u201d the complaint notes.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint argues that considering Australia\u2019s strong safeguarding controls in place for charities, Bethel Sydney needs to publicly address the latest admissions by Bethel Church leaders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo date, there has been NO public statement from Bethel Sydney, the senior leaders, or its board addressing these admissions of covering up knowledge of sexual abuse from leaders they platformed, or why there are still leaders in their ministry holding authority positions when there is known Clergy Sexual Abuse,\u201d the complaint adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are no safeguarding implications in place to ensure the Australian entity has independently assessed the risks associated with this leadership culture. It is a major concern to the safety of the public who would attend this church,\u201d it continues. \u201cGiven Australia\u2019s strong safeguarding expectations for charities, particularly those working with families, youth, children, and vulnerable people, I am concerned about whether appropriate governance, risk management, and safeguarding oversight are in place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com Follow Leonardo Blair on Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/leoblair\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@leoblair<\/a> Follow Leonardo Blair on Facebook: LeoBlairChristianPost<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Friday, February 06, 2026 Quick Summary AI Summary A complaint filed against Bethel Sydney raises safety concerns over ties to the parent church in Redding. Allegations include mishandling of sexual misconduct claims against minister Shawn Bolz. Bethel Sydney is scheduled to officially launch on Feb. 15 and has established safeguarding<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5450,1765,5900,5901,3445,1118],"class_list":{"0":"post-18261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-christian-living","8":"tag-bethel","9":"tag-complaint","10":"tag-filed","11":"tag-redding","12":"tag-sydney","13":"tag-ties"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}