Two weeks ago I wrote an article titled “ARBCA Insider John Giarizzo is Caught Lying, Admits ARBCA Cover-up Yet Manages to Keep Job.” At the end of the article, I commented on the relationship between Giarrizzo’s church – Grace Covenant Church – and Sovereign Grace Church of Gilbert. (A church I was formerly a member of.).
You may recall that Trey Richardson, one of the pastors at Sovereign Grace, had lectured on Biblical counseling at a Sunday school class at Grace Covenant Church three years ago. In an attempt to ascertain what the relationship was between the two churches, I had attempted to contact Trey several times, leaving four messages, but he never returned any of my calls.
Trey Richardson fancies himself to be a professional counselor of sorts. His bio on the Sovereign Grace website states:
“Trey is a trained, experienced and skilled Biblical counselor who walks out his passion for prayer and pastoral care by overseeing Small Groups, the prayer team and compassionately counseling couples and individuals.”
But to my knowledge, Trey is not a professionally licensed counselor. I believe he has taken some courses through CCEF (Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation) but CCEF, on their website, clearly states:
“Please note that CCEF is not a certifying agency. CCEF does not “certify” or “endorse” counselors who have completed one of our certificate programs. If you wish to refer to yourself as a “certified counselor” or “certified biblical counselor,” you should pursue certification through an organization that provides this type of certification. Some organizations will accept CCEF courses as part of their training requirement. Licensure as a professional counselor is offered through state agencies and typically requires a graduate degree from an accredited institution.”
That Trey Richardson is not a professionally licensed counselor will become evident as you read the rest of this article.
As a prelude to this article, you may wish to read an article I published on August 14, 2018 titled, “More Child Abuse Perpetrated By Members of an ARBCA Church.” It will give you the necessary background to the information below.
Caleb and Mary Beery were members of San Tan Reformed Baptist Church, this church was a member of ARBCA and was “planted” by Grace Covenant Church, mentioned above. (I plan on writing another article which will deal more in-depth with the crimes of the Beery’s, but the purpose of this article is to expose, once again, Sovereign Grace Churches care for the perpetrators of crimes against children while showing no concern for the wounded children. This seems to be systemic throughout the Sovereign Grace Churches denomination, a part of their DNA, if you will.)
The Beery’s are both now convicted felons, having plead guilty to two counts of child abuse. They both accepted plea bargains and will be serving six months in prison followed by seven years of probation. They claim to have used excessive force in disciplining a one-year-old child in their care whom they had hoped to adopt. They said they “disciplined” her for not coming when called by spanking her with a spatula. According to court documents, what appears to have taken place was the fourteen-month-old infant was dipped in scalding water, causing burns on her bottom which have scarred her for life.
The screenshot below is taken from the Presentencing Investigation report. The entire document can be viewed at the end of this post.
Here is what the adoptive father, speaking on behalf of the baby girl had to say:
The Beery’s recently quit attending their ARBCA church, and with the permission of their ARBCA elders, started attending Sovereign Grace Church of Gilbert! (Not what I would call an improvement!) They also started attending counseling sessions with Trey and his wife, Charlotte in September.
Trey would not have had access to the Presentence Investigation report as it wasn’t filed with the court until October 10th. If he would have had the report he would have known that the infant victim’s new adoptive parents said their child was burned and has scars that will remain for the rest of her life, and that the professional medical staff stated that the infants injuries were consistent with someone who had been dipped in scalding hot water rather than spanked with a spatula. As the evaluation below states, “the injuries caused to the victim are extremely troubling.”
It is my opinion that the Beerys never admitted to Trey and Charlotte that they allegedly scalded the infant in their care. All they admit to is that they spanked the infant with a spatula, using excessive force. This is what they “repented” of. They also admitted (and repented) for purposely disregarding the agreement they signed as foster parents, promising to never use corporal punishment on the infant.
I hope Trey was not aware of the claims by the adoptive parents and professional hospital staff members that the Beery’s scalded the infant in their care because if he was aware of that fact he should have known he was dealing with two individuals who have some serious problems, problems way beyond the scope of his counseling abilities. To know such information and not refer the Beery’s to a professional would be a gross error in judgment, in my opinion.
As it was, the Richardson family – Trey and his wife Charlotte, and their son Rich would have us believe they have gained enough insight into the character of the Beery’s over a two week time period to write positive character reference letters to Judge McCarville! The letters, submitted to the Court, can be viewed below.
Rich admits he has not known the Beerys very long, yet apparently long enough to recommend the Berrys be given work releases from their prison sentence! This is foolhardy. One would think that the senior pastor and a leader in the denomination would possess a bit more wisdom.
Trey, the “trained, experienced and skilled Biblical counselor” doesn’t prove any wiser. After counseling the Beerys for a “few weeks” he can attest to the exemplary character of the Beerys because for one thing, they do all their assigned homework! This is just incredibly naive.
What really aggravates me, and yet is historically typical of Sovereign Grace pastors, is their rush to forgive the criminals and even speak of them in glowing terms, while making no mention of the victims. One wonders if the Richardson clan have bothered contacting Jeff and Stephanie Ryan to express their care and concern for the infant and to see if the Ryans would approve of them writing letters to the Court, in essence, asking the judge t0 be lenient with the Beerys, because, after all, they do their assigned homework! This is outrageous.
Jeff Ryan claims in court documents that “My little girl has scars on her buttocks that will be with her the rest of her life. Burn scars that will be there the rest of her days because they [the Beerys] couldn’t handle a child crying.”
The Beerys should have received longer sentences and they surely do not need to be granted work release while serving their six months. And Sovereign Grace pastors wonder why those outside of their echo chamber detest them? Seriously?
20118-10-10 Mary Beery Pres… by on Scribd
For further information on the Sovereign Grace denomination, please read the following articles:
Sovereign Grace Ministries and Abuse: Time to Speak Out
“And the abuser is seen as repentant and restored, and you think, well, maybe it’ll be okay. That process of rooting out sin is really thorough. And they have so much accountability–from their accountability partner and their care group leader and from the pastor.”
Christianity Today – We Need an Independent Investigation of Sovereign Grace Ministries
“To put it simply: Sovereign Grace Churches (SGC; formerly Sovereign Grace Ministries) and its individual churches and leaders, present and former, who have been accused of failing to adequately respond to past incidents of child and sexual abuse should submit to a thorough, truly independent investigation.”
PUBLIC RESPONSE TO SOVEREIGN GRACE CHURCHES
by Rachael Denhollander
“In a recent article with Christianity Today, I referenced deep concerns with the intentional failure to report sexual assault perpetrated in multiple churches, by multiple elders, at Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM), now “Sovereign Grace Churches” (SGC). Three days ago, SGC responded to this article and stated I was “mistaken” in my statements and that these concerns “are not true and have never been true”. They further stated that they would not respond to my “false accusations” with evidence as to why they are false, because they would appear “unsympathetic” to victims of abuse. They linked, as proof, to the dismissal of the civil suit against them. The lawsuit was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired. This is a dismissal on technical grounds only, it had nothing to do with the substantive claims made against SGM. It simply means that the time for which legal proceedings can be initiated has expired and therefore the court no longer has the authority to examine the merits of the plaintiff’s claims. Ultimately, this dismissal means that the evidence against SGM was never examined by the courts. This is not evidence, in any way, shape, or form, that SGM has not done what is alleged.”
Note: Article edited on 11-20-2018.
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