PLANO, Texas (AP) ” A minister arrested in an Internet sex sting has resigned his position at a Dallas-area megachurch, its pastor said Saturday.
The Rev. Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, said during services Saturday that the church accepted Joe Barron’s resignation, effective immediately.
Barron was charged Friday with online solicitation of a minor. Undercover officers posing as a 13-year-old girl communicated with the 52-year-old minister for about two weeks. The online conversations were sexual in nature, police said.
On May 6, Barron suggested meeting the girl in person. He drove nearly 200 miles on Thursday to meet her in Bryan, where he was arrested. Police said they found a web-cam and condoms in the minister’s car.
Barron was released from the Brazos County Jail on Friday night on $7,000 bail. Police were unsure if he had an attorney.
Graham said it was a heartbreaking week in which “you need to know that we are appalled and we are disgraced by this terrible action, an unacceptable action, by a minister on our staff.”
The pastor said he was eager to move on.
This is one of the largest mega-churches in the US. it’s not what I know as a church - it is a whole town – a corporation – an assembly line. There are over 40 people on staff. 40. The size of a high school class, how does anyone get to know anybody? I can appreciate the head minister has to make the right noises as would a CEO, and say he’s heartbroken, but seriously, would he even know his staff members?
Why would anyone want to be a professional Christian in a place that is it’s own world?
Not only is this church bigger than the average town, the church webpage borked the virtual memory on my computer when I clicked over.
Joe Barron held the position of ‘minister of married adults.’
Dallas Morning News:
Mr. Barron served from 2000 to 2003 as senior pastor at Northrich Baptist Church in Richardson, and before that was adult education pastor at First Baptist Church of Lewisville for 10 months, according to those churches.
Bryan police said Mr. Barron had been chatting for about two weeks with the officer who he thought was a juvenile. Police declined to talk in detail about the conversations, but they said they were sexually explicit.
On Tuesday, Mr. Barron asked the girl to skip school and meet him, police said.
…Inside the car, which Mr. Barron had borrowed from his wife, police found a box of 10 condoms, a Web camera and headset that authorities believe he was going to give the girl, police said. [The condoms were hidden in a golf ball box - BD]
The church website says it’s membership is 28 thousand, news reports say 26 thousand.
It’s understandably run like a corporation, with stores, sports facilities, a world class media centre etc. (I can’t believe I just used etc. like this is normal when ticking off so much ‘what’)
The choir is a thousand people. How can anyone employed in such hugeness be grounded, have a sense of community, feel any accountability to er, the church? Be church? Keep human, keep humble?
This mega-church model is a kind of insanity to me, bigger is not better.
The church’s senior founding minister stepped down after an affair. The current senior minister has been president of the SBC. Twice. This megaplex hosts presidential candidates and raises thousands and thousands of dollars for their candidates of choice.
Nothing on the church website.
No mention of diligence and co-operation with law enforcement to ascertain if Barron left victims at the church or the area.
No comfort for his family or the church family.
But Barron’s phone may have been the biggest find.
“I think the officer stopped counting at like 25 or 30 different–apparently females, different people he was having similar chats with,” Bush said. [Police aren't saying if the females were adults or teens at this stage - BD]
So while police say this may not have been Barron’s first meet and greet with a minor, they feel a little bit better knowing for now–they got number their 12th alleged predator off the streets.
You look at the church website, Barron has been scrubbed, like he never existed. They’ve moved on.
Corporately efficient.
This is the church that is joked of as “Six Flags over Jesus.”
This is the church model easy to take a counter-intuitive swipe at.
It is beyond my ability to understand how an organization this big can function the way churches are supposed to function. I don’t know why I’m ranting about the space, the model, when the sorrow and shame over a staff members conduct sent out to media might be real. A real person with a very serious problem gets arrested meeting a pretend child. This time.
There are worship places around the world that are bigger.
This is not a house of worship, it’s a theatre, an corporation, a business, a gated place to my outside eyes. There is something soulless about sanitizing the webpages of a wayward staff member so quickly, releasing carefully professional prepared church statements to media.
Nothing about a lost man who planned a 200 mile trip to harm a child, nothing about his family, his wife, kid, siblings. Nothing.
He seems as empty as the space and the words used to acknowledge his resignation.
This is a church in control, so in control they don’t even have a search engine on their webpage. I bet parking is uber-efficient at services.
I watch the pictures flashing on the church website, they are all happy healthy white people. It looks like a TV network idealized commercial and I can’t see the people in the pictures as real. They look like actors hired to play church folk. That is so not fair of me to see what is a church that way, but that is what I see along with a mcmenu of choices on a sidebar.
Prestwood bills itself as ‘a place to call home.’ (I cringe writing that) I’m not surprised a staff member would be arrested, with over 40 people working full time, the pressure to perform and conform must be something else.
Going to work every day would literally be going to work. Barron’s executive pastor (I cringe writing that also) says they didn’t see any inappropriate behavior from Barron and did not have a record of previous improprieties. In other words Barron’s praying and preying is not Prestonwood’s problem. Move on.
You are 100% correct in everything that you have written here. I used to work for somebody who printed a great deal of their religious propaganda. This pseudo-church is nothing more that big business. That wonderful tower of power out front that lights up cost millions to build. 4-color offset printed service program every week. I am not talking a color copy, real off the press printed. Add in us having to airbrush out Jack Graham’s wrinkles and turkey neck and using photos of himself that are 10 years old just makes you sick. What a way to project a false image. Their counseling services are not free. The members will talk about all the good they do, which in reality is not done unless you conform. They have a cafe with a top chef, stores, school, sports teams, members services (everybody uses the same photographer for baby, xmas, graduation photos)…does this sound like a church to anybody? Go drive through their parking lot on Sunday morning sometime and look at the make of most of the vehicles. Mr. Graham himself used to drive a very expensive convertible. Not something a person on a Pastor’s salary should be able to afford. This guy makes more than the President of the United States (and probably has more of a following). All that money completely tax free because they are classified as a church.
Looking at the SBC page at SNAP http://stopbaptistpredators.org/index.htm there is nothing in place, no checks and balances, no system of reporting, no system of support.
I’m not angry at rich, I’m angry at unethical – church statements crafted for consumption dictated by lawyers or insurance companies.
How they handle their Joe Barrons highlights the urgency for the Southern Baptist Convention to get up to speed with other denominations and organization and deal with clergy abuse and victims openly and clearly.
The resolution will likely get nowhere at the convention.
Satan isn’t attacking Graham and the church, Barron’s choice and arrest isn’t about an abberant ‘outside’ influence. Graham’s statement was devoid of humanity and reality, echoing entrenched intitlement and enablement.
I wondered if Jack Grahams image was airbrushed, filtered, botoxed or if he’d had plastic surgery.:^)
The church is huge and definitely is too big for me and I never would have gone there if a friend hadn’t invited me to church then took me there.
My mouth fell open the first time I saw it. I thought it was a sports arena. Well, I was just very very intimidated.
I went in (because what are you gonna do sit in a hot car for two hours?) and it was really something.
The music was great. I don’t think there’s room for 1,000 people to sing at once but they do have multiple services so maybe if you add them all together you’d get 1,000.
Small groups (Bible study classes) that’s how you meet people and start to fit in / feel comfortable. And that’s where you make friends and develop relationships.
The people there aren’t any better or worse probably than people in any other church. They are just humans like you-and me.
Before I went there, I knew there was a God. I think we all know that – Dr Graham actually says that’s “innate knowledge” but I didn’t know just about anything else.
The church was really good to me. They offered a several classes with teachers who volunteer their time.
I can’t address (answer) every question in here mainly because I can’t remember them.
But yeah, he’s definitely airbrushed. You know the wrinkles softened (I am a part time photographer). Softened, but not removed. He’s mid-50s – not 90.
There are probably 50-75 photographers in the congregation and if you want to be considered for work you just call them and they put your name on a call list and so no it’s not a scary village or anything.
There is definitely NOT a chef on hand. It’s just the standard Texas food service staff which means spanish speaking and short. (Which is Texan for our well loved neighbors and friends.)
The thing about Mr. Barron is that everything written about him and all, it’s very painful to the family.
The people who know them and love them, they aren’t going to turn their backs on them. What he has attempted to do is frightening. To me, what he really (really) is guilty of is attempting to destroy the life of a child. Abused children, especially sexually abused children, have a hard time living a normal life.
I pray for his family daily. I pray for his sincere repentence and restoration to God. I pray for his children. I know they are suffering.
take care
Good to hear Mr. Barron’s family has support.
If he is convicted they will be walking a long road with a lot of tough choices.
talking heads and faceless crowds have absolutely nothing at to do with the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t go to church we are the church as believers, and we simply gather and scatter for the purpose of “stimulating ONE ANOTHER to
love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:23-25 / Matthew 18:20
We must practice ANOTHERING WITH OUR FALLEN BROTHER
as we practice grace before a spectator world, and i for one am praying for his healing and his family. Galatians 6:1-2
danny griffin
Southern Baptist pastors should survey their congregations and see how many are opposed to homosexual love and how many carry hand guns and see that the Church loves hate and hates love. They should carefully read the synoptic Gospel accounts and take to heart the words of Jesus.
i come from a family a baptist preachers….seems people stand in line in hopes a failure to keep them from worshipping a good God..
in every barrel of apples there may be a bad one…but if removed at the right time it will keep the entire selection unscaved……
i selected prestonwood as my place to worship…my time to set asside to spend time with my Lord and not ashamed to do so in a publice surrounding. I did not come to this surrounding to find fault, but to find the why’s and how’s that this fellowship of believers and new believers come to worship…
the first time was mind boggling….this was way to big…to noisy…to glitsy…to much camera ..to much make up …..but wow…
not to much action…..that was where i became a follower…..once the choir was in place….the lights where on the begging part of service of baptizing new entrants into the church and kingdom of
God….then….first class well prepared musicians…preparing our hearts our minds and our souls to shut out everything arround us you were not part of a huge crowd…..but..a part of a bunch of folks wanting to praise a living GOD….and we did…with class …with style…first class all the way…..and why not…who are we praising…..does HE
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Locals also refer to the place as “PrestonWORLD”.
Let me remind you of something. A church is a HOME FOR SINNERS. Although it is a tragedy, every church has a chance of something happening. I admire Jack Graham and Prestonwood. They are changing lives and reaching the world with the gospel. The thing is that instead of them blogging as you have done, they’re out there making a difference in lives. Get off your soap box and just appreciate a good church with good people. Yes, Joe Barron was a pastor there and made a horrible mistake. He’s human though just like you and me. Quit hating a Bible believing church.
“i selected prestonwood as my place to worship…my time to set asside to spend time with my Lord and not ashamed to do so in a publice surrounding.” -Edward Collins
hey ed…..did you know you have a team?
If we could all open our own closet & clean out the hidden mess we wouldn’t have time to judge on our own toilet thrones! We think we sit on high to look down on others? The one thing I haven’t read on any comment website is compassion or sympathy. The building size or Chef in the place has nothing to do with what happened! If someone came in to take a very close look at our own lives what would they find that we would not want to be discovered? Remember, some day (& it will happen) we will all be judged! At least for Mr. Barron, he has been discovered now, can move on to help & healing, so that when he comes before HIM, he can say,” Lord, I repented and moved on”. Have you done that? Clean your own life, when you are as perfect as Christ was on earth, then you can judge!!
I believe it is God not the devil who exposes sin. If the devil had his way he would allow this guy to continue on in the sin, ruining his life and the lives of the victims. God exposed it in His mercy, not just for the potential victims but for the sake of Mr. Barron. I believe the Lord did it to save him not destroy him. We need to pray for him and show him mercy that he would get the help he needs.
I just attended a Men’s conference at Prestonwood. Parts of the conference were decent, but much to much emphasis on sports stories. Kinda assumes that anything that does NOT deal in some way with sports will not get through to guys. And using coaches as examples, that generally are workaholics and have little interest in the health of their players (if it interferes with a win) does not seem to me to be Christian values. I did NOT like how Pastor Graham closed the conference talking about tithing when he likely lives a lifestyle far above those he is asking to contribute.
Just looked up Pastor Jack Graham’s appraised value on his home/land and it is approximately $850K, and that is the 201o value. Probably would have been worth over $1million prior to the housing crisis. And he has a message about tithing 10% which is in fact NOT biblical (unless one relys on quotes taken out of context in the bible and from the old testament). With all his shops and the cafe in the church I wonder if Jesus would equate him with the money changers.
There are plenty of good churchs with god loving pastors who do not aim to make there church a money making machine. Seek those churchs out and support them. No doubt this church does make some people feel special and perhaps helps them in their faith, but that does not justify taking their hard earned money. 10% of my gross income??? I don’t think so.
Harsh criticizing of a place that you have only “experimented” with is basically groundless.
I’ve been to Prestonwood numerous times. These people worship God. The music is absolutely incredible. Pastor Graham ministers in a way that is totally relevant to our lives today.
Is it perfect? Of course not. Could we all find something to criticize about it? Sure.
However, the criticisms I have read in these postings spring from a critical attitude that probably influences every church you visit. The kind of criticisms read here are NOT inspired by the Spirit of the Living God.
Prestonwood is doing much good. What have you done lately?
I see Mr. Barron was charged with six more counts in Texas and Louisiana and pleaded out.
For specific details of misbehavior among several staffers, despite many good things they do publicly, please download part 7, search “prestonwood baptist” at http://www.WillYouLiveForever.org. Many of the “good” changes they are praised for in the past 5 years came from behind-the-scenes pressure from an adamant nobody attorney who wrote that web site. That same person is supposed to meet with staffers next week regarding the allegations on that site, as they like to squelch all bad press. Just ask them when they are going to evangelize EVERY lost person near their church, and research what percenatge of their 26,000+ members ever evangelize or are fully committed to Christ. It’s taken 5 years to get nowhere on these top priorities, and the effort has been dropped. God bless!
In response to Tony Johnston, I did not mean to imply the folks attending Prestonwood were not good people. I meant to say that a “feel good” message and lots of singing in order to get people to give 10% of their hard earned money seems wrong to me. Have I done something good lately? Yes. I have tried to open people’s eyes here.
Hearing again about another pervert last night from Prestonwood Baptist Church ? We have been BLESSED to be around so many wonderful people since July 1999 joining in with The Encouragers Class that Brother Zig Ziglar started years ago.When leaders get busy doing a great job in our church like Pastor Joe Schofield has done why don’t we shout that from the rooftops ? Preachers are just people called to do God’s Will inside a worship setting around other people . People do EVIL THINGS to other people no matter where they are at .Why should we think that everyone that works for God at Prestonwood Baptist Church is a HOLY PERSON more than any other place of worship around the world ? Being Holy is what men should be according to the word of God but being evil is the other choice men make . If you happen to read this comment you should know what Prestonwood Baptist Church has done for so many lost and hurting people over the years and remember just a few bad people have got away with doing their evil deeds for a season around this worship center called PBC .Come Worship with the greatest choir in the earth and hear The Word of God PREACHED in Spirit and Truth .The true worshippers shall worship God in spirit and in truth ! You will be blessed to be apart of our worship services in all three location starting Aug. 21,2011 .
I was a member of Prestonwood for 7 1/2 years. Over those 7 years, I was sucked into the show that has been put on by their staff members. I went to the old campus and was part of the first service in the new building. I was amazed. It wasn’t until I left the church and really searched on my own for a new one that I realized how much I didn’t know about church. It’s not about church, the money, etc…it’s about worshipping God. Yes, they did that at Prestonwood, but did we have to do it with the light show, the theatrics, and the HUGE facilities that could have housed a small nation? I don’t think so.
Use the money to plant churches, not just “transport” some of your members to another building because you’re way over capacity. Help start churches in places that need them…but no. You make a show when you donate money and discuss how AMAZING it is that you’ve grown so large you have to open yet ANOTHER campus…
I’ve been part of Prestonwood for years, and while I don’t care whether there is a karge group leading us, or a single music director; I don’t care whether the church has 7500 or 75 people attending service, our experience has been that we have had support at every turn, our class is always at the ready to pray for us, bring food if we need it, hor elp us with whatever we need. I don’t know that a large church is for everyone, but if you don’t want to attend Prestonwood, it may just be you need a smaller venue instead of being at Prestonwood. You speak of the cafe, it really nice to be able to walk downstairs and have lunch with your SS class and take your time visiting, and sharing, getting to know each other better, and even spending time in prayer when you realize there is a need.
There are so many opportunities for ministry there; a food pantry, a clothing closet, a Christmas Store for underprivileged families, and so many others I can’t name them. You speak of how they “erased” Joe Barron. How about the fact he has a wife and family? He may have brought this on his family, but when you demand the churc speak of it incessantly in every corer of the church, you become part of the machine that ruins his children’s live, makes his wife’s life agony, so what makes you better than a school bully? What would be good enough for you? A public pillaging, a parade that purs his whole family on display? Guess THAT would make you feel like a REAL Christian? I think you need to re-read some impportant passages of scripture, folks; maybe more than twicc.
Just saw this years Christmas Show 2011. It was polluted and disqusting. Music arrangements were great, singing was great, leave the secular stuff for the world to do. Dancing was ridiculous and carnal. Don’t like seeing women kick their legs so high you can see their underwear. Shame on Pastor Graham.