A North Texas pastor who made a name nationally as a youth ministry innovator and Christian advice book author has resigned from his church, acknowledging, "I have been unfaithful in the marriage vows that I made to my wife." Blaine Bartel stepped down March 31 as pastor of Frisco's Northstar Church. "I'm deeply sorry for the pain I've caused her," Bartel said, referring to Cathy Bartel, his wife of 28 years. "I have three incredible boys who are hurt through this. My church [is], of course, and my family and friends." He declined to provide details. He said he plans to find a job outside church circles.... Northstar became known for vibrant programs for youth. In early April, the church made news when its youth ministry staff and volunteers assembled nearly two tons of nachos in hopes of setting a Guinness world record.
Rachel Gandee was a band nerd in high school. She didnât drink. She didnât smoke. Her grades were solid. The 16-year-old had just finished 10th grade and was, by her motherâs judgment, a good girl. Then she fell in with Ray McBerry, a married history teacher and member of her small storefront church in McDonough. When their relationship began, McBerry was still four years away from his first Republican run for governor in 2006. Heâs trying again this year.... In a phone interview shortly after he qualified for the governorâs race on Wednesday, McBerry maintained that his relationship with the high school student was professional and proper.In 2002, the family attended the same small church as McBerry and his wife, who acted as youth ministers. The members of Faith Independent Baptist Church took their religion seriously. Women and girls wore dresses, or at minimum, culottes. Disputes were settled biblically.... McBerry and his wife separated, then divorced. âAt first, when he was still married, we went to the graveyard and we would just talk,â Rachel Gandee remembered. âOnce his wife left, weâd go back to his house.â ... Her parentsâand their churchâquickly became involved. That September, McBerry was summoned to a meeting with the pastor, a deacon and Ronnie Pittman. âWe told him to leave her alone. She was a child. Leave her alone. And those meetings went on an hour, or maybe an hour and a half. Each one,â the stepfather said. âAfter the first one, he didnât get it, so we called him in again."
A former youth pastor at a Rocklin church is headed to prison for three years after he pleaded no contest to a charge that he had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl he met through his work at the church, according to authorities. Placer County Superior Court Judge Robert P. McElhany handed down the sentence for 33-year-old Jeffery Allen Waisner (photo left) of Lincoln during a Wednesday hearing.... In February, Waisner, who is married and has three children, pleaded no contest to a charge of engaging in lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, according to the release. Waisner met his victim, who is now 15, in one of the youth programs he ran as youth pastor at the Crossroads Community Church, the DA's release states. They began a sexual relationship in the summer of 2009, which involved thousands of text messagesâsome sexually explicit in natureâbetween the two, according to the release.
An Odessa youth pastor charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl is set to go before a judge on Monday, and officers claim he assaulted the girl multiple times. Prosecutors have been awaiting the results of a sexual assault exam from last fall. Those results pushed the pre-trial hearings from late April to Monday. It's focused around 44-year-old Robert John Weber, the former youth pastor at Second Baptist Church in Odessa. According to his indictment, Weber was sexually active with the teen three times in August and October of last year and allegedly participated in oral sex acts.
