Authority Abuses Alleged at the Set Free Christian Center

Some pastors and cult watchers have expressed growing concern over alleged Scripture twisting and authority abuses at the Set Free Christian Center based in Anaheim, California.

Officials at Calvary Chapel Outreach Fellowships of Costa Mesa, California -- which is the ministry that oversees the more than 380 Calvary Chapels (affiliated with Pastor Chuck Smith) worldwide -- have transcribed testimonies from former Set Free members. They intended to call Set Free Pastor Phil Aguilar to account for the alleged abuses at the church -- if this action proved to be warranted. Calvary's office, led by Pastor Oden Fong, has produced a 318-page report containing the testimonies of 28 people -- most of them former Set Free members -- that allege serious behavior problems at the church and near-dictatorial rule by Aguilar.

At the same time, Set Free, which claims 4,000 attendees at its Sunday morning worship services, has become increasingly thrust into the public eye due to the close ties pastor Aguilar has forged with the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), and certain political figures in the Southern California area.

Known as "the biker church," Set Free takes in former gang members, prostitutes, drug addicts, the homeless, and others -- and claims to help set them free from their old lives of bondage. They maintain ranches in Texas, Illinois, and California, and they own a number of group (communal living) homes in the Anaheim area, some of which were paid for with direct gifts from TBN.

Calvary Fellowships has stopped its investigation, but the transcripts, tape recorded testimonies, and other data were recently turned over to the Christian Research Institute. Calvary has also given a four-page analysis of the testimonies to CRI that indicates potential problems with "accountability and authority," living conditions at both the homes and the ranches, alleged intimidation of members by Aguilar, and Set Free's biblical doctrine. Prior to the documents being turned over, CRI had begun its own preliminary inquiry due to complaints swirling around about the sect. (CRI has not yet determined, however, whether it will launch a full-scale investigation of the group.)

Additionally, Westmont College Sociology Professor/cult expert Ronald Enroth has been investigating Set Free in recent months and has become increasingly concerned about the alleged authority abuses.

Aguilar did not return several phone calls pertaining to this story. But Eli Hernandez, a spokesman for Set Free ministries, says the ministry denies all charges of authority abuses leveled against the church, and they deny all allegations presented to Set Free in the four-page list compiled by Calvary Fellowships.

Calvary's list, which had been sent to Aguilar for his comments, alleges that

* "Aguilar is not accountable to anyone..He can remove anyone from a leadership position anytime he chooses."

* "Aguilar is the mediator between them Set Free members and God..If anyone questions Phil's decisions in any way they are considered 'rebellious' and those who question Phil are shunned by Phil and everyone else at Set Free."

* Members are told to "move out of their own homes, give up their cars and all their possessions and move into the Set Free homes"...Aguilar "gets them to quit their jobs"...and members "need to get 'permission' from Phil to go anywhere, to do anything and to visit with friends or family." Aguilar separates "husbands and wives who are having marital problems." "He has each of them live in a different home and tells them they have to stay separated until 'God tells Phil that they can come back together.'" (But many of the separations have ended in divorce, the testimonies allege.)

* "Phil refers to those who leave Set Free, or who move out of the homes as 'backslidden heathen.'" And he denounces them by name from the pulpit.

* "Phil tells people who they can and cannot date..Most marriages at Set Free are arranged by Phil..Women need Phil's permission to use birth control."

* Phil "often misinterprets and takes Scripture out of context" and he "tells the congregation that he is the only one who knows Scripture and they don't."

Set Free members increasingly have been appearing on TBN, manning the phones, and in recent days Aguilar has been named to the board of the TBN-linked National Minority Television Network (along with TBN President Paul Crouch, Crouch's assistant Jane Duff, and TBN's Jim McClellan).

Set Free has made for some colorful copy in the Southern California area. Members are often dressed in black as they roar along the freeways in motorcycle processions. They produce Christian rock videos, and during worship services will have an extensive time of mouthing Christian "rap" lyrics (not praise worship songs familiar to other charismatic fellowships) while members dance on a large stage in a converted warehouse.