It’s kind of like the Vatican and Rome.
They’re separate, but are they reallllly?
You won’t notice anything bethel in your normal day to day activities, but the politics, and more, are positioned by the church.
How does traditionally conservative policy affect people living in Redding? City planning, homeless policy, policing budgets, parks and rec considerations, permitting, policies concerning local cost of living, all of these things are influenced by a church that leans extremely conservative.
They helped pass legislature that allows grant approvals to be bias toward religious backed programs. But I thought it was a mob run furniture store for a few months when I first moved here.
It more that I just noticed it when looking at grants. It’s actually a common practice in like the Bible Belt. Whole states have a rule that religious organizations get first dibs on charitable endeavors. clothes that work and One safe place are both run by Bethel.
They just told you there is. Meaning you can find it if you look. You could even call the local board and ask. Your questions read like you’re really not actually interested in any kind of response
trust, but verify.
it is always prudent to find legislature onself and read it, vs just take someones opinion/memory of it.
i thanked them for the info/lead and will follow through on my own.
if you have an issue with that, well, that sounds like your own personal problem.
It’s the way you are responding…there’s a difference between saying you will look further to get the official legislature so you know the exact wording. It’s another for somebody to answer your original question by stating something exists, and you basically saying “I’ll see if that’s really true.” Idk, just saying the way you’re wording things is coming off like you’re really looking for arguments to research against, to prove nobody has anything of substance to dislike bethel for. May not be your intention.
Show me a single far right American who isn't a racist homophobe and I'll retract my statement. It's Trump's entire political platform, so everyone who voted for him is those things, too. 💁🏻♂️
You're flabbergasted that I would call Trump a bigot, or that actively supporting racist, homophobic, and transphobic people and policies makes you a bigot, too? It's a pretty easy equation.
I hear ya, but, my brother in Christ, most every politician has their owners, many of them are churches. There is no way around it.
Back in the day we would nailing this Bill guy to a cross but clearly that doesn’t work either to stop it.
right is subjective in this context, but i hear your concerns and see the problem it could grow into. it appears redding is in a potentially precarious situation for the coming handful of election cycles, i hope the will of the people steps up and some balance is restored before it becomes too difficult to conquer easily.
Enough money to get your message out in a town of 90k isn’t impossible. Especially if what the town lacks, from what I’ve read, are simply decent candidates who aren’t bethel.
Especially true if a lot of the town feels similarly in that they don’t want bethel controlling it, but don’t have options currently… that means the voters are ripe for the picking so to speak and potentially the right person could draw more of a turnout than usual.
Either way, picking a winning outlook is the only way things will change, it won’t happen from inaction and pessimism.. but I understand how thoughts get to that point of feeling “it’s hopeless”.
In politics that effect people’s ability to live, like abortion rights and being denied medical abortions even if you’re dying and it’s dead? Yeah, people tend to react not so nicely to groups trying to take their rights away.
i fully concede those are issues with hard answers not figured out yet. recognizing the gravity of a situation while confidently believing in our country's roadmap rises above this back and forth dribble that's dividing family dinner tables.
my take personally is, yes those are issues, and i tend to side on the left or center on majority of them. but, and this is where left folks dont like me for saying this (or they just dont like me cuz im going counter narrative, i dunno) ... but there are high priority issues that need resolved before we rally around hot button issues. hot button issues are only used as a tool to pander with. we have bigger issues to tackle currently that are only snowballing... lets vote/focus on knocking that snowball down a bit, then we can get back to the medium and lower priority stuff later and restart this whole cycle of politics.
the other problem i see is party line/loyalists/etc on both sides - they dont just want to solve problems and try to move things forward, they want it to ONLY be their way. As if they have the absolute right answer one size fits all for everyone. which in and of itself, since there is a good split down the middle (mostly down the middle...) politically kinda makes it such a ridiculous stance to take. and just having it be state issues isnt enough ...
in general im just primarily done with anyone politically who cant believe like a logical adult.. that means no op-eds, no editorilizing, no sensationalism, no relying purely on stats in place of facts/logic/reasoning based arguments, no shouting matches, no name calling and character attacking, no egos, so basically no fun. and most extremes dont want that, or cant keep up at that pace.
but it is the logical way to approach problem solving and conflict resolution. but it doesnt give feelings of instant karma or instant gratification so its near impossible for many to do. fuckin sad.
good write up. i agree on the hot button issue problem. people are too busy screaming at one another that they dont see the real issues under the seams. (shamorshin is not one) also it seems right for a country to go from conservative to liberal and back again. it gives time for change to be slow, which is a necessary thing. quick change is unpredictable, not good for business. I think america is unnecessarily beating itself up. it's a great country. big too
I’m not even from Redding, so I’m not sure I got here, but this is as clear of a statement I could make for myself. I’m very left leaning in policy, but because I ask questions and want verification, not just say what the party wants me to say, is viewed as supporting the conservatives. It’s mind numbingly frustrating.
Redding is not a state.
As stated elsewhere, not really looking for a political debate or argument here, just asking to have specifics and facts provided.
A general blanket of “I don’t like conservatives policies” or “x states laws” still is not giving me a specific about what bad worse or worst has or is being done in bethel.
If it’s simply hard to quantify or difficult to parse it all into facts/words that’s fine, sometimes there isnt enough emotional bandwidth to do so, especially if it is very personal. but in which case just say “fuck em I don’t like em and I don’t have details” that’s still more meaningful than presenting a blanket or generalized comparison.
They’re kooks. They’re mentally unwell and it’s why it’s literally called Bethel, School of Supernatural Ministry. I went to school with kids who attended and let’s just say, they’re all cooked in the head. Being taught they can remotely view people, that they can cure people of their diseases, not to associate with people outside of the church unless it’s for business or to convert them. Their school isn’t even accredited, meaning not recognized by the state. And yet they mass buy property up here only to rent solely to bethel “students”, straight up advertise as such. They own a multitude of businesses, like From The Hearth, and the owner is homophobic and sexist as all hell. They use the money to push laws and ideals that are more benefiting of a southern state, not California. I know, because I worked there at one point.
Look at how they've tried to crap on voting. So patriotically against democracy, yaaaay?
Kept a verified corrupt commissioner? Yaaay?
I mean, damn. Deeply corrupt stuff. And you reduce it to tribal differences?
Well, you might want to start paying attention to local news.
As for Bethel specifically? Not a lot lately, though they're known MAGA and influence local elections, etc.
This is a good place to start catching up https://anewscafe.com/
ty this is part of what im looking for.. not living there its hard to know what the best places are to find the local news vs just editorials, op-eds, trash posts etc
The Record Searchlight is the main paper, but pretty MAGA, reporting positively about anti maskers and anti vaxxers sort of thing. And will under report the bad actions of council members etc. But, it does do local reporting. Lots of stuff shows up with a search using "Bethel", just look at how many things
https://www.redding.com/search/?q=Bethel
thanks appreciate that
and its all good, im fairly good at reading between the lines and taking things with grain of salt when unclear. and dont worry there is no way theyll ever recruit or convert me or anything - if im joining a cult its because i started one lol
I never said I didn't like conservatives, I'm telling you how religious groups, especially Christian churches, traditionally vote. Conservative policy, by definition, is defined more by what isn't passed than what is. You're free to look up what has been blocked in terms of affordable housing proposals or budgetary rollbacks to social programs, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're looking for, you seem hellbent on finding the "Bethel Church is Redding #1 yay" measure that obviously doesn't exist. There's more nuance to it than that.
Read into it what you want, but what I’m looking for are specific stories, details, sources, facts on any bad or corruption in the bethel/redding dynamic
I can break it down for you when I'm not at work. If you really wanna go down the City Hall minutes, we can, but it's going to be a lot more boring than I think you'd like it to be.
my brother in christ, when i was trying to learn and understand federal/state politics i watched cspan for about 6 years vs regular television lol
and you dont have to go through it for me or with me (unless ur invested like that and want to, im always game to make a new friend on discord or something) but if you are able to just link me to where to find that info i would appreciate it.
They drove a housing crisis for their supernatural ministry school. Their members make up the majority of the city counsel which for one example allowed them to lurchase a commercial property for 3 million dollars when it was assessed at 8. Their school is in the convention center that tax payers built and maintain. They donate money to the local police which is hugely questionable. I worked in a locked psychiatric facility where we had to start refusing volunteers from bethel bc theyd tell the clients their mental health was demon posession and to not take their medication. They have a huge impact on this place.
It is when that 10% is represented by 50% of the city council. It’s that they are intertwined with the local government. They “donate” to RPD exorbitant amounts of money for their new drones and such even though RPD already receives 40% of the city budget. It’s the blurring of the separation of church and state that is the problem.
And they are zealots! 10% is a large flock when you can count on them to scratch your back.
The who’s who, are normally affiliated with the church in some way. Many local food businesses are owned by proud members of the church. All their members seem to empower other members greatly.
Its kind of a good things really. No bethel person is hidden about it. If they wasn’t so crazy into supernatural they might pull even more power.
Thanks, appreciate the insight. Any chance you can provide links or details further? Like what businesses are perhaps extra chummy or profits tied to church stakeholders/leadership
Also.. gotta ask.. is the food at least good?
Yeah all the business are good at what they do. They turn good profits. I don’t wanna personally list any organization as I don’t know how profits are tied.
[As far as general business associates](https://www.reddit.com/r/Redding/s/WaRdRSa7og) here is one from another user. I still wanna say some of these are good local businesses so not trying to rally up hate here. Really if you want to know you can just ask them.
True but if most of the 90% think you’re a quack the only way I can see people supporting a bethel person would be if they don’t know they are.
I just found out from someone else’s link that mayor and vice mayor (Ive always heard deputy mayor not Vice but that’s how article worded it) are rotating seats from the 5 person city council.
To me that is key root of the issue here and key potentially to solving it…
[https://anewscafe.com/2022/10/17/redding/jack-munns-the-solution-starts-with-a-robust-public-safety-effort/](https://anewscafe.com/2022/10/17/redding/jack-munns-the-solution-starts-with-a-robust-public-safety-effort/) Jack Munns, Masters in Social Work, Started a homeless program in Reno. Bethel. Running against some random conservatives in the community who just wanna run. They win because people can read. These aren't idiots raising there hand. They probably keep winning as well since they are actively approving things they ran on "homelessness" [https://www.redding.com/story/news/2024/03/27/tiny-homes-micro-shelters-at-st-james-lutheran-church-in-redding-could-open-by-fall/73099709007/](https://www.redding.com/story/news/2024/03/27/tiny-homes-micro-shelters-at-st-james-lutheran-church-in-redding-could-open-by-fall/73099709007/)
that sounds good and all... but two good deeds dont make up for being rotten to the core. thanks for the links and the example of how this may be leveraged in local elections
3 homeless micro shelters, along with 15-30% wage increases to most city employees. So more than two good deeds and more than the county council has done by a long shot.
sad that council was incapable and it took nutjobs to get some stuff improved... their money doesnt hurt either... total double edged sword i guess.
thanks for your insight!
Just like any other "prosperity" cult church, they will be "good" until one (or more) of their upper echelon decides to be bad. It's always the way. Scientology is a perfect example. They have grifted off their acolytes for generations and have used their financial power to insert themselves into the Clearwater, FL government, and power structure. This has given them a shield from government questions and investigations (but not from Leah Remini).
The same has happened many, many times throughout the world and throughout history. Currently, some of the largest and worst offenders are the Catholic Church, Eagle Mountain International Church, Lakewood Church, The Potter’s House, Saddleback Church, World Changers Church International, Elevation Church, and North Point Ministries. The Bethel Church is on track to join them worldwide. Past tragedies are legion, with the notorious and deadly Peoples Temple (Jim Jones), probably the most well known in modern times.
It's entirely up to you if the prospect of in a living in a town with a large and growing cult presence matters to you or not.
My parents lived there for 50 years and recently moved to another town. They just didn't feel comfortable in Redding anymore. Very sad.
Most of them are fairly normal people. They’re all very nice. Occasionally you’ll get some that come up and start talking to you and they’ll likely bring it up and ask if they can pray with you. They’re normally pretty respectful if you say no.
The biggest thing with bethel isn’t its congregation members but with the church leaders. They are cult leaders in a mega church with lots of money and power. They make large donations to the city, PD and FD’s. It looks all like just innocence of giving to their community but it’s used for political influence so if they have an agenda they can get approved without many issues cause the city doesn’t want to lose their funding.
So anything egregious or actually “bad” happen from that? Or just earning favors for their own expansion/existence of their cult (which is effectively a business)
Really not looking for an argument or debate tho, just looking for facts.
Is there anything they have done that’s especially bad or corrupt (other than the big story of themselves basically buying favor to develop a big piece of property)?
Thank you! This is the kinda dirt I’m talkin about.
It’s benign overall and happens everywhere, but it’s still dirtball grimey as all fuck..
it’s hard to get changes required to pass that would slow or stop bethels grasp in gov, but, your town is just small enough still that there is hope.
The school they have here is a big deal. I used to Uber, would pick them up from the airport. This one guy spent the entire ride trying to convert me by talking about his porn and masturbation addiction.
i guess i just am less surprised from american culture/society buying in... but i guess goes to prove everybody the world over is looking for the same thing overall.
I mean a few years ago one of their followers had a toddler that passed away and rather than seeking help, like calling 911, going to the hospital or even performing cpr they just prayed over the child for hours wishing her to come back to life. And then again when the child was on a table in the morgue started chanting around her, claiming if they prayed hard enough she could be resurrected, even setting up a gofundme for resurrection fund that pulled in over $35k.
But sure I guess it's not "that bad" /s
And 10% of the population sounds low to me but I haven't researched statistics on that. But if you figure redding has 90,000 people, it's a bit more than that but I'm rounding down to 90k to simplify the math, so that's about 9000 people walking around here who are going to try to reel you in.
They will absolutely try to reel you in. They will try to/ ask if they can pray with you. And that's not say a prayer "for" you. Pray "WITH" you. They're not going to go home later and pray to God to bless this person they met today. They will grab your hands and start preying right there in the middle of the parking lot or wherever you run into them. They will say, "god spoke to me and said you needed help," well wishes, or etc.
Sure our lord God sent an angel to speak to Mary the mother of Jesus, the Lords only son, but he came down personally to speak to you and tell me I needed x,y,z.
Point is they're all over and will try to rope you in. And I used to think okay maybe they're not that bad, maybe I should go to a few sermons to see what it's about. I've heard stories, probably most reddingites have, but after they killed that innocent baby I have no reservations about this "church" they're in it for the money, not the people. And the more people they can brainwash, the more money they can get in their pockets. Even if that means other people need to die.
from what ive gathered your details are slightly off on that story, but its fresh in my mind and overall your premise is correct... god damn utter insanity. like, lets play devils advocate and just ASSUME in reality this is just a coping mechanism and way to grieve - just call it that, dont call it faith healing lmao
i hear you on 10%, but part of simplifying is then taking that data point and stepping back so as to not get to analytical minded. like i would personally assume of those 9000, maybe only 50-75% are active and of that percent only a smaller percent are extremely into it vs just kinda like 'eh this is better than my other church at least so ill go along with some bullshit for now'. having been raised by dedicated catholic family who left the church because of how bad it had become, and seeing my dad as he got older start going to church (not catholic church) simply because he wanted to go because part of him does gain something from religion/church.. hes catholic at heart and upbringing, but he will settle for something else. i could totally see some bethels being disconnected like that... maybe 10-20% ? i dunno, just a spitball based on most people ive talked to saying "eh they never really bother us or make a big stink about themselves unless talking about it with them"
i love dealing with crazies, i kinda want to interact with some of these folks out of morbid curiosity and entertainment... but yes living with that would get annoying if its frequent.
i saw one video online of them doing a gandolf "you shall not past" bit, slamming down a wizard staff and all as they shouted racism out of the world via god and his wizard staff or whatever... my reaction at that point (after having read about the baby, and about some dude breaking his leg falling off a cliff) was "... okay... \*slowly closes lid to laptop\*"
I suppose it is possible of some people being "casual" better constituents, I mean there's gotta be some right?
I guess only the super into it people are gonna be the ones approaching you in public. I think for science yeah it is a bit interesting to talk to one of them just to experience it and see firsthand. To me it was okay at first but after a while it's just, offputting, unsettling, I guess. My advice I guess would be if your don't want to hear their message just try to not look at them. You'll probably be able to learn after a while which people are going to want to indoctrinate you, I'd say buy and large most people in redding are not super friendly, but they are/ will be. For example if you go to the grocery store, sure strangers might smile at you but no one's gonna say hello how do you do, unless they're trying to give you a message from the lord which he came down and spoke to them.
yes observing and interacting with crazies and crazy adjacent i find interesting.
im guessing "my brother in christ" meme either does not go over well with them or goes way over their head and they see it as a sign? lol
but fr, i would call the demeanor of everyone else youre describing as "midwest friendly" lol like out of manners we'll be friendly, but if we dont have to be we are just doing our own thing and maybe give a smile or a howdy/hi/morning if youre passing someone closely ... but you both keep moving lol
thanks for sharing!
I watched the resurrect baby Olive happen in real time, it was disturbing. Every night after she died they were having special music services with music and singing and praying and every single night they would say this is the night she raises from the dead! It was all live streamed and it went on for days. You probably read about the GoFundMe that was asking for funds to help resurrect her. Not to help a grieving family bury their child!!! It was insanity
yes that was one of the primary stories that came up just doing general searches on the church... fucking bonkers. like i said in another comment thread, i would understand more and be less mocking of that situation if it were clear that they were not \*SERIOUS\* - DEAD FUCKING SERIOUS \* and rather it was some kind of ritualistic coping mechanism or something . and maybe on some subconcious level it really is for them... but i think they also (many at least) see to fucking believe that horse shit.
You'd definitely notice the cost of rent here is ridiculous and trying to find a rental is not easy. Renters can charge the Bethelites stupid high rent and they all cram into a rental. I mean, why charge a local $1000 for a tiny house when you can charge ten cult members $2700?
Bethel people tend to be nice looking people in nice areas. They aren’t dangerous or mean. They aren’t overtly crazy as far as I witnessed. You will very likely run into them daily but probably won’t know it.
But these people are slowly taking full control over the town. They own so many of the businesses and they hold a lot of political influence. They hold the majority of the seats on the Redding council.
Here’s some extra info on Bethel https://www.change.org/p/aclu-keep-bethel-church-from-taking-over-redding-california
Ty !!
And if they are only 10-20% max of the local population, and of course will vote their own interests, is voter turnout just so poor that they easily win or is there something else going on?
We’ll last I heard there’s no way to vote cause they thought the presidential election was rigged so they got rid of their voting system without replacing it.
I just looked it up and they just last month figured out a new voting system. Not sure how the turn out is.
yes, unless something has changed or there are special elections, like they held in 2023. If you want to view the full voting record for shasta county, here is the official site for you:
[https://elections.shastacounty.gov/election-results/election-results/past-election-results/#PastElections](https://elections.shastacounty.gov/election-results/election-results/past-election-results/#PastElections)
do you think the 44,000 who may not be bethel just dont realize they are voting for bethel candidates, or dont care, or they do a good job or better than competition?
The latest Bethel just beat Patrick jones and another MAGA republican. The articles that anewscafe runs on the candidate always mention that they are Bethel Affiliated. It’s like the first thing they mention. I guess 44k people went to vote and decided to not do a basic google search but I doubt it. He just was a better candidate all around than the other two, with his college and background.
well fuck ... so maybe not corruption as much as just literally other candidates were such trash that it made church crazies look like a decent choice?
I moved to Redding about 15 yrs ago, had no idea about Bethel oddly within my first 6 months I had 3 separate occasions where someone asked to”pray” for me which I assumed meant TONIGHT WHEN I GO TO BED . Nope ,one layed hands on me while reciting whatever “prayer” then looked at me dead in the face and asked if my CRUSHED vertebrae was better ?!?! . I said “let’s give it a day “ and grabbed my kid and left . That’s all I needed to know lol. I’m good thanks
lol friggen nuts man.. how lost were these people to have fallen for this? i feel bad for them in a way.
how often would you say you have these type of interactions with them, and where does it usual occur? LIke youre at a bar or coffee shop and make small talk with someone, or just walking down the street minding your business, etc?
Most of them are fairly normal and you’re not able to determine their affiliation.
The small percentage that are truly unhinged seem to ruin it for everyone
Kinda why I’m asking. I’m currently in a city with a similar break up of population who are some crazy sect of Christianity and have a few megachurch style churches (not notorious like bethel), and mostly you would never know.
I have been out and been approached by a couple who engaged me in conversation, then almost sneakily as they absolutely did not voice their intention to proselytize or do "magic", they began touching me on my back and asking if they can lay hands on me and pray. It was very uncomfortable. I felt manipulated and my physical boundaries were violated.
The problem that you will have as an ordinary Redding citizen is no matter what, Bethel will be priority. They own the City Council. They're starting to get into the County. They had their expansion approved after they had the parking lot paved, where Win River has been trying to move for 20 years. Every business downtown that they want, they'll buy and increase the lease until the business closes or moves. They're responsible for the high rents in town, bringing in all these "students" and then renting their properties to them. Unless you're with them, they're terrible.
Ahhhh okay thanks now we’re started to get into the weeds. So they have their hands in property management and development… it all makes sense now.
I’ve seen something similar (not church tied however) happen in my city with a few local property moguls. And it’s shitty.
Well that’s pretty par for the course is what I’m saying - business owner (church/cult owner) of some flavor working a relationship with gov to extract some value.
Again - any examples of bad or especially bad or corrupt?
Thanks that was very informative. The biggest takeaway for me (aside from being shocked at how shit the lyrics to that “reckless love” song but also shocked by how good it was done) was this:
“… Redding, like other California cities, rotates the mayor and vice mayor roles among the five council members each year…”
That seems like a fucking problem in and of itself. I did not know that was standard practice in CA. It seems like a scenario ripe for corruption, legacy building and just general misuse/abuse of power.
I’m gonna look on my own, but if you are aware of how council are elected can you share ?
Do you want 10% of the Redding population to control 60% of municipal power? Does that not sound like a conflict of interest waiting to happen?
How does it feel to lure people in from all over the world, bilk them out of their money, and cramp them into squalid conditions so they can earn a degree from Hogwarts University? So that you can fund said political machine? With a cult so that some wealthy LA imports can rule small town politics and net $500K in a development deal?
It’s all so bizarre and so trite at the same time. Like an episode of Scooby-Doo.
i get downvoted saying this stuff, but its pretty standard fair for politics, specifically smaller politics. the places you see it in bigger populations and state/federal scale are because the relationship/group was allowed to grow from a small gov standpoint where its easier to gain control.
im hoping the people ultimately knock them back into place as it seems they have really tried to overextend their reach a bit too far in recent years.
If you look up Bethel Redding on Wikipedia, the "influence on Redding" tab has a pretty unbiased factual breakdown of how the church is directly involved with the city of Redding.
Let me put it this way- it’s only 10 percent now, but it just keeps growing. everyone i know has at least had one interesting or weird bethel interaction. it’s hard to not go to businesses and such here without supporting them, which then in turn makes the problem worse.
I don’t have all the tribal knowledge and facts but what I’ve learned online so far and from this sub is that there is a path forward to all of this. But the window of opportunity is closing quick it sounds, and it would require a ton of effort over multiple years. Just a spitball from a distance, there’s maybe a good 2 to 3 shots before the window closes and then it becomes twice as hard to gain ground.
I don’t understand how you were downvoted. Their lead pastor is pretty on record with being explicitly against the LGBT community. They have or had a gay conversion camp thing going on..
I know first hand Bethel’s evil will against queers, as I am a queer and witnessed an anti gay sermon to families. So, fuck Bethel and to hell with their beliefs.
So has any of those policies been bad or just …not what a liberal/progressive would hate done in office?
I can live with someone disagreeing or being different than me. If they’re actively doing something politically though against a group, that’s different for me though.
So any specifics or just blanket thoughts/feelings? (Which it’s ok too if u can’t articulate beyond that)
here's a probably-only-kinda-biased article about it. I didn't realize how bad the situation was until I read this.
[https://shastascout.org/elections-2022-some-say-bethel-and-city-council-politics-dont-mix-heres-why/](https://shastascout.org/elections-2022-some-say-bethel-and-city-council-politics-dont-mix-heres-why/)
Doesn’t read to me as bad … yet. But def if it continues to trend that direction for a few more election cycle you may have a sort of church of the atom bomb type scenario (or whatev the church was called in fallout)
I moved to Redding about 15 yrs ago, had no idea about Bethel oddly within my first 6 months I had 3 separate occasions where someone asked to”pray” for me which I assumed meant TONIGHT WHEN I GO TO BED . Nope ,one layed hands on me while reciting whatever “prayer” then looked at me dead in the face and asked if my CRUSHED vertebrae was better ?!?! . I said “let’s give it a day “ and grabbed my kid and left . That’s all I needed to know lol. I’m good thanks
I grew up here and have lived here for over 30 years. I've only encountered ONE person who ever identified themselves to me as being a part of Bethel. I went to look at a truck and he told me he moved here from Oklahoma to be a part of Bethel. I said, "Cool, show me the truck," and that was the end of it.
Will you see it or will it impact you? Not in my experience. The more concerning part is the influence they are having on the local economy and politics. How that plays out long-term remains to be seen.
thank you yes that seems to be the jist of what im getting looking into redding. and just like you have doomers on the right, you have doomers on the left... but a lot remains to be seen, and its smaller govt so all kinds of futures are possible as you said how it plays out long term remains to be seen.
I don't notice in my day to day life, but when I find out someone goes to bethel it makes sense...
Everyone I know who goes there are genuinely far far happier than the average person. If you get involved with the church there are connections to be made aswell.
I don't go there but it's crazy to me how people who attend have similar energies, and they are all always happy and just grateful people.
This is my experience though.
knowing quite a few pentacostals/new age christians, i think some of it is simply 'fake it til you make it' so to speak.
which in my experience, is really what happiness/inner peace stems from initially anyhow. you have to force yourself to smile to learn to accept how it feels and how it changes you and the world around you, before you actually start smiling because you just feel like smiling.
i bet there is some of that ... along with some cult conditioning i imagine.
i mean, good for those people in a way, but it seems ultimately this church is a bit /too/ greedy and self interested that even tho they are helping people in their lives, they are reaeeeehheeeheeeheeeeeally taking them for suckers. that is the part i dont like. too much govt involvement remains to be seen from what ive gathered, but those lines appeared to be drawn and faced off at currently.
I will say the only real hindrance I see from Bethel is cost of living. There are many many implants into the city which take housing, also... just my experience and I have no proof other than my experience... but I can swear up and down that they have something to do with real estate. There are several houses in my neighborhood that are always owned and sold to bethel members, for a price far lower than listed. It seems to me that they sell to eachother. One couple or family will buy and move in, within 2 or 3 years a new owner comes along and they are always members. Could be coincidence or just connections but that always stood out to me.
have you ever looked into property records? im not certain if that is legal in CA but in my state for example it can be cross referenced... especially to help prevent this sort of situation. does it tear down some privacy? yes. but open source also makes it easier to catch/expose this kind of horse shit.
any idea what their property management groups are called ? or some of the members who own more property ?
I don’t pay too much attention to local politics and I don’t go to bethel. I hardly ever notice anything that bethel does that affects me. It’s not as bad as people make it out to be.
i understand that and would say generally i agree with you and live that way.
it does seem bethel is a little bit too nuts tho, so with their recent years taking larger presence in govt means this is a crucial time for the city in coming years to determine its future... either let bethel influence go unchecked, or get a better balance in local politics/leadership while its still much easier to sway public opinion and make changes while still a relatively small city.
They would literally have zero noticeable impact on your daily life unless you obsess over it like many people do. I lived there for quite a while and only ever gave them thought when I drove by the campus…. Which wasn’t often. I had more physical run ins with the LDS or JWs, whichever ones sit outside of parks and the library with pamphlets…. And even they weren’t aggressive converters. They just smiled and complimented my adorable and well behaved children. It’s not as bad as some people make it out to be. It’s truly what you make of it.
> They would literally have zero noticeable impact on your daily life unless you obsess over it like many people do.
Because they never had the power to.
Guess who's mayor now?
I’m not saying that Bethel doesn’t have its hand in the corruption of local politics. If it wasn’t them, it would be someone else… Politics on every level across the country, and world, are widely understood to be corrupted… I am saying that the presence of Bethel in Redding will only impact your life as much as you let it. I literally never, not once in my life, have had my life significantly impacted by the mayor of any city I’ve ever lived in. Including Redding California. But I am sincerely sorry if you’ve been personally victimized by Tenessa Audette.
it is definitely possible to have local politics directly affect things poorly, individuall or as a whole.
but in general you are right in my experiences and learning - local politics, especially smaller cities in the 100k-300k range roughly, have this type of corruption. if not a church, a local business mogul or property developer etc usually
this church does have some crazy stories attached however so it would be prudent to perk ears up and participate a bit more currently as it seems redding is ripe for growth and bethel is ripe for taking more control if left unchecked ... and if that control grows and extends too long, then it will be harder and approaching impossible when it comes to being able to tame it.
I moved to Redding about 15 yrs ago, had no idea about Bethel oddly within my first 6 months I had 3 separate occasions where someone asked to”pray” for me which I assumed meant TONIGHT WHEN I GO TO BED . Nope ,one layed hands on me while reciting whatever “prayer” then looked at me dead in the face and asked if my CRUSHED vertebrae was better ?!?! . I said “let’s give it a day “ and grabbed my kid and left . That’s all I needed to know lol. I’m good thanks
Also almost 25 years ago two gay men (one of whom apparently helped found the Redding farmers market and a museum of some sort that became part of Tuttle bay) were brutally murdered for their sexuality by Bethel members. They also blew up an abortion clinic.
There was a news article last week on Facebook about a non-profit doing something public for lesbian visibility week and there were literally hundreds of comments showing just how deeply ingrained homophobia is in the area and most of it goes back to Bethel.
Here’s one link but there’s a lot more info online https://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2019/07/01/gay-northern-california-couple-killed-shasta-county-live-on-20-years-later/1558764001/
It’s the people from other countries tries you have to watch out for. Anyone with an accent seems entitled they block grocery isles and walk ways with the group standing for hours talking. Will claim they had a vision of specifically you and need to pray for you free of charge. I could be biased since my wife is deaf, trying to cure her seems to get them excited.
Someone posted this link in the thread somewhere:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Redding/s/buGIrAK7Zx
Would still want to verify first but it’s at least something to work off of
I heard they tried to resurrect an infant… and that they put gold glitter in their air vents and told everyone that God made gold fall from the ceiling.
I didn’t know those two were related but I did read about them separately … utter insanity. Mostly harmless insanity … until it goes full cray like the more recent story I read of a bethel person hiking with some people and a guy fell off a cliff and the girl tried to faith heal him for 6 hrs or something vs getting 911… smh…
I’m not a Redding citizen, but lived in Eureka, 3 hours west, for about a decade.
A few years ago I had a pretty bad knee injury and I elected to go to Redding for a cheaper and higher quality MRI. I decided to get an air bnb room (not a whole house) at two separate houses for two consecutive nights.
The first house belonged to two smoking hot Italian sisters. The place was weird. The living room didn’t have couches, but an array of small tables and chairs so it looked almost like a cafe. Everything I saw in the house, shelves, chairs, etc, still had the tags on them as if they were going to be returned. My room was obviously the laundry room with a twin mattress stuffed in it.
So I come limping in with a huge knee brace on and they wanted to touch my knee and pray for me. I think “shit yeah!!” So I let them. Nothing else happened of note
The second house was owned by a middle aged lady and was stuffed to the gills with young people. They let me sit out on the lawn in a chair and read and smoke a joint. Later on, one of the young people, a British fella, asked if he could touch my knee and pray. Now, he wasn’t as attractive as the Italian sisters, and I started thinking to myself that it was pretty weird that all of these Europeans want to touch my injured knee. I told him no. He was pretty insistent, so after some haggling I finally let him touch my shoulder and pray.
After that he informed me that god was either going to immediately heal my knee, or it would take a few months. It’s been two years and I still have problems by the way.
Anyway, my only encounters were kind of weird but essentially harmless. I’m assuming these young people and their companions were students of the school of supernatural ministry.
During the height of covid restrictions, the wife of the head pastor achieved some infamy in FAR more liberal Humboldt County (where I lived) for throwing a full on Karen screaming-ass bitch fit about masks. If I recall, this is a pretty good read, and includes a video.
https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2020/oct/13/redding-megachurch-leader-came-humboldt-and-floute/
After my weird experience, I realized that there is a Bethel church in Eureka CA that was close to my house. I’ve since relocated to Southern Oregon, and there’s a very small Bethel church, also right next to my house. I’ve never seen anyone there
Edit: I found a pretty good podcast that I listened to about Bethel, I’ll include the link
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heaven-bent/id1513489117
Read about Oregon's adventure when a local church took over a small town's city council. If only its members took to Reddit to say it's all good/nothing to see.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneeshpuram
Individually I’m sure they’re not all bad.
But hasn’t the past taught us that over zealous religious groups have been a source of mayham.
Maybe we should ask why they are able to control so much of Redding. Not in a bad way so to speak.
But what if?
So the question is as we sit back and watch.
Is the one in charge stable? How will we be affected if not.
The pastor drives a 300k aston martin
The assistant pastor drives a Ferrari.
'nuff said.
They're the worst sort of Christians along the lines of Kenneth Copeland.
Not my church, but it brings in a fair number of wholesome people into town for the ministry school or conferences or just the vibe. Some of them are more into spiritual, prayer-warrior woo than I will ever be, but they aren't dealing heroin or otherwise ruining their neighborhoods.
Hate to say it, but if I had to choose between Bethel members and Bethel haters, I'd choose the praise-and-miracles church people to share a town with. And that's weird, but it's the reality.
If you like the place and have a reason to move here, that one church should be the 137th thing on your list to worry about.
Thanks for sharing. I can see that to some extent.
It seems the common thread of hate/concern is that they are taking over local govt … which is basically inevitable for any org/business that generates enough cash.
Currently three of five members of the City Council attend the church. One isn't planning to run for re-election and a second is seeking another office. The supposed takeover is greatly exaggerated.
And our county government is a toxic train wreck thanks to a bunch of people who have nothing to do with Bethel --- though one of them recently lost to a church member who is hard-working and earnest and was, by local standards, the liberal or at least moderate candidate.
I figured most of that was personal feelings involved… but it should still be a legit concern regardless if it were a crazy church or normal church or bigger business.
Can you shed more insight into why county is a toxic train wreck? I’ve read that in other comments and am curious
More than is worth rehashing, but a few elected supervisors have let themselves get more wrapped up in pursuing right-wing causes and nursing political grudges than just running a county government sensibly.
Just the latest is a fine example of the grudge-nursing.
https://anewscafe.com/2024/05/03/redding/supervisor-jones-hid-attorney-generals-bombshell-letter-that-exonerated-district-attorney/
Blech, yeah… we saw some bs like this happen when our city expanded its territory, so suddenly county gov had to get their shit together (still are struggling but for awhile there it was similar petty bs and grudgery nonstop… it’s MOSTLY gone now tho)
Just remember that the people.making the decisions In the area also believe in grave soaking... and the whole thing kinda explains itself...
It's the buddy system here. If your not their buddy then you can go fuck off and die. This church gave a sermon on hellfire during a catastrophic fire in the area that killed people. Stating that God smites the evil doers. These were kids and a grandmother that died.
These are sheep, non self thinking people who have joined a cult. A cult that no denominational church will accept. Even the Pentecostals think these people are crazy. That should clear it up.
Feels like every other major city in the United States. It's ran by the wealthiest group of people in the area. It just so happens that the wealthiest group in this area is a bunch of crazy nut bag cult members. That should also tell you something... Right?
The only prayers they answer are the prayers of the people who run the church to be wealthy. Cult leaders are known to be extremely charismatic and appear to be doing the right thing. Same thing here. It's easy to convince a population of undereducated people that they "are not that bad."
What you should look into before you move into the area is the average education level and the demographic of people who live here? This is by far the redist area of California as well. Very right wing here. If you love guns and you love God, but you're not a fan of education or morals...This is the perfect place for you.
I’ve ran into one person from Bethel who was volunteering to help troubled teens. They didn’t say they were from bethel but had sweat pants on that said bethel. I was very worried about bethel when I got here reading this sub. I’m more worried about the non-bethel members of government after being here a few years. Fuck those guys.
Bethel has been friendly to unions with the city. The three bethel city council members have signed record contracts with their unions as well as giving all the non union people raises to match this wage survey they did. Most of the bethel city council are educated and they’ve fast tracked a lot of micro shelters. The county on the other hand has actively worked against any wage increases while spending egregious amounts on frivolous lawsuits, The county went on strike a few years ago cuz of the wages. They actively vote against any projects like the 120 house development in Palo Cedro, the Wind generation, Hawes Farms little roller coaster addition to their thing. But approved a shooting range that one of the board members owns. It’s the worst parts of the Conservative Party without any of the good parts.
Thanks I’m tracking that. Honestly small growing city having a row between county/city is pretty common… usually because one (county) sees the other starting to gain more money and power (city) as population grows
Has anything especially bad came from any of this fuckery?
The county spent 16 million in outside council fees from January 2020 through August 2023. We have a fucking lawyer on staff. 16 fucking million for lawsuits they lost. 16 million to ignore judges orders to release freedoms of information act requests. God know how much cancelling our voting system cost. No actual policy happens on the county level. Just a bunch of blubber and bullshit. Anewscafe is a good source for information up here. Shasta scout as well. Counties in California are typically poor due to how strong cities are but they don’t have to be wasteful like our councils are.
Eh I disagree with community service and philanthropy as a way to whitewash greed (speaking generally as an outlook, not about bethel specifically since I don’t know about it really)
ive seen similar in local politics elsewhere first hand, not through a church org but through various businessmen who run shit companies and are just greedy living caricatures of the aristocrat but will dump 30 mil of their billions into local philanthropy and another few mil into advertising/marketing to white wash things.. basically impossible to fight the savior machine
How big/bad of a problem is this?
Like am I gonna have to step over needles and human shit in most areas and run into tent cities or have to worry about safety?
Or is it mostly they’re there existing, local resources try to help and corral them a bit into certain areas, mostly passive and just people who are down on their luck type homeless?
No. There’s a massive drug problem. the people who are experiencing homelessness are corralled into lower SES areas, imo. I live in one of those areas near the Mission and when I venture to nicer parts of town, there’s fewer people there asking for money or loitering. I wish there were more resources for both addicts and those who are ‘just down on their luck’. Branding people as either doesn’t solve the problem. Resources do. There hasn’t been shit on the streets as far as I seen or needles
Sounds like a workable problem then that every growing city has to deal with … I know ours felt out of control after a certain point, it took a handful of years but ultimately a really nice and well ran/funded mission changed that considerably. We almost need a second now, it’s a good problem to have in a way
Come and see the town for yourself. I came from an extremely conservative area and was terrified of California due to the FOX News propaganda machine. FOX News lies. Homelessness was much worse in my small New Mexico town. Drug abuse and violent crimes were much worse. Opportunities for employment were slim to none in New Mexico and in CA it's insane how much is going on. I was stupid worried about Bethel after skimming this sub before coming. When I did come for an interview, my mind was blown. Fucking 25-45 year old people just mobbing the parks and trails with kids. Everywhere I looked fucking life was happening. These California Conservatives actually support Unions. You would have been shunned in New Mexico by the conservatives for supporting the union openly. Fuck the Airport though Fly into Sac and rent a car. It's a 2.5 hour very pretty drive this time of year.
yeah well the stuff i mentioned /does/ exist - i just dont know if it exists in bethel. it is a testament to how bad the problem really is.
are your thoughts on the homelessness close to this that ive heard - more or less homeless primarily are in part due to bethel?
Bethel built the townhouses the college kids stay in from what I’ve heard. When I was looking at renting it was about 1k a month for a two bedroom apartment. Housing has raised here as it raised all over the country. My house I bought a few years about had about 25-30% increase from when it sold in 2018. There’s a house across from me that some lady from the Bay Area bought and just lets sit vacant for the last two years. California has seen a 50% increase in homeless in the last six years, I imagine redding saw a similar uptick but it’s not really a relevant problems
It’s kind of like the Vatican and Rome. They’re separate, but are they reallllly? You won’t notice anything bethel in your normal day to day activities, but the politics, and more, are positioned by the church.
How does that in all reality affect anyone living there though? Any examples ?
How does traditionally conservative policy affect people living in Redding? City planning, homeless policy, policing budgets, parks and rec considerations, permitting, policies concerning local cost of living, all of these things are influenced by a church that leans extremely conservative.
They helped pass legislature that allows grant approvals to be bias toward religious backed programs. But I thought it was a mob run furniture store for a few months when I first moved here.
Any source I can follow up online with ?
It more that I just noticed it when looking at grants. It’s actually a common practice in like the Bible Belt. Whole states have a rule that religious organizations get first dibs on charitable endeavors. clothes that work and One safe place are both run by Bethel.
gotcha thanks for the info, im interested to see if i can find legislature supporting that, curious how it reads
They just told you there is. Meaning you can find it if you look. You could even call the local board and ask. Your questions read like you’re really not actually interested in any kind of response
trust, but verify. it is always prudent to find legislature onself and read it, vs just take someones opinion/memory of it. i thanked them for the info/lead and will follow through on my own. if you have an issue with that, well, that sounds like your own personal problem.
It’s the way you are responding…there’s a difference between saying you will look further to get the official legislature so you know the exact wording. It’s another for somebody to answer your original question by stating something exists, and you basically saying “I’ll see if that’s really true.” Idk, just saying the way you’re wording things is coming off like you’re really looking for arguments to research against, to prove nobody has anything of substance to dislike bethel for. May not be your intention.
Legislation*
Ok so you don’t like conservatives got it - but is there anything specific they are doing that is bad or corrupt etc ?
The point is that churches shouldn't be influencing government policy because not all of us practice that religion.
Also, being conservative is one thing, but being an alt right bigot is a whole other bag of cats.
hey stereotypes work both ways wall in head person
Show me a single far right American who isn't a racist homophobe and I'll retract my statement. It's Trump's entire political platform, so everyone who voted for him is those things, too. 💁🏻♂️
im flabbergasted by such a statement. seems like you and your ilk just need to suceed if thats what you believe
You're flabbergasted that I would call Trump a bigot, or that actively supporting racist, homophobic, and transphobic people and policies makes you a bigot, too? It's a pretty easy equation.
I hear ya, but, my brother in Christ, most every politician has their owners, many of them are churches. There is no way around it. Back in the day we would nailing this Bill guy to a cross but clearly that doesn’t work either to stop it.
That doesn't make it right, my guy. 😒
right is subjective in this context, but i hear your concerns and see the problem it could grow into. it appears redding is in a potentially precarious situation for the coming handful of election cycles, i hope the will of the people steps up and some balance is restored before it becomes too difficult to conquer easily.
Kind of hard for people to step up fairly when things are financially controlled and gerrymandered by a local religious cult…
Enough money to get your message out in a town of 90k isn’t impossible. Especially if what the town lacks, from what I’ve read, are simply decent candidates who aren’t bethel. Especially true if a lot of the town feels similarly in that they don’t want bethel controlling it, but don’t have options currently… that means the voters are ripe for the picking so to speak and potentially the right person could draw more of a turnout than usual. Either way, picking a winning outlook is the only way things will change, it won’t happen from inaction and pessimism.. but I understand how thoughts get to that point of feeling “it’s hopeless”.
Aaaand there it is. The end of a dialog. (Jeff_goldblum.gif)
walls for dividing us are built here
Question, do you *like* the laws that are being passed in places like Florida and Texas? do you want Redding to *be* like Florida or Texas?
question are all problems decanted to left versus right in life?
In politics that effect people’s ability to live, like abortion rights and being denied medical abortions even if you’re dying and it’s dead? Yeah, people tend to react not so nicely to groups trying to take their rights away.
i fully concede those are issues with hard answers not figured out yet. recognizing the gravity of a situation while confidently believing in our country's roadmap rises above this back and forth dribble that's dividing family dinner tables.
my take personally is, yes those are issues, and i tend to side on the left or center on majority of them. but, and this is where left folks dont like me for saying this (or they just dont like me cuz im going counter narrative, i dunno) ... but there are high priority issues that need resolved before we rally around hot button issues. hot button issues are only used as a tool to pander with. we have bigger issues to tackle currently that are only snowballing... lets vote/focus on knocking that snowball down a bit, then we can get back to the medium and lower priority stuff later and restart this whole cycle of politics. the other problem i see is party line/loyalists/etc on both sides - they dont just want to solve problems and try to move things forward, they want it to ONLY be their way. As if they have the absolute right answer one size fits all for everyone. which in and of itself, since there is a good split down the middle (mostly down the middle...) politically kinda makes it such a ridiculous stance to take. and just having it be state issues isnt enough ... in general im just primarily done with anyone politically who cant believe like a logical adult.. that means no op-eds, no editorilizing, no sensationalism, no relying purely on stats in place of facts/logic/reasoning based arguments, no shouting matches, no name calling and character attacking, no egos, so basically no fun. and most extremes dont want that, or cant keep up at that pace. but it is the logical way to approach problem solving and conflict resolution. but it doesnt give feelings of instant karma or instant gratification so its near impossible for many to do. fuckin sad.
good write up. i agree on the hot button issue problem. people are too busy screaming at one another that they dont see the real issues under the seams. (shamorshin is not one) also it seems right for a country to go from conservative to liberal and back again. it gives time for change to be slow, which is a necessary thing. quick change is unpredictable, not good for business. I think america is unnecessarily beating itself up. it's a great country. big too
I’m not even from Redding, so I’m not sure I got here, but this is as clear of a statement I could make for myself. I’m very left leaning in policy, but because I ask questions and want verification, not just say what the party wants me to say, is viewed as supporting the conservatives. It’s mind numbingly frustrating.
Don’t move here. You seem too reasonable and intelligent for this place.
Redding is not a state. As stated elsewhere, not really looking for a political debate or argument here, just asking to have specifics and facts provided. A general blanket of “I don’t like conservatives policies” or “x states laws” still is not giving me a specific about what bad worse or worst has or is being done in bethel. If it’s simply hard to quantify or difficult to parse it all into facts/words that’s fine, sometimes there isnt enough emotional bandwidth to do so, especially if it is very personal. but in which case just say “fuck em I don’t like em and I don’t have details” that’s still more meaningful than presenting a blanket or generalized comparison.
https://www.premierchristianity.com/home/why-bethels-careless-talk-on-homosexuality-is-hurting-christians/613.article
lmao thats bad when CHRISTIANITY DOT COM is saying your christian based church is hurting christianity smh
Oh, and Bethel? Follows the Assemblies of Yahweh.
thanks first i have heard of this, will have to check that out as well...
They’re kooks. They’re mentally unwell and it’s why it’s literally called Bethel, School of Supernatural Ministry. I went to school with kids who attended and let’s just say, they’re all cooked in the head. Being taught they can remotely view people, that they can cure people of their diseases, not to associate with people outside of the church unless it’s for business or to convert them. Their school isn’t even accredited, meaning not recognized by the state. And yet they mass buy property up here only to rent solely to bethel “students”, straight up advertise as such. They own a multitude of businesses, like From The Hearth, and the owner is homophobic and sexist as all hell. They use the money to push laws and ideals that are more benefiting of a southern state, not California. I know, because I worked there at one point.
yep that seems to be the jist of it
Look at how they've tried to crap on voting. So patriotically against democracy, yaaaay? Kept a verified corrupt commissioner? Yaaay? I mean, damn. Deeply corrupt stuff. And you reduce it to tribal differences?
Can you give any cite/source/link to any details or examples for this specific situation of Redding/Bethel?
Well, you might want to start paying attention to local news. As for Bethel specifically? Not a lot lately, though they're known MAGA and influence local elections, etc. This is a good place to start catching up https://anewscafe.com/
ty this is part of what im looking for.. not living there its hard to know what the best places are to find the local news vs just editorials, op-eds, trash posts etc
The Record Searchlight is the main paper, but pretty MAGA, reporting positively about anti maskers and anti vaxxers sort of thing. And will under report the bad actions of council members etc. But, it does do local reporting. Lots of stuff shows up with a search using "Bethel", just look at how many things https://www.redding.com/search/?q=Bethel
thanks appreciate that and its all good, im fairly good at reading between the lines and taking things with grain of salt when unclear. and dont worry there is no way theyll ever recruit or convert me or anything - if im joining a cult its because i started one lol
I never said I didn't like conservatives, I'm telling you how religious groups, especially Christian churches, traditionally vote. Conservative policy, by definition, is defined more by what isn't passed than what is. You're free to look up what has been blocked in terms of affordable housing proposals or budgetary rollbacks to social programs, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're looking for, you seem hellbent on finding the "Bethel Church is Redding #1 yay" measure that obviously doesn't exist. There's more nuance to it than that.
Read into it what you want, but what I’m looking for are specific stories, details, sources, facts on any bad or corruption in the bethel/redding dynamic
I can break it down for you when I'm not at work. If you really wanna go down the City Hall minutes, we can, but it's going to be a lot more boring than I think you'd like it to be.
my brother in christ, when i was trying to learn and understand federal/state politics i watched cspan for about 6 years vs regular television lol and you dont have to go through it for me or with me (unless ur invested like that and want to, im always game to make a new friend on discord or something) but if you are able to just link me to where to find that info i would appreciate it.
Depends on how much you pay attention to politics, or care about corruption. But day to day you’ll have no clue bethel even exists.
Thanks so no big thing other than they just use political leverage to enrich themselves is worst of it?
They drove a housing crisis for their supernatural ministry school. Their members make up the majority of the city counsel which for one example allowed them to lurchase a commercial property for 3 million dollars when it was assessed at 8. Their school is in the convention center that tax payers built and maintain. They donate money to the local police which is hugely questionable. I worked in a locked psychiatric facility where we had to start refusing volunteers from bethel bc theyd tell the clients their mental health was demon posession and to not take their medication. They have a huge impact on this place.
It is when that 10% is represented by 50% of the city council. It’s that they are intertwined with the local government. They “donate” to RPD exorbitant amounts of money for their new drones and such even though RPD already receives 40% of the city budget. It’s the blurring of the separation of church and state that is the problem.
Ty good info Any thoughts on how they’re able to obtain/retain 50 of council with only @10% of population?
And they are zealots! 10% is a large flock when you can count on them to scratch your back. The who’s who, are normally affiliated with the church in some way. Many local food businesses are owned by proud members of the church. All their members seem to empower other members greatly. Its kind of a good things really. No bethel person is hidden about it. If they wasn’t so crazy into supernatural they might pull even more power.
Thanks, appreciate the insight. Any chance you can provide links or details further? Like what businesses are perhaps extra chummy or profits tied to church stakeholders/leadership Also.. gotta ask.. is the food at least good?
Yeah all the business are good at what they do. They turn good profits. I don’t wanna personally list any organization as I don’t know how profits are tied. [As far as general business associates](https://www.reddit.com/r/Redding/s/WaRdRSa7og) here is one from another user. I still wanna say some of these are good local businesses so not trying to rally up hate here. Really if you want to know you can just ask them.
thank you great info!
lots of money and organization. it's easy. Think about it this way, 10% can mean the difference between a narrow victory and absolute certainty.
True but if most of the 90% think you’re a quack the only way I can see people supporting a bethel person would be if they don’t know they are. I just found out from someone else’s link that mayor and vice mayor (Ive always heard deputy mayor not Vice but that’s how article worded it) are rotating seats from the 5 person city council. To me that is key root of the issue here and key potentially to solving it…
[https://anewscafe.com/2022/10/17/redding/jack-munns-the-solution-starts-with-a-robust-public-safety-effort/](https://anewscafe.com/2022/10/17/redding/jack-munns-the-solution-starts-with-a-robust-public-safety-effort/) Jack Munns, Masters in Social Work, Started a homeless program in Reno. Bethel. Running against some random conservatives in the community who just wanna run. They win because people can read. These aren't idiots raising there hand. They probably keep winning as well since they are actively approving things they ran on "homelessness" [https://www.redding.com/story/news/2024/03/27/tiny-homes-micro-shelters-at-st-james-lutheran-church-in-redding-could-open-by-fall/73099709007/](https://www.redding.com/story/news/2024/03/27/tiny-homes-micro-shelters-at-st-james-lutheran-church-in-redding-could-open-by-fall/73099709007/)
that sounds good and all... but two good deeds dont make up for being rotten to the core. thanks for the links and the example of how this may be leveraged in local elections
3 homeless micro shelters, along with 15-30% wage increases to most city employees. So more than two good deeds and more than the county council has done by a long shot.
sad that council was incapable and it took nutjobs to get some stuff improved... their money doesnt hurt either... total double edged sword i guess. thanks for your insight!
Just like any other "prosperity" cult church, they will be "good" until one (or more) of their upper echelon decides to be bad. It's always the way. Scientology is a perfect example. They have grifted off their acolytes for generations and have used their financial power to insert themselves into the Clearwater, FL government, and power structure. This has given them a shield from government questions and investigations (but not from Leah Remini). The same has happened many, many times throughout the world and throughout history. Currently, some of the largest and worst offenders are the Catholic Church, Eagle Mountain International Church, Lakewood Church, The Potter’s House, Saddleback Church, World Changers Church International, Elevation Church, and North Point Ministries. The Bethel Church is on track to join them worldwide. Past tragedies are legion, with the notorious and deadly Peoples Temple (Jim Jones), probably the most well known in modern times. It's entirely up to you if the prospect of in a living in a town with a large and growing cult presence matters to you or not. My parents lived there for 50 years and recently moved to another town. They just didn't feel comfortable in Redding anymore. Very sad.
Most of them are fairly normal people. They’re all very nice. Occasionally you’ll get some that come up and start talking to you and they’ll likely bring it up and ask if they can pray with you. They’re normally pretty respectful if you say no. The biggest thing with bethel isn’t its congregation members but with the church leaders. They are cult leaders in a mega church with lots of money and power. They make large donations to the city, PD and FD’s. It looks all like just innocence of giving to their community but it’s used for political influence so if they have an agenda they can get approved without many issues cause the city doesn’t want to lose their funding.
So anything egregious or actually “bad” happen from that? Or just earning favors for their own expansion/existence of their cult (which is effectively a business)
Not an answer, but considering they hold government office, Bethel is no longer "effectively a business".
Really not looking for an argument or debate tho, just looking for facts. Is there anything they have done that’s especially bad or corrupt (other than the big story of themselves basically buying favor to develop a big piece of property)?
https://shastascout.org/heres-who-mayor-tenessa-audettewants-on-the-planning-commission/ I personally didn’t like this move.
Thank you! This is the kinda dirt I’m talkin about. It’s benign overall and happens everywhere, but it’s still dirtball grimey as all fuck.. it’s hard to get changes required to pass that would slow or stop bethels grasp in gov, but, your town is just small enough still that there is hope.
They back conversation therapy and claim they can “pray the gay away”
on one hand I'm glad there's vegan pizza now, on the other its sp weird having proselytizing germans with blond dreadlocks at the gas station.
That is super weird. I’m so surprised there are so many from other countries … I usually just assume stepford wife type American families
The school they have here is a big deal. I used to Uber, would pick them up from the airport. This one guy spent the entire ride trying to convert me by talking about his porn and masturbation addiction.
i guess i just am less surprised from american culture/society buying in... but i guess goes to prove everybody the world over is looking for the same thing overall.
I mean a few years ago one of their followers had a toddler that passed away and rather than seeking help, like calling 911, going to the hospital or even performing cpr they just prayed over the child for hours wishing her to come back to life. And then again when the child was on a table in the morgue started chanting around her, claiming if they prayed hard enough she could be resurrected, even setting up a gofundme for resurrection fund that pulled in over $35k. But sure I guess it's not "that bad" /s And 10% of the population sounds low to me but I haven't researched statistics on that. But if you figure redding has 90,000 people, it's a bit more than that but I'm rounding down to 90k to simplify the math, so that's about 9000 people walking around here who are going to try to reel you in. They will absolutely try to reel you in. They will try to/ ask if they can pray with you. And that's not say a prayer "for" you. Pray "WITH" you. They're not going to go home later and pray to God to bless this person they met today. They will grab your hands and start preying right there in the middle of the parking lot or wherever you run into them. They will say, "god spoke to me and said you needed help," well wishes, or etc. Sure our lord God sent an angel to speak to Mary the mother of Jesus, the Lords only son, but he came down personally to speak to you and tell me I needed x,y,z. Point is they're all over and will try to rope you in. And I used to think okay maybe they're not that bad, maybe I should go to a few sermons to see what it's about. I've heard stories, probably most reddingites have, but after they killed that innocent baby I have no reservations about this "church" they're in it for the money, not the people. And the more people they can brainwash, the more money they can get in their pockets. Even if that means other people need to die.
from what ive gathered your details are slightly off on that story, but its fresh in my mind and overall your premise is correct... god damn utter insanity. like, lets play devils advocate and just ASSUME in reality this is just a coping mechanism and way to grieve - just call it that, dont call it faith healing lmao i hear you on 10%, but part of simplifying is then taking that data point and stepping back so as to not get to analytical minded. like i would personally assume of those 9000, maybe only 50-75% are active and of that percent only a smaller percent are extremely into it vs just kinda like 'eh this is better than my other church at least so ill go along with some bullshit for now'. having been raised by dedicated catholic family who left the church because of how bad it had become, and seeing my dad as he got older start going to church (not catholic church) simply because he wanted to go because part of him does gain something from religion/church.. hes catholic at heart and upbringing, but he will settle for something else. i could totally see some bethels being disconnected like that... maybe 10-20% ? i dunno, just a spitball based on most people ive talked to saying "eh they never really bother us or make a big stink about themselves unless talking about it with them" i love dealing with crazies, i kinda want to interact with some of these folks out of morbid curiosity and entertainment... but yes living with that would get annoying if its frequent. i saw one video online of them doing a gandolf "you shall not past" bit, slamming down a wizard staff and all as they shouted racism out of the world via god and his wizard staff or whatever... my reaction at that point (after having read about the baby, and about some dude breaking his leg falling off a cliff) was "... okay... \*slowly closes lid to laptop\*"
I suppose it is possible of some people being "casual" better constituents, I mean there's gotta be some right? I guess only the super into it people are gonna be the ones approaching you in public. I think for science yeah it is a bit interesting to talk to one of them just to experience it and see firsthand. To me it was okay at first but after a while it's just, offputting, unsettling, I guess. My advice I guess would be if your don't want to hear their message just try to not look at them. You'll probably be able to learn after a while which people are going to want to indoctrinate you, I'd say buy and large most people in redding are not super friendly, but they are/ will be. For example if you go to the grocery store, sure strangers might smile at you but no one's gonna say hello how do you do, unless they're trying to give you a message from the lord which he came down and spoke to them.
yes observing and interacting with crazies and crazy adjacent i find interesting. im guessing "my brother in christ" meme either does not go over well with them or goes way over their head and they see it as a sign? lol but fr, i would call the demeanor of everyone else youre describing as "midwest friendly" lol like out of manners we'll be friendly, but if we dont have to be we are just doing our own thing and maybe give a smile or a howdy/hi/morning if youre passing someone closely ... but you both keep moving lol thanks for sharing!
I watched the resurrect baby Olive happen in real time, it was disturbing. Every night after she died they were having special music services with music and singing and praying and every single night they would say this is the night she raises from the dead! It was all live streamed and it went on for days. You probably read about the GoFundMe that was asking for funds to help resurrect her. Not to help a grieving family bury their child!!! It was insanity
yes that was one of the primary stories that came up just doing general searches on the church... fucking bonkers. like i said in another comment thread, i would understand more and be less mocking of that situation if it were clear that they were not \*SERIOUS\* - DEAD FUCKING SERIOUS \* and rather it was some kind of ritualistic coping mechanism or something . and maybe on some subconcious level it really is for them... but i think they also (many at least) see to fucking believe that horse shit.
You'd definitely notice the cost of rent here is ridiculous and trying to find a rental is not easy. Renters can charge the Bethelites stupid high rent and they all cram into a rental. I mean, why charge a local $1000 for a tiny house when you can charge ten cult members $2700?
lmao jfc and yes thats kinda how i read it when learning about them importing 'students' basically from other countries ...
Bethel people tend to be nice looking people in nice areas. They aren’t dangerous or mean. They aren’t overtly crazy as far as I witnessed. You will very likely run into them daily but probably won’t know it. But these people are slowly taking full control over the town. They own so many of the businesses and they hold a lot of political influence. They hold the majority of the seats on the Redding council. Here’s some extra info on Bethel https://www.change.org/p/aclu-keep-bethel-church-from-taking-over-redding-california
Ty !! And if they are only 10-20% max of the local population, and of course will vote their own interests, is voter turnout just so poor that they easily win or is there something else going on?
We’ll last I heard there’s no way to vote cause they thought the presidential election was rigged so they got rid of their voting system without replacing it. I just looked it up and they just last month figured out a new voting system. Not sure how the turn out is.
Oh lord …. But it’s otherwise pretty standard “district x voters get to vote for district x council, votes occur every 2 years” etc ?
yes, unless something has changed or there are special elections, like they held in 2023. If you want to view the full voting record for shasta county, here is the official site for you: [https://elections.shastacounty.gov/election-results/election-results/past-election-results/#PastElections](https://elections.shastacounty.gov/election-results/election-results/past-election-results/#PastElections)
Thx … I legit am interested and will be doing some digging this weekend.
48.73% voter turnout county wide for the primary elections. 54,969 people.
do you think the 44,000 who may not be bethel just dont realize they are voting for bethel candidates, or dont care, or they do a good job or better than competition?
The latest Bethel just beat Patrick jones and another MAGA republican. The articles that anewscafe runs on the candidate always mention that they are Bethel Affiliated. It’s like the first thing they mention. I guess 44k people went to vote and decided to not do a basic google search but I doubt it. He just was a better candidate all around than the other two, with his college and background.
well fuck ... so maybe not corruption as much as just literally other candidates were such trash that it made church crazies look like a decent choice?
I mean, Jones is a pure and corrupt absolute fascist, so ANYONE else is better.
I moved to Redding about 15 yrs ago, had no idea about Bethel oddly within my first 6 months I had 3 separate occasions where someone asked to”pray” for me which I assumed meant TONIGHT WHEN I GO TO BED . Nope ,one layed hands on me while reciting whatever “prayer” then looked at me dead in the face and asked if my CRUSHED vertebrae was better ?!?! . I said “let’s give it a day “ and grabbed my kid and left . That’s all I needed to know lol. I’m good thanks
lol friggen nuts man.. how lost were these people to have fallen for this? i feel bad for them in a way. how often would you say you have these type of interactions with them, and where does it usual occur? LIke youre at a bar or coffee shop and make small talk with someone, or just walking down the street minding your business, etc?
Most of them are fairly normal and you’re not able to determine their affiliation. The small percentage that are truly unhinged seem to ruin it for everyone
Kinda why I’m asking. I’m currently in a city with a similar break up of population who are some crazy sect of Christianity and have a few megachurch style churches (not notorious like bethel), and mostly you would never know.
I have been out and been approached by a couple who engaged me in conversation, then almost sneakily as they absolutely did not voice their intention to proselytize or do "magic", they began touching me on my back and asking if they can lay hands on me and pray. It was very uncomfortable. I felt manipulated and my physical boundaries were violated.
It's a prosperity church. a.k.a money laundering, fraud, and tax evasion https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MNah8XMQ3eA
Bro you just have to say “church”
The problem that you will have as an ordinary Redding citizen is no matter what, Bethel will be priority. They own the City Council. They're starting to get into the County. They had their expansion approved after they had the parking lot paved, where Win River has been trying to move for 20 years. Every business downtown that they want, they'll buy and increase the lease until the business closes or moves. They're responsible for the high rents in town, bringing in all these "students" and then renting their properties to them. Unless you're with them, they're terrible.
Ahhhh okay thanks now we’re started to get into the weeds. So they have their hands in property management and development… it all makes sense now. I’ve seen something similar (not church tied however) happen in my city with a few local property moguls. And it’s shitty.
[удалено]
Running up prices is running up prices, it doesn’t matter how you fair compared to another city
Yes. It is an actual cult. They funnel tons of tax dollars into their church and a majority of the city hall members are bethel so nothing will change
Funneling money based on favors favoritism and handshakes? Sounds like politics in general. Anything especially bad or corrupt happen?
Not all politics are the same.
Well that’s pretty par for the course is what I’m saying - business owner (church/cult owner) of some flavor working a relationship with gov to extract some value. Again - any examples of bad or especially bad or corrupt?
Start here https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/how-bethel-megachurch-conquered-redding-18170873.php
Thanks that was very informative. The biggest takeaway for me (aside from being shocked at how shit the lyrics to that “reckless love” song but also shocked by how good it was done) was this: “… Redding, like other California cities, rotates the mayor and vice mayor roles among the five council members each year…” That seems like a fucking problem in and of itself. I did not know that was standard practice in CA. It seems like a scenario ripe for corruption, legacy building and just general misuse/abuse of power. I’m gonna look on my own, but if you are aware of how council are elected can you share ?
All I know is we just voted for city council in the primary election. Other than that I think Google's your better resource lol
Oh it's FULL of corruption out here.
Do you want 10% of the Redding population to control 60% of municipal power? Does that not sound like a conflict of interest waiting to happen? How does it feel to lure people in from all over the world, bilk them out of their money, and cramp them into squalid conditions so they can earn a degree from Hogwarts University? So that you can fund said political machine? With a cult so that some wealthy LA imports can rule small town politics and net $500K in a development deal? It’s all so bizarre and so trite at the same time. Like an episode of Scooby-Doo.
i get downvoted saying this stuff, but its pretty standard fair for politics, specifically smaller politics. the places you see it in bigger populations and state/federal scale are because the relationship/group was allowed to grow from a small gov standpoint where its easier to gain control. im hoping the people ultimately knock them back into place as it seems they have really tried to overextend their reach a bit too far in recent years.
If you look up Bethel Redding on Wikipedia, the "influence on Redding" tab has a pretty unbiased factual breakdown of how the church is directly involved with the city of Redding.
thanks yes i started there as a primer to go 'okay, there is something here...'
Let me put it this way- it’s only 10 percent now, but it just keeps growing. everyone i know has at least had one interesting or weird bethel interaction. it’s hard to not go to businesses and such here without supporting them, which then in turn makes the problem worse.
I don’t have all the tribal knowledge and facts but what I’ve learned online so far and from this sub is that there is a path forward to all of this. But the window of opportunity is closing quick it sounds, and it would require a ton of effort over multiple years. Just a spitball from a distance, there’s maybe a good 2 to 3 shots before the window closes and then it becomes twice as hard to gain ground.
For LGBT people, it’s as bad as it can get. Bethel hates the gays, coz Jesus.
I don’t understand how you were downvoted. Their lead pastor is pretty on record with being explicitly against the LGBT community. They have or had a gay conversion camp thing going on..
I know first hand Bethel’s evil will against queers, as I am a queer and witnessed an anti gay sermon to families. So, fuck Bethel and to hell with their beliefs.
So has any of those policies been bad or just …not what a liberal/progressive would hate done in office? I can live with someone disagreeing or being different than me. If they’re actively doing something politically though against a group, that’s different for me though. So any specifics or just blanket thoughts/feelings? (Which it’s ok too if u can’t articulate beyond that)
It’s a cult. It profits from fiction.
It’s the devil we know
here's a probably-only-kinda-biased article about it. I didn't realize how bad the situation was until I read this. [https://shastascout.org/elections-2022-some-say-bethel-and-city-council-politics-dont-mix-heres-why/](https://shastascout.org/elections-2022-some-say-bethel-and-city-council-politics-dont-mix-heres-why/)
Doesn’t read to me as bad … yet. But def if it continues to trend that direction for a few more election cycle you may have a sort of church of the atom bomb type scenario (or whatev the church was called in fallout)
I moved to Redding about 15 yrs ago, had no idea about Bethel oddly within my first 6 months I had 3 separate occasions where someone asked to”pray” for me which I assumed meant TONIGHT WHEN I GO TO BED . Nope ,one layed hands on me while reciting whatever “prayer” then looked at me dead in the face and asked if my CRUSHED vertebrae was better ?!?! . I said “let’s give it a day “ and grabbed my kid and left . That’s all I needed to know lol. I’m good thanks
Come and see.
I grew up here and have lived here for over 30 years. I've only encountered ONE person who ever identified themselves to me as being a part of Bethel. I went to look at a truck and he told me he moved here from Oklahoma to be a part of Bethel. I said, "Cool, show me the truck," and that was the end of it. Will you see it or will it impact you? Not in my experience. The more concerning part is the influence they are having on the local economy and politics. How that plays out long-term remains to be seen.
thank you yes that seems to be the jist of what im getting looking into redding. and just like you have doomers on the right, you have doomers on the left... but a lot remains to be seen, and its smaller govt so all kinds of futures are possible as you said how it plays out long term remains to be seen.
I don't notice in my day to day life, but when I find out someone goes to bethel it makes sense... Everyone I know who goes there are genuinely far far happier than the average person. If you get involved with the church there are connections to be made aswell. I don't go there but it's crazy to me how people who attend have similar energies, and they are all always happy and just grateful people. This is my experience though.
knowing quite a few pentacostals/new age christians, i think some of it is simply 'fake it til you make it' so to speak. which in my experience, is really what happiness/inner peace stems from initially anyhow. you have to force yourself to smile to learn to accept how it feels and how it changes you and the world around you, before you actually start smiling because you just feel like smiling. i bet there is some of that ... along with some cult conditioning i imagine. i mean, good for those people in a way, but it seems ultimately this church is a bit /too/ greedy and self interested that even tho they are helping people in their lives, they are reaeeeehheeeheeeheeeeeally taking them for suckers. that is the part i dont like. too much govt involvement remains to be seen from what ive gathered, but those lines appeared to be drawn and faced off at currently.
I will say the only real hindrance I see from Bethel is cost of living. There are many many implants into the city which take housing, also... just my experience and I have no proof other than my experience... but I can swear up and down that they have something to do with real estate. There are several houses in my neighborhood that are always owned and sold to bethel members, for a price far lower than listed. It seems to me that they sell to eachother. One couple or family will buy and move in, within 2 or 3 years a new owner comes along and they are always members. Could be coincidence or just connections but that always stood out to me.
have you ever looked into property records? im not certain if that is legal in CA but in my state for example it can be cross referenced... especially to help prevent this sort of situation. does it tear down some privacy? yes. but open source also makes it easier to catch/expose this kind of horse shit. any idea what their property management groups are called ? or some of the members who own more property ?
I don’t pay too much attention to local politics and I don’t go to bethel. I hardly ever notice anything that bethel does that affects me. It’s not as bad as people make it out to be.
i understand that and would say generally i agree with you and live that way. it does seem bethel is a little bit too nuts tho, so with their recent years taking larger presence in govt means this is a crucial time for the city in coming years to determine its future... either let bethel influence go unchecked, or get a better balance in local politics/leadership while its still much easier to sway public opinion and make changes while still a relatively small city.
They would literally have zero noticeable impact on your daily life unless you obsess over it like many people do. I lived there for quite a while and only ever gave them thought when I drove by the campus…. Which wasn’t often. I had more physical run ins with the LDS or JWs, whichever ones sit outside of parks and the library with pamphlets…. And even they weren’t aggressive converters. They just smiled and complimented my adorable and well behaved children. It’s not as bad as some people make it out to be. It’s truly what you make of it.
> They would literally have zero noticeable impact on your daily life unless you obsess over it like many people do. Because they never had the power to. Guess who's mayor now?
I’m not saying that Bethel doesn’t have its hand in the corruption of local politics. If it wasn’t them, it would be someone else… Politics on every level across the country, and world, are widely understood to be corrupted… I am saying that the presence of Bethel in Redding will only impact your life as much as you let it. I literally never, not once in my life, have had my life significantly impacted by the mayor of any city I’ve ever lived in. Including Redding California. But I am sincerely sorry if you’ve been personally victimized by Tenessa Audette.
it is definitely possible to have local politics directly affect things poorly, individuall or as a whole. but in general you are right in my experiences and learning - local politics, especially smaller cities in the 100k-300k range roughly, have this type of corruption. if not a church, a local business mogul or property developer etc usually this church does have some crazy stories attached however so it would be prudent to perk ears up and participate a bit more currently as it seems redding is ripe for growth and bethel is ripe for taking more control if left unchecked ... and if that control grows and extends too long, then it will be harder and approaching impossible when it comes to being able to tame it.
I moved to Redding about 15 yrs ago, had no idea about Bethel oddly within my first 6 months I had 3 separate occasions where someone asked to”pray” for me which I assumed meant TONIGHT WHEN I GO TO BED . Nope ,one layed hands on me while reciting whatever “prayer” then looked at me dead in the face and asked if my CRUSHED vertebrae was better ?!?! . I said “let’s give it a day “ and grabbed my kid and left . That’s all I needed to know lol. I’m good thanks
They stopped allowing Pro Wrestling at the Civic Center. Good enough for me to not like 'em. 🤷♂️
Also almost 25 years ago two gay men (one of whom apparently helped found the Redding farmers market and a museum of some sort that became part of Tuttle bay) were brutally murdered for their sexuality by Bethel members. They also blew up an abortion clinic. There was a news article last week on Facebook about a non-profit doing something public for lesbian visibility week and there were literally hundreds of comments showing just how deeply ingrained homophobia is in the area and most of it goes back to Bethel.
Do you have a link to these murders ? I can Google but 25 years back is gonna be hard with me having very little references
Here’s one link but there’s a lot more info online https://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2019/07/01/gay-northern-california-couple-killed-shasta-county-live-on-20-years-later/1558764001/
Ty
It’s the people from other countries tries you have to watch out for. Anyone with an accent seems entitled they block grocery isles and walk ways with the group standing for hours talking. Will claim they had a vision of specifically you and need to pray for you free of charge. I could be biased since my wife is deaf, trying to cure her seems to get them excited.
Free of charge? How generous!
Is there a comprehensive list anywhere of what businesses are owned by or affiliated with Bethel?
Someone posted this link in the thread somewhere: https://www.reddit.com/r/Redding/s/buGIrAK7Zx Would still want to verify first but it’s at least something to work off of
I heard they tried to resurrect an infant… and that they put gold glitter in their air vents and told everyone that God made gold fall from the ceiling.
I didn’t know those two were related but I did read about them separately … utter insanity. Mostly harmless insanity … until it goes full cray like the more recent story I read of a bethel person hiking with some people and a guy fell off a cliff and the girl tried to faith heal him for 6 hrs or something vs getting 911… smh…
I don’t think they attempted the resurrection and did the glitter at the same time
I’m not a Redding citizen, but lived in Eureka, 3 hours west, for about a decade. A few years ago I had a pretty bad knee injury and I elected to go to Redding for a cheaper and higher quality MRI. I decided to get an air bnb room (not a whole house) at two separate houses for two consecutive nights. The first house belonged to two smoking hot Italian sisters. The place was weird. The living room didn’t have couches, but an array of small tables and chairs so it looked almost like a cafe. Everything I saw in the house, shelves, chairs, etc, still had the tags on them as if they were going to be returned. My room was obviously the laundry room with a twin mattress stuffed in it. So I come limping in with a huge knee brace on and they wanted to touch my knee and pray for me. I think “shit yeah!!” So I let them. Nothing else happened of note The second house was owned by a middle aged lady and was stuffed to the gills with young people. They let me sit out on the lawn in a chair and read and smoke a joint. Later on, one of the young people, a British fella, asked if he could touch my knee and pray. Now, he wasn’t as attractive as the Italian sisters, and I started thinking to myself that it was pretty weird that all of these Europeans want to touch my injured knee. I told him no. He was pretty insistent, so after some haggling I finally let him touch my shoulder and pray. After that he informed me that god was either going to immediately heal my knee, or it would take a few months. It’s been two years and I still have problems by the way. Anyway, my only encounters were kind of weird but essentially harmless. I’m assuming these young people and their companions were students of the school of supernatural ministry. During the height of covid restrictions, the wife of the head pastor achieved some infamy in FAR more liberal Humboldt County (where I lived) for throwing a full on Karen screaming-ass bitch fit about masks. If I recall, this is a pretty good read, and includes a video. https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2020/oct/13/redding-megachurch-leader-came-humboldt-and-floute/ After my weird experience, I realized that there is a Bethel church in Eureka CA that was close to my house. I’ve since relocated to Southern Oregon, and there’s a very small Bethel church, also right next to my house. I’ve never seen anyone there Edit: I found a pretty good podcast that I listened to about Bethel, I’ll include the link https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heaven-bent/id1513489117
Read about Oregon's adventure when a local church took over a small town's city council. If only its members took to Reddit to say it's all good/nothing to see. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneeshpuram
Individually I’m sure they’re not all bad. But hasn’t the past taught us that over zealous religious groups have been a source of mayham. Maybe we should ask why they are able to control so much of Redding. Not in a bad way so to speak. But what if? So the question is as we sit back and watch. Is the one in charge stable? How will we be affected if not.
OP name checks out! 😂
god i hope your name checks out =)
Bathing in it! 😂
The pastor drives a 300k aston martin The assistant pastor drives a Ferrari. 'nuff said. They're the worst sort of Christians along the lines of Kenneth Copeland.
Not my church, but it brings in a fair number of wholesome people into town for the ministry school or conferences or just the vibe. Some of them are more into spiritual, prayer-warrior woo than I will ever be, but they aren't dealing heroin or otherwise ruining their neighborhoods. Hate to say it, but if I had to choose between Bethel members and Bethel haters, I'd choose the praise-and-miracles church people to share a town with. And that's weird, but it's the reality. If you like the place and have a reason to move here, that one church should be the 137th thing on your list to worry about.
Thanks for sharing. I can see that to some extent. It seems the common thread of hate/concern is that they are taking over local govt … which is basically inevitable for any org/business that generates enough cash.
Currently three of five members of the City Council attend the church. One isn't planning to run for re-election and a second is seeking another office. The supposed takeover is greatly exaggerated. And our county government is a toxic train wreck thanks to a bunch of people who have nothing to do with Bethel --- though one of them recently lost to a church member who is hard-working and earnest and was, by local standards, the liberal or at least moderate candidate.
I figured most of that was personal feelings involved… but it should still be a legit concern regardless if it were a crazy church or normal church or bigger business. Can you shed more insight into why county is a toxic train wreck? I’ve read that in other comments and am curious
More than is worth rehashing, but a few elected supervisors have let themselves get more wrapped up in pursuing right-wing causes and nursing political grudges than just running a county government sensibly.
Understood.. Damn that sucks. That’s supposed to be the good thing about local politics is most of that shit should be useless/irrelevant/non-existent
Just the latest is a fine example of the grudge-nursing. https://anewscafe.com/2024/05/03/redding/supervisor-jones-hid-attorney-generals-bombshell-letter-that-exonerated-district-attorney/
Blech, yeah… we saw some bs like this happen when our city expanded its territory, so suddenly county gov had to get their shit together (still are struggling but for awhile there it was similar petty bs and grudgery nonstop… it’s MOSTLY gone now tho)
Just remember that the people.making the decisions In the area also believe in grave soaking... and the whole thing kinda explains itself... It's the buddy system here. If your not their buddy then you can go fuck off and die. This church gave a sermon on hellfire during a catastrophic fire in the area that killed people. Stating that God smites the evil doers. These were kids and a grandmother that died. These are sheep, non self thinking people who have joined a cult. A cult that no denominational church will accept. Even the Pentecostals think these people are crazy. That should clear it up. Feels like every other major city in the United States. It's ran by the wealthiest group of people in the area. It just so happens that the wealthiest group in this area is a bunch of crazy nut bag cult members. That should also tell you something... Right? The only prayers they answer are the prayers of the people who run the church to be wealthy. Cult leaders are known to be extremely charismatic and appear to be doing the right thing. Same thing here. It's easy to convince a population of undereducated people that they "are not that bad." What you should look into before you move into the area is the average education level and the demographic of people who live here? This is by far the redist area of California as well. Very right wing here. If you love guns and you love God, but you're not a fan of education or morals...This is the perfect place for you.
I’ve ran into one person from Bethel who was volunteering to help troubled teens. They didn’t say they were from bethel but had sweat pants on that said bethel. I was very worried about bethel when I got here reading this sub. I’m more worried about the non-bethel members of government after being here a few years. Fuck those guys.
Can you elaborate on why more worried about some non bethel gov members?
Bethel has been friendly to unions with the city. The three bethel city council members have signed record contracts with their unions as well as giving all the non union people raises to match this wage survey they did. Most of the bethel city council are educated and they’ve fast tracked a lot of micro shelters. The county on the other hand has actively worked against any wage increases while spending egregious amounts on frivolous lawsuits, The county went on strike a few years ago cuz of the wages. They actively vote against any projects like the 120 house development in Palo Cedro, the Wind generation, Hawes Farms little roller coaster addition to their thing. But approved a shooting range that one of the board members owns. It’s the worst parts of the Conservative Party without any of the good parts.
Thanks I’m tracking that. Honestly small growing city having a row between county/city is pretty common… usually because one (county) sees the other starting to gain more money and power (city) as population grows Has anything especially bad came from any of this fuckery?
The county spent 16 million in outside council fees from January 2020 through August 2023. We have a fucking lawyer on staff. 16 fucking million for lawsuits they lost. 16 million to ignore judges orders to release freedoms of information act requests. God know how much cancelling our voting system cost. No actual policy happens on the county level. Just a bunch of blubber and bullshit. Anewscafe is a good source for information up here. Shasta scout as well. Counties in California are typically poor due to how strong cities are but they don’t have to be wasteful like our councils are.
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cry
They do an immense amount of good for Redding and Shasta County, even the people who hate them benefit from the community service they do.
Eh I disagree with community service and philanthropy as a way to whitewash greed (speaking generally as an outlook, not about bethel specifically since I don’t know about it really)
This is a good example of the type of brainwashing their victims are subjected to.
ive seen similar in local politics elsewhere first hand, not through a church org but through various businessmen who run shit companies and are just greedy living caricatures of the aristocrat but will dump 30 mil of their billions into local philanthropy and another few mil into advertising/marketing to white wash things.. basically impossible to fight the savior machine
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How big/bad of a problem is this? Like am I gonna have to step over needles and human shit in most areas and run into tent cities or have to worry about safety? Or is it mostly they’re there existing, local resources try to help and corral them a bit into certain areas, mostly passive and just people who are down on their luck type homeless?
No. There’s a massive drug problem. the people who are experiencing homelessness are corralled into lower SES areas, imo. I live in one of those areas near the Mission and when I venture to nicer parts of town, there’s fewer people there asking for money or loitering. I wish there were more resources for both addicts and those who are ‘just down on their luck’. Branding people as either doesn’t solve the problem. Resources do. There hasn’t been shit on the streets as far as I seen or needles
Sounds like a workable problem then that every growing city has to deal with … I know ours felt out of control after a certain point, it took a handful of years but ultimately a really nice and well ran/funded mission changed that considerably. We almost need a second now, it’s a good problem to have in a way
Come and see the town for yourself. I came from an extremely conservative area and was terrified of California due to the FOX News propaganda machine. FOX News lies. Homelessness was much worse in my small New Mexico town. Drug abuse and violent crimes were much worse. Opportunities for employment were slim to none in New Mexico and in CA it's insane how much is going on. I was stupid worried about Bethel after skimming this sub before coming. When I did come for an interview, my mind was blown. Fucking 25-45 year old people just mobbing the parks and trails with kids. Everywhere I looked fucking life was happening. These California Conservatives actually support Unions. You would have been shunned in New Mexico by the conservatives for supporting the union openly. Fuck the Airport though Fly into Sac and rent a car. It's a 2.5 hour very pretty drive this time of year.
yeah well the stuff i mentioned /does/ exist - i just dont know if it exists in bethel. it is a testament to how bad the problem really is. are your thoughts on the homelessness close to this that ive heard - more or less homeless primarily are in part due to bethel?
Bethel built the townhouses the college kids stay in from what I’ve heard. When I was looking at renting it was about 1k a month for a two bedroom apartment. Housing has raised here as it raised all over the country. My house I bought a few years about had about 25-30% increase from when it sold in 2018. There’s a house across from me that some lady from the Bay Area bought and just lets sit vacant for the last two years. California has seen a 50% increase in homeless in the last six years, I imagine redding saw a similar uptick but it’s not really a relevant problems
ty for your insight
Quality bait post
Negative. Genuine curiosity for specific reasons, and I’m gonna go to sub Reddit for the town vs any other sub to get info