Jesse Stovall, member of “founding family” of Calvary Chapel Visalia, lends his support for embattled pastor Bob Grenier.
A long-time Calvary Chapel Visalia “founding family” member sent public comments to CC Abuse recently that seek to defend the embattled Calvary Chapel Visalia pastor Bob Grenier who is accused of physical and/or sexual abuse by three of his male children (now adults).
Following are the unedited comments from Jesse Stovall:
“Alex, you seem to say that the cancer that Chuck Smith had is deserved in some way and that reconciliation with you was something he should have sought. Hmm, this from the guy that used to beat the crap out of his brothers when his parents were out of town…oh wait, is that too personal?”
“In as much as it concerns CC Visalia, I can say with 100% surety, I have never seen any of the so-called abuse. I have been in the home of Bob Grenier. I know Geoff and Alex. They can deny it but I know both of them. I know Alex’s wife. I grew up with them all. My family is one of the founding families of CC Visalia. I understand that many people have been hurt by Calvary Chapel. I had my own problems with a CC but not CC Visalia. I know Bob and Gayle and they are some of my favorite people ever.”
Following are my responses: I don’t run from questions or criticism and Camp Bob Grenier of Calvary Chapel do have many supporters who see Bob as a victim and not a perpetrator.
Jesse, regarding the “Chuck Smith Dead at 86″ article you reference in your comment, my point was to document the irony that Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel have historically taught and practiced what’s called a “Doctrine of Divine Retribution” where Chuck warned and sincerely believed that God would punish his enemies who came against him and his “ministry” etc. This is well-documented and very apparent in the Christianity Today article that investigated issues about Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel and the many scandals, abuses and lawsuits etc. and published a scathing 7 page news story on the issues. In the article, the CT Reporter is warned by Chuck Smith, “Touch not God’s anointed, do my prophet no harm…I believe you are trying to harm a work of the Lord, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.” This example is one of many throughout the years…and Smith and many in CC believe that God has brought death, sickness and other trouble to their perceived enemies and critics. Chuck Smith pulled the “Touch not God’s anointed” stuff with me from the CC Costa Mesa pulpit…saying “that what I (Chuck) could do wouldn’t hurt him much…but what the Lord will do…well, I’m glad I have the Lord on my side.”
Basically, good old Papa Chuck called down the “Touch not God’s anointed” CC curse on me. I commented on the blog shortly after that I felt (and I did, I had a strange feeling) that Chuck had called down the curse on himself and Camp BG. A month later, Chuck was diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer…and year later…to nearly the hour…Chuck croaked. Sharon Ries, Raul Riese’s wife has been diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer after Bob Grenier filed his lawsuit…and Raul Ries was on Bob’s Board and ignored the requests for dealing with the abuse situation…and sources tell me that Raul has been instrumental in giving Bob Grenier support and advice with regards to suing etc. It is also reported and alleged that Bob’s right-hand-man, Mike Buford, was diagnosed with a severe form of potentially life-threatening hypertension after the lawsuit.
Coincidence? Probably. I’m more of a skeptic and very much not a Christian* Fundamentalist. I don’t see any evidence today of the “supernatural”…but, yikes! Lots of sickness and death all the sudden in Camp Bob Grenier…and the point I am making is that if I and others in my Camp had some sort of bad luck…Chuck (well, not Chuck now…he’s dead) and Bob and Raul and the others would point to any sort of tragedy as “God moving!” and “God ZAPPED our enemies!” and they’d see God in all of that…and they’d give thanks to God for nuking their enemies and critics. That’s how they roll.
When tragedy befalls them on the heels of their bad actions…it’s not “God” and punishment to correct them…it’s “random chance”…they become as skeptical as any atheist. Very convenient Belief System they have. If I believed their nonsense and bullshit, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near Bob’s circle…their version of God seems to be quite angry with him.
Regarding this comment you made, “Hmm, this from the guy that used to beat the crap out of his brothers when his parents were out of town…oh wait, is that too personal?”
Well, not much is “too personal” after going public with the abuse in our home growing up. I’m happy to address this. I never “beat up” Paul or Robert. They are ten and eleven years my younger and I didn’t beat up small children when I was a teenager. That’s silly. Now, me and Geoff…different story. Geoff was a year younger, as you know, and a tough kid (much because of the violent physical abuse by “pastor” Bob in our home…it made us tough). Geoff and I got in a lot of fights. It’s how we learned conflict resolution in the home…something I shared with the Visalia Police Detectives when they asked about that issue when I interviewed with them about the child abuse three or four years ago at the Visalia Police station. Geoff was my equal and then got much bigger and stronger than me…and yes, we had some epic fights as male siblings from abusive homes often do. Violence breeds violence.
Regarding your comment here: “In as much as it concerns CC Visalia, I can say with 100% surety, I have never seen any of the so-called abuse.”
Child abusers, as a general rule, don’t invite other children or teens into the room (Jesse is a year or two younger than me) when they abuse their own children. It’s very uncommon that abusers (physical and/or sexual) allow witnesses to be present that are outside of the family unit that they tightly control. The fact you never witnessed any abuse in our home is about like the vast majority of teachers and coaches at Penn State saying they never saw Sandusky butt-f’ing one of his young victims.
There are witnesses to abuse in both cases. I’m a witness, Geoff is a witness, Paul is a witness, my aunt is a witness and there are neighbors who have come forward who saw and heard things that they now believe were signs of abuse and there are coaches from Geoff’s high school days who saw bruises on him in the shower according to Geoff’s testimony on the police report. Statute of limitations was the reason given by the Tulare County Prosecutor for not pursuing child abuse charges at that time.
I personally didn’t see Paul sexually abused, but I believe his testimony of abuse on this blog for many reasons.
Regarding your comment here: ”I have been in the home of Bob Grenier. I know Geoff and Alex. They can deny it but I know both of them. I know Alex’s wife. I grew up with them all. “
Yes, agreed. Why would I deny that? That’s a strange comment. Yes, you were in the home on very very rare occasions, you didn’t live there and don’t even think you ever spent the night (but I could be wrong about that one). You did come over with your family on occasion. I remember spending a little more time with you in late high school and early college around the time I met my wife. We had a mutual buddy, Tim Holzem, great guy. I lived with the Holzem’s for a period of time as it was always dicey at home and I was still hiding the abuse to keep up appearances for church etc. I remember you very well. You are the adopted son of Chuck and Lanelle Stovall. Chuck was the principal at Woodlake High School and then later worked for Valley Financial as a stock broker/securities broker. I gave him some of my business. Your adopted family sister is Sara and your adopted family brother was Sam who was an awesome swimmer, but his life was tragically cut short when he hit a moose with his car or something when he was working in Alaska (if memory serves). My wife went to his funeral at Calvary Chapel Visalia with our newborn son who my mom refused to meet. She tried to introduce my son to his grandma at the church before or after Sam’s memorial service, but she said Sue Dowds and some other CC women shuffled my mom off to the back of the church to avoid having to see her and my son. Very crazy and cult-like. Your mom and dad should be ashamed to be a part of that sort of nonsense, but they seem to support it, as do you. Shame on you and them.
Regarding your comment here: “My family is one of the founding families of CC Visalia. I understand that many people have been hurt by Calvary Chapel. I had my own problems with a CC but not CC Visalia. I know Bob and Gayle and they are some of my favorite people ever.”
Yes, agreed. Your folks were OG CCV. They were there from early on. You had a good experience at CCV, good for you. I didn’t, neither did many others. Regarding my folks, if they are some of your favorite people then you should want what’s best for them and that’s to tell the truth and repent and seek to reconcile and make amends for any wrongdoing rather than to re-abuse the victims.
Jesse, frankly, I am disappointed that you would speak publicly to these issues without doing any real homework and without speaking to me or my wife or her family etc or any of the many people you know from CCV who have come forward. But, that’s ‘Merica, you have the right to your take, just as we do. I guess I just expect a little more out of a someone who is in “intelligence” and does analysis etc.
According to Jesse’s Linked-In profile:
Jesse Stovall at Sotera Defense Solutions, Washington D.C. Metro Area | Defense & Space
Current: Intelligence Analyst at Sotera Defense Solutions, Inc. Past: Technical Advisor at Lockheed Martin, Signals Intelligence Analyst at United States Army
Education: Community College of Aurora, Woodlake Union High School
Jesse Stovall’s comments were posted publicly by him on this blog. The comments were stuck in the spam filter and didn’t post publicly at first. They are from an email address bearing his name and an IP address that matches his location. They have been posted publicly as the subject of this article and he is free to respond and I’ll seek to liberate any further comments that get stuck (if I’m able to find them, we get lots of spam and the filter is a little over-active sometimes). I have no problem with Camp Bob’s defenders addressing the situation publicly. In fact, I welcome it. Let’s hash it all out again.