“It isn’t often that you find a pastor who has been in prison and been divorced but has a real heart for people. He isn’t judgmental at all. If you are struggling with sin, this is a great church to attend because you won’t be judged,” said Blaine Morgan, a church volunteer, about Pastor Barry Minkow. “We don’t condone sin here, but we value the process of forgiveness and change.”
“There are many people who serve here who are ex-convicts,” added Fumi Tanaka, a congregant. “This really is a great place for people who need to be restored.” Tanaka said several of the church staff served prison time, including small-groups director Frank Wooters, David, the men’s ministry leader, and senior pastor Barry Minkow. Frank Wooters’s biography on the church website states, “By my 20s I was running in the wrong direction with the wrong crowd, in and out of jail. I was running in a world of violence and self-destruction.”
Barry Minkow’s criminal past and subsequent life change has received national press. Minkow, who was the youngest person ever to take a company public at 20 years old, was convicted of fraud in 1987. Minkow served seven years in federal prison and was ordered to pay back $26 million to investors. In prison, Minkow changed his life and says he felt God’s call to enter the ministry. Minkow was hired as senior pastor of Community Bible Church in 1997. In addition to his role as senior pastor, Minkow assists the FBI in busting fraud scams. In January, Minkow released a book about his life, Cleaning Up: One Man’s Redemptive Journey Through the Seductive World of Corporate Crime.
Full Article: Community Bible Church