This morning on the KPAM news, I was disappointed to hear a name that was a blast from the past: the story was that Sergio Alvarizares, pastor of Casa Del Padre church and a founder of Ministerio Internacional El Shaddai had been arrested for sexual abuse of eight female members of his church. He is being held on $2.9 million bail. Oregonlive.com has the story here:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1192602315237280.x ml&coll=7

This was a bit of a shock to me because three years ago, I was board-opping the Spanish programming block on KKPZ, and I remember Sergio Alvarizares from one of the shows. I don't think that I ever met him in person, but he was either a guest pastor on one pre-recorded show or he was about to launch a new show on the station around the time that I left the station.

I am really dismayed and disgusted that somebody would use a position of status and influence to commit heinous acts like these.

I didn't realize you were board op at KKPZ, Alfredo_t.

One person I really enjoyed listening to was Annette Hinshaw on her local program. She seemed like a really neat person and had a great message.

Herb

Sadly Alfredo this heinous act happens all to frequently with people of power and position. Pastors, teachers, public servants, mothers and fathers.

My sister works with children who have been sexually and physically abused and I have a neighbor who works with those who do the abusing. Truly a sad part of our society.

His flock must have been very devoted to him. One of the TV News stations flew over his Ridgefield WA home yesterday, reporting it being worth, I believe they said 1.5 Million!

KPTV had a news report where they showed a picture of the pastor's home and stated its approximate worth. They also interviewed one former church member who stated that the pastor frequently asked for large donations, saying that they would go towards buying a new church or some similar project.

It is, indeed really sad how some good people were hurt and exploited here.

Ironically, the board-op job at KKPZ was a cool job, even though it didn't pay much, because the people I worked with there were some of the friendliest and most thankful people that I have ever worked with. Many of the churches gave the impression that they could barely afford to keep their programs on the air, but that they were holding out as long as they could because they believed in what they were doing. I do not remember any one of these ministries or pastors ever asking for money on the air. It is too bad to find out that in the case of Sergio Alvarizares, this perceived humility was just an act.

The only time that I remember playing Annette Hinshaw's program on air was during weekend replays. I also occasionally filled in on the KKSL side. Probably the most interesting show that I did on that side was Sada-E-Watan, a Pakistani and Indian music and entertainment show. Most of the music and talk breaks on that show were on cassettes! The program host would sit in the studio with a portable cassette deck, cueing up the cassettes for me!

Tonight on KPTV's 10 O'Clock News they mentioned someone who gave the church $10,000. over a period of a year. They would like to know where that money is. KPTV also reported the Pastor's home was valued at almost 1.4 Million. KPTV also said tonight that the church's website continues to support him. The website below is in Spanish.

Casa del Padre:

http://www.hilltopcommunity.upcsites.org/page/page/2849163.htm

All the more reason to keep your money in your pocketbook and worship with God directly. God doesn't need a middleman.

A pastor living in a $1.5 million home and accused of sex abuse? What a shocker!!!

When you donate money, you have to be careful how you donate it. I usually donate for a specific purpose. and I follow up on how its spent.

The sham perpetrated by people like jet-setting carbon spewer Bobby Kennedy, Jr. and Mr. Gore with his global warming scheme makes anything done by this crooked pastor look like small potatoes.

Herb

Interesting post Mr. Herb. So you are comparing what to what?

Try to actually stay on topic. We have a thread dedicated to your dislike for Gore and Kennedy. Your post here simply is out of place. There are victims here Herb time to show some compassion.

The louder a person points out the speck of dust in someone else's eye the larger the log is most likely in their own eye. To borrow one or your pet lines: Get a grip.

Check out Oral Roberts and his sons various houses in Tulsa, a million dollars buys you a very nice house in Tulsa.

Fair enough, Chris.

My point was not to excuse a crooked pastor. We should have compassion for the victims and this bad egg should pay restitution and community service for what he is charged with...upon his conviction, of course.

My point was to provide some perspective on all hypocrisy. The left is quick to jump all over him since he is a pastor. I've provided balance and context by noting the atheistic left has a board in their own eye which is gargantuan when compared to the smaller scope of this local man.

Unlike Jesus-bashing leftists on this board, I concede that a crook is a crook, no matter the party.

Herb

Restitution and community service? The guy should do hard time, for about 15-20 years! If convicted.

Hypocrisy lands its ugly face on both sides and right down the middle Herb. When a pastor, politician or anyone else who "preaches" one thing and does another particularly when it's criminal needs to be dealt with within our justice system. Even this jerk deserves a fair trial. (I gulp as I type this)

I also feel the Jesus-bashing you get is simply because you bash it pretty hard yourself. I don't try and convince anyone to believe as I believe, I simply share what I believe and leave the rest up to those reading.

My goal is show that there are plenty of Christians on the political left who are deeply concerned about this country. It may be a bit hard to swallow this Herb, but God is not a Republican or Democrat

"I don't try and convince anyone to believe as I believe..."

Okay.

But is the Great Commission optional?

Herb

I simply try and live the Great Commission. It speaks for itself.

St. Francis of Assisi said "Go out into the world and preach the gospel. And if necessary, use words."

Sometimes words can really mess up the good news.

Peace

"makes anything done by this crooked pastor look like small potatoes."

WTF?

Herrbocrite:

You equaling Gore talking about global warming (which you can easily avoid hearing) to the rape and sexual abuse of (at least) 8 women in the name of God?

What's the difference between being raped by someone you trust in the name of God or being raped in the name of Allah in one of your beloved and oft-cited RAPE ROOMS?!?!?!?

Um, how about "Nothing"

Gosh, I sure hope none of them got pregnant from this Christian "Man of God".

You are a sick, misogynistic, bigoted, pathetic old man who's losing it right in front of our very eyes. Does your wife/mom/daughter read these posts?

This is the All Time Low from you.

For once I whole-heartedly agree with Okie:

Restitution and community service? The guy should do hard time, for about 15-20 years! If convicted.

(A life sentence with would be better)

Before he goes to jail, if convicted, he should go from the court room to the operating room as should ALL rapists.

From that day forward he should have to sit down to pee.

I've now seen it all. Comparing the Nobel Peace Prize winning Gore to a rapist?

As Trix recently said "UnFuckingBelievable".

Every time I think about this this morning the more sickened I get. I have zero respect or even an atom of kindness for Herb. ZERO. He's put himself on a level that I hope I never ever personally respond to again.

(He's probably smiling and thanking God right now.)

I acknowledge that there are people out there who have a beef with organized religion because of personal experiences or because they abhor all things authoritarian, and they see churches as authoritarian environments. However, those are not the contexts in which I see this story. The context in which I see this is that there are certain things in our society that are expected to be safe havens. These types of places include daycare centers, schools, mental institutions, medical offices, nursing homes, and churches. In these places, one finds vulnerable people who went to or were put into those environments with the expectation that they would be safe. What I find outrageous is when the operators of these places take advantage of that vulnerability, violating the trust relationship. I think that what Alvarizares did is just as bad as if a doctor raped one of his patients (this actually happened in the Portland area a few years ago).

All churches take advantage of the vunerable. Most do it psychologically, but some take it further and take advantage financially and even worse, sexually. This scum bag looks to have scored the hat trick.

No, most churches help the vulnerable, with hope and many time physical assistance.

Just because one sleeze bag takes advantage of someone, doesn't contaminate the entire group. Otherwise the entire democratic party could be tarred with the actions of Kennedy.

Not all churches take advantage of the vulnerable vitalogy. Being a preachers kid myself and having spent many a day in the church setting, I can tell you from experience that there are many churches doing some very good in our community.

Should those in charge of churches, schools, daycare centers, mental institutions be held to a higher standard. I have never really understood why since we all should try to live at the highest standard. (Whatever that magic standard is)

Like many organizations a few can really scum up the water and make "all" churches look bad.

I'm thankful that we now live in a society where guys like this pastor get caught and punished. That hasn't always been the case and mainly women and children suffered the most.

If the guy was guilty of sex crimes, that's another matter. I only heard about him being charged with over a million dollars being stolen from the church plate.

Herb

" Otherwise the entire democratic party could be tarred with the actions of Kennedy."

Could we please keep partisan politics out of this thread?

That's a seriously lame attempt for one of your classic dodges, you creep.

I guess the title of the thread and Alfredo's first post escaped you? I find it hard to believe that you don't read the paper or watch local FOX "news". So I don't buy your hot steamy pile of poop excuse/explanation for one nano-second. You've tried going off subject on every post in this thread. Why is that?

Portland El Shaddai Pastor Sexual Assault Arrest

How about "The Oregonian" article or the link's headline?

Portland pastor arrested on suspicion of rape

Last night on Channel 2 News it was revealed Sergio Alvarizares not only owns a $1.4 Million home but he also owns 3 more homes! I thought this was kinda interesting so I did a "zaba" web search which gives you all the land address under his name.

I found only 2 under "Sergio" with his wife most likely "Mayra" who is 2 years older than Sergio. Then I found "Olga" most likely his mother and his father "Victor", both born in 1949, also registered to the two addresses.

Then I found two more addresses, one under Mayra and the other under Victor. Only Victor's address is out of the 98683 zip code which is 98684. On top of this I found on Sandy Blvd. in Portland another listing with all the names mentioned above which might be the church. My assumption is, Sergio was funneling church money to his extended family members.

My memory isn't as good as I thought that it was. I did an archive.org search on the KKPZ programming guide from the fall of 2004, and the host of the show "Encuentro Con Dios" (An Encounter With God) was Sergio himself. The Encuentro Con Dios show was usually done live in the studio, and the cast typically consisted of Sergio, his wife Mayra, and Jose Valencia, the worship leader at what was then called Ministerio Internacional El Shaddai, Iglesia Central de Portland. At the time, the church operated out of a location on SE Ankeny Street, near the intersection of Burnside & Sandy.

Sergio and the crew were pretty nice people to work with, and they all gave the impression of being "good" people. Sergio said on a few ocassions that his background was in engineering, and that sounded believable because he came across as a clean-cut, educated man. At the time, Sergio was thinner than in the photos on the church website, so that might have been why I didn't recognize him right away. This website has been taken down as of my writing this. If I ever were to across Sergio again, my reaction would probably be along the lines of "Why, Sergio, why??" (Provided, of course, that the court finds him guilty.)

Victor could be Sergio's father, but it could also be Victor's brother, who is the pastor of an El Shaddai church in Beaverton.

Sergio's Bail Is Doubled !

Here's the latest from The Oregonian on this:

A Multnomah County judge today doubled bail to $5.8 million after Sergio Alvarizares, a 38-year-old pastor of a Northeast Portland church, pleaded not guilty to 15 sex-related crimes and surrendered his passport.

The state unsuccessfully sought to raise bail to $10 million, arguing that Alvarizares is a flight risk, has access to funds and might return to his native country, Guatemala.

"We have a person who leads a lavish lifestyle, who's well-experienced in fundraising and has contacts to a number of foreign countries," argued Chris Ramras, Multnomah County deputy district attorney.

Instead, the judge doubled the bail, initially set at $2.8 million.

This just in . . .

The pastor's crimes came to light during a sermon when one of the victims stood up and accused the pastor on the pulpit. As he started to deny the accusations, several other victims stood and also accused him. Chaos erupted and the pastor ran and locked himself in a room somewhere.

A flurry of 911 calls ensued and the cops came to restore order. Later that night the victims gathered at one of their houses and made a decision to call the sheriff and report their crimes.

Source: The O.


My commentary:

God doesn't need middlemen. Worship God directly and keep your money in your pocketbooks.

Skep: I did a google search on the phrase "Why go to church." Besides getting a lot of long winded explanations, I found these:

The primary reasons are: "the forgiveness of sins", "to get saved" & "out of fear of what God will do to them if they don't."

Note, nothing is said about learning Gods commandments! These are people that did bad things in the past and are still not interested in hearing the laws.

They're just interested in buying a ticket upstairs.

There's a reason why jails are full of born again christians.

Jails are filled with people from all walks of life.

In the USA we have more people incarcerated than any other country in the world.

Chris said: In the USA we have more people incarcerated than any other country in the world.

IMHO I think this is because our court system and judges are woosies. Oh, and don't forget lawyers too!

In most other countries if you commit a crime there is real punishment.

Here they are so worried about the criminal’s rights that they don't dole out severe enough punishments. When you are convicted of a crime you give up all your rights as far as I'm concerned.

Either that or it goes the other way; a minor crime gets a major sentence while a rapist or murderer gets only a few years in jail.

I wouldn't make a good judge.

Steal something and off comes a finger (index finger, that way you can't pick your nose!) 2nd time you steal, off comes a hand.

Rape someone and you go from the court room to the operating room and off comes EVERYTHING. You have to sit to pee.

From other posts I'm sure everyone knows that I'm a big 2nd amendment supporter, but use a gun in a crime, doesn't matter if you pull the trigger or not, it is a life sentence.

The people who say that punishment is not a deterrent are delusional.

Is the incarceration statistic just a number of people in prison, or is it per capita? What puts us ahead of other countries in the world: for instance, do we have a lot of people in jail for domestic violence, drug possession, and drunk driving, whereas other countries do not, for whatever reason?

The reason that I am asking this is that I have heard it stated before that there are more incarcerated people here than anywhere else, but the statement was presented to make some other point, rather than to compare incarceration rates.