The Anatomy of a Church Meltdown
What’s going on at Bethlehem Baptist?
Hi,
I’ll always be curious about what’s going on in Bethlehem.
My family moved to the sleepy Tauranga suburb when I was about 10. I left when I was 18 to try and get into medical school. I failed miserably, and went to journalism school instead. I think it was for the best.
It’s fair to say that Tauranga leans pretty heavily into Christianity. Three minutes down the road from Bethlehem is another suburb called Judea – and then there’s the school I attended for seven years, Bethlehem College.
(Back in 2022 I looked back at some of the less savoury aspects of Bethlehem College in this series, which led to my old school refusing to talk to me).
There are also a lot of churches in Bethlehem – and it’s to one of those churches we turn to today: Bethlehem Baptist.
And Bethlehem Baptist appears to be in the middle of some kind of meltdown.
What is Bethlehem Baptist?
You garner most of what you need to know about Bethlehem Baptist by looking who they follow on Instagram – a who’s who of charismatic megachurches throughout New Zealand, Australia and the US.
Hillsong is there, as is Arise – the megachurch Webworm exposed a few years back. They also follow videogame meme account “Gametaster”, for some reason.
Now nothing I am going to say about a megachurch or megachurch-wannabe is going to come as a great surprise. We all know that these churches exist to protect their male leaders. Anything deemed “sinful” is to be swept under the carpet as quickly as possible, almost always at the expense of a victim, or victims.
What is a little more rare is to be able to look at the way these churches communicate during their more dramatic moments. What they choose to share with their congregation when the shit hits the fan.
I might be alone in this, but I love looking under the hood of how these churches treat their members. Members who are tithing 10% of their yearly income to the church. Churches that are registered charities bringing in millions from their flock every year.
October 3, 2025: The First Email
The first email indicating something was awry at Bethlehem Baptist was sent on October 3 last year.
From: Bethlehem Baptist Church <bbc@bethlehem.org.nz>
Date: Fri, Oct 3, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Subject: BBC staff news
Greetings to our BBC church family.
I’m taking the opportunity to inform you of a staff change that has happened this past week.
This week we received a resignation from our youth pastor Michael Brown. This is due to a change in his personal circumstances, which we cannot disclose. Michael’s resignation is effective immediately.
The youth pastor was leaving, for reasons “we cannot disclose”. The email went on to praise Brown for his “outstanding ministry among our young people”, and “8 years of sacrifice in his service for the Lord.”
It was signed, “with faith and love” by Pastor Craig.
November 26, 2025: Bye Bye Craig
The following month, Pastor Craig announced he was leaving, too.
From: Bethlehem Baptist Church <bbc@bethlehem.org.nz>
Date: Wed, Nov 26, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Subject: Important announcement from our Senior Pastors - Craig and Michaela Vernall
Dear Bethlehem Baptist Church family,
It’s with both a heavy and expectant heart that Michaela and I are writing to you today to tell you of our impending resignation as Senior Pastors of Bethlehem Baptist Church.
Head pastor Craig Vernall explained that after 31 years of ministry, he and his wife Michaela were going to be throwing in the towel.
Interestingly, while Michaela would be gone “at the end of January 2026”, Craig would be staying till the end of May 2026.
Sure enough, looking at the church’s website, Craig is still there:
Jan 27, 2026: Throw Me A Party, Please
A new email arrived from “The Elders” in January of this year. In case you were wondering, The Elders look like what you'd expect them to look like:
The Elders confirmed that former senior pastor Michaela is out the door. The email also indicates Michaela has requested the church organise an event to “honour and celebrate both her and Craig” in four months' time.
From: Bethlehem Baptist Church <bbc@bethlehem.org.nz>
Date: Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Subject: Update from the Elders on Leadership Transition and Next Step
Farewell for Michaela: After 31 years of faithful service, this coming week will be Michaela’s last week with us. Upon Michaela’s advice, we will be organizing an event to honour and celebrate both her and Craig in late May when Craig will also be ending his service.
[...]
The Elders
March 11, 2026: The (Surprise!) Inquiries Begin
This one is a doozy.
From: Bethlehem Baptist Church <bbc@bethlehem.org.nz>
Date: Wed, Mar 11, 2026 at 9:28 AM
Subject: A message from the BBC Elders
Dear members of BBC and church family,
As you will be aware, a special meeting has been called for and will be held this Sunday, the 15th of March at 1:00 pm.
A group of members have set a motion in place, which seeks permission from the BBC members to “consider and resolve whether to initiate an independent inquiry into the events leading to the resignation of Craig and Michaeala [SIC]”.
Apparently, the “events leading to the resignation” of the church's senior pastors has led to church members calling for an independent inquiry. But good news: The Elders are one step ahead.
"As Elders, we want to acknowledge the concern from the congregation at the unexpected departure of the Vernalls. We too have been concerned to ensure we understood what has led to the situation and that we learn from it where possible."
The Elders then reveal a magic trick: Members needn't worry about an independent inquiry, because The Elders have already started one.
"We want you to know that we have not sat idly by. In fact, we have already initiated three independent inquiries."
They haven't started just one inquiry – or two inquiries – they've started three inquiries! All news to the congregation, who up till this point had no idea any of this was going on.
The first inquiry was apparently carried out by “experienced church assessor” Richard Black, who recommended the church carry out two more inquiries – one relating to “the governance processes of the Church”, and the second about the churches “complaint handling processes.”
Webworm finds it curious that while these three inquiries were taking place – seemingly concerned at least in part with the resignation of their senior pastor – the senior pastor was still employed as the senior pastor.
As to whether church members who tithe every week will ever know what the reviews say? Don't get your hopes up.
“The Elders have taken legal advice on the extent to which the reports from each of these reviews can be shared with the congregation. That advice is that disclosure of the full content of those reports would breach obligations of privacy that we have to the individuals involved. There are also employment law obligations that we must be mindful of to the extent that the reviews involve employed staff.
[...]
What we would not be able to report back to you would be the specific detail of the events that led to the recommendations.”
The email ends by saying that despite all these reviews coming out of the blue, they really, really don’t want to do any more reviews.
“Given that the Elders have already engaged independent reviewers, we don’t consider that a further review is necessary. This would be an unnecessary duplication of effort and involvement of those concerned.”
April 13, 2026: Another Review
Earlier this month, another email, indicating that church members did indeed want another inquiry. "Fuck," went The Elders.
From: Bethlehem Baptist Church <bbc@bethlehem.org.nz>
Date: Mon, Apr 13, 2026 at 11:16 AM
Subject: Special member's meeting update
Dear members of the BBC community
Thank you for your patience since the Members’ Meeting on 15 March, while a suitable Terms of Reference and Panel has been assembled to undertake the Independent Inquiry requested by Members.
The meeting about this new "independent inquiry" took place yesterday at 1pm.
Webworm has reached out to Bethlehem Baptist Church asking about the resignations, and the nature of the three (and now four?) inquiries/reviews.
We also asked why a senior pastor (who resigned last year) has remained in his leadership position while the reviews (into why he resigned) take place.
Bethlehem Baptist has not, so far, been particularly forthcoming.
David.
David Farrier
