A prominent Vineyard pastor has resigned following revelations that he was caught following young women around a Trader Joe’s store in 2020 and took pervy, unsolicited photos of their backsides while standing in line.
In 2019 (with resignation finalized in early 2020), Mountainbrook Church pastor Thom O’Leary resigned after he was found to have engaged in prolonged sexual harassment of multiple female staff members, along with excessive drinking.
O’Leary was replaced by pastor Rick Olmstead, an author and director of Generation Now, who eventually changed the church name to Arise Vineyard Church. Months after taking over the helm, however, Olmstead was caught taking pictures of women’s butts – two pervy pastors in less than two year,
Rather than inform the congregants that their pastor had engaged in such behavior, the church’s Board of Directors handled it internally at the time, having him go through a time of “confession, counseling, accountability, and a restoration process with the board,” according to a church FAQ addressing the issue.
While Olmstead ultimately stepped down in 2021, he was invited back to serve as pastor again in 2024, where he remained until the incident was made public and published in the local newspaper, and is when congregants were first made aware of it.
In a church FAQ about his departure, Arise Church writes that the 2020 board of elders did not tell the congregants at that time because:
they believed every personnel matter requires deep discernment to determine the right balance of accountability, restoration, and public disclosure. Based on a thorough review of the facts that were known at the time and in consultation with an independent professional counselor, the 2020 Arise Board determined that this matter could be effectively resolved through an internal process emphasizing accountability and restoration.
When asked why the board didn’t fire him following the initial revelations:
The 2020 Arise Board received one anonymous note regarding this incident from a store employee. A good faith effort was made to get more clarity, but the Board was informed that this employee did not want to discuss the matter.
The 2020 Board was also not aware of the other allegations being discussed in the media today, including specific content of the photos, claims of physical contact, intoxication, and contacting the police; no such reports were received through any channel. At that time, there was no other documented history of inappropriate conduct related to Rick. The current board is following up on the new allegations.
Naturally, congregants want to know why he was brought as senior pastor after the incident, and they conclude:
Most members of the board that brought Rick back on staff knew that a past event occurred at varying levels of detail and disclosure. More importantly, they relied on respected predecessors, prior pastoral leadership, and (as some members were aware) a professional counselor, believing that the matter had been thoroughly resolved via a formal restoration process.
While no board member was informed about the full details of the original board investigation, they trusted that the process was complete and that the level of disclosure chosen was appropriate, especially as no new information or allegations had come forward at that time.
