Hephzibah House, an Independent Fundamental Baptist-run girls home located in Winona Lake, IN, was recently thrust into the national spotlight after the Dr. Phil Show did a two-day expose’ on January 13 & 14. I watched both episodes today and was completely horrified by the stories that the women told. I was also shocked that this place is still open and that young women are continuing to be sent there to be mistreated and abused.
When I found out that Hephzibah House was located in Indiana, I immediately thought of Hyles-Anderson College. I just KNEW there had to be a connection between the two, and and I was right. Two of the administrators of Hephzibah House, Don Williams & Dave Halyaman, are both 1987 graduates of Hyles-Anderson college. To loosely quote Michael Scott from ‘The Office’, I believe Hyles-Anderson College is “a breeding ground for monsters.“
Why You Need to Know About Hyles-Anderson College
Hyles-Anderson College, founded in 1972 by Jack Hyles, (with the financial support of Russell Anderson) is an Independent Fundamental Baptist College located in Crown Point, IN. The college has close ties to First Baptist Church of Hammond, IN, where Jack Hyles was the pastor for 42 years. Degrees from HAC are not accredited by any recognized accreditation body.
Jack Hyles was the poster boy for the IFB movement, and almost god-like for the students at HAC. In fact, they have erected this statue in his honor on the campus grounds.
A quick primer on Independent Fundamental Baptists –
- KJV only – They only read the King James translation of the Bible, period. Any other version is a ‘per’version.
- Dress code – Women cannot wear pants (read: Duggar family). Men can’t wear their hair below the shirt collar. Modest dress is required.
- Separation from the ‘world’, which means little to no television, no secular music, no dancing, smoking or alcohol consumption. Friendships with unsaved people are to be avoided, except for the purpose of witnessing to them. Cannot marry an unbeliever.
- Soulwinning – the hallmark of the IFB movement. FBC Hammond used to boast that they had the largest Sunday School attendance in the world, which they attributed to their soul winning efforts. The singular goal of the IFB movement is to lead others to be saved. (warning: if an IFB person is talking to you, worldly person that you are, it’s because they are trying to determine if you are saved or not.)
Why Do I Know So Much About The IFB?
I was first exposed to IFB culture by accident, when I was 11 years old.
When my mother moved my brother and I to Dallas in the summer of 1982, she enrolled us in Dallas public schools. I was a year younger (and smaller) than most of the other kids in my grade, (I started school at age 4),and had previously attended a small school in rural east Texas. These circumstances left me woefully unprepared for the DISD. During my first week as a 7th grader, I was cornered after lunch by an older girl, who accused me of calling her a bad name. She was about to beat me up, before a teacher broke up the crowd. It scared me so badly that my mother decided to put me in a small private (baptist) school. I was so relieved, and didn’t care where I went to school, as long as I didn’t have to go back to the big mean public school.
Little did I know, and didn’t realize until just a few years ago, that this little baptist school was run by an Independent Fundamental Baptist Church.
I actually had a very good experience here. My only complaint would be that we had to wear dresses everyday and culottes during gym time. (If you don’t know what culotte’s are – fashion nightmare. Look them up) Since my home life was already rife with abuse & dysfunction, this school was a respite of sorts. While some people might have considered the rules strict and abnormal, it provided some much needed structure for me.
My Second Exposure to IFB Culture
The pastor who abused me is a graduate of Hyles-Anderson College, previously taught at Hyles-Anderson College, and attended First Baptist Church Hammond, where he was heavily involved in their ministries. He brought a lot of the abusive and oppressive teaching that he learned and taught at HAC to the church that we attended.
It was an interesting dynamic, really.
The church we attended was non-denominational, and the abusive pastor claimed he had left all of the IFB stuff behind. He spoke badly of Jack Hyles and of Hyles-Anderson College. Based on what he said, we thought Jack Hyles was a monster and that FBC Hammond and Hyles-Anderson College was a horrible place. It was a ruse, however. Looking back, I can now see that he never left it behind. All of that teaching was in him, part of him, and he poisoned us with it too.
A Daughter Speaks
Three and half years after my clergy sexual abuse, I received a private message on Facebook from my abuser’s daughter. I will preface this with some background information.
My abuser has several adult children, all of whom never seemed to be as enthralled with their father as the congregation of the church was. I always found that puzzling. If he was such a great husband, father, pastor, wouldn’t his children express the same admiration and respect for him that everyone else did?
The daughter of my abuser also used to be my friend. I even babysat her daughter for a while. There was something about her that I could never put my finger on. We had lost touch over the years when she moved to another town.
His daughter became estranged from the family. She had separated from her husband (who was a narcissist just like her father) and her husband enlisted her father/abusive pastor to shame her and cause her lose custody of her children during their divorce. (he testified in court that his daughter was an unfit mother) According to the story that was being circulated in the church, the daughter had ‘lost her way’ and was living in the world. We felt sorry for her and prayed for her. We didn’t, however, know the true story.
The Meeting
When I received that message on Facebook from my abusers daughter, my immediate reaction was to vomit.
She asked if we could meet. Of course I didn’t know what her intentions were, so I asked her point blank. She said she was still estranged from her parents and had heard about what happened with her dad & me. She wanted to hear my side of the story. Reluctantly, I agreed. I was in therapy at the time, and my counselor helped me prepare for the meeting. “Anna,” she said, ” let her do all of the talking first.”
When we met, I did just as my counselor instructed, and I must say that I was not prepared for what she shared with me that day.
Her father was a monster.
She told me about a life of abuse that she and her brothers endured at the hands of an evil man. How he would frequently come home at night and line all of the kids up and beat them, one by one, for no reason at all. He would just be mad as soon as he got home, then take it out on the children. He would yell out bible verses and accuse the children of breaking rules that they were not guilty of breaking. She said what hurt even worse was that her mother did nothing to protect them. She would go into the bathroom and hide while their father beat them. Afterwards she would ask her mother, “Why did he beat me? I didn’t do anything wrong?” Her mother would never answer her.
The worst thing she told me was about the beatings that her younger brother suffered – as an infant.
She was 10 years older than her youngest sibling, and shared a room with him when he was a baby. She said that if the baby woke up crying in the middle of the night, her father would come into their room and beat the baby (she said he was about 3-4 months old at the time) until he stopped crying. She would watch in horror while this was happening, quietly crying while lying in her own bed, trying not to draw any attention to herself. As a 10 year old girl, she made the decision to protect her infant brother. If the baby woke up and made any noise during the night, she would bring him into her own bed and soothe him, to keep her father from coming in and beating him. She said this traumatized her greatly.
She related to me many other abusive things that occurred in their home. I felt so sorry for her. So many things that I observed that felt ‘off’ were confirmed by her story. She was his victim too.
What prompted her to call me was a recent ‘episode’ that her father had. Apparently he had fallen into a deep depression and was hearing voices. Even though the daughter was estranged from her parents, her mom reached out to her for help. I listened as she related to me how her father’s account of what ‘happened’ between he and I kept changing, and as a therapist, she knew something was wrong and that he was not being truthful. That was why she reached out to me. She wanted to know the true story. When I shared with her what really happened, she believed me. She said, “Anna, that sounds like my father.”
I walked away from that meeting feeling worse for her than I did for myself.
Hyles Legacy
I cannot condemn all IFB pastors, churches or other organizations they run, but I can tell you that Hyles-Anderson College & FBC Hammond has churned out a very large number of abusers. One of their most high-profile abusers is Jack Schaap.
Jack Schaap succeeded Jack Hyles as pastor of FBC Hammond in 2001. He was married to Jack Hyles’ daughter, Cindy Hyles. In 2012, Schaap was arrested for transporting a minor across state lines for the intent of engaging in sexual activity. He is now serving a 12 yr federal prison sentence.
Additionally, Jack Hyles HIMSELF was credibly accused of engaging in ministerial misconduct with his secretary, Jennie Nischik. His son David Hyles, continues to face multiple accusations of adultery, clergy sexual abuse, and has even been suspected of having some involvement in the 1985 death of his toddler stepson. Bruce Gerencser has written extensively about the Hyles family legacy here.
Fun Fact: My pastor abuser worked with David Hyles at Miller Road Baptist Church in Garland, TX.
Case in point – if you know of someone who came from Hyles-Anderson College or First Baptist Church Hammond, BEWARE! What is being taught in that place is dangerous. What we saw exposed on the Dr. Phil show is the ideology that comes from Hyles-Anderson College and many other IFB churches & colleges.
Believe The Victims
Stories about abuse taking place at Hephzibah House have been online for years. My good friend Dee wrote a post about it on her blog, Wartburg Watch, back in 2015. Jeri Massi also has a lot of info on her blog, Blog on the Way and this link to some audio documentaries that Jeri made, with interviews from former students of Hephzibah House.
Susan Grotte’s blog: Hephzibah’s Girls
Danni Moss’ blog: Because It Matters: Freedom From Abuse in Christianity
While I think it’s amazing that their stories are finally being heard and that Hephzibah House is in the national spotlight, this is not NEW news. Former Hephzibah House victims have been sounding the alarm for years.
I do want to give recognition to Ben Williams, the son of Ron Williams, who went public with his testimony of what happened at Hephzibah House. Like my abuser’s daughter, he took a personal risk to speak out against his family. I thank him for standing with the victims and for validating their stories. I also believe he is a victim of the authoritarian fundamentalist abusive system that he was raised in.
IFB Culture - Is It Dangerous?
Yes, I believe it is. I say this with some hesitation because I know there there are probably some very loving and Christ-like people who attend and even pastor IFB churches. What I believe is dangerous is that their strict fundamental beliefs attract people who are abusive, particularly pastors who crave a leadership position with little to no checks and balances and/or accountability.
IFB culture teaches that women should not go to college (except approved bible college BEFORE marriage) or have careers outside the home. This sets up a system of potential abuse, where a woman is left powerless. With no marketable job skills, a woman in this situation would be completely helpless, should her husband leave her or die, or if she had to flee an abusive situation.
The worst thing that some IFB pastors/churches teach is how to discipline children. I have provided my own firsthand testimony from someone who witnessed it happen to her own infant sibling. I believe what Susan said on the Dr. Phil show about that woman who took her baby up in front of the church and beat him in front of the congregation. They are taught to do this!! This kind of abuse cannot be tolerated, even under the guise of religion. It must be stopped.
My children grew up in a church led by a ‘former’ IFB preacher. I deeply regret this. The authoritarian structure that was present, even in our non-denominational church, was abusive at times. The pervasive line of thinking was that God expected you to witness to every person you met, and if you didn’t, you might be responsible for that person going to hell. We went to ‘soul-winning’ classes and people were lauded from the stage for how many souls they won to Christ. It became very performance-based and rigid. God was a task-master, not a loving Father…and our pastor was a fraud – an abuser – evil.
And he is a product of Hyles-Anderson College, same as the leadership at Hephzibah House. I believe there is a lot of evil there.
I sincerely hope that the recent media attention that Hephzibah House is receiving will bring a greater awareness to the abuse that is occurring there, as well as the widespread abuse that occurs within the IFB culture as a whole.
I went to Hyles Anderson College when I was 18…..for 28 days. My mom and step dad forced me to go and I called my Dad in Ohio and gave him 8 hours to pick me up or I was hitchhiking back to AZ. I’ve been in OH ever since!
One side note on this is that for a time, HAC had on its property (as a “memento”) the wreckage of the plane that killed IFB pastor Lester Roloff. Roloff also operated a “home for wayward girls” (Rebekah) which was routinely in the news for many of the same abusive tactics (making one wonder who taught who, Hyles or Roloff).
I was abused, paddled and starved at Hepzibah House. It stole my childhood from me and left me broken. I’m 54 years old now and am still haunted from the nine months I was there in 1981-1982
Unbelievable, a real eye opener! I went to Moody Bible Institute in 1964 for summer school , First Baptist Church of of Hammond would send a bus for students that wanted to go for Sunday evening service. I never went,that was the time I ever heard of that church.Why or how do this pastors become monsters? Why is it so important for Ron Williams to have to if these girls are virgins? It is redundent to blame a girl for a man’s evil thoughts & then commits rape or adultery?