In July 2020, I wrote a follow-up post regarding the conviction (and release) of convicted sex offender Jeff Berry. Jeff was well-known in the Christian music industry, having led worship at the famous Grace Bible Study at Hardin-Simmons University, as worship leader at many youth camps over the years, and owned his own production company, Crosswind Ministries. In 2020, Jeff was convicted in Texas for indecency with a child by contact and must now register as a sex offender for life.
When Jeff was released from jail after serving only 56 days, he began attending a church he previously worked at – Beltway Park in Abilene, which is a church plant of Pioneer Drive Baptist Church. in 2020, Anna Berry (Jeff’s ex-wife) was told that Pioneer Drive Baptist would be utilizing the ‘Caring Well Initiative‘ that the SBC had rolled out in 2019. ‘Caring Well’ was the SBC’s response to the shocking report in the Houston Chronicle series, ‘Abuse of Faith‘, in which it was reported that the SBC had covered up for and concealed sexual abuse allegations for DECADES.
Fast Forward to March 2023
On March 18, 2023, I received an email from a pastor in central Texas, who expressed concern over a music minister named Fred McNab. There were accusations that McNab had sexually assaulted Jeff Berry when he was a minor; that the pastor & elders at the church the McNab’s were attending, (First Baptist Kingsland), were aware of these allegations, and the elders had not informed the congregation.
I responded to this pastor (who wishes to remain anonymous) and confirmed that he was referring to JEFF Berry, because in the email he wrote JERRY Berry. He was most gracious to provide any information that he had and wanted to make sure people knew about Fred McNab. Thankfully – one of the good ones!!
I immediately reached out to Jeff’s ex-wife, Anna. She related to me that she had personally informed the elders at FBC Kingsland in May 2022 concerning Fred McNab.
First Baptist Church Kingsland
First Baptist Church Kingsland is located about 65 miles NW of Austin, TX. The lead pastor is David Henneke. David gained some notoriety in 2020 for stating that his church would no longer play songs from Hillsong or Bethel “because they align themselves with theologically problematic churches or heretical churches. When we sing the music of one of the above, we have to have a CCLI: this license permits us to sing copyrighted music and thereafter we must pay money for each song we have sung; that is, we are supporting their false ministry, which we do not want to do.“
It appears that Pastor Henneke is very strong in his convictions and is well-liked at FBC Kingsland. What is troubling is that he does not seem to have the same convictions as it pertains to the safety of the youth in his church.
Who is Fred McNab?
Fred (Freddie Lee) McNab is a longtime worship pastor who has worked in many churches throughout Texas. He graduated from Hardin Simmons University in 1976. He married his wife Dolores (also a Hardin Simmons alumni) in 1979. He has previously worked at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church in Abilene (where Jeff Berry attended), First Baptist Church of Dallas, Hunters Glen Baptist Church in Plano, TX, and Hyde Park Baptist Church. in Austin.
In 2019 the McNab’s left Hunter’s Glen Baptist Church in Plano and moved to Kingsland (where they own a lake house) and began attending FBC Kingsland. Fred was a volunteer with the youth choir at First Baptist Church of Kingsland until May of 2022. I was told by a source (who wishes to remain anonymous), that Fred began giving piano lessons to some of the homeschooled youth in the church, which led to him volunteering with youth at the church.
FBC Kingsland's Response to the Abuse Allegations
Pastor David Henneke was informed in May of 2022 that there were serious allegations against Fred McNab involving sexual abuse of minors (not just Jeff Berry, but also from other churches) and that he needed to take action to protect the youth in his congregation. He agreed that it was a serious issue and that it would be dealt with. He said he would remove Fred from church membership, which elder JE Todd stated did take place.
To quote Pastor Henneke, “We will do the right thing. No matter how difficult it is.“
But did he?
According to sources, Fred was removed from the youth choir volunteer position and the explanation that was given was that he had a ‘moral failing’ in the past. There was no mention of abuse allegations involving minors. Neither the congregation, nor the parents of the youth involved in the music ministry were told the truth of why Fred was removed from his volunteer position.
However, the McNab’s were NOT removed from membership, and were still attending; serving on church committees and freely interacting with the church congregation (including the youth)….while no one knew that there were serious allegations of abuse made against Fred – allegations that were being investigated by law enforcement. (BTW the investigation is still open and active as of the writing of this post).
I was also contacted by another member at FBC Kingsland, who stated that they were instructed by lead pastor David Henneke to not answer any calls concerning Fred because there were ongoing attempts to slander him. In fact, one staff member was reprimanded by Pastor David for taking a call concerning Fred.
After I posted about the concerned pastor’s email on social media, word began to spread that things were being covered up at FBC Kingsland. A special meeting was called.
According to a member who attended the meeting, the elders addressed the allegations, but did not allow for any questions or comments.
After the meeting, an infuriated parent asked one of the elders why he did nothing to protect her son? He told her that he could not answer her because he had sought legal counsel. How nice….church elders ‘lawyering up’.
The congregation was told that Fred & Dolores McNab were placed under ‘church discipline’ and that the church would be utilizing the Caring Well training that the SBC had provided to churches FOUR YEARS EARLIER.
NOTE: Since the McNab’s are under church discipline, we can assume they remain members of FBC Kingsland, since churches don’t discipline non-members. This directly contradicts what FBC Kingsland elder JE Todd stated in a comment on my Facebook post.
Why Can't Churches Get This Right?
Passing the trash is still alive and well in the SBC. In spite of numerous cases of abuse coming out DAILY, some churches just can’t seem to grasp how to properly respond to abuse allegations and to stop trying to be investigators. Other churches are aware of allegations concerning McNab, but have chosen to do nothing to warn others.
LET THE POLICE DO THEIR JOB! IT IS NOT THE CHURCH’S JOB TO INVESTIGATE CRIMES!
Were it not for advocates reaching out to these pastors as well as the exposure of social media, many abusers would still be abusing by infiltrating churches and grooming everyone around them, including pastors & other leadership.
There is a current law enforcement investigation under way against Fred McNab. This is an undeniable fact. It was the responsibility of David Henneke & the elders at First Baptist Kingsland to inform their congregation in May of 2022 of these serious allegations and to assist law enforcement in any way possible. It appears a concerted effort was made by the elders at FBC Kingsland to conceal the allegations against Fred McNab, thus potentially putting youth at risk. Those actions were irresponsible and immoral, and the members of that church should be outraged. Will the SBC get involved now that these allegations have been made public?
This last Sunday (Apr 23), Pastor David Henneke announced that he would be starting the Caring Well training on May 1st, almost a YEAR since being warned about Fred McNab. It is my opinion that he would have never offered this to his church had this not be exposed publicly on social media and he was forced to admit that the knew about the allegations concerning Fred McNab.
Come on pastors & churches…do better. Innocent children & youth are at risk when you believe abusers & ignore the victims. Stop covering for sexual abusers and hold them to account. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE to feign ignorance when it comes to reporting allegations of sexual abuse & cooperating with law enforcement.
There will undoubtedly be people who will run to the defense of this church and Fred McNab. Some will claim these are false allegations and declare his innocence. Before that happens, please look at these statistics for false reporting of sexual abuse.
Wow! What’s crazy is Fred McNab is one of the biggest names in SBC music ..having .served in several of the largest SBC churches in Texas… all while grooming and having sex with young men. Pretty sick if you ask me. So is this article saying that Jeff Berry was a victim of abuse by Fred McNab when he was young? —then Jeff grows up to do what was done to him, gets caught and goes to jail.
Thank you for sounding the alarm.
Counselors in Texas are required by law to report child sex abuse crimes. Sadly do Texas churches not have the same obligation to follow the law? Thank you for keeping them honest.
Great work on bringing yet another church coverup to light. Thank you.