Greetings and a warm welcome to the official S.C.E.W. blog! Our primary objective is to serve as a central hub for sharing valuable research and information that we gather through our unwavering efforts to stay vigilant against extremism. Our team of dedicated watchdogs works tirelessly to gather the latest and most accurate information on extremist activities across Southern California. Whether it’s through conducting in-depth investigations, analyzing social media trends, or gathering intelligence from reliable sources, we strive to keep you informed. Through our collective efforts, we aim to create a safer environment for all by exposing extremist activities and keeping a close eye on those who seek to harm our society. So rest assured we are always here, working hard on your behalf to ensure the safety and well-being of our community.
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Into the Christo-fash Weeds: Awaken Church
Awaken Church, the hotbed for the Christofascist scene in San Diego.
click to jump straight to this blog!June 01, 2023The Calvary Connection
The Calvary Church organization: Where its headed, its founders, and pastors.
click here to be schooled!May 19, 2023The Parental Notification Policy & Chino Unified: A Christian Nationalist Puppet Board
The nation-wide conservative grab of school boards is in full force in SoCal through a new resolution adopted by Chino Valley Unified School District and their right-wing darling president, Sonja Shaw.
click here to and read to feed your brain!Aug 20,2023Chino Valley Unified: A Christian Nationalist Puppet Board
08/20/2023
The nation-wide conservative grab of school boards is in full force in SoCal through a new resolution adopted by Chino Valley Unified School District and their right-wing darling president, Sonja Shaw. This new resolution challenges California law, and also puts transgender and non-binary students at risk. Considering this move offers zero advantage to a students educational needs and mental health, its clear that conservatives are once again using culture war politics to gain political advantage at the local level.
The movement to weaken California schools has reached a crescendo in Chino Valley Unified School District these last few months, and Chino Valley Board President Sonja Shaw is spearheading this action with resolutions and policy adoptions that challenge California law, with help from Chino Valley MAGA Pastor Jack Hibbs and associates, and conservative Christian nationalist think tanks.
When you are hell bent on creating culture war controversy, chaos, and litigation in the district you are supposed to serve, it’s a hard sell to appear as an advocate for the families of that district, but this is exactly what Shaw has done. Under the guise of fighting for parents rights, Shaw and her board are gearing up to challenge California law, and push for a SCOTUS case. This is not the first time CVUSD has battled in court: With the help of Pastor Hibbs, the district was left with over $300,000 in legal fees. Now the far-right Christian nationalist board majority is looking to sacrifice the education and safety of students in CVUSD to grandstand extremist views and potentially cost the district thousands in legal fees. The consequences of Shaw’s media tour are already negatively affecting the district, as they are facing the largest staffing shortage in 20 years. For more information on the history of CVUSD, please visit our Chino Valley USD page.
Harnessing the irrational fear conservative Americans have towards the LGBTQ community, the CVUSD has weaponized the current anti-transgender culture war to whip up controversy around student rights in California schools, more specifically, a student’s right to the privacy and protection of their chosen gender status while on campus. Failed California bill AB-1314 was written to end the confidentiality of California students’ gender status at school, which would have eliminated a transgender child’s chance of having a supportive environment if they are not supported at home. Hibbs has a history of demonizing the LQBTQ community, and declared he would ensure the language of this bill would be adopted by school boards across the state, starting with his local district, and his success has been made possible by his most ardent supporter, CVUSD board president, Sonja Shaw.
CVUSD School Board meetings that took place on June 15th and July 20th addressed this topic, and an AB 1314 copycat resolution was adopted by the board. These meetings were also in attendance by the same traveling circus of extremists that attend school board meetings across Southern California, parading as concerned parents, although a majority of them do not have children in the school district. For a comprehensive list of these extremists, visit SoCal Far-Right School Board Agitators.
Shaw’s ties to far-right, conservative Christian nationalist organizations are overwhelming. The situation in CVUSD has
been openly supported by the California Policy Center (CPC), which advertised the new CVUSD resolution on their website, sent two representatives to attend the June/July CVUSD meetings, and even featured a support letter from their Vice President , Lance Christensen, to the CVUSD board. The CPC is a right-wing pressure group based in California, and an arm of the far-right think tank the State Policy Network. These organizations work to drive right-wing agenda in statehouses nationwide, and now it’s apparent that they are working to do so in local politics as well through people like Shaw. Shaw is also being boosted by the Family Research council (FRC), which is a conservative Christian organization that has a long history of dehumanizing the LGBTQ community while working to dismantle LQBTQ rights.
Shaw appeared twice on Washington Watch With Tony Perkins, the head of the FRC who has falsely claimed that
pedophilia is “a homosexual problem,” said that gay people “recruit” children. Gina Gleason, the executive director of Jack Hibbs ministry outreach program, Real Impact, also appeared on Washington Watch along with Shaw. Real Impact is a program specifically designed to engage Christians in their local school boards and teach pastors to contend for the public square, code for Christian nationalist action.
Shaw is also close…suspiciously close, to Greg Abdouch. Abdouch is an avid TPUSA advocate, and has started many TPUSA chapters in local schools with his children while also stating he can neither confirm or deny that he is being paid by TPUSA. He also organizes revival events with NAR pastors (New Apostolic Reformation, a Christian movement that seeks to take dominion over politics, business and culture), and does press with the California Family Council (CFC), a copycat clone of the FRC that promotes biblical values and anti-LGBTQ policy in California law and creates “watchlists” of bills in the California state legislature. The CFC deceptively claims it fights for religious freedom while promoting Christian nationalist policy and is also involved with CVUSD’s new parent notification resolution.
I know what you’re thinking… CPC, FRC, CFC, TPUSA, NAR… acronym exhaustion is real, but it’s important to define each group. These organizations are either directly or indirectly linked to the Council for National Policy (CNP), a highly secretive group of religious extremists and petro-chemical corporate barons that network to institute a Christian nationalist power structure that replaces democracy.
All of these groups are trying to insert Christian nationalist ideology into law, a clear violation of what the constitution offers us all, freedom of religion by promising freedom FROM religion. These organizations are all working together and Chino Valley USD is the culmination of their ultra far-right conservative blood, sweat, and tears. The bills and resolutions that they support, craft, and financially sponsor have focused on dehumanizing the LGBTQ community and eroding their rights as Americans because it has proved to be a useful tactic. The end goal is to weaponize any movement that gains traction to take control of school boards, city councils, and local government positions and advance Christian dominionism over the nation.
As of now, Sonja Shaw is still on her media tour garnering support for this parental notification resolution that passed in Chino. The resolution is also being flirted with for discussion in any school board meeting that will hear it, including 4 confirmed SoCal school districts, with the intention to gain publicity for future school board races where it is possible to pit conservatives against liberals. Currently, Murrieta Valley Unified School District has voted to adopt this policy, and it is has just been passed at Temecula Valley Unified as well, two school districts that are heavily influenced by local MAGA Pastor Tim Thompson of 412 Church.
As the politics of Christian nationalism are at play, the mental health of real children are being sacrificed for conservative gratification. Teachers and staff in the districts that adopt this new policy will no longer be trusted adults to gender-queer students. Transgender youth face high levels of bullying, harassment, and yes, family rejection. Having at least one accepting adult results in a 40% reduced suicide attempt rate among transgender youth, and in California, this adult could be a school staff member without fear of being exposed in an unsafe environment.
The adoption of this policy does not present a balance of benefits and drawbacks to supporting transgender youth and affirming preferred pronouns, and it also has zero effect on students that do not fit the category of gender-queer. It is not far fetched to suggest that the elimination of LGBTQ supportive environments will only have negative impacts, and so it can also be reasoned that the Chino Board Of Education has become a destructive force to children’s well being in California schools.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has officially announced a civil rights investigation into Chino Valley Unified School District’s Parental Notification policy.“Students should never fear going to school for simply being who they are,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Chino Valley Unified forced outing policy threatens the safety and well-being of LGBTQ+ students vulnerable to harassment and potential abuse from peers and family members unaccepting of their gender identity.” For now, one can only hope that Californians see this policy for what it really is, dangerous political theater.
The Calvary Connection
05/19/2023
Contributing writer, Conejo Card Catalog
Calvary Chapel Association (CCA) includes more than an estimated 1800 churches of evangelical Calvary mega churches. CCA is a growing financial and political grift and modern-day Music Man style con largely still centered in California. CCA is also a threat to democracy as CCA pastors believe they “can contend politically as religious leaders in the public square,” violating the Johnson Amendment which forbids politicking in houses of worship…
5/19/2023
In his book, “Calvary Chapel Distinctives” the late Chuck Smith laid out the secret sauce to the grift, “You know the beautiful thing about being called Calvary Chapel? People don’t know where you really stand. And the whole field is ours. When you’re marketing something, you want the largest market appeal possible. So don’t chop up the market and say, ‘Well, we’re just going to fish in this little market here.’ Keep the market broad. (pg. 49, 50).”
Calvary Chapel Association (CCA) includes more than an estimated 1800 churches of evangelical Calvary mega churches. CCA is a growing financial and political grift and modern-day Music Man style con largely still centered in California. CCA is also a threat to democracy as CCA pastors believe they “can contend politically as religious leaders in the public square,” violating the Johnson Amendment which forbids politicking in houses of worship. As tithing churches, CCA churches seek funds from wealthier members of communities to continue their grift woven within private ministries that many of the pastors create and the pyramid scheme that over time the lead CCA pastor becomes authoritative with little to no oversight.
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa was founded in Costa Mesa, CA in 1965 by about 25 people and the late Chuck Smith of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (ICFG). Frustrated with ICFG, congregants sought out a new spiritual home. Accordingly, in 1968, they left ICFG altogether. The teachings of CCA later became known as the Jesus Movement (JM) and its congregants, Jesus freaks. The movement itself came alive during the turbulent times in America in the 1960s where young people were seeking answers and questioning authority.
The Jesus movement created a legacy that includes multiple Christian organizations, and influenced the development of the Christian right. Smith’s daughter introduced her dad John Higgins Jr., her boyfriend at the time. Higgins Jr. was a former hippie who converted to Christianity in his teens/early 20s. Higgins would go on to head the largest Jesus freak movement in history, the Shiloh Youth Revival Centers (1968-1989). It’s worth pausing here to note that Smith is reported on Wikipedia as having been born in Ventura, CA, a short drive from where Rob McCoy (see Rob McCoy’s bio) presides over Godspeak and terrorizes the people of Thousand Oaks and surrounding communities with his antics.
Today, CCA’s mission is more clear. Or is it? For example, the website lists the following on scriptures:
“We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, fully inspired without error and the infallible rule of faith and practice. The Word of God is the foundation upon which the church operates and is the basis for which the church is governed. We believe that the Word of God supersedes any earthly law that is contrary to the Holy Scriptures (Isaiah 28:13; Nehemiah 8:8; John 17:17; II Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:3-4, 21).”
The Jesus Movement shifted the traditional church structure of an edifice on the hill with a steeple and everyday people. Replacing traditional edifices as places of worship with coffee houses or other secular social spaces welcoming what others may have perceived as societal waste with the slogan, “Come as you are.” Traditional pianos are long gone with cost-effective pianos replacing them and live bands spewing new contemporary worship music from large speaks on the stage. Rounding out the changes, ministry leaders attempt to appear stylish, youthful, and popular amongst their peers.
Today, CCA churches are still led by and filled with outcasts such as a known pedophile who was found guilty of his crimes in Los Angeles and Orange counties and is still currently enjoying access to young children at Godspeak in Thousand Oaks with few congregants aware of his crimes of the past. Or in that same CCA church, a former convict who shot at California Highway patrolman has been known to service McCoy’s airport transportation needs. Both of which McCoy platformed on podcasts. Or there is Pastor Don McClure of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa amongst other allegations, diverted money earmarked for food from young campers at a CCA summer camp to a missionary training program.
Putting aside the blatant violations of the Constitution and Johnson Amendment, it’s fair to ask oneself if these are really the people who should be contending politically in the public square? Especially since McCoy is a member of the National Council for Policy, a secret organization that meets and infuses dark money into far-right activities and politics?
– Contributing writer, Conejo Card Catalog (always filing and indexing)
Into the Christofash Weeds: Awaken Church
06/01/2023
Contributing Writer, Kate Burns
Awaken has become a hotbed for San Diego’s Christofascist scene. It’s a regular stop for some of America’s biggest right wing mouthpieces including Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Sean Feucht and Clay Clark’s “Reawaken America” tour featuring Michael Flynn, Roger Stone and Eric Trump. The church is also in bed with Charlie Kirk and TPUSA Faith…Their culture war push has seen founders, pastors and congregants involved in actions at San Diego city council meetings, School Boards, anti LGBTQ protests—and at the January 6th, 2021 Capitol Riot….
06/01/2023
Awaken “church.” Formerly C3 San Diego, Awaken was born in early 2020 as Jurgen’s preaching became more radical. The franchise has 6 locations—5 In San Diego County: Balboa, Bressi Ranch, El Cajon, Eastlake, San Marcos, Boise Idaho and one in Salt Lake City in Utah. Jurgen plans to open 3 more locations in the next six months.
Awaken has become a hotbed for San Diego’s Christofascist scene. It’s a regular stop for some of America’s biggest right wing mouthpieces including Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Sean Feucht and Clay Clark’s “Reawaken America” tour featuring Michael Flynn, Roger Stone and Eric Trump. The church is also in bed with Charlie Kirk and TPUSA Faith. They recently launched a partnership headed up by Awaken’s very own Louis Uridel, who was at TPUSA’s America Fest last December in Arizona. Their preoccupation with politics and culture wars has been building since their re-branding in Jan 2020. Their culture war push has seen founders, pastors and congregants involved in actions at San Diego city council meetings, School Boards, anti LGBTQ protests—and at the January 6th, 2021 Capitol Riot.
https://twitter.com/AwakenExposed/status/1504213637199659012?s=20
Awaken squarely follows the playbook of other megachurch chains like Hillsong and C3 with their flashy, social media-tailored presence. They target Christian hipsters, young families and youth to join the fold and engage in their programs. These young people are then encouraged to seek out others to join the church.
Awaken centers itself as a leader in the new wave of evangelical churches involved in the “spiritual war” driven by the likes of Flynn and Kirk. Awaken’s goal, although they don’t say this directly, is to have Christianity dominate U.S. and eventually global society.
Awaken’s ideology isn’t unique to them. It’s called dominionism and is informed by a philosophy called the 7 Mountain Mandate.
The “7 Mountains” are different aspects of society, such as the arts, education and government, that dominionists seek to control.
Originally the 7 Mountains came out of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR.) The NAR movement thinks of itself as its own branch of Christianity the way Catholicism and Protestantism are branches. The NAR distinguish themselves by appointing “apostles” and “prophets” to head the movement and fervently believe in merging god and government. They were an influential presence during the Trump Administration and continue to gain power.
Awaken has programs and plans that cover each of the “7 Mountains.” They aim to seek control of Family (Cherish and Emerge), Religion (expanding their church’s footprint), Education (Awaken academy, Awaken U) , Media (App, podcast and TPUSA), Entertainment (Awaken music and Theatre), Business (PublicSq.), and Government (Awaken political action and RMNNT.)
AWAKEN’S FRIENDS
Awaken’s guest speaker lineup includes a lot of high-profile far-right figures. Tucker Carlson, the Fox News host who pushes the white supremacist “great replacement theory,” was a guest speaker in April last year. Tickets were priced from $30.00 to $5,000. VIP tickets included front row seating and a meet-and-greet. Candace Owens, who became a TPUSA staple and right-wing media darling for being Black and saying racism doesn’t exist, spoke at Awaken in June of 2021. Dennis Prager of PragerU fame, was there in June of 2021. David Harris Jr spoke at Awaken itself but was also a speaker at Flynn’s Reawaken America Tour’s San Diego stop at the San Marcos campus last march.
Dinesh D’souza, who authored books for evangelical publisher Tyndale House, spoke prior to the 2020 election. D’souza returned earlier this year to screen his election denial conspiracy film “2000 Mules” at the Awaken Salt Lake City campus.
Jim Garlow, former Skyline megachurch pastor who was involved in “seize the power”MAGA prayer meeting prior to J6 has spoken on more than one occasion. Eric Metaxas, Evangelical radio host and author who is being sued by Dominion for spreading voter fraud claims spoke in March last year. Sean Feucht, the singing preacher who gained infamy for early-lockdown mass (and maskless) gatherings is a regular and has a long association with the church.
Dr. Simone Gold, a Capitol insurrectionist and fake COVID cure peddler, spoke there twice, most notably on July 22nd—prior to her prison term for her role in J6.
https://twitter.com/Katerqburns/status/1544879527825813504?s=20
The Church launched a collaboration with TPUSA Faith officially last October with a newly created Instagram account. TPUSA ambassador and Awaken Church prayer leader Louis Uridel leads the effort. Uridel, who has a Three Percenter tattoo, was the guest speaker for the launch event. He posted a one-minute reel afterwards.
“learn how you can make a difference in OUR COUNTRY and help infuse community and political activism with faith. It’s time for christians to rise up! We need to fight for the moral integrity of our country and it starts here,” Uridel’s post read.
https://twitter.com/joeorephoto/status/1583638656274743296?s=20
Awaken itself started numerous groups and ministries with an overt political slant. Prior to the official launch of the TPUSA Faith and Awaken church collaboration, Kirk spoke at the church as well as the “Emerge Men” conference. Kirk then mentored “Emerge Men’s Ministry” attendees via Zoom calls. These split groups allow the church to reinforce its direct messaging on “traditional family values” and role-setting for the families of the congregation.
In the traditional/fundamentalist scene Awaken would be viewed as progressive as it allows women to preach. In reality, they’re just pink-washing their misogyny by having women preach it. The church is passionately anti-abortion and is known to preach about the evils of the “LGBTQ+ mafia”.
https://twitter.com/AwakenExposed/status/1562224054764941313?s=20
The church also has its own burgeoning media empire that includes their app, podcast, “Awaken Worship,” their music outlet, “Awaken Film” and their own theater production group who in December held a “Night of Christmas” at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park to a sold out crowd.
While keeping their parishioners entertained, Awaken also keeps them busy with their many “connect groups” which are broken down by age, focus and traditional family role. There is the men’s prayer group and the women’s prayer group who meet weekly while also holding the annual “Emerge Men” and “Cherish Women” conferences.
Awaken has a strong youth focus within the “connect”/mission groups, “Awaken Kidz” ages 0-11, “Awaken Youth” ages 11-18 and “Awaken Young Adults” ages 18-29. From age 30 you have an endless selection of options of “connect” groups at each location. They include titles like “adults 30+ Spiritual warfare group”, “young professionals and Married couples,” “military,” “family and marriage,” “Mom’s hangout with Barbies and toddlers,” and “Miracle Thursday’s women’s prayer”. Across the 6 locations they have 130+ connect groups on offer.
Education? No problem. “Awaken Academy” has its own K-12 “hybrid school” which offers a creation-based curriculum and a mix of on-campus classes and homeschooling. In October last year they announced their next venture, “Awaken U’—a “University” where students will pay $225 a month ($2,700 annually). An application form on their website where it lists a “code of conduct”:
No Excessive drinking or illegal drugs
No sex or living with a partner outside of marriage
No swearing or derogatory language
Any further information is scarce, but the model comes straight from the Hillsong/C3 mega-church playbook. Jurgen himself studied at Hillsong ministry College in the 90’s.
https://twitter.com/Katerqburns/status/1586990947895717889?s=20
The political action group RMNNT (pronounced ‘remnant’) is made up of self-described “warriors of liberty” who partner with Awaken. The group holds its monthly meetings at Awaken’s Balboa campus in downtown San Diego.
The group partners with Awaken to tap into the local Christian community much like Charlie Kirk does. They claim their goal is to “hold our elected officials accountable.”
RMNNT had been successful in getting their people included on the ballot last November. Awaken Pastor Andre Johnson ran for the Encinitas Union school board, Rich Truchinski for the Tri-City health care district, Karen Dominguez and Jesse Vigil ran for board seats at Chula Vista Elementary school, Morgan Magil for the Lakeside Community Planning group and Mary Davis ran for the Alpine Community Planning group. RMNNT-trained candidates were unsuccessful, but 78 candidates they endorsed statewide won, 28 of which were school board candidates.
In September last year Awaken themselves publicly launched “awaken political action,” including their own flag in red, white and blue.
“There is a misconception that the separation of church and state was to stop the church interfering with government, but in fact it was the exact opposite,” Jurgen statesIn a video about the PAC.
According to the IRS’s charities, churches and politics policy, this is illegal. The ban on political campaign activity has been in effect for more than half a century.
The church’s preoccupation with local and nationwide politics did not begin this year. Awaken members and staff featured heavily in local media during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic for defying stay at home orders. Pastors, including Jurgen and Leanne, regularly posted COVID-19 disinformation to their social media platforms. Members and staff like Uridel and Deuth made coordinated efforts to appear at San Diego city council meetings, advocating against abortion, for removal of mandates for masks, and against vaccines and congregation restrictions.
https://twitter.com/AwakenExposed/status/1434007554766508032
Awaken, under Jurgen’s leadership, received 1.4 Million in PPP loans during the lockdown.
https://twitter.com/AwakenExposed/status/1561879495254032387?s=20
Three of the church’s pastors were at the nation’s capital on January 6th, 2021. Samuel Deuth, Sterling Pyle and David Chiddick were in one of Deuth’s instagram posts of the event.
https://twitter.com/AwakenExposed/status/1550596684530343936?s=20
Samuel Deuth, one of Awaken’s lead pastors, spoke on stage at TPUSA events and regularly makes lengthy anti-LGBTQ statements on his social media profiles.
https://twitter.com/Katerqburns/status/1604683656412270592?s=20
Deuth is also a regular at San Diego city council’s public comment dais. When Feucht held an anti-queer hate rally at Disneyland over Disney’s objection to Florida Governor DeSantis’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, Samuel Deuth attended.
Deuth and Uridel also inserted themselves in an anti-drag protest last October. They targeted Ocean Knoll Elementary’s “Boo Bash” block party event, which had a drag show and was sponsored by TransFamily Support Services. Awaken staff and affiliates spread outrage bait about the event as soon as it was announced, which led to school board meetings getting brigaded and board members getting harassed. One of the protesters even went on Tucker Carlson to talk about it. Jurgen went on to preach about the hateful campaign, saying “we can replace woke with Awake.” Leanne claimed that “there is not one, NOT ONE, drag queen who is happy, stable or living with peace.”
Recently, Deuth spoke at an anti-trans event at the Santee YMCA alongside Proud Boys in regalia and a Nazi with a swastika tattoo.
https://twitter.com/Katerqburns/status/1617308711307063296?s=20
Deuth, Uridel and Leanne Matthesius all shared a call to action on their social media for the Santee city council meeting on February 8th as they continue on their hate-filled campaigns against the LGBTQ+ community and aim to “end the city lease to YMCA”. The Church later used its official text service to push the event under the “Awaken Political Action”arm of their organization.
Awaken are currently working on opening their next 3 locations. Bay Ho and Coronado in Southern California and Boise, Idaho which will be opening on Easter of this year. There is currently a “No Cult In Coronado” campaign being led by locals in the area concerned about Awaken’s growth in their community. This year has seen the church continuing on their war path, becoming less concerned about airing their hate publicly and teaming up with other SoCal PACs like “The Battle Cry” and “Freedom Revival Events”to attack the Santee YMCA and local school boards. Their partnership with Feucht, Kirk and TPUSA Faith continues to grow and with the upcoming “biblical citizenship in modern America.” They are welcoming Patriot Academy into the fold.
– Contributing writer, Kate Burns