Sean Feucht Accused of Moral, Ethical, and Financial Failure by Former Leaders
Accusers signed lengthy statement detailing their accusations.
Five former leaders of groups associated with Sean Feucht have issued a formal statement bringing to light what they call “longstanding and serious moral, ethical, financial, organizational and governance failures” by Feucht and calling for an independent investigation into possible fraud and embezzlement.
Sean Feucht / Video screenshot
The statement also urges the removal of Feucht from leadership and financial stewardship positions.
“Having witnessed firsthand what we have witnessed about Sean we can no longer encourage any financial contributions to him and his endeavors; we can no longer encourage anyone to work for him, paid or unpaid; and we can no longer encourage anyone to partner with him in any ministry capacity,” the statement says.
The signers include Christy Gafford, Peter and Amanda Hartzell, Liam Bernard, and Richie Booth. All were associated in various capacities with Burn 24/7, a group Feucht started in 2006 that hosts regular prayer and worship gatherings in cities around the world.
The allegations claim Feucht has a longstanding pattern of moral and ethical misconduct, including manipulation, exaggeration, control, lying, gaslighting, and spiritual and emotional abuse. Even though they claim he has been confronted about these issues over the years, it has resulted in very little meaningful change or repentance.
The signers also claim Feucht has misrepresented his ministry activities, which have allegedly included “ceaseless financial solicitation intermingled with his grandiose visions, which has led to untold financial gain and a steady stream of unpaid labor from volunteers.”
When others have attempted to raise concerns, they allegedly have been met with retaliation, threats of litigation, and exclusion from ministry events.
The statement also claims the board members of groups associated with Feucht, including Burn 24/7, Light a Candle, and Let Us Worship, have failed to exercise oversight over Feucht’s activities.
The former leaders also allege financial impropriety by Feucht. For example, the accusers claim Feucht repeatedly used business credit cards for personal expenses, that he diverted donations to personal accounts, that he inflated prices paid to vendors, and that he used ministry funds to rent his own cabin in Montana for a ministry board meeting.
Liam Bernard, who was a leader with Burn 24/7 in Oklahoma City and regionally, said he was forced to cover many of the costs of Burn events out of his own pocket. When he confronted Feucht about financial transparency and accountability, Bernard said he was called names like “fascist” and “communist,” after which he left the ministry.
Bernard described “feeling used and discarded once he began raising concerns about ethics and integrity within the movement.”
Booth, who was part of the administrative staff for several of Feucht’s ministries, said he witnessed questionable financial practices, including unexplained use of ministry funds, being blocked from seeing credit card expense statements, and failure to properly report donations.
Gafford, a long-time leader from 2016 to 2024 who served as global communications director for Burn 24/7, wrote a lengthy statement articulating her concerns about the lack of leadership accountability and neglect of volunteers she said she witnessed in the organization.
The statement lists multiple properties it says are owned by Feucht — whose legal name is apparently John Christopher Feucht — or Sean Feucht Ministries. One in Washington, D.C. purchased for $967,000; a $3.45-million “parsonage” purchased in March 2024 in San Juan Capistrano, California; 40 acres and a cabin in Montana valued at $1.095 million; a residence in Redding, California, valued on Zillow at $764,000; a condominium in Dana Point, California, purchased for $770,000 in April 2025; and another property in Montana estimated on Zillow at over $1 million.
In addition, it lists seven personally owned rental properties in Pennsylvania that total $1.8 million in value.
According to reporting by The Trinity Foundation, Feucht sold another property in Coto de Caza, California, in January for $1.7 million.
The accusers believe the amassed real estate holdings “raise questions about the proportion of non-profit funds directed towards real estate rather than program activities.”
“We corroborate the recent MinistryWatch database assertion that Sean Feucht Ministries’ financial integrity and accountability ratings have shifted in the last few years, leading to Sean’s transparency grade and overall donor confidence score to plummet to a ‘withhold giving’ designation,” the report reads.
Sean Feucht Ministries earns an “F” transparency grade, no stars for financial efficiency, and a donor confidence score of 19 out of 100, meaning donors should withhold giving.
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MinistryWatch has reported about Feucht several times over the last few years.
In April 2024, Feucht was joined by Eric Metaxas and Pastor Russell Johnson at a pro-Israel rally at Columbia University in response to pro-Palestinian protestors.
“We’re seeing this rise and this flood of antisemitism across the world. These are the end days. I know people say this all the time, and everyone’s saying this is the end of the day. … Well, these are the end days, and we’re one day closer to the return of Jesus,” Feucht told those gathered at the rally.
In 2021, his Light a Candle Project raised more than $200,000 for an Afghan Emergency Relief Fund to “meet the needs of the persecuted church in Afghanistan,” even though the group had no experience in the country and provided no concrete plans.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Feucht hosted several “worship protest” events around the country that public health officials criticized for ignoring social distancing guidelines and masking requirements.
Both Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins later admitted there was little to no evidence behind the social distancing recommendation.
Feucht is married to his wife, Kate, and they have four children. He got a business degree from Oral Roberts University and is part of the Bethel Music Collective, according to his LinkedIn profile.
According to his website, Feucht’s “heart is to bring integrity, hope, and inspiration to every sphere of society.”
MAIN PHOTO: Sean Feucht / Video screenshot
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