Bradlee Dean and YCRBYCH

[Christa]

Based in Annandale, Minn., the group has made a name for itself as an anti-drug Christian punk rock band that organizes motivational student assemblies to bring Christ to public schools. But over the last several years, parents and school administrators have complained that the ministry misrepresents itself, claiming that the group is not transparent about its Christian mission. And since schools pay using public funds, some are concerned that the group is violating the constitutional principle of the separation of church and state.

“They talked about influencing and brainwashing people. Be wise to the fact that is what they were doing. They were using the same tactics,” Neis told the students at the assembly. Neis said he contacted other schools in the area and found that they had no idea that YCRBYCH was a Christian ministry.

In 2005, at a Eureka Springs, Ark., high school, students walked out of the assembly; afterward, the principal took heat from parents. According to the local paper, The Lovely Citizen, Eureka Springs superintendent Reck Wallis, said, “I take responsibility. We had no idea about their religious, right-wing message. They misrepresented their program. We want to be open and all inclusive. … They won’t be back.”

At Pequot Lakes High School in central Minnesota in 2007, the group stirred controversy when students reportedly ran out of the assembly crying after the group showed graphic images of abortion and told the students that God wanted women to be subservient to men. John McDonald, Pequot Lakes High School Principal, told WCCO, “We were expecting something a bit different,” he said. “The thing we apologized to students for is the program wasn’t to the expectation that we thought it would be.”


http://youcanruninternational.com/

http://youcanruninternational.com/blogs/bradlee-deans-blog.html

From the DU archives:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3891416

He is using the Old Paths Church as cover:

http://www.oldpathschurch.org/

Thank you to Robert L. Baty who brought this to my attention.

[trotsky]

1. Oh, I still think that atheists who write books are at least as dangerous.

:sarcasm:

[RLBaty]

2. A little clarification!

Christa,

There are a lot of "Old Paths Church" references around.

I think the link you provided to one "Old Paths Christian Church" in Texas is not the one related to Bradlee Dean, aka Bradley Dean Smith, of the You Can Run But You Cannot Hide (YCRBYCH) organizations.

Bradlee makes reference to the Old Paths Church on his website(s), has a statement of faith attributed thereto, and Google provides an Old Paths Church reference with the same address and phone number as Dean and his other organizations.

Despite all the references Dean makes to his "ministry", I have not been able to come up with anything conclusive regarding his church connections and/or dealing with the ordination of himself and his band members.

I am hopeful that someone with an interest might come up with something more definitive regarding Dean's Old Paths Church and the nature of his ordination.

As mentioned elsewhere, this could be an interesting case study in the context of the Freedom From Religion Foundation IRC 107 suit.

Andy Birkey, a reporter in Minnesota, appears to have made Dean an object of his affections and has been publishing recent stories on Dean and his antics, political and religious. Maybe he will come up with more details in due time.

[toabb]

4. Old Paths Church

Hi, I am new to the group. I had started working a couple years ago on exposing these bozos. They had been active in the area where I lived. Then unfortunately they moved HQ out to Annandale which is too far for me to keep tabs on them.

I still have a lot of the information I gathered. Some of it pertained to Old Paths Church. This place doesn't really exist. It's in an office building off of Hwy 169. It's not a church. Basically a vacant corner office with a few chairs in it. I still have the address and suite #. I can look it up later if anyone is interested. I have stopped by there in the past but no one was ever there. There is a security company of some sort next door and I was eventually going to try and ask them if they knew anything about the tennant next door but I never got around to it.

I spent a long time trying to get IRS documents as well from these people and the IRS. The IRS never could find anything current. I am glad to see someone recently posted a filing. There are a lot of questions regarding these guys and where the money goes. The have lots of toys Let's face it, these guys smell, on multiple levels.

Hope to be of help.....

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Welcome to DU, toabb

Check out the Minnesota Forum for a chance to meet some real-live DUers at our annual holiday gathering.

[RLBaty]

7. Re: Old Paths Church

Thanks for the information "toabb".

It certainly sounds like there might be some legitimate questions about the use of the Old Paths Church by Bradlee Dean and his band.

It appears the Old Paths Church ministry (unincorporated) was incorporated in 2008 into Old Paths Church, Inc. and now reflects Jake MacAulay, Bradlee Dean's right hand man, as its registered agent and having the same address as the YCRBYCH organization (I think it's 125 Oak Avenue North in Annandale).

I would like to hear more about whether or not Old Paths Church, Inc. actually operates as a church, whether that church is where Dean and his fellows got their ordinations, and how Dean explains the legal relationship between Old Paths Church, Inc. and YCRBYCH.

Churches are not required to register with the feds, but if certain claims are being made based on the church, the feds may require it be demonstrated that the church qualifies under a "facts and circumstances" test.

[toabb]

8. Re: Old Paths Church

Sorry for such a slow response. Was busy and away.

The old address for Old Paths Church had been

4125 W Broadway Ave, 55422
then
9850 51st Ave N, 55422. (suite 100 or 102)

I stopped by the place a few times on 51st a couple years ago. It was nothing but a vacant office. A couple of chairs in there and a desk or two. Never anyone around. Definitely didnt look anything like a church. Also, at that time I tried getting the IRS forms for the group and they sent back a letter saying they had nothing for them. I had even provided a verbatim paragraph from the YCRBYCH website describing themselves as a 501(c)(3) organization. Nothing.


I also thought there was some interesting real estate transactions that took place out in Annandale and the like but couldnt ever put it all together or figure it out. That was more of a "hunch" when the group high-tailed out to the west metro.

[Minnesota Raindog]

10. Plenty more on Bradley Dean Smith and his sham You Can Run ministry here

http://rippleinstillh2o.blogspot.com/2010/12/did-you-can-run-but-you-cannot-hide-get.html

[Sal316]

3. What a crock!

The school districts should sue this SOB and his ministry for gross misrepresentation. I completely agree that this type of presentation has no business being in public schools paid for with tax dollars.

The administrators should be embarrassed as well for their incompetence. To claim things like "We had no idea about their religious, right-wing message." or "...they had no idea that YCRBYCH was a Christian ministry." is inexcusable. In today's technological age, one can find out most anything about a group, business, etc., by doing even the most cursory of research. If they had even gone to their website, they would have at least known that this was a Christian ministry, at a minimum.

[rd_kent]

9. Wow, Sal, I'm surprised. Pleasantly surprised.

:applause:

[Odin2005]

6. Central Minnesota = Loony Bachmann territory.

I'm not surprised. Most of the wackos here seem to be in the central part of the state.