It was our intention to keep this as an ecclesiastical matter beyond those items that were already public. This was in part to spare Bell’s reputation and grant him opportunity for repentance. However, because Bell has re-emerged as a public figure seeking to teach and instruct churches within the Presbyterian and Reformed world (though no longer in a ministerial capacity), and because to our knowledge repentance has not occurred, we find it necessary to publish our findings.

Recently, I became aware of Sons of Patriarchy, a forthcoming podcast. The show describes itself as follows:

What happens when biblical patriarchy, Christian nationalism (sic), and a theology of authority and submission become the pillars of a movement? Scores of abuse stories in marriages, schools, churches, families, and more. Though these ideas have filtered throughout the United States for decades, they found a home in Moscow, Idaho, through the ministry and work of Doug Wilson. From there, they have influenced churches across the United States, and across the world. In this series, you’ll hear from experts on all aspects of these movements, and the stories of abuse from those who survived. Some are Christian, some are not, but one thing they’ve got in common? They’re finally speaking out. This is their story.

The host of this podcast is Peter Bell. Until this summer, Bell was a co-host of the Guilt Grace Gratitude (GGG) podcast and (as a graduate of Westminster Seminary California a year after me) was also pursuing a call to the ministry, a journey which took him to various National Association of Presbyterian and Reformed Churched (NAPARC) denominations and churches. The X account for Sons of Patriarchy has already in its short existence engaged in many accusations and suppositions against many brothers and sisters in Christ. I’m no particular defender of Wilson or his movement, but many of the accusations and attacks reach well beyond Moscow and to well within NAPARC. Bell and the others in this project are soliciting financial donations and seeking victims to tell their stories.

Previously, in May of this year, I and another Orthodox Presbyterian minister (Pastor Shawn Mathis of Providence Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Denver, CO) began investigating Bell because of his activities and claims on GGG and social media. We found that Bell was being represented on GGG as a pastor with ties to the OPC despite having no ecclesiastical credentials (ordination or licensure), and in at least one case he was denied ecclesiastical credentials (by a United Reformed Church of North America URCNA classis). Furthermore, Bell was promoting individuals and ideas on GGG that were not in keeping with our Reformed faith (these findings are detailed in the letter below). Bell was uncooperative when confronted, so we sent correspondence to the OPC presbytery in which Bell was pursuing the ministry and the other church bodies that we contacted in the course of our investigation.

It was our intention to keep this as an ecclesiastical matter beyond those items that were already public. This was in part to spare Bell’s reputation and grant him opportunity for repentance. However, because Bell has re-emerged as a public figure seeking to teach and instruct churches within the Presbyterian and Reformed world (though no longer in a ministerial capacity), and because to our knowledge repentance has not occurred, we find it necessary to publish our findings.

Below is the letter that Mathis (who has given me permission to share) and I sent to the Presbytery of Southern California of the OPC and copied to seven other ecclesiastical bodies in the OPC, URCNA, PCA, and RPCNA, as Bell was at various times somehow connected to all of them. The text is unchanged except where redaction is indicated, which was done to protect the privacy of individuals and congregations, as I am not aware of any continued involvement of Bell in them. Some footnotes have been added, removed, or changed in the interest of privacy and to add additional context and clarity.

June 13, 2024

Fathers and brothers,

We write to you concerning Mr. Peter Bell, who we understand your presbytery is considering taking under care and is currently involved in a church planting effort in [REDACTED]. As fellow presbyters in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, we have witnessed both public and private statements and activities by Mr. Bell that, in our minds, call into question his fitness and qualifications for service in Christ’s church, and we would urge the presbytery and other pertinent bodies to take appropriate actions.

Mr. Bell is the co-host of the Guilt Grace Gratitude podcast, along with Nick Fulwiler, a layperson, and the Rev. Dr. Daniel R. Hyde, a minister in the United Reformed Churches. Mr. Bell also appears to be the primary operator of the show’s Twitter account. Beginning in May 2023, the intro to GGG syndicated on audio podcast feeds began announcing Mr. Bell as “a pastor, Peter”¹ (the video episodes on YouTube do not contain the introduction; however, the show’s YouTube profile does.)² The show’s website (on the About page)³ also lists Mr. Bell as a pastor. Mr. Bell is not ordained. This is particularly problematic as GGG has also repeatedly promoted Mr. Bell’s involvement with the OPC church planting effort in [REDACTED], creating the implication that he is a pastor in or at least associated with the OPC.

The problem of the claim that Mr. Bell is a pastor is compounded by questionable content that GGG promotes. The show has favorably featured many egalitarians, promoters of critical race theory and liberation theology, proponents of evolutionary theories, and others whose views are far removed from our biblical and Reformed faith, with little more than generic disclaimers that do not distinguish truth from particular errors. Mr. Bell has through GGG’s social media also promoted several books with similar problems. Recently Mr. Bell conducted a solo interview of Ms. Aimee Byrd for the show in an episode where he also promoted the new OPC work. In that episode, Ms. Byrd was critical of the OPC, and both she and Mr. Bell made favorable comments about mainline churches. Ms. Byrd has been preaching in churches since her departure from the OPC,⁴ a practice which no OPC minister or aspirant ought to condone. This sort of content has caused us to question Mr. Bell’s discernment and commitment to the Reformed faith, as he seems quite content to let his audience be introduced to and fed by other things.

Mr. Bell, when confronted regarding his credentials both publicly and privately, has been unwilling to produce them. Despite a great deal of investigation that has involved four denominations and several regional and local bodies, we have not been able to locate Mr. Bell’s membership or any licensure. The only lead that Mr. Bell was willing to give was to refer us to Rev. Hyde, his co-host.⁵ However, we were able to confirm through an elder at [REDACTED] (Rev. Hyde’s church) that Mr. Bell is no longer a member nor is he licensed to exhort there. He is also not on the URCNA’s list of licentiates, which indicates that he has not obtained licensure to exhort elsewhere in the URCNA.⁶ Mr. Bell did take a candidacy examination in Classis Southwest U.S. of the URCNA in the fall of 2022, but he did not sustain it, nor did he attempt to retake it.⁷ We have corresponded with the clerk of your presbytery as well as the session of [REDACTED] OPC in [REDACTED], CA, both of whom were under the impression that Mr. Bell was licensed in the RPCNA as he had served as a supply in the RPCNA for a time. However, we have confirmed with the clerk of the Pacific Coast Presbytery of the RPCNA that while that body considered receiving Mr. Bell under care, this was not completed and Mr. Bell departed to pursue opportunities in the Presbyterian Church in America. The stated clerks of the Pacific and South Coast presbyteries of the PCA confirmed that Mr. Bell was never taken under care or licensed in those bodies, either. After this, Mr. Bell began serving as a regular supply at [REDACTED], which did provide us with a Ministerial Information Form that Mr. Bell submitted there which states that he is licensed but does not specify where or when.

At the time of writing, despite the fact that Mr. Bell was made aware of this situation a month ago (May 14, 2024),⁸ the website and new episodes released since then still claim that Mr. Bell is a pastor. The few items that have been changed (the Apple Podcasts and Spotify profiles) now say that Mr. Bell is a licentiate, but we have not located any valid licensure for him in the OPC, RPCNA, PCA, or URCNA.

These findings are concerning for two reasons. First, we understand that Mr. Bell has served as a regular supply in at least one OPC congregation [REDACTED]. Form of Government XVII.3 states,

Under ordinary circumstances only ministers and licentiates of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church shall be employed as regular supplies in congregations without pastors. However, other ministers or licentiates may be employed as regular supplies upon approval of the presbytery.

Mr. Bell is not a minister or licentiate of the OPC, or any other denomination as far as we have been able to determine. He is ineligible to serve as a regular supply in any OPC congregation unless he is licensed or ordained, and if he is not licensed or ordained in the OPC he must be approved by the presbytery. We would ask that our fellow OPC congregations cease from employing Mr. Bell in capacities that are not consistent with our order and discipline.

Second and more importantly, Mr. Bell’s misrepresentation, evasiveness when confronted, and slowness to remedy the situation call his character and integrity into question. We urge the brethren of the PSC to thoroughly investigate Mr. Bell’s credentials and character before engaging any further with him, as our findings indicate a young man with deficiencies of doctrine and life.

We are copying this correspondence to the congregations and other ecclesiastical bodies we have contacted in the course of our investigation. Part of the difficulty with Mr. Bell’s missing credentials is that we are not able to determine at this time who has proper spiritual oversight over him. We would urge whichever body Peter belongs to as well as those who might have continuing contact with and influence over him to urge him towards true repentance and the exercise of greater discernment.

We appreciate your time and consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

Pastor Andrew Smyth
Westminster OPC
Hamill, SD

Pastor Shawn Mathis
Providence OPC
Denver, CO

Shortly after sending this letter, I received an email from Bell. In it, he was clear that he was ending communication with me. He also said he was leaving the ministry (though because of other personal matters unrelated to our investigation). Bell announced he was leaving GGG around the same time, and used GGG social media to try to solicit other employment. No clarification, repentance, or retraction have been offered as far as I am aware, and I have had no further contact with him since then.⁹

I would reiterate all of the concerns that Mathis and I brought forth in our ecclesiastical letter. Bell’s past conduct make me very wary of a new project that appears to exist outside of church oversight and entrusts him with some of the most delicate and difficult pastoral (and even legal) situations that Christians can face. I would hope that Bell would repent and that those responsible for his spiritual care would steer him to more productive and edifying pursuits. I have no personal animus towards Bell—I want what is good for him and his. But I also, as an under-shepherd in God’s flock, do not think this course is good for him or for Christ’s church, and I have a duty to warn the church appropriately.

“Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear. I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.” (1 Timothy 5:19-22 NKJV)

Update 10/21/2024: Some additional updates from the author.

Andrew Smyth is a Minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and is Pastor of Westminster OPC in Hamill, SD. This article is used with permission.

1 Video showing when the intro calling Bell a pastor appeared and how long GGG used it: http://u.pc.cd/ao9

2 Screenshot: http://u.pc.cd/aCT7

3 Link: https://guiltgracepod.com/about/ As of October 2024, the page still lists Peter as a pastor though he is no longer a co-host (UPDATE 10/21/2024: this was finally corrected some time after the original publication of this article). Archive link to show how it looked when we began our investigation: https://web.archive.org/web/20240514224556/https://guiltgracepod.com/about/

4 https://cbmw.org/2022/03/09/that-was-then-this-is-now-aimee-byrd-preaches-her-first-sunday-morning-sermon/

5 https://x.com/guiltgracepod/status/1790890384157217172

6 Please note that licensure to exhort in the URCNA is performed by a local congregation’s consistory, typically after the first year of seminary and a brief examination. It is not equivalent to licensure in Presbyterian denominations—it is more similar to being taken under care. Candidacy examinations are much more thorough and are conducted by the Classis [regional body] after graduation from seminary. Sustaining these examinations makes one eligible for a ministerial call and are more closely equivalent to Presbyterian licensure.

7 After receiving this letter, the clerk of Classis SWUS did respond to me and confirm that the statements about Bell’s activities in the URCNA were correct to the best of his recollection.

8 Screenshots of public confrontation http://u.pc.cd/BK27. It appears that as of October 16, 2024, these posts are all still up, beginning at https://x.com/guiltgracepod/status/1790504899186459063. I also did correspond with Bell by email, and these emails were provided to the ecclesiastical bodies.

9 UPDATED 10/21/2024: Bell and I did have an exchange on X after the initial publication of this article.