MICHIGAN—The scandal brewing at Mark Barclay’s Living Word Church—which includes three ministers being convicted and sentenced for criminal sexual conduct with minors—now has two connections with the campaign of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers.
Rogers, of White Lake, appointed Tim Cross and Brian Ford in November to his faith coalition, which comprises a senior leadership team within his campaign, to help “lead grassroots outreach to faith communities, building important relationships, sharing Mike’s America First vision, and mobilizing people of faith across Michigan.”
Both Cross and Ford are lead pastors at the Muskegon and Ludington branches, respectively, of Mark Barclay Ministries, including his Living Word Church franchise.
The branch of Living Word Church in Midland became the source of controversy and criminal allegations when three of its ministers were accused of sexually abusing children. While Barclay has not been accused or charged in the matter, three of his ministers, James Randolph, Randy Saylor and Brandon Saylor, were charged, convicted and sentenced for those crimes over the past several years.
Cross has since resigned from the faith coalition, later telling WJRT-TV that he apologized for not believing the victims when they initially came forward.
When asked about Ford, campaign spokesperson Alyssa Brouillet sent a statement to Michigan Advance that did not address his continued role, instead noting that Rogers, as a former FBI agent, “spent his career busting human traffickers and protecting victims.”
“Keeping Michigan families safe is his top priority,” Brouillet added.
The campaign has also doubled down on the fact that that coalition was a volunteer operation, and not senior staff of the campaign.
A request for comment was sent to Ford, but was not returned.
Randolph is Barclay’s son-in-law and was Living Word Church Midland’s former youth pastor. He was found guilty at trial on two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a young girl. The abuse started when she was in the sixth grade. Randolph received a 25- to 40-year prison sentence in March. He will have a chance at parole when he is 85 years old.
Randy Saylor was a former associate pastor at Barclay’s Midland branch. He pleaded no contest to 11 counts of criminal sexual conduct involving minors ranging in ages from 13 or younger. Saylor was sentenced to a 10- to 25-year prison sentence, also in March, with additional lifetime monitoring on the state’s sex offender registry.
Brandon Saylor was a former church elder at the Midland branch, and is the son of Randy Saylor. He pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for his abuse of children under the age of 13 years old — abuse that occurred over a decade. Saylor was sentenced to serve five to 15 years in prison in April 2024.
Michigan Democrats started raising concerns about Rogers’ campaign faith coalition in December of last year after The Advocate published a piece showing the coalition’s ties to religious factions opposed to civil rights, marriage equality and in support of conversion therapy.
Although Brandon Saylor was convicted and sentenced in 2024, the other two ministers at Living Word Church Midland were only sentenced in March this year.
That led the Michigan Democratic Party to pounce on the scandal once again, noting that Rogers has been mum about Cross and Ford’s involvement on the coalition despite their churches’ connections to the scandal.
Additionally, two former members of Living Word Church in Midland, Dana and Dan Stahl, wrote a letter to Rogers’ campaign urging the candidate to cut ties with Cross and Ford. The letter insists that Barclay used his televangelist platform “to call the victims liars and manipulate and intimidate his followers.”
The Stahls went on to write that Ford supported Barclay and Randolph throughout the trial, with Ford attending some of the court dates.
“Ford kept James Randolph on his own church board during the conviction/trial process,” the Stahls said. “Awareness is our strongest act of advocacy for survivors.”
The Rogers campaign, however, said that it was unaware of any attempts by the Stahls to reach out to the campaign.
The Midland Daily News was the latest publication to draw a line between Ford, Living Word and the Rogers campaign, prompting a response from Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Joey Hannum that said Michigan voters deserve answers from Rogers as it relates to his faith coalition.
“At a time when people are looking for accountability from their leaders — especially when the safety of children is involved — Rogers has instead chosen silence and complacency,” Hannum said. “This is unacceptable for a candidate for the U.S. Senate, and it shows Rogers is wildly out of step with Michiganders’ values.”
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This coverage was republished from Michigan Advance pursuant to a Creative Commons license.
