Explained: Who is Sean Feucht and what has he been accused of?

A well known worship leader has been accused by former colleagues of financial impropriety and spiritual abuse.

Sean Feucht became famous opposing lockdown restraints on churches during the Covid pandemic, but now five former staffers in his various organisations have alleged a lengthy pattern of misusing donations and bullying staff. In a statement to Premier Christianity, he called all the accusasions, “a complete sham”.

Who is Sean Feucht? 

Feucht began his ministry career almost 20 years ago when he launched his first non-profit Burn 24-7 in Texas in 2007.

Burn 24-7 is a prayer and worship initiative which encourages gatherings of Christians locally to usher in revival. The movement has regional directors across the United States and also offers paid training.  

Over the years Feucht, who was not well known at this time, started other similar projects, including the overseas humanitarian agency Light A Candle which sponsors children and arranges short-term mission trips, and Hold The Line, which focuses on mobilising Christians for political advocacy. During the 2010s he also accumulated a sizeable portfolio of rental properties across the US, now worth millions of dollars. 

Feucht first hit the headlines when he joined the worship team at the much-discussed megachurch Bethel in Redding, California.

As well as writing worship music, Feucht began to drift towards politics. In 2019 he was one of dozens of Christian leaders invited to the White House who prayed with Donald Trump just as his first impeachment probe gathered pace in Washington.  

Then in early 2020 Feucht unsuccessfully ran for election to Congress as a socially conservative Republican in California.  

How did he become famous? 

In the second half of 2020 Feucht began his Let Us Worship tour. Beginning as a protest against lockdown rules which forbade churches from meeting in person, he would hold outdoor worship concerts in cities across America, drawing Christians from many denominations. These drew both praise from Christians frustrated with their local authorities restricting gatherings, and also criticism from others who feared the large groups of unmasked worshippers could spread covid further.  

Gradually the movement shifted away from its anti-lockdown roots and began getting embroiled in the broader political debate. Feucht began taking his concerts to cities rocked by anti-racism and Black Lives Matter protests, and associated riots and unrest between the police and citizens, such as Portland, Oregon, Seattle and Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed.  

The movement was not formally backed by Bethel, where he still attended, but while it had some concerns about the lax approach Feucht took to mitigating the spread of covid the influential megachurch generally approved of his endeavours.  

“Sean Feucht’s mission is to ‘bring worship, prayer, healing, and unity into a landscape of division, violence, and unrest through the power and presence of Jesus,” Bethel said in a 2020 statement. “We love this vision, and celebrate him for leading from his convictions.” 

As the pandemic receded, Feucht’s movement became more closely aligned with right-wing politics. He led worship tours through state capitals in 2023 and 2024 in the build-up to last year’s presidential election, and became an increasingly vocal supporter of Trump online. He also attacked companies including Disney for their supposed pro-transgender policies.  

What has been accused of? 

The five former colleagues who have launched a whistleblowing website include former national and regional directors for Burn 24-7, those working for Let Us Worship and Light A Candle, and one touring musician who played in Feucht’s band.  

Their website, truthandfreedomstories.com, includes lengthy allegations about Feucht’s financial affairs, his handling of donations, his treatment of staff and volunteers, and how he allegedly engages in dishonesty with the media in promoting his movement.  

Feucht is accused of not including information in his tax reporting around his own salary and the close relationships between his various non-profits, many of which share trustees and properties. He is also alleged to have used his charity’s credit cards for personal expenses and diverted donations to his personal accounts.  

Feucht also owns two expensive properties (one in Washington DC and the other in California, both mortgage-free) which are legally registered as parsonages and therefore tax exempt.  

“The ministry’s ownership of multiple high-value ‘parsonages’ alongside Feucht’s personal ownership of numerous rental properties raises questions about appropriate use of non-profit funds and potential private inurement,” the whistleblowers write on their website. “Is it legal for Sean Feucht Ministries to provide TWO parsonages for Feucht while he receives rental income from rental properties in California and Pennsylvania and two personal Airbnbs in Montana?” 

What else do they claim? 

Feucht saw donations skyrocket from $284,000 in 2019 to $5.3m in 2020.

But in 2022, Feucht’s ministries reclassified themselves as a church which means from then on they no longer had to publish financial reports.    

Feucht’s spending has also ramped up in the years that followed this enormous surge in giving to his projects, culminating in purchasing the second “parsonage” in California for $3.4m last year.  

In 2023, MinistryWatch – a Christian organisation which examines church groups’ finances – had earlier raised questions about how Feucht’s ballooning donations were being spent. In 2019-20, Sean Feucht Ministries spent $1.1m on ministry expenses, the accountability group said, despite bringing in more than $5m in revenue. “There is nothing wrong with growth, but it seems reasonable to expect that a ministry with more than $4 million in cash should be spending more money on the ministry it has promised to do.” 

What about the suggestions of spiritual abuse? 

Alongside the warnings over potential financial misconduct, the whistleblowers also accuse Feucht of spiritual abuse. The website includes a number of personal testimonies from those who have worked with the worship leader over the years.  

They claim he repeatedly makes empty promises, attacks and shames anyone who opposes him, and inappropriately uses scripture and spiritual language to humiliate people who try to hold him to account.  

One former volunteer with Burn 24-7, a childhood friend of Feucht’s called Peter Hartzell, said working with Feucht was “not ministry—it was spiritual abuse”. “It was manipulation disguised as a mission, coercion disguised as a calling. He would make promises and dangle carrots but never follow through. He would make fun of my style, and bark orders. He treated me like a grunt because he knew that I was desperate for purpose, and he exploited me.” 

Another senior figure in Burn 24-7, Liam Bernhard, said he spent years using his own money to follow Feucht’s mission, even while the leader soaked up thousands in donations and lived in comfort. When Bernhard finally confronted Feucht about the lack of financial transparency, he said he was slandered as a “woke communist” and a “fascist”, and after leaving was falsely said to have lost his faith.  

Another staffer for Let Us Worship, Burn 24-7 and Light A Candle wrote on the website that Feucht cultivated an environment which was “emotionally abusive, manipulative, and unsustainable”. “A culture of extreme loyalty was demanded, with those who left being labelled disloyal or spiritually deficient. Many staff and volunteers reported burnout, mistreatment, and emotional distress, especially women, who were often the target of inappropriate jokes or dismissed after being brought to tears.” 

In a joint statement, the five whistleblowers said Feucht must be removed from all positions of leadership because he is living in unrepentant sin. “To remain silent about the dangers of Sean’s sin is not biblical nor loving and it dishonours Sean and these board members, Sean’s victims, and those who are exposed to him via social media platforms and in-person events.” 

How has Feucht responded? 

The former colleagues said they and others had repeatedly attempted to challenge Feucht about his behaviour over the years in the manner laid out in Matthew 18, but seen almost no repentance or meaningful change. “Sean has a consistent and longstanding pattern of denying, attacking, and reversing victim and offender when confronted with his sin,” they write.  

Feucht told Premier Christianity that the accusations are a “complete sham” and have been put forward by “embittered former volunteers” who “have been attacking the ministry for over a decade.” 

“They have not uncovered a single shred of any impropriety of any kind. Every penny is accounted for and used for kingdom purposes,” he said. 

“There [sic] efforts to tear down Gods work will not succeed.”