Sutter's Bizarre Church Claims

The "Reverend" James Sutter has long tried to convince others of his grand impact on the world.  For example, in addition to his well-known academic and military claims, he is fond of openly imagining that he has personally inspired hundreds of "hate-mongers" to turn away from their evil ways.  He has even claimed to be a close, personal friend of former CIA director James Woolsey. 

So, it probably confused anyone who still takes him seriously when he began publishing lengthy pieces in October of 2008 on his Chasing Evil site concerning a family-oriented church outside of Cleveland, Ohio that is locally popular, but otherwise relatively unknown.  In fact, Sutter seemed particularly obsessed with both the church and its assistant pastor.  In his articles, he not only made incredible allegations, but said that his own "organization's" fictitious staff of attorneys and psychologists was standing by, ready to dedicate themselves to a... "crisis."

The "crisis" that Sutter was speaking of originally had to do with whether or not the associate pastor had a $10 certificate to perform marriages in the state of Ohio.  On October 18th, the Phony Rev (so named because of his bogus seminary claims and religious titles) accused Steve Harper (a real seminary graduate) of performing marriages illegally without a license.

Three days later, Sutter came out with the fantastic allegation that the pastor had "stolen" the identity of J. Steven Harper, an unrelated Methodist seminary professor in Kentucky.  He assured his readers that this had "been confirmed," that Harper had "confessed," and that a "criminal investigation" was "on-going!" (A, B)

Not quite finished with Harper, that same day Sutter posted a lengthy diatribe against the associate pastor's character and mental state - including the "opinion of a prominent, local psychologist" whom the penniless, unemployed Sutter claimed to have on hand to review Harper's writings.  Sutter's anonymous "psychologist" concluded that the clergyman suffered from a "God Complex."  (In his usual fashion, Sutter provided pretentious and lengthy definitions of professional terminology to his readers by copying text from other sources... without citation, of course).

Sutter followed this up a few days later, on October 25, with an offer to help the many "innocent victims" who thought they had been legally married only to find out that they were allegedly living in sin.  The Phony Rev generously placed a small army of lawyers at their disposal to ease the anguish that they were presumed to be experiencing.  In fact, he even detailed their supposed trauma (here) in a list that included huge financial loss and the embarrassment of "having to tell your children that they were born out of wedlock" (something that Sutter apparently knows all too well in the case of at least one of his own children, James Patrick).

In February of 2009, Sutter told his readers that eight couples received "substantial" damages from a settlement with the church to avoid a class action lawsuit.  And later that same month, the Phony Rev actually accused the church's mission team of "using slaves" in Africa!

So, is there any truth to this... and why would Jim Sutter be so obsessed with Grace Church?

Steve Harper - Any Truth?

As it turns out, there is no truth to any of the stories that Sutter spent so much time working on - with the exception of the associate pastor's license status.  Steve Harper did not have a license with the State of Ohio to perform marriages... nor did he need one!

That's right!  The entire premise of four of Sutter's five articles was that since Harper was "unlicensed", he was therefore unauthorized to perform marriages.  But this is absolutely false.  According to section 3101.8 of Ohio's "Solemnization of Marriage" law, "any religious society, in conformity with the rules and regulations of its church, may join together as husband and wife any persons not prohibited by law."  This certainly applies to Grace Church and the authority that it gives Harper to perform such ceremonies.

Needless to say, there was no talk of class action lawsuits nor any settlement paid by the church.  Sutter fabricated each and every one of these details.  Although we can't say what measure of stress he may have successfully induced on the part of those that he intended to rile up against the church, it is more likely that Sutter's reputation preceded him to the extent that no one was taking him particularly seriously by then.

It appears that the attempt to portray Steve Harper as an identity thief arose as a fallback when Sutter belatedly realized that the pastor actually was legally authorized to perform marriages.  The Phony Rev's invented story of identity theft is based entirely on the fact that there is another person in the United States who (almost) shares Harper's name.  Beyond this, of course, there is no truth to the comical allegation.  Harper has a Masters in Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary and Sutter's story of a confession and criminal investigation is completely imaginary.

Slavery - Any Truth?

So, with the "Harper claims" debunked, all that remains of Sutter's ridiculous accusations is the charge that Grace is running an African slave ring - something that seems to have escaped the interest of both the mainstream and local media, which would certainly not be the case were there the least bit of truth to it.  Obviously, this is a fabrication as well. 

Sutter's tale is based on an excerpt from the church's own newsletter in which a mission team to Gabon mentions that they gave shoes to a very grateful local woman with five children who "helps with the laundry and a few other tasks."  As we have shown elsewhere, Sutter has a deep ignorance of Africa and a very dim appreciation for people of African descent.  In this case, he is apparently under the delusion that native Africans are incapable of either volunteering their time or working of their own volition.  He defines this particular woman as a "slave" merely by virtue of her assisting the mission team!

Rather than be moved by the woman's plight or the church members' act of kindness, the Phony Rev expresses anger over the situation: 

"For a missionary, this is outrageous... We have to wonder if the fake Nikes were part of a criminal case, and if so why were the counterfeit shoes removed from the evidence room and donated to Grace Church?"

Sutter is genuinely upset that these shoes (which are useless in America) were donated to the widow and her children rather than destroyed.  This 450-pound glutton's empathy for the impoverished of Africa is... simply stunning, to say the least.

The Real Truth: What Sutter isn't Saying

So, what in the world would cause the Phony Rev, Jim Sutter, to bring all of his powers of prevarication against a local church?  Well, as it isn't hard to guess, he has a personal history with the membership.  In fact, he was a member himself up until September of 2008 - right before he began posting his malicious articles, which, strangely enough, make no mention of this!

Grace Church is actually one of several which have managed to survive their brush with this oddball ex-felon over the last several years.  His history with each congregation is usually brief but memorable.  He first shows up pretending to be an earnest, retired pastor who just wants to serve.  Over time, however, he begins to alienate himself and arouse suspicion.  Eventually, "circumstances" arise and he is asked to leave over concerns that usually involve public safety.

The Phony Rev's experience with Doers of the Word church in the mid-1990's, for example, turned into an unmitigated disaster, with Sutter's erratic behavior and rumors of domestic violence against his wife and son creating quite a disturbance with the other members.  At one point, he even insisted that he witnessed the pastor "turning into a lizard."

Perhaps learning from past mistakes, the Phony Rev managed to keep it relatively low-key for almost a year after joining Grace Church of Middleburg Heights in 2007.  Again, he passed himself off as a retired minister who just wanted to help out - despite his "obvious" wheelchair disability.  In fact, Sutter insisted on working with the parking committee, where he seemed to enjoy the small measure of authority it afforded.

Under the surface, however, tension was building.  Other volunteers noticed that Sutter seemed to crave both attention and power.  From his motorized scooter, he would bark orders with a frown, both to pedestrians and other attendants.  He looked for excuses to push the boundaries - often trying to make changes as he saw fit without seeking proper approval.  His presence began to have a negative effect on the others that increasingly outweighed any perceived benefit.

Sutter aroused suspicion in other ways (although surprisingly, there were no racial incidents reported).  One parishioner, who thought he was a "very sweet man" at first, said that a friend and parent confided in her that Sutter's way of watching young children was "creepy."  It also seemed strange that his wife did not want to join him at church, preferring instead just to drop him off and pick him up. 

A member who tried to befriend Sutter cautiously described him as someone who "never really grew up inside."   The 53-year-old would often put on a show of trying to impress others with his "theological knowledge" and personal stories.  He also explained to one of the men that he was a decorated war veteran who had been injured in combat, obviously intending for the story to get around.  [Sutter has told at least three different stories of his "wheelchair disability" over the years].

Yet members eventually realized that he did not appear to need his wheelchair, which was sometimes seen parked empty outside the bathroom door.  At a new member's meeting at a private residence, a group of men that had been gathered to help lift him and his chair up the stairs were somewhat shocked when he matter-of-factly stood up and easily climbed the steps, where he stood waiting patiently for them to bring the chair up behind him.

Grace works hard to be an inclusive community and, in spite of the growing realization that he was not who he appeared to be, Jim Sutter was still accepted as part of the family.  When his mother passed away in April of 2008, for example, the church openly implored its members to pray for him - a warmth that contrasts sharply with his own malicious antics against them only months later.

In the early fall of 2008 however, Sutter managed to wear out his welcome for good by inventing a phony story about a gun-wielding intruder at the church campus (seen only by him, of course) whom he claimed to have heroically prevented from entering.  It was very similar to the tale that he told in 1990 of a knife-wielding attacker, which was also determined by the police at the time to be bogus.  Later that year, in fact, Sutter was convicted of having another person arrested on false charges.

In and of itself, this might have been interpreted as a cry for help.  Grace Church has a generous spirit and eagerness to serve others.  Con artists like Sutter usually thrive in such an environment, knowing just how much to take and when it's time to play people against each other as some start to figure him out before the rest catch on.  Unfortunately, there were two things working against him in this case.

First, he picked the wrong time to fake an incident of potential violence at a house of worship.  There have been several very real attacks at churches in recent years, and such a report is taken a lot more seriously than it might have been in times past. 

Second, it is now quite easy to find out exactly who "Reverend James Sutter" is, thanks in part to the research on this site.  Now anyone suspicious of the Phony Rev can quickly discover that he is not only a fraud - but a very dangerous one at that.  Several church members apparently took the opportunity.

The associate pastor, Steve Harper, was tasked with "counseling" Sutter on the matter, which involved quizzing him about his many personal claims and trying to determine what threat he posed to the other members.  Despite the gravity of the situation, Sutter refused to adequately explain why he would appear to wish a shooting attack on the church campus.

Of course, none of the defamatory "Chasing Evil" articles mention the real reason why the Phony Rev is attacking Grace Church and its associate pastor.  Obviously this is to try make the writing appear objective. 

But, if his slander was intended to fool anyone, then it has certainly backfired, since Sutter has only been making a fool out of himself.  His childish behavior since leaving the church has only confirmed the darkest suspicions of some members and completely dispelled any sympathy or inclination on the part of others to have believed that he had been maligned in any way.  Ironically enough, his efforts to create discord appear to have had the opposite effect of uniting the congregation around its staff, including Steve Harper. 

Although the facts of this story are simple, it was not easy getting Grace members or employees to open up about Jim Sutter.  There seemed to be a concern that personal disappointment could be perceived as bitterness.  In addition, the church has obviously moved on - undaunted, yet certainly wiser from the bad experience with "that guy" whom everyone now knows.

The woman who said she thought Sutter was a sweet man at first now believes that he is "evil inside" for mixing verses from the Bible with false and defamatory smears, as he frequently does in his writings.  "I used to pray for him," she said.  "And I still do... just for very different reasons."

One of the persons who tried hardest to help Sutter fit in insisted that the Phony Rev was treated quite well by the church and given the benefit of the doubt for most of his time there.  "I feel really bad for the next group Jim tries to take in," he added sincerely.  "There is something really wrong with that man."

The author of this piece has no association with Grace Church