Bob Larson: Sex and the Sinful Minister

[Scott T. Mikusko]

Date: Tuesday, 19 July 1994 Noon ET
To: mik...@grus.pa.msu.edu
From: "Scott.Mikusko" <219...@msu.edu>
Subject: Bob Larson: Sex and the Sinful Minister

Bob Larson: Sex and the Sinful Minister

Sooner or later, you knew it was bound to happen: When a ministry is
out of control, tales of sexual indiscretion invariably arise. And as
it was with Jim Bakker, so it is with Bob Larson.
The Bob Larson story has moved forward at a remarkably rapid pace in
recent weeks, and developments have not been kind to him. Jay Grelen
has subtly raised the issue of Larson's purportedly intimate relation
ship with a former lieutenant, Margo Hamilton. We determined where he
was ordained, and lodged a challenge as to his fitness to remain as a
minister. His flagship affiliate, Denver's KLTT, was sold to an orga
nization which has inside knowledge concerning his improprieties. His
marriage to Laura, his new trophy wife, is said to be failing. All in
all, October of 1993 was not a good month to be Bob.

But on November 1st, he had a vision.

Bobby Does Damage Control
As a rule, the Christian community takes a remarkably blase attitude
toward financial scandals -- but the moment that sex is mentioned, all
bets are off. In its September 13, 1993 edition, Christianity Today
reported on Bob Canella's claim that IBN director Pam Koczman sexually
harassed him. CT reporter Timothy Morgan seized that opportunity to
make additional allusions concerning Bonnie Bell's untimely departure,
and Larson's reputation for abusing his employees.1
Whether for good or ill, when CT speaks, the evangelical community
listens; Larson was compelled to respond. But as evidenced from these
excerpts from the Ministry's press release, Larson was clearly playing
a larger game:

"POSITION STATEMENT ON SEPTEMBER 13 CHRISTIANITY TODAY ARTICLE:

Bob Larson and the Board of Bob Larson Ministries (BLM) ada
mantly deny the allegations set forth in the September 13th
edition of Christianity Today. The article is the latest in a
series of character assassination attempts against Mr. Larson
and the staff of BLM. It primarily centers around a complaint
by a disgruntled, discharged former employee.

5. Because of numerous threats (on file with authorities) on
Mr. Larson's life and property, access to the office of BLM
is highly restricted for the protection of both Mr. Larson
and members of the BLM staff."2

Larson would like his avid, check-writing fans to draw the inference
that witches, Satanists, neo-Fascists, and other assorted dregs of the
galaxy are constantly harassing him. Yet, in those rare3 instances
where he even bothers to report an incident to the police, Larson prefers
instead to finger "past disgruntled employees."
For instance, Talk-Back listeners might recall that, on his January 29
broadcast, Larson related one particularly "vicious" threat to his life
and property:
"The threats, Bonnie, as you and the other people that work
with me know, have gotten so vicious. They recently sent me
a large color photograph of several people who are a part of
this group. Standing on the front steps of my private property
on which they trespassed -- the front steps of my home -- hold-
ing a flaming Molotov cocktail, threatening to burn down the
house with obscene language printed on the photograph."4

So who did Larson identify as the prime suspects in this nefarious deed?
The Coven? The Horses of Illinois? Glen Benton? Evidently, that thought never
crossed his mind. Also noticeable by their absence is the Denver-Area Witches
Network, and the various sundry Satanic covens which Larson insists are
active in the Denver area. His mortal enemies would never harass him, but
his former employees -- fine, upstanding Christian citizens, all -- would?

[ No less than three former Ministry employees were mentioned
as possible suspects in the police report5: Muriel Olsen, Lori
Boespflug, and Connie Beavers. Larson even went so far as
to insinuate that the husband of his former office manager was
one of the people hiding under the robes.6
Of course, Larson tried to paint me as the mastermind of this
absurd plot to destroy him and his ministry -- but, then again,
Bob apparently blames me for virtually everything that has
gone wrong in his life ... including cancellation of "The Wonder
Years." ]

Bob Larson has good reason to fear ex-employees, not so much because
they are closet Satanists but rather, because they have sat behind the
veil of that den of iniquity. They've watched him in action, and have
been shocked by the sheer mendacity of the man. If Bob Larson is what
constitutes "God's anointed," they'd just as soon reserve their condos
on the River Styx.
Bound by their Christian consciences, they have taken this 'news'
to anyone who would listen. However, fearing for their jobs -- and in
my estimation, justifiably so -- they remained anonymous. Unfortunately,
they made the colossal mistake of pleading their cases to station own
ers and managers who, for the largest part, lent an unsympathetic ear.
Good Calvinists that they were, they worshiped frequently at the altar
of the Bank of America -- and Larson paid so handsomely that they were
inclined to overlook his indiscretions.6a

And Bobby Does Margo?
Ever since Bob and Kathy Larson started having marital difficulties,
rumors concerning his alleged infidelity have run rampant. This com
ment is from "the Salem letters," anonymous correspondence from a BLM
staff member to Salem Broadcasting president Ed Atsinger:

"Mr. Larson has had other traveling and bed companions such as
Mrs Boespflug, who most likely supposes as the others that she
is unique and something special. And she is for the moment.
Why not ask Ms Behrens who was his 'best friend' for four or
five years and traveling companion to many 5 star hotels in
such places as San Francisco, San Diego, San Francisco, Tucson
and Hawaii. You might want to ask her about her last sexual
encounter with Mr. Larson where she was overwhelmed with a
demonic presence [all sentences in context]."7

While these anonymous allegations -- especially the part of the
'demonic presence' -- seem a bit questionable, it is clear that Larson has
had a habit of volutarily placing himself in the positions which lend them-
selves to a measure of suspicion. A mere business trip to Orlando with
his personal secretary would not necessarily be seen as improper, but
his November, 1990 visit to Disney World -- with her and her three young
girls, while his wife waited at home -- certainly would.8

[ According to Boespflug, Larson showered her with gifts
during late 1990 and early 1991, including a diamond frog
broach valued at $2,800, a dog she later named "Soks," and
$1,250 in cash to pay for furnace repairs. And if, as Larson
insists, she had nothing of consequence to do with "his"
writing of Dead Air, it only stands to reason that he was in fact
actively courting her affections. But let us not forget that he
was quite married at the time.]

For the most part, I have refrained from commenting on Larson's pur
ported sexual misadventures, on the grounds that charges of infidelity
are virtually impossible to prove. However, Jay Grelen's recent World
article, "Bob Larson Quits NRB," has brought it to the fore:

"Margo Hamilton, another long-time employee who often trav
eled with Larson and spoke at BLM's seminars about satanism,
resigned in September 1992.
In a telephone conversation with World last week, she said
she could not discuss her time at BLM because she signed confi
dentiality agreements with Larson. And her husband, in a con
versation with World earlier this year, said he too had signed
an agreement. He has never worked for the ministry."9

Of course, the obvious question is why Margo's husband would need to
sign such an agreement. After all, since they didn't marry until sev
eral months after she "resigned," and he had never worked for the min
istry, he wasn't in a position to reveal proprietary information. And
if he did reveal what Margo told him, that would have been a violation
of her confidentiality agreement.

[It is instructive to note that Lori Boespflug's new husband
was not asked to sign an agreement, despite the fact that they
were engaged to be married at the time of her dismissal. Lori
knew as much about Ministry operations as anyone; if Larson had
any legitimate concern as to whether BLM's trade secrets would
be a probable subject of 'pillow talk', there is no evidence to
that effect.]

In summation, Margo's husband had to know something that Bob Larson
didn't want to be known ... and, had nothing to do with the Ministry's
internal operations.

That doesn't leave many options.

While it is admittedly circumstantial (and fairly scant), other per
tinent evidence supports the hypothesis that Bob and Margo did in fact
get physical'. Avid Talk-Back followers may recall the "Breezy incident,"
where Bob was kicked in the head by a horse; what is not generally known is
that it was Margo's horse, Lena, that kicked him.10 The larger question, of
course, is how a mother of three could afford such a bourgeois indulgence on
her proletarian $35,000/year11 salary. And one obvious answer is Bob Larson.
It was further reported that in March of 1992, Larson ran an invoice
for personal toiletries through his expense account ... including hair
spray, Trojans, and Semicid, a female contraceptive.12 Now of course,
the hair spray makes some sense, but it is quite difficult to envision
Bob Larson handing out condoms on the street corner to sexually-active
teens (a la Jocelyn Elders). Thus the question naturally arises as to
what an unmarried minister would be doing with contraceptives....

Standing alone, any one of these pieces of evidence can be explained
innocently. But taken together, they comprise a fairly strong circum
stantial ground for charges of sexual improprieties. The hypothetical
'reasonable wife', when confronted by comparable evidence, would
naturally start asking a few questions. And she would demand answers.

To this self-confessed unbeliever, the issue of Larson's sex life is
as irrelevant as it is uninteresting; I don't see marriage as a sacra
ment, but rather, as a partnership. Life is just too short for anyone
to be trapped in a miserable marriage. Yet, to my many Christian col
leagues, who must by definition let the Scriptures be their guide, the
matter is one of grave concern.
In his first letter to Timothy, the seminal text on Church adminis
tration, Paul posed this incisive rhetorical question: "If anyone does
not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's
church?"13 In so writing, Paul established stringent standards of
conduct for men aspiring to leadership positions within the Church.14
And with good reason: The one common denominator of the Bakker, Swag
gart, Hargis, and now, Larson scandals is that, if a man is fundamen
tally unfit to honor his 'calling' as a minister of the Gospel, that
fact seems invariablly to manifest itself in his private life.

But Can He Do it With Impunity?
Until recently, Bob Larson reportedly believed that he could weather
the media firestorm.15 But two recent events have changed the lands
cape: his departure from the NRB, and the sale of his Denver affiliate
to Crawford Communications. While the events themselves were somewhat
innocuous, the collateral damage has been staggering.
Our informants have advised us that Larson's publisher, Thomas Nel
son, had to find out from the press that he had withdrawn BLM's appli
cation to the ECFA. Evidently, Nelson president Sam Moore wasn't par
ticularly ecstatic with that development; Nelson has endured criticism
from other quarters in recent months16, and Moore would like to avoid
having another Mike Warnke scandal explode in his face. Thus it would
seem that his ' marriage' to Nelson is on even shakier grounds than the
to his young bride, Laura.

Along similar lines, the loss of Denver's KLTT has caused surprising
damage to the Ministry. Larson loses a number of affiliates to format
and/or ownership changes every year, and in most cases, he simply goes
to the station down the street. But in Denver, his failing reputation
has preceded him; four of the seven local Christian stations are owned
by those who have 'inside knowledge' with respect to the Larson situation
Salem president Ed Atsinger dropped Larson upon
learning of his divorcing former wife Kathy, and
Don Crawford, Jr. had hired a certain talk-show host by the name of John
Stewart. Moreover, the other three have been "on notice" for over a year.
Even Frank Trueblood, the station manager for KQXI (Larson's new Denver
affiliate), claimed in a telephone conversation that he was indeed "fully
aware" of the charges against Larson.17 But KQXI is one of Denver's less
prominent stations, and is said to be struggling; Larson pays quite well...
and he pays on time.
The move to KQXI affected Larson's Denver market in two ways: tape-
delayed shows attract fewer listeners, and weaker stations reduce the
size of his audience. Whereas KLTT could be heard from Ft. Collins to
Castle Rock, KQXI's signal can at times be difficult to hear in Aurora
or Boulder. And as his faithful, check-writing listeners slowly aban
don his ship, Denver is poised to become irrelevant.

Under normal conditions, Bob Larson should be more than able to tol
erate the loss of any given market, with the obvious exception of Dal
las. But all is not well at BLM. The clearest evidence yet that Lar
son has fallen into a state of sheer desperation comes from his Novem
ber 1 show. Like Oral Roberts before him, Bob told his radio audience
that God gave him a vision:

"About two and one-half hours ago, I told my secretary just
to pull the blinds in my office; I want to close my eyes and
sit back and relax for a little bit, and just lay all of this
before the LORD.' And I did. And the LORD spoke to my heart
-- and I want to tell you, my staff -- until I walked in here
fifteen minutes before this show -- had no idea what I was
going to ask you to do today. None. [Long pause.]
And the LORD spoke to my heart very clearly, and gave me a
vision for reviving Christian radio in America. A vision.

The LORD told me what it was going to cost -- and I had my
chief financial officer run some numbers to double-check it --
$1.89 million...."18

It ought to go without saying that, when God gives you a vision, you
don't have to check His math....
God has this remarkable habit of talking to sinister ministers, and
He always seems to say precisely what they want to hear. Oral Roberts
needed $8 million to help out his medical school -- and God
just 'happened' to tell him how much to ask for. At least, Bob Larson
had the good sense not to lock himself in his studio....

Larson's immediate aim is to buy a local radio station. I can't say
which one without jeopardizing my sources, nor can I offer an authori
tative pronouncement as to why he wants it. Still, I can make an edu
cated guess.
The obvious reason is that Bob's ego and pocketbook both demand that
he stay on the air in Denver. In the best of times, his broadcasts on
the former KLTT added roughly $6,000/mo. to the gross margin (although
the figure has declined in recent months). Of course, that guess must
presuppose that he expects Talk-Back to remain viable. My informants,
however, insist otherwise. They say you can hear it in his voice, and
see it in his countenance: Bob knows the end of Talk-Back is nigh.
If the Ministry is, in the vernacular, heading south for the winter,
Bob's purpose in owning a radio station becomes even more obvious. In
actual terms, the net worth of the Ministry is a bit less than $3 mil
lion.19 it makes for a pretty nice stash, and a radio station might be
the perfect getaway car. Bob wouldn't have to answer to anyone (aside
from the FCC), and could lay colorable claim to remaining in the min
istry. But more to the point, he would have access to the resources
BLM has amassed in corporate solution, and continue to pay himself a
handsome salary until he decides to retire early in the next century.
And if BLM's handpicked Board of Directors remains true to form, they
should be little more than a minor inconvenience.

An Aside: Field of Dreams
At present, the Ministry can write a check large enough to cover the
down payment on just about any radio station in the Denver market. As
such, the return of Talk-Back to the Denver airwaves should be consid
ered to be a foregone conclusion. Still, the more intriguing question
is whether Larson's proposed radio network has any real chance of suc
ceeding.
In many ways, Larson's plan is so obvious that one is forced to won
der why he had to have a divine revelation to come up with it. He has
slowly been moving toward that goal for some time now (as evidenced by
the hiring of former Denver DJ Pat O'Shea), and he has the raw techni
cal capacity to start programming tomorrow. All he needs is some sat
ellite time and a few dozen outlets, and he could easily be on his way
to becoming the Christian Casey Kasem....
Yet, if anything, Larson may have missed the boat by waiting so long
to launch this venture. In the days when he was reputable, as opposed
to having a reputation, he could have established himself as a
'Christian DJ'. What's more,two years ago he had the luxury of farming out
some of his Talk-Back duties to Bonnie Bell; it had enough of a profit
margin that even Bonnie's worst efforts could have been tolerated. By
stark contrast, in recent months Larson has been forced to work for a
living: this Monday will mark the eighth continuous week of live Talk-
Back broadcasts.

But if Bob builds his field of dreams, will the audience come? Con
sidering how little air play secular death-metal and techno-rock gets,
it is hard to conceive of how "The Christian Metal Hour" could attract
a viable audience. Still, in an environment where Christian radio has
reached a saturation point (e.g., more than 15% of Denver stations air
Christian formats), and economies of scale are fast making the independent
station an anachronism, there should be a few station managers willing to
join. Nonetheless, a few simply won't be enough. Economies of scale also
drive the other end of the equation. Satel lite time isn't cheap, and unless
the cost can be spread over a suffi cient number of affiliates, this
potentially-profitable venture could become an albatross around Larson's neck.
Ergo, he would stand a much better chance of making said venture work if he
can deliver a 'proven' product. And that's where Denver comes in....
If Larson stays true to form -- an assumption I'd be willing to take
to the bank -- he will retain a profits interest in this highly specu
lative venture, while investing no more than a token amount of his own
money. Hence, if it fails, the Ministry will feel the pain, but if it
succeeds, Bob will be able to laugh his way into a resplendent retire
ment.
Even if Larson eventually decides that his new network isn't viable,
he has laid the foundation for his return to markets like Los Angeles,
San Diego, and Chicago. If the price is right, Christian station own
ers can be bought ... and if Larson can offer a sufficiently-lucrative
profit-sharing arrangement, Talk-Back will be back in Baltimore.

Maybe He Can....
For all practical intents and purposes, Bob Larson has become a law
unto himself. He has carefully constructed his empire in such a man
ner as to ensure that he is not accountable to anyone: board members,
radio station owners, or denominational bodies. The press is kept at
arms'-length ... and his publisher, in the dark. He is the captain of
his ship, the master of his fate....
And when accountability is absent, the conscience is certain to fol
low.

Nestled in the Appalachian hills, some 30 miles northeast of Chatta
nooga, lies the spiritual equivalent of the No-Tell Motel: Dave Ford's
Evangelistic Messengers Association. Fill out your application, send
in your fifty dollars, and you can be ordained -- almost by nightfall.
Just fill out the three-page application and get two ministers to sign
it, and you're on your way! No education? No problem! You don't even
need a high-school diploma to attend their More Than Conquerors School
of Theology.20 In only 420 hours' class time, you can earn your bach-
elor's degree in theology -- by mail.21 And they are fully accredited
by the American Accrediting Association of Theological Institutions,22
whoever they are. When I called the organization which accredits our
local Denver (Conservative Baptist) Seminary, The Association of Theo
logical Schools in the United States and Canada, the lady answering my
inquiry laughed and said, "Who are they?"23
But twenty-some years ago, when the young Bob Larson approached them
with a fire in his belly and a full head of hair, the application pro
cess was even more arduous: The road to the ministry was purely one of
apprenticeship. After a scant one-year apprenticeship, you were ready
to 'fly solo'... if you were still confused by the difference between
hermeneutics and Herman Munster, it really didn't matter. And if some time
later, you fell into a life of grievous sin, it didn't matter... EMA made no
attempt to monitor their more than 1,000 active ministers, and had no formal
procedure for disciplining wayward ones. EMA president J. David Ford, who
knew Bob Larson since 1971, was not even aware that he had divorced former
wife Kathy, more than two years after the fact.24
I would love to tell you more about EMA, but Dr. Ford has refused to
talk to me. He cited the following letter as the basis for his deci
sion:

CERTIFIED MAIL
October 7, 1993

But truth does matter.
- Bob Larson
Dr. J. David Ford, President
Evangelistic Messengers Assn.
P.O. Box 4018
Cleveland, TN 37320

Re Bob Larson

Dear Dr. Ford:

I realize the greatest sermon I will ever minister will not
be behind the pulpit, but in everyday circumstances. I will
conduct my personal relationships and financial affairs in
such a way as to not bring reproach upon the ministry or
most of all, my Lord and Saviour whom I love...."

In the E.M.A.F. Pledge, you have set standards of honor and
integrity which are clear and uncompromising. Your vaunted
words convey an unequivocal message: a calling from God is not
a license to steal.

It is our understanding that -- quite possibly in direct
response to our activity -- Bob Larson has scheduled a public
appearance in Cleveland at the end of the month. It would not
be extravagant to presume that he has scheduled a meeting with
you to discuss the numerous allegations made against him. And
if such a meeting is to occur, it seems appropriate that his
accusers ought to be present.
To that end, we'd like to make you aware of our willingness
to make ourselves available for such a conference, and provide
you with appropriate assistance to enable you to properly pre
pare for it. One of my associates will even travel to Cleve
land to present the 'case' against Larson if you so desire.

For his part, Bob Larson has acted like someone who has an
awful lot to hide. Several months after his divorce was final,
he had the court seal his files. Last year, he refused inter
view requests by Christian reporters Joe Maxwell and Jay Gre
len. He has gone to court to enforce "confidentiality agree
ments" which have no legitimate business purpose -- serving
only to dissuade former employees from revealing the embarrass
ing truth. Both publicly and privately, he has accused me of
contriving false financial statements -- despite the fact that
the Ministry's general counsel admitted that the documents we
worked from were accurate. When I confronted him on a Ft. Lau
derdale, FL talk show, he hung up. And when the Evangelical
Council on Financial Accountability raised questions of their
own, Bob withdrew the Ministry's membership in the National
Religious Broadcasters. For a minister of the Gospel, who is
to 'walk in the light as He is in the light,' Bob Larson has an
unusual aversion to scrutiny.

Although Bob Larson may have difficulty believing it, we do
not seek the destruction of his ministry. Quite the contrary;
we have received invaluable assistance from those who work
inside the walls of BLM and would prefer to see it become a
legitimate outreach to troubled teens. Even though the ultimate
mission of Bob Larson Ministries is to minister to the extrava
gant financial needs of Bob Larson, the concept is a sound one.
We'd like it to be all that it can be ... WHAT IT OUGHT TO BE.
Unfortunately, that end may no longer be attainable. Bob
Larson has placed the demands of his hyperactive ego before the
needs of those he would serve. He has 'laid up his treasures'
where rust and moths doth corrupt, and visited great shame upon
the ministry.

All we are asking of Bob Larson is that he recant, repent,
and reimburse those he has injured in his self-righteous ram
pages. By recant, we mean that he must candidly and publicly
confess his sins, and admit the attempts he made to cover them
up, thereby 'compounding' them. By repent, we intend that he
is to consciously and deliberately walk away from those sins;
if the Ministry is to survive this scandal, adequate safeguards
(e.g., a hostile board of directors) must be put into place to
ensure that the conditions that facilitated his transgressions
are not allowed to recur. By reimburse, we insist that he must
offer fair and equitable compensation to those people he has
injured in his quest to emulate the likes of Robert Tilton and
J.D. Rockefeller.

We thank you for your assistance in this matter, and look for
ward to hearing from you.25

On the very day Larson visited Cleveland, TN, I called Ford with the
intent of gathering background information for this article. He quite
angrily told me that the aforementioned letter was proof that I "had a
vendetta" against Larson.26 Res ipsa loquitur.

It is often said that all that evil needs to thrive is for good men
to do nothing, and that has pretty much been
'the tale of the tape' in the Larson affair. Scores of loyal Christian
soldiers, fearing their masters' wrath, have stayed inside their comfortable
bunkers and studiously ignored the battle, but former KLTT station manager
Brian Taylor deserves the grand prize for servility. Despite the fact that
he has been aware of the Larson affair for more than a year, he continued
performing his oral ministrations until the very last minute [on Talk-
Back, 29 October 1993]:

Taylor: "Ah, sure I am the station manager at KLTT in Denver."
Larson: "And that is the station that we have been on"
Taylor: "Yes, the station you have been on for a number of
years as a matter of fact."
Larson: "Long time. Why did, why did you call Brian?"
Taylor: "Well, I just called to encourage you, brother. I know
that uh, today is our last day for a live broadcast for 'Talk
Back' in Denver. And we have had tremendous response--people
looking to know where you are going to go and we are not able
to get you cleared live in the city anymore, but I'm believing
for it and I just wanted to call and encourage you. Y'know a
lot of people, and Jim in particular who just called, I feel
bad for people like that because they-they look at it and they
just look at totally the, the money or things like that and
y'know, I have the luxury of working here and knowing a little
bit more about your ministry, and seeing the fruits and knowing
that there are some things there that people don't recognize
and don't know that you do. Having worked in youth ministry in
the city and some of the other folks here at the station too,
we know we can call you with a referral anytime and you will
tell us exactly where we can get help, how we can take care of
the kids that have great need. And that kind of research takes
a lot of money. And I'm sure that could happen in any city. So
we give you a lot of praise and, uh well, give God the praise
but we give a lot of appreciation for the work and the effort
you put into your ministry...."27

Taylor's doctorate evidently appears to be in hypocrisy. In a let
ter to me, dated Feb. 3, 1993, he apologized for acceding to Bob Lar
son's demand that I be prevented from calling in on a local broadcast
to challenge a litany of slanderous remarks Larson made concerning me:

"I also want to offer my apology for not allowing you an
opportunity to call in and speak with Bob during the program.
However, as I stated, that was the condition I understood from
Bob when I invited him to be a guest on the station. In hind
sight, it would have been better to allow you the same opportu
nity to call in as other listeners were provided, so as not to
give you (or anyone else) the impression that we were trying to
conceal anything. As I consider that decision in retrospect, I
can appreciate your displeasure."28

His pious closing -- "Walk In Truth"29 -- spoke volumes. If you are
incapable of walking the walk, you have no business talking the talk.

And Then Again, Maybe He Can't:
As long as the Evangelical community remains infested with slavering
sycophants like Ford and Taylor, it has little hope of obtaining even
a semblance of credibility among the unchurched and unsaved. If there
is one salient lesson to be learned from the Larson affair, it is that
nothing of substance has been learned from the Bakker scandal.
Yet, the wheels of justice continue to turn, albeit slowly. And the
wheels at Bob Larson Ministries are beginning to fall off.

______________________________________________________________________

ENDNOTES

1 Timothy Morgan, "Personnel Woes Persist at Larson Ministries,"
Christianity Today, 13 Sept. 1993, p. 62.
2 Bob Larson Ministries, "Position Statement on September 13 Chris
tianity Today Article" (unsigned press release), undated, p. 1 (orig
inal sent to Doug Trauten of the Evangelical Press; cover letter not
available).
3 Lori Boespflug, Interview, 17 Jun. 1992 (Boespflug stated that "Lar
son never took these death threats seriously"; Lakewood P.D. sources
unofficially noted that "only a few" incident reports were on file.)
4 Bob Larson, "Talk-Back with Bob Larson," Radio broadcast, 29 Jan. 1993.
5 Offense Report (misdemeanor harassment), Lakewood (CO) Police Dept.
(Officer Ponczek reporting), Case Report #92-105773, 3 Nov. 1992, pp.
2-6 (other named "suspects" included California-based Christian talk-
show host John Stewart).
6 Ibid., p. 3.
6a There have been a few stray exceptions to this rule. A few brave
souls evidently have challenged Larson -- without any measure of suc
cess. For example, this intriguing letter allegedly was faxed to the
Ministry by former WVEL station manager Brian Cooper:

"Your station is supporting a liar. Bob Larson is not saving
our kids from satanism, he's promoting it. He's not traveling
every weekend to help the hurting but to promote himself so:
(1) by 'pressing flesh' your listeners will think he's so
important that when they find he's divorcing his wife they will
not condemn him and continue to send in money (2) to build his
mailing list for (a) direct solicitation (b) selling his latest
novel (3) promotion of his new novel which will launch his new
career, his panacea into the secular world where he won't have
to answer to Christian moral standards.

Mr. Larson carefully planned and forced his wife, Kathy, who
was an integral part of the ministry, out against her will. He
had everything that made reference to her taken off all promo
tional materials and stopped all reference to her. The purpose
was, in time people would forget about Kathy and he could mani-
pulate his way out of the marriage without it affecting his
status. It's been a slow but persistent process.

For many years now Bob & Kathy Larson have not traveled toge-
ther except at Christmas and one fundraising trip to Dallas and
that was to placate the Thomases who helped get him started and
own the Dallas station, his biggest money maker. Bob Larson has
taken many trips over this time leaving his wife home alone,
who under normal circumstances should have been with him, under
the guise of getting away to rest or write a book. But he was
not alone, he was sharing his first class resort, sunshine,
golf courses, etc. with one of his lady friends....

Mr. Larson is an adulterer. He has had several liaisons. He
lies to you and your listening constituency daily. He is past
feeling. He is insensible, callas and has an appetite for sex,
money, success, pleasure and status." [sentences in context]

As is obvious from the text, Cooper did not write the letter, but he
did take the critical steps of believing the author, and making inqui
ries of his own. The following memo is a post-mortem of one conversa
tion between Cooper and IBN secretary Chris Rohling:

"TO: PAM, BOB, BONNIE, LORI, MARGO, AND LISA
FROM: CHRIS
DATE: AUGUST 14, 1991
RE: BRIAN COOPER - WVEL

As Pam already knows, I had a long discussion last night with
Brian Cooper at WVEL, Peoria, IL.

He started the conversation off by saying that he wanted to be
taken off of Compassion Connection's referrals. He received an
anonymous letter a few months back saying that Bob was divor
cing and also having an affair with a staff member. He said he
then received Bob's letter in reference to the first letter. He
doesn't want to be a part of something that he's sure will turn
into another Swaggart/Baker scandal.
He wanted to know if it was Margo that Bob was having the
affair with. I said that it was true Bob was divorcing but he
was not having an affair. He wanted to know why Bob was divor
cing for no reason (his words). I let him know that Bob and
Kathy have tried for a few years now to salvage their marriage
and it wasn't possible. He said he had a conversation with Bob
in which Bob denied even being separated. I told him I had no
knowledge of the conversation and I couldn't give him an
answer.
He said he has had people from our ministry (currently) who
have contacted him telling him of Bob's affair. He also said
he talked with someone from our ministry yesterday, he wouldn't
tell me who or which line he called them on, but he said this
person said they were 100% sure Bob was having an affair but
they were afraid to confront Bob about it for fear of losing
their job. In both situations he didn't ask for names nor were
they given....

He wanted to know Bob's reasons for getting divorced. I said
I didn't know, and that it wasn't mine or the staff's business.
He said it was and we should be holding Bob accountable for his
actions. I told him one day we will all be held accountable and
it wasn't my place to stand and accuse someone else of some
thing that I had no proof of. He wanted to know if Kathy had
an affair and that was the cause of the divorce. Again, I said
I didn't know.
He said he wasn't going to be the one to let the people know
what's going on at our ministry but he said people will find
out sooner or later. He doesn't want to go down with the min
istry because Bob had his hands in the cookie jar."

According to Lori Boespflug [who furnished both memos, and has proven
to be an highly credible source in other matters], that call ended up
costing Brian Cooper his job; I contacted WVEL in an effort to locate
Cooper, but management would not give a forwarding number.
7 Anonymous, Letter (to Edward Atsinger, President of Salem Communica
tions), 1991. (The authenticity of the letter was confirmed by former
Salem employee John Stewart; Boespflug denied having sexual relations
with Larson, but related the story of how he "tried to insinuate him
self into her life" in the June 16 interview. [Some of Larson's more
entertaining attempts to 'court Ms. Boespflug were chronicled in my
open letter to David Neff
of Christianity Today ("CT on the Block," published in the __/__/93 issue of
the CPR)].) 8 Lori Boespflug, Interview, 17 Jun. 1992 (According to Boespflug,
the trip was to "make it up to the girls" for the time she spent writing
Dead Air; ergo, either she was writing "his" book, or Bob was having
an affair with her).
9 Jay Grelen, "Bob Larson Quits NRB," World, Vol. 20, No. 8 (9 Oct.
1993), p. 24.
10 Lori Boespflug, Interview, 17 Jun. 1992.
11 Compassion Connection, 1990 Form 990, Schedule D (copy courtesy of
the Internal Revenue Services).
12 Lori Boespflug, Interview, 17 Jun. 1992 (confirmed by other sources
-- when I confronted Larson on this, he conceded knowledge of it.)
13 I Tim. 3:6.
14 See generally, I Tim. 3.
15 The bulk of this information comes from confidential BLM sources --
who have proven to be extremely reliable in the past.
16 E.g., William Watkins, "Market-Driven Theology," Cornerstone,
17 Frank Trueblood, Telephone interview, 26 Oct. 1993.
18 Bob Larson, "Talk-Back with Bob Larson," 1 Nov. 1993 (broadcast in
Denver on one-day tape delay).
19 BLM's 1992 audited financial statements show an accumulated surplus
of slightly more than $2 million. Nonetheless, the Ministry's office
building is seriously undervalued on the books, and the balance sheet
doesn't account for assets held by International Broadcasting Network
or BLM's Canadian affiliate.
20 1993-94 Student Manual, More Than Conquerors Bible Institute, p.
10.
21 Ibid., p. 5 ("Each course of study will consist of ten hours of
classroom instruction, on either videos or audio cassettes..."). Each
three-hour class presumably constitutes a
course of study'; a bache lor's degree is granted when 126 semester hours --
42 classes, or 420 class hours -- are completed. This roughly one quarter of
the time a student spends attending class in a secular university.
22 The AAATI was not listed in Gale's Directory of Associations as of
1991.
23 Call placed 29 Oct. 1993.
24 J. David Ford, Telephone interview, September 1993.
25 Ken Smith, Letter (to J. David Ford), 7 Oct. 1993, pp. 1-2.
26 J. David Ford, Telephone interview, 29 Oct. 1993.
27 Brian Taylor, "Talk-Back with Bob Larson," 1 Nov. 1993.
28 Brian Taylor, Letter (to Ken Smith), 3 Feb. 1993.
29 Ibid., ibid.

______________________________________________________________________

Copyright 1993 Kenneth L. Smith. All rights reserved; reproduction
permitted for non-commercial use only. Please direct your questions
to the author at P.O. Box 280305, Lakewood, CO, 80228.

Copies of all unpublished documents cited or quoted in this article
have been provided to the Christian Press Report (and others who have
reproduced it in other media), except where the dissemination of such
information would create the risk of exposing confidential sources to
recrimination. These individuals have been instructed not to provide
copies to others without my express approval.