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Father Under Fire: A Westlake Church Rallies Around its Pastor After Charges that He Sexually Abused His Adopted Daughter
By Doug Brown
[Editor’s note: This content includes accounts of sexual abuse and may be triggering for some readers.]
Faith is a powerful thing, and the flock at Church on the Rise in Westlake has it in spades. Some beliefs, after all, cannot be shaken: faith in God, faith in their religion, or faith in their pastor, no matter what prosecutors and an alleged victim say.
That’s why, service after service, week after week, families continue to pack the modern Westlake church to take in the word of pastor Paul Endrei — simply Pastor Paul, as they call him — the church’s founder who’s out of jail after posting bond, the pastor who’s awaiting trial on six felony charges of allegedly sexually abusing his adopted daughter. Also a recipient of that faith is assistant pastor Jordan Endrei, Paul’s biological son, who at 26 is also awaiting trial for one felony count of sexual contact a minor.
“If you know the guy, you know it’s not true,” says one twentysomething member of the Church on the Rise before a recent Sunday evening meeting for young adults and teens. “More importantly, if you know her…”
He trails off in unspoken allegation. The victim here is the black sheep, not the alleged perpetrator.
“It’s unfortunate,” the man continues. “The enemy, he likes to attack us, especially when good things are happening. But we’re not worried about it one bit.”
That’s a near-universal sentiment held by members of the socially conservative church. Pastor Paul is unequivocally innocent, beyond reproach. And good things are happening, now more than ever. The church — and business — is booming.
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