MISSOURI
Riverfront Times
Posted By Danny Wicentowski on Tue, Feb 9, 2016
Who does Steve Wingfield think he’s fooling? The question seemed to twist through the pastor’s sermon on Sunday, which he delivered before an audience of roughly 200 in the main chapel of First Christian Church of Florissant, or FCCF.
It was Wingfield’s first trip to the pulpit of the evangelical church since his unceremonious banishment to a six-month sabbatical in August, and his return was met with high anticipation from those still faithful to the church and the Wingfield family name.
For Wingfield’s detractors — which by now include hundreds of former congregants — there was nothing but disappointment.
Wingfield’s sabbatical came after months of bad press and infighting within the north county megachurch. Under Wingfield’s leadership, FCCF worked feverishly to insulate itself from scandal after a former youth minister named Brandon Milburn was unmasked as a serial child molester and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
As chronicled in a Riverfront Times feature story, several congregants-turned-whistleblowers maintain that Wingfield ignored warnings about Milburn’s behavior and even trusted him with access to the church’s youth programs. In response, Wingfield and FCCF sued the whistleblowers and did everything he could to shut them up. It didn’t work. Then the pastor went on leave.
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