August 13, 2026 (Tehachapi, CA) The story continues. In Part 1, I revealed the accusations that forced Jeff Kaplan out of Bear Valley Church. In Part 2, I go deeper, into the legal threats and the pattern that seems to continue to this day. A pattern that is dishonoring to God and rightful for people to be aware of.
Watch Part 2 below:
Why This Matters Today
This is not ancient history. This is modern history.
The patterns from 16 years ago are playing out right now. The same concealment. The same cover-up. The same refusal to repent. Just a different decade.
The congregation has never been told this story. The donors have never been told. The people sitting in the pews today have no idea how their church was really born – or that today’s behavior is a continuation of yesterday’s pattern.
The $50,000 Severance Package
When Jeff Kaplan was asked to leave Bear Valley Church, the church offered him a $50,000 severance package and a letter of recommendation.
He refused to leave unless he received both.
I always found that strange. If you believe God is calling you to start a new church down the road with half of the congregation, why demand a severance package?
The $1 Million Legal Threat
During this time, Jeff hired an attorney, Robert Drescher, who sent a letter to the Bear Valley Church elders.
That letter is dated August 10, 2010.
It threatens to sue the Bear Valley Church elders for $1 million.
Feel free to read part of it:
“Failure to do so will require us to file the proposed litigation and seek damages in excess of one million dollars ($1,000,000.00).”
This is the same pattern we see today. When someone confronts Jeff with the truth, he doesn’t repent. He retaliates. He threatens. He tries to silence people. He tried to threaten me if I spoke the truth, only I refused to back down.
He has been doing this for 16 years.
The Public Meeting
There was a very public meeting at Bear Valley Church between Jeff and the elders. One side of the church agreed with Jeff. The other side did not.
It was nasty. It was ugly. People yelled. People screamed. People left.
That was the final break.
After that, Jeff started hosting meetings at his home, inviting only “neutral” people he hand-selected so he could explain his version of the story.
He was controlling the narrative even then.
The Character Descriptions
The elders and pastoral leadership at Bear Valley Church described Jeff in specific terms.
These are not my words. These came from the people who worked with him, served with him, and ultimately asked him to leave.
- He wronged their church
- He harbored a begrudging spirit
- He was self-vindicating
- He vilified leadership who didn’t agree with him
- He acted furtively, characterized by guilty or evasive secrecy
- He acted covertly
Now look at how Jeff Kaplan has behaved in recent years:
- Deleting social media accounts when exposed
- Lying in public court (perjury)
- Misappropriating church money for personal businesses
- Spending years running personal businesses using church resources and hiding it from the church
- Lying to the congregation through an illegally-serving elder board
- Protecting a man who sexually assaulted a woman under his care
The descriptions from 16 years ago line up with who he is today. And people have a right to know.
The Outside Mediation
Jeff utilized outside mediators to resolve the issues at Bear Valley Church with the elders.
Yet when I offered the exact same thing, Christian mediation, he refused.
He had no interest in resolving anything. He only wanted to feel like he was right. Apparently losing his income at BVC was more important than resolving issues with his own family.
The Resignation Letter
Before I end this, I want to read something.
I have Jeff Kaplan’s own resignation letter that he wrote and sent to the Bear Valley Church Elder Board.
I am going to read part of it. But I want to make one small change.
Every time the original letter says “Mike”, the pastor he was criticizing, I am going to say “Jeff.”
And every time it says “Bear Valley Church,” I am going to say “Shepherd of the Hills Church.”
Watch how perfectly it fits.
“It was obvious to me that the men worked in collusion with one another. They secretively worked in cooperation with each other and with some men who are not even on the Elder Board.
In our two meetings, an amazing number of bold-faced lies were stated by several elders to discredit me. When confronted, they never took ownership for their lies. They always stood by their lies.
During this nightmarish time, it has felt as though we have been kicked in the gut and betrayed by people who we thought knew and had our best interests at heart. We have sadly come to discover that these same individuals have been deceitful and have been horrible examples of the Lord Jesus Christ. I
believeknow that they will have to answer to the Lord for their sinful and hurtful behavior.I also want to say that I accepted going through the process of reconciliation with Jeff. Shepherd of the Hills’ elder board Refused the services of an outside ministry to mediate. I did everything I knew to cooperate with the process of Biblical reconciliation.
Finally, I would like to leave you with this warning.
Most of the elders at Shepherd of the Hills are not men, who demonstrate true spiritual maturity. I firmly believe most of these elders are guilty of sinful, reproachable behavior, and Biblically disqualified from being elders.
I would go so far as to say that they manifest the qualities of wolves who are dressed in sheep’s clothing.
How could this be possible? When the Apostle Paul left the elders at Miletus, he warned them with these words:
“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.” – Acts 20:29-30
Jesus also warns us when He says:
“Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” – Matthew 7:15
There are some wolves on that elder board.
As long as they (Jeff Kaplan and the elders) remain on the board, the church of Shepherd of the Hills will continue to decline and continue to dishonor God.“