August 04, 2026 (Tehachapi, CA) For 16 years, the truth about how Shepherd of the Hills Church was really born has been buried. Today, I am unearthing it.
On July 25, 2010, a group of people gathered in a garage in Bear Valley Springs. According to Shepherd of the Hills’ official history page, there was “excitement and anticipation” in the air. People lugged their folding chairs, worshiped, gave an offering, and made it clear they wanted to start a new church with Jeff Kaplan as its pastor.
That is their official story.
What they left out is where those people came from. What they left out is why they were there. What they left out is the truth about how Shepherd of the Hills was really born.
This is that story. And it matters because Jeff Kaplan is very much the same man today. The pattern of what happened then is still playing out now. And the church he built on that foundation is still covering it up.
Watch Part 1 below:
The Missing Piece: Where Did Everyone Come From?
The history page on Shepherd of the Hills’ website reads like a feel-good origin story:
“On July 25th, 2010, numerous people met at Phyllis Fennell’s large garage in Bear Valley Springs. On that sweltering hot day, the attenders lugged their folding chairs to the garage area. In spite of the heat and inconvenience, there was a sense of excitement and anticipation. You could just feel it, and the smiles showed it!”
It sounds like a fresh start. A new beginning. A church plant born out of vision and prayer.
But there is a gaping hole in that story.
Where did 150-ish people come from? Did they just wake up one day and decide to go to a garage? Of course not.
Those people came from Bear Valley Church, where Jeff Kaplan had been the pastor for many years. And they didn’t leave because of a fresh vision. They left because of a bitter split that tore the church apart.
When Jeff Kaplan first gave me this history to put on the website, I asked him directly: “Are you sure you don’t want to address the Bear Valley Church thing? It’s very obvious at the beginning there’s something missing here.”
His response: “No, we don’t want to address it.”
That was the first sign that something was being covered up.
What Happened at Bear Valley Church?
Before Shepherd of the Hills existed, Jeff Kaplan served as the pastor of Bear Valley Church in Tehachapi, CA. He served there for years. But there was a growing divide between him and the elder board, a divide centered on accusations of sexual misconduct.
Some of those accusations Jeff disputed. Some he admitted to. All of them were serious enough that the elder board asked him to resign and leave.
The elders who agreed with Jeff left Bear Valley with him. They are the same elders serving at Shepherd of the Hills today, illegally, I might add, in violation of their own bylaws.
This is not a story about a fresh start. This is a story about a group of people who left one church under a cloud of allegations and started another, and have been hiding that history ever since.
The Accusations Against Jeff Kaplan
Here is what actually happened: documented, admitted, and undeniable.
1. Sexual Mistresses Comment
Jeff called his women office staff his “harem.”
A harem, by definition, is a group of mistresses or concubines. It is a sexual term, the same word used in Scripture to describe King Solomon’s concubines and King Ahasuerus’s hundreds of wives.
Jeff claims he didn’t know what it meant. Yet he has a Doctorate in Theology. He has studied the original languages for decades. How is it possible that the women office staff, who don’t have theology degrees, knew exactly what it meant, but Jeff didn’t?
He knew. And it was wrong.
2. Inappropriate Touching with Objects
Jeff admitted that he took a feather duster and playfully put it back and forth between a woman’s ankles and knees, inside of her legs, while she was working.
He claims it was a joke. The women did not find it funny.
A pastor touching a woman, even with an object, in between her legs while she is working is not a joke. It is inappropriate, unprofessional, and disqualifying.
3. “Slip of the Tongue”: Sexual Comments During Counseling
During a premarital counseling session, Jeff told a couple that their relationship with their family would change when they got married. He said something to the effect of: “You wouldn’t tell your parents you were having sex.”
Except he didn’t say “having sex.” He described a specific sexual position.
He claims he apologized and the couple didn’t make a big deal out of it. Yet they clearly communicated it to others later. It must have been a problem.
This is not the only time Jeff has made inappropriate sexual comments. There have been sexual jokes he has made about me and his daughter, things I have not said publicly until now, but they fit the pattern.
4. The Unwanted Touch
A woman accused Jeff of inappropriately touching her breast when they were hugging.
Jeff said, “If I did it by accident, I apologize.” The woman claimed he did it intentionally.
Nobody knows for sure what happened. I wasn’t there. But when I see how Jeff is willing to lie today, how he thinks nothing of filing false police reports, how he follows sexually explicit accounts on social media, how he preached graphic descriptions of rape and incest on Mother’s Day, it opens up many questions.
The pattern is clear.
The Cover-Up Continues
After the accusations, the Bear Valley elders asked Jeff to leave. The board offered him a $50,000 severance package and a letter of recommendation. He refused to leave unless he received it.
During this time, Jeff also hired an attorney who sent a letter threatening to sue the Bear Valley elders for $1 million. That letter is dated August 10, 2010. I have it. And I will show it, and more, in Part 2.
It Is Time to Unearth the Truth
The congregation of Shepherd of the Hills 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.
That is why this matters. Because the truth has been buried for 16 years. And it is time to unearth it.
As Jesus said:
“So do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” – Matthew 10:26