State Senators Back Sermon, Write to AG Tong | Steeplejacking | Liberate, Don't Tax Yale's Endowment
Pastor's Notes for July 11, 2025
Two Connecticut State Senators Call for Investigation into “Licentious” Churches
On June 29, I delivered a sermon titled “Regime Change.” In response, Connecticut State Senators Henri Martin (R-31st) and Eric Berthel (R-32nd) wrote to Attorney General William Tong, urging him to investigate “licentious” churches potentially operating in violation of the state constitution.
Their letter follows a video exposing a Connecticut pastor assisting gender-confused minors in accessing chest binders—actions one mother alleges contributed to her daughter’s suicide.
I have since called for investigations into licentiousness in churches and for accountability under Connecticut’s Constitution.
Read more: “Two State Senators Ask Attorney General William Tong to Investigate Claims of ‘Licentiousness’ in Connecticut Churches.”
The sermon attracted significant media attention, including a podcast appearance and two drive-time radio interviews:
The Vinnie Penn Project: “Rev. Dell Wants Law-Breaking Churches Investigated.”
Reese On The Radio on NewsTalk 1080 WTIC
CDM Clips: “Pastor Jake Dell, Woodbury, CT Congregational Church – The Church Can Be Saved”
Steeplejacking
Conference Minister Darrell L. Goodwin has warned Southern New England churches about “increasing attempts at steeplejacking”—deliberate efforts by outside groups or individuals to infiltrate, destabilize, and redirect local congregations.
He’s referring to the Reconquista movement, a grassroots, youth-led effort by faithful Christian men to reclaim their historic churches.
Goodwin writes:
Let us be clear: this is not merely about theological disagreement, it is about spiritual violence. It is an assault on the radical hospitality we have cultivated in the United Church of Christ. It is about silencing the voices of LGBTQ+ siblings, women in ministry, Black and Brown leaders, and all those who have long been told they do not belong in the household of God.
The Connecticut Centinel published my response:
The rhetoric of “spiritual violence” is a deflection. Mainline Protestant leadership accuses Reconquista of silencing marginalized voices, yet their own actions tell a different story. Biblical Christian men have been marginalized, mocked, and pushed out of their sanctuaries for refusing to conform to these denominations’ ever-shifting dogmas. The real violence is the betrayal of trust—taking churches funded by generations of the faithful and turning them into something their founders would scarcely recognize.
Read the full article: “A Response to Rev. Goodwin: Who’s Really Steeplejacking?”
Donor Intent
The Hartford Courant published my op-ed responding to Yale Divinity School Dean Gregory E. Sterling’s plea to the Trump Administration to avoid taxing the school’s endowment.
I agree—taxation isn’t the answer. Instead, the funds should be liberated to fulfill their original purpose. I propose a donor litigation trust (see my interview with C.R. Wiley on the Theology Pugcast).
Sterling warns that higher taxes on endowment distributions could reduce student aid or faculty positions. This highlights a deeper issue: institutions like Yale have become “zombie corporations,” hoarding wealth while abandoning their spiritual mission. A tax might enforce fiscal accountability, but it doesn’t address the root problem—donor intent. These endowments were created to train gospel-proclaiming ministers, not to fund progressive ideologies or elite academic fiefdoms. A litigation trust could restore their intended purpose.
Read the full editorial: “Yale Divinity School’s Endowment Should Be Reclaimed for Its True Purpose.”