The Rev. Randall Radic of the First Congregational Church in Ripon, California, sold the church for $460,000, then bought himself a BMW and pocketed the rest of the cash. “He apparently saw [the church] as a source of money for himself,” said San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Phil Urie. But Radic laid a Get Out of Jail Free card on prosecutors: he has information on a local murder, and cut a deal where he will testify in the murder trial if he gets no jail time for his embezzlement and nine other felony counts. Prosecutors accepted the deal, leaving the congregation sputtering. “My undoing is truth,” Radic says on his web site. “I decided to say the truth and that has led me down some very interesting paths and complicated my life.”
Radic, 54, had to pay restitution as part of his plea bargain, and has signed a book deal to tell his story. “Not to read him is a crime,” Radic says on his web site, which shows him holding a glass of wine, smoking a cigar, and looking toward a woman dressed in high heels, angel’s wings ...and nothing else. “Not to publish him is a sin.”
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Modesto Bee newspaper
("This Is True")
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"Pastor betrays his flock’s trust"
By Garance Burke, The Associated Press
February 13, 2007
The First Congregational Church in Ripon, Calif., got its title back last year, but parishioners have lost tens of thousands of dollars in transaction fees.
RIPON, California — For nearly a decade, members of Ripon’s First Congregational Church bared their souls to Pastor Randall Radic. But there were certain things he wasn’t telling them.
That became obvious a year ago, when Radic pleaded guilty to betraying his flock and secretly selling the church and its rectory out from under them. He used the money to buy himself a brand-new black BMW and a laptop — exploits he later chronicled in a cheeky, almost gleeful blog about his double life as a sinner.
“We didn’t know anything until we got a call from the bank that he had bought a BMW,” said David Prater, who led the church board during Radic’s tenure. “He drove that car right down Main Street.”
Irate parishioners had been rooting for a long prison term of up to 16 months at his sentencing, set for Thursday.
But Radic’s lawyer said last week that the 54-year-old former pastor, who spent six months in jail awaiting trial, will not have to serve any more time behind bars because he agreed to testify about the alleged murder confession of a jailmate.
In the meantime, ownership of some of the church property is still tied up in lawsuits.
“Most of the congregation, being a good Christian congregation, has forgiven him. But there are still things happening to the church that we can’t understand,” said Judy Edwards, who took over as pastor last year. “If the parsonage was stolen, why isn’t it being returned?”
Radic was a respected figure in Ripon, population 14,000, a quiet town of 1940s-era homes and tree-lined streets in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
“The church was basically senior citizens, people in their 80s, 90s and close to 100,” Prater said. “He was their favorite son.”
Radic’s pulpit was in a wooden, 90-year-old chapel, and he lived in a church-owned house a few blocks away.
“This is a town with a lot of faith,” said Navid Fardanesh, president of the Ripon Chamber of Commerce. “People had a lot of trust in him, and unfortunately he took advantage of the situation.”
First, Radic faked documents giving him possession of the parsonage, and used the property to take out about $200,000 in personal loans, prosecutors said. Then he forged papers saying he had the power to sell the church, and sold it to a couple for $525,000.
After investigators began inquiring about the $102,000 BMW, Radic fled to Denver. Prosecutors coaxed him back, and he was arrested in 2005.
It was in jail that Radic met Roy Gerald Smith, a sex offender awaiting trial in the 2005 slaying of a woman in a death-penalty case. In Radic’s blog on a now-defunct Internet site, the former pastor suggested that as he gained Smith’s confidence, Smith confessed.
Radic soon struck a deal: He would plead guilty to embezzlement and be released from prison. And prosecutors would drop nine other felony charges in exchange for Radic’s testimony.
Since Radic was not Smith’s pastor, the inmate’s incriminating statements are not protected by the usual confidentiality rules involving members of the clergy, Radic’s lawyer Michael Babitzke said.
As he awaited sentencing at home, Radic started blogging about his personal life. He tried to solicit a literary agent for a tell-all book he called “Snitch” and spelled out the details of how he fleeced his flock.
Radic, who still lives in Ripon, did not find a buyer for “Snitch,” but he did sign a deal last month to publish a book called “The Sound of Meat,” billed as a “(fairly) truthful” memoir.
The church got its title back last year, and parishioners have been able to worship there throughout the ordeal. But the church is still out tens of thousands of dollars lost in transaction fees, and has yet to recover title to the parsonage.
Radic still faces a number of lawsuits, but criminal proceedings against him appear likely to end when he is sentenced.
“He’s very remorseful and regretful about the situation,” his lawyer said. “But in an imperfect world ... people behave imperfectly.”
Copyright © The Seattle Times Company
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Biographical sketch from the Bible study website “Grace Notes”:
Dr. Randall Radic is the pastor of First Congregational Church in Ripon, California. He has graciously consented to provide some of his writings for distribution by Grace Notes. I think that you will really enjoy this teaching and receive blessing and help from his spiritual communication.
Dr. Radic has had an extensive and eclectic education in the Word of God. He received a B.A. in Classics from the University of Arizona; then he attended Bellview College in Westminster, Colorado, where he receive the Bachelors in Biblical Studies. He went on to receive the Master of Ministry and Doctor of Theology degrees from Trinity Seminar. Finally, he attended Agape Seminary where he receive a doctorate in Sacred Theology.
He is a well-prepared pastor who has the rare ability to produce scholarly lessons that are readily understandable by most Christians.
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http://www.pr.com/press-release/28674
A note from Radic’s publisher:
Fargo, North Dakota, February 01, 2007 -- (PR.COM) -- “I used to try and save souls without ever examining my own,” says the author. Now, with his memoir, Radic puts pen to his mission, voice to his sin, sadism, to his redemption.
The memoir is awaited with some anticipation for its literary merit. “There is no doubt that Randall can write,” wrote Grumpy Old Bookman, listed by the Guardian as one of the top ten literary blogs. “So, if you want to read a (fairly truthful) book by a priest who is a convicted felon and has had eight fiancees and two wives, and a very complicated set of relationships with his mother, father, and other family members, then this is for you.”
Sometimes called ‘Father Felony’ or ‘Daddy Radic,’ the author is the Ripon, CA pastor who pleaded guilty to embezzlement after he sold the First Congregational Church without the knowledge of his congregation. His religious works were published under the name Maximus Confessor.
