Ohio megachurch fires staffer over alleged secret recordings of women at gym
Quick Summary
- Ohio megachurch Crossroads Church fired Joel Firebaugh over alleged secret recordings of women at a gym.
- Police are investigating Firebaugh for filming women without their consent at Crunch Fitness in Oakley.
- The church stated the behavior violated biblical standards and is conducting additional due diligence.
A multisite megachurch based in Ohio has fired the director of one of its programs after police alleged that he was filming women at a local gym without their consent.
Crossroads Church announced last week that it had dismissed Joel Firebaugh, director of its Next Gen program, after police contacted the church, according to ABC News affiliate WCPO in Cincinnati.
According to the church email, Crossroads fired Firebaugh when the Cincinnati Police Department informed church leaders that he was being investigated for "secretly filming women who were working out without their consent" at a Crunch Fitness in Oakley.
"This behavior grossly violates biblical standards and expectations required of any individual on staff," the church stated in an email quoted by WCPO. “We're grieved that this occurred and [we are] willing to offer any support to those who were harmed.”
Crossroads went on to note that this was the first time such an allegation about Firebaugh had been reported to them and that they had no knowledge of any additional incidents or other "unbiblical behavior."
Nevertheless, Crossroads leadership stated that they are "conducting additional due diligence" to ensure there have been no other similar incidents, and asked members to contact the church or police if they have any information.
Crossroads Church traces its origins to 1994, when two Cincinnati friends, Jim Bechtold and Brian Wells, decided to start a church. In 1996, Crossroads Community Church of Hyde Park held its first service at a middle school, drawing around 450 people.
Led by Pastor Brian Tome, the church is headquartered in the Oakley neighborhood of Cincinnati and grown to include multiple locations in Ohio and Kentucky, with approximately 34,000 weekly attendees.
According to its website, the Next Gen leadership program seeks to “establish a pipeline program to develop diverse young leaders in ministry” and “equip young leaders for high impact in the local church.”
In February 2002, Crossroads held its first “Super Bowl of Preaching,” an annual event held around the time of the NFL Super Bowl that involves the church’s pastors engaging in a preaching contest.
The tradition garnered controversy in 2024 when a video of the pastors dressed in football jerseys punting a Bible to see who would preach went viral on social media.
