This story could have been sold as a soap opera in Hollywood. At the very least, it could have come under the guise of Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
It’s simply disheartening that the story came from the pulpit.
As reported by The Roys Report, a pastor remains in his position at Solid Rock Church in Elk River, Minnesota, despite marrying his son’s ex-wife, and allegedly dating her while she was still married to his son.
Drew Matthews told The Roys Report that he published his story on TikTok to “warn others about spiritual abuse at his father Bill’s approximately 200-member, word-of-faith-church.” The story and Drew Matthews’ videos have since gone viral.
Matthews’ former wife, and his father’s now current wife, Ana Lorena Matthews, also serves as a pastor at Solid Rock.
Matthews explained how his family has obviously splintered since his father married his former daughter-in-law shortly after his wife died. Drew Matthews has since published 21 videos, including the first one last August, which drew 43,000 views. The second one, published four days later, got more of the audience’s attention with 480,000 views.
The Roys Report states, “according to Minnesota Family Law Attorney Johanna Clyborne, Bill Matthews’ marriage to Ana Lorena may not be legal. This isn’t because of Bill’s family connection to Ana Lorena. Clyborne said Minnesota is a ‘no-fault’ divorce state and citizens are free to divorce and remarry as long as they’re not related by blood or adoption.”
But Bill Matthews may be criminally liable for his acts. He was reportedly counseling Ana Lorena at the time the two began a romantic relationship. Minnesota Statute 609.344 states “a clergy member who engages in sexual activity with someone he’s regularly counseling is guilty of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.”
Clyborne noted, however, that the one Minnesota case that’s gone to trial testing the law, “concluded the court had limited jurisdiction over spiritual leaders due to the separation of church and state,” The Roys Report says.
In one of his videos, Drew Matthews recounts that his mother, Mary, became sick with Stage 4 cancer while Drew was away serving in the military. Bill Matthews “relocated Lorena and the couple’s two-year-old daughter into their home to ‘look after his dying wife.'”
In a peculiar twist, Bill Matthews “prophesied that God had a new wife for him: Ana Lorena Matthews.”
“The first thing out of his mouth, when he walked in, was that God had prepared a new wife–not to worry, everything was going to be fine,” Drew Matthews told his TikTok viewers. “God had told him she (Drew’s mother) was going to die and that God had already given him his new wife.
“Now keep in mind, that wife was Lorena, and she was currently married to me when he was saying that.”
At the time of his mother’s death, Drew and his wife were experiencing difficulty in their five-year marriage. Lorena eventually filed for divorce and Drew claimed his father advised him to cooperate with the divorce.
“Go ahead with the divorce, and if it is God’s plan, He will bring you back together,” Bill Matthews told his son. “Little did I know he was already dating her at that point.”
Four months later, Drew and Lorena divorced. {eoa}
Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.
