Blakc Sheep Whistleblower
August 7, 2026
For years, I wasn’t simply someone who attended New Life Church in Castlegar.
I was part of the church’s leadership team. I served alongside Pastor James McFaddin, his wife Maria McFaddin, and the other leaders who helped direct the church. I attended leadership meetings, planning sessions, and church retreats. I received internal correspondence from church leadership and from the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) itself.
This article marks the beginning of a new series where I will be publishing many of those emails.
Not because they prove wrongdoing by themselves.
But because they provide important context.
Context matters.
When viewed together with later events, they help explain how relationships, authority, accountability, and influence operated within New Life Church before everything eventually fell apart.
As readers of Black Sheep Whistleblower already know, I have previously written about my experiences with Pastor James McFaddin, his subsequent employment with the Castlegar RCMP, and the questions surrounding my removal from New Life Church.
Here is a sermon from James McFaddin at New Life Church a few years ago entitled Patience Peace and Joy … the irony is not lost on me!! One thing I cant take away from James is that he can actually preach a sermon actually.
Those earlier articles can be found here:
- Part 1 – James McFaddin: The Pastor Who Stood Beside Me Until He Didn’t
- Part 2 – The Questions That Never Went Away
- From Death Threats to Duty to Warn to Firebombing
Those articles examined events from my perspective. a bonus more recent post a play on Where is Waldo!!
This series will instead begin laying out the documentary record.
What Is the PAOC?
For readers unfamiliar with the organization, The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) is one of Canada’s largest Pentecostal denominations. Local churches such as New Life Church Castlegar operate under the broader oversight of their regional district—in this case, the BC/Yukon District of the PAOC.
The District provides governance, pastoral oversight, leadership development, credentialing of ministers, conflict resolution, and intervention when serious concerns arise within affiliated churches.
Although local churches have a degree of autonomy, they remain accountable to the District and its leadership.
One of the most senior officials within the BC/Yukon District during this period was Rev. Kenneth (“Ken”) Russell.
Who Is Ken Russell?
At the time of the email reproduced below, Rev. Kenneth A. Russell served as the District Superintendent of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada – BC/Yukon District.
In practical terms, he was the senior executive responsible for overseeing affiliated PAOC churches throughout British Columbia and Yukon.
His responsibilities included:
- supporting pastors;
- working with church boards;
- leadership development;
- church governance;
- conflict resolution;
- pastoral accountability; and
- assisting churches experiencing significant leadership challenges.
When District Superintendents become involved with local leadership weekends, governance training, or church boards, they are acting in an oversight capacity for the denomination. Rev. Kenneth A. Russel is called in this video of him from 2024 the Pastor of Pastors:
That background is important context for understanding the emails that follow.
For the record, I genuinely liked Rev. Ken Russell. During my interactions with him, I found him to be personable, approachable, and someone I respected. In the video above you can tell this guy is a great guy actually but he does say he is being sued in three civil lawsuits which is covered over by the host… Anyways, that is precisely why what happened afterward has been so difficult for me to understand because he seems like such a good guy. In the video Ken is asked what are the key characteristics of a Pastor and his response is simple .. “its Character over Charisma!”!! GO FIGURE as James McFaddin is all Charisma!!! ZERO Character IMO.
To this day, I do not know why he did not, in my view, do the right thing for my family and me. Perhaps there are facts I am unaware of. Perhaps there are explanations that have never been shared. I cannot speak to his reasons.
What I can do is present the documents, the correspondence, and the timeline as accurately as possible.
Everyone is accountable for their own decisions. Rev. Russell made his, just as I have made mine. Over the coming articles, I will lay out the emails, documents, and chronology that led me to file my complaint with the PAOC, allowing readers to examine the evidence for themselves and reach their own conclusions.
The recipient list of the October 2018 email (that started it all) from Ken Russell included pastors, board members, ministry leaders, and volunteers responsible for helping lead New Life Church.
Among those copied on this correspondence were:
- Pastor James McFaddin
- Pastor Maria McFaddin
- myself (Dave Drover)
- members of the Hart family, including at the time a serving member of the Castlegar RCMP, Constable Hart
- various church board members and ministry leaders
One detail that readers may find noteworthy is the inclusion of a serving Castlegar RCMP member among the church leadership community at the time. Constable Hart was serving with the Castlegar RCMP during this period and was later transferred to Hope, British Columbia. In future articles, I will discuss my understanding of those events and why I believe that transfer is relevant to the broader chronology I am documenting.
For now, I simply note that this email illustrates the overlap that existed between church leadership and individuals connected to local public institutions, including law enforcement.
The Hart Family
Readers will notice that members of the Hart family also appear throughout these leadership emails.
At this stage of this series I will identify them only collectively as the Hart family.
The reason I mention this is because members of the Castlegar RCMP were also connected to this broader church community through family relationships.
I intend to discuss those relationships separately as this series develops.
For now, I simply note that these connections existed and formed part of the wider leadership and church environment.
A Leadership Weekend
The following email appears routine.
In many ways it was.
Rev. Ken Russell was travelling to Castlegar to conduct a leadership weekend for New Life Church.
Friday evening was reserved for the church board at the McFaddin residence.
Saturday involved leadership development sessions covering topics including:
- Life-Giving Boards
- Teamwork
- Crucial Leadership Decisions
- Empowering Volunteers
- Turning Vision into Mission
At the time, none of this appeared unusual.
Looking back now, however, these emails provide a snapshot of who was involved, who occupied leadership positions, and how the church was being organized before later events unfolded.
Why These Emails Matter
Standing alone, this email proves very little.
It does not establish misconduct.
It does not establish wrongdoing.
What it does establish is the leadership structure that existed inside New Life Church.
It documents who was involved.
It documents who held authority.
It documents who was connected to the PAOC.
It documents who was included in governance discussions.
As this series progresses, readers will begin to see why these details matter.
My Complaint to the PAOC Ken Russell
Several years after this leadership weekend, I filed a formal complaint with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada concerning Pastor James McFaddin. I will get to this in Part 2 which will be mind altering and explain a lot of things.
Based on what occurred afterward, I came to believe that my complaint ultimately resulted in James McFaddin no longer serving as pastor of New Life Church.
Whether that departure was directly connected to my complaint, or occurred for other reasons, has never been publicly explained.
To my knowledge, no transparent public accounting was ever provided to the congregation regarding the circumstances surrounding his departure.
That lack of transparency is one of the reasons I have chosen to begin publishing the documentary record.
These articles are not intended to reach conclusions before all of the evidence has been presented.
Rather, they are intended to preserve documents, establish timelines, and allow readers to examine the facts for themselves.
This Is Only the Beginning
This email is simply the opening chapter.
In future articles I will publish additional correspondence, explain why I filed my complaint with the PAOC, examine the response I received, and continue documenting the chronology that ultimately led from church leadership to questions involving public officials, law enforcement, and the events that followed in my own life.
As always, I encourage readers to examine the documents themselves, compare them against the timeline, and reach their own conclusions.
The purpose of this series is not to tell people what to think.
It is to ensure that the documentary record is available for public scrutiny.
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