Pastor steals church out from under his flock

updated 6:18 p.m. ET Feb. 12, 2007

RIPON, Calif. - For nearly a decade, members of Ripon’s First Congregational Church bared their souls to Pastor Randall Radic. But it didn’t work both ways. 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?”

‘Favorite son’ gone awry
Radic was a respected figure in Ripon, population 14,000, a quiet town of 1940s-era homes and tree-lined streets just off California’s Highway 99, where 18-wheelers thunder down the 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.

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