What people are saying:

• Secular Education Association: Secular Education Association

  Steven Whitlow’s reported empire –

  Redemption Church
  Revere Bible College
  Clear Truth Media
  Facebook User
  Facebook User (Toledo)
  Revitalize Fitness (Maumee & Toledo, OH – revitalizefitness419.com)

  When you look at these pieces side-by-side, a very clear pipeline emerges.

  Redemption Church sits at the center — the ideological hub.
  Revere Bible College trains and funnels young adults into the same belief system, reinforcing leadership, loyalty, and messaging.
  Clear Truth Media pushes that messaging out into the community, shaping narratives and amplifying the church’s political and cultural reach.

  Then come the youth- and family-focused businesses:
  Snapology of Toledo – West,
  Facebook User,
  Revitalize Fitness (Maumee & Toledo).

  These are not random franchises. They provide direct, repeated access to children, teens, and parents — a soft-entry point for relationship-building, trust-building, and eventually, recruitment into the church ecosystem.

  All of these entities together create a closed-loop pipeline:
  • influence families through kid-centered businesses,
  • reinforce ideology through the church,
  • train loyal leaders through the Bible college,
  • and control the narrative through the media arm.

  This isn’t accidental.
  It’s an integrated network designed to shape communities from every angle — religious, educational, social, economic, and political.

  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association the mental gymnastics it takes for you to tie these things together is laughable. I go to church there and I stopped at subway in maumee after church to eat because I was hungry. Are you going to tie Subway into this “Steven Whitlow empire” now too😂😂
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User You’re actually making our point for us.
    Does Steven Whitlow own or co-own Subway?
    No.

    But he does own or co-own the church, the Bible college, the media outlet, and the businesses we listed.
    That’s the difference. We’re mapping documented ownership and leadership connections — not where someone happens to stop for a sandwich.

    The pipeline we described is based on actual shared control and shared ideology, not random errands.

    If anyone’s doing mental gymnastics here, it’s the person pretending that documented ownership and leadership connections are the same as grabbing a sandwich. One of those things is real evidence; the other is Subway. Does Whitlow personally know Jared? We don’t know — and we’re not going to speculate.

  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association no actually he doesn’t co own revitalize fitness maumee but please by all means continue to give us free advertising as we are blowing up even more due to people who had no idea who redemption was, now hearing about us and attending church wanting to hear Gods word. Doing Gods work you should attend tomorrow. We can thank you in person for spreading the word and helping double the church size
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User For someone working with youth, you’re awfully comfortable mocking community members and dragging your religion into every conversation.

    The issue here isn’t faith — it’s favoritism.
    If you were advocating for any other religion to be pulled into public schools during instructional time, you and I both know the reaction would be very different.

    What families are seeing is one group’s beliefs being pushed into public-school hours while every other faith — and non-faith — is told to stay in their lane.

    That’s not neutrality.
    That’s not inclusion.
    And it’s definitely not the professionalism parents expect from someone coaching kids.

    Thank you for making the problem so obvious.

  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association explain examples of how the church is pushing our beliefs into public school….
  • Facebook User: Where am I mocking? I’m genuinely thanking you for the free advertising
  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association anyway there’s a good football game coming on tv so I’ll leave the gym I’m working out at and head home and I’ll keep you in our prayers and I just want you to know we are thankful for you for shining a spotlight on our church. Standing room only in our church now that people know we preach Gods unfiltered truth. The growth has been amazing and we thank God for his movement and for this revival of youth turning to God the last few months. God is great, all the time 🙏
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User , you coach in a public school.
    That makes your comments even more concerning.

    A public-school coach using religious language to belittle parents, promote a church, and dismiss legitimate concerns is exactly the kind of boundary-crossing families are reporting nationwide.

    If this is how you speak to adults, it raises serious questions about how you navigate faith boundaries around students.

    You’re not helping your argument — you’re proving ours.

  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association once again show where I belittle anybody or dismiss “legitimate” concerns? You are grasping at straws and it’s pretty embarrassing 😂
  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association for what it’s worth anecdotally Josh is always almost hysterically hostile to other community members in local groups around here. he’s disrespectful, childish, and vile. I’m not surprised he’s here doing his same sea lioning bullshit. It’s extremely concerning he’s in a position of authority over children.
  • Facebook User: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19yUEsJ9fe/?mibextid=wwXIfr
  • Facebook User: Should probably listen to these
  • Facebook User: Facebook User literally, his entire mission is to push his beliefs into public school. He’s not even hiding that fact, he’s promoting it. Beyond that, he proudly boasts his Christian nationalist political views from the pulpit and insists that religion should be more political. He is actively trying to indoctrinate children with religious and political ideologies in public schools. It’s beyond concerning and if a Muslim person was doing this, you’d have their whole community burned to the ground.
  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association and where have I ever advocated for a religion during my practices? Nice try 😂
• Secular Education Association: Additional Background Parents Have Been Sharing

  Here are the publicly available records and community-sourced information that parents across northwest Ohio have been comparing after learning about the connections between Redemption Church and the “.4.Jesus” school Bible study network:

  🔹 Concerns Raised About Messaging and Youth Influence

  Parents report Whitlow has preached:
  • “Christianity vs. Islam,” “Christianity vs. Socialism,” and anti-liberalism series
  • Open support for Christian Nationalism
  • Advocacy for mandatory prayer/Bible reading in schools
  • A call for school board members, teachers, and coaches to bring students to him so he can “send them back out”

  🔹 Questions About the “Student-Led” Bible Study Network

  The “.4.Jesus” accounts appeared in AW, Perrysburg, Maumee, Sylvania, Swanton, and Otsego within weeks of Whitlow posting that Redemption would begin planting new campuses in “every midsize Ohio town.”

  Whitlow later acknowledged helping the movement grow.

  🔹 Public Records: Perrysburg Police Reports (2016)

  While he was head pastor at Redemption City Church, two police encounters were documented involving Whitlow and a church intern:

  • Case 16-5072 — April 23, 2016 (2:11 a.m.)
  Found parked near Books-A-Million. Officers advised them to move along.

  • Case 16-5682 — May 7, 2016 (1:05 a.m.)
  Found lying on and under a blanket at a residential construction site.
  One said they were “laying under the stars.”
  The report notes the similar incident two weeks prior.

  Former members say:
  • The relationship was undisclosed while it occurred
  • The intern became his wife
  • Congregants felt blindsided
  • The church collapsed shortly afterward

  🔹 Earlier CedarCreek Years

  Former members of CedarCreek have described long-standing boundary concerns dating back to his time as youth pastor (2009–2013).
  —————————————————
  Perrysburg police reports:

  Apr 23, 2016 (Case 16-5072)
  May 7, 2016 (Case 16-5682)

  https://www.reddit.com/r/toledo/s/ET7ZFAnlBw

  https://bgindependentmedia.org/theology-graduate-questions-validity-of-bible-college/.

• Facebook User: Thanks for the free advertising!! Just like the blade article jumped church attendance so will this. People are starving to hear the unfiltered word of God. Thanks for helping get word out that there’s a church preaching the unfiltered clear truth! You guys are doing Gods work 🙏
  • Secular Education Association: Thanks for chiming in, Josh. For anyone following along, here’s a little context so people understand the role you play in the community:

    Josh Lenix isn’t a random commenter. He’s publicly listed as one of the coaches in the Anthony Wayne youth wrestling program, which puts him in a school-connected role working directly with AW students and families.

    On Redemption Church’s own Facebook mentions, a “Josh Lenix” also recently commented that some of his “former wrestlers from AW” have been attending Redemption for the past two weeks and “love” the church and its worship.

    So his appearance here isn’t surprising — he’s part of the exact school-to-church network we’re documenting.

    SEA isn’t “advertising” anything.
    We’re mapping the connections between public-school youth, outside religious organizations, and the adults who influence those pipelines so families have full transparency.

  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association yes you got me. Some kids that I used to coach who are now adults, have on their own, shown up and attended church and are giving their lives to Christ and yes that excited me to see my old wrestlers show up to church. Looks like a sophisticated school to church network like you said detective 😂
  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association so essentially anyone who attends Redemption church and also in some way shape or form works with or is affiliated with other organizations you’re going to rope them into your giant conspiracy theories?
• Secular Education Association: The Toledo Blade, “Pastor’s influence on youths concerns some parents, community members,” Nov. 22, 2025:

  “Whitehouse residents Dave and Sarah Fournier are among the public faces of parents concerned about what they believe is radical Christian influence getting into suburban public schools. ‘This has been a long time coming,’ Mr. Fournier said.”

  “Many concerns point back to Redemption Church and its pastor, Steven Whitlow. Following the September assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the church has been rapidly growing, and parents say religious influence in area schools has accelerated.”

  “Parents began questioning the @adub.4.jesus Bible study after a school board member publicly praised its student leader. The group’s belief statements closely mirror Redemption Church, and the student has said Redemption is his home church.”

  “Similar ‘.4.jesus’ accounts have since appeared in Maumee, Perrysburg, Sylvania, Swanton, and Otsego. Parents say the movement now looks less like a grassroots student effort and more like a coordinated, top-down campaign driven by adults.”

  “In a recent sermon, Whitlow referenced both LifeWise Academy and the Bible study groups, saying, ‘We’ll support them all,’ while acknowledging that local school board members are part of his congregation.”

• Facebook User: Thank you for this. I know folks in one of these districts. I will forward this to them
• Facebook User: Nope. Steven CHOSE to shut down the church, just weeks after he said he would step down and get counseling and discipling. I was there.