Back about ten years ago, while sharing Calvary Chapel LeBaron’s “Mission to Mormons” at various Missions Conferences, I became aware of the Adam’s Road Band . This Band was a group of young men who shared a gospel message through their songs and testimonies. The leader of this band shared of being raised LDS in Alpine, Utah, and then serving on a mission himself in Florida. There, he was led to the true Biblical Gospel of Christ Jesus by a Baptist Minister.
At one such Missions Conference, a young man, named Scott, was helping another missionary to Mormons, Doris, at her “Shield and Refuge Mission” table. Scott was the Media Director at Main Street Church of Brigham City in Utah. He had developed a close relationship with the band due to his recent completion of a feature-length video documentary about them called “Unveiling Grace". As our conversation progressed, I asked if he thought the band would consider taking on a student for a few weeks. Our niece, Lila LeBaron, had been assisting me with Worship at Calvary Chapel LeBaron since she was fourteen. Now eighteen years old, I thought Lila could really benefit by spending a short time with some folks who could help her voice development and, at the same time, share with her about their experiences of life after Mormonism. Scott thought that just might work and offered to speak with the band leader and see about arranging a video-call. I shared this with Lila and her Mother, Deanna, they both liked the idea, and a week or so later, the four of us, Lila, Deanna, Rosa and I, had a video-call with Micah Wilder. Lila had spent a little over a week with Adam’s Road when Micah called, asking if she could stay a little longer and actually help sing on the album that the band was currently recording. We subsequently reached out to Deanna, and the additional time was arranged for. Since that time, over the last nine years, Lila has recorded a number of albums and gone on numerous tours throughout the United States and Canada, with the band that evolved into the Adam’s Road Ministry.
All seemed well until about three months ago when we were devastated by the news of long-standing sexual immorality that had been ongoing for many years within the band. It is hard to express our grief over the loss of trust that we are now experiencing. Many other ministries that had enthusiastically championed the band’s efforts are also now experiencing a similar sense of betrayal. Hundreds of churches who have hosted Adam’s Road, during their over fifteen years of touring, are also reeling from this news. Therefore, we have found it necessary to discontinue any and all relationship with the Adam’s Road Band and/or Ministry.
Here is some of the background on what we have learned…
About three and a half months ago we received some texts from Lila saying: “I feel so completely hopeless and broken. I need your fervent prayers.” She was at the Edgewater Hotel in Winter Garden, Florida. We were unable to schedule a call with her over the next few days and then she texted that Micah Wilder wanted to talk with me before Rosa and I spoke with Lila. During my video-call with Micah, a married man and father of 3, he confessed to having had an illicit sexual relationship with Lila for some time. This was bad, hurtful and evil enough… but there was so much more yet to be exposed. We subsequently arranged for Lila to come home to LeBaron, here in Mexico, to spend a few days with her Mother and Christian Sisters before checking in to U-Turn for Christ to deal with her sexual addiction and relationship with Micah. Upon completion of her two month program at U-Turn, Lila returned home to LeBaron once again for a couple of weeks. Yet, she never came to visit us, even though we live just a short distance across town. Then, a short time later, Lila sent Rosa and me a text message informing us that she was returning back to the Edgewater Hotel to live with Micah, his wife Alicia and children, and serve by their side. In Lila’s own words: “I have the full support of the Wilder family, Dennis family, my own family, and those who are living in Kentucky. I know this is God’s will over my life. As the Angel of the Lord said to Hagar, so God has commanded me: go back and submit. And I will.” Her reference to Hagar, I believe, implies Lila will be living polygamy. However, her reference to having “the full support… of my own family…” does not include those solid Biblical Christians within her immediate and extended family.
On another note, in the last two weeks, we were contacted by former Adam’s Road Band member Joseph Warren, who, some months prior had come under a strong conviction from the Lord that he needed to separate himself from the band, and repent of his participation in a polyamorous heterosexual arrangement with Micah Wilder and his wife, Alicia, which had been ongoing for more than a decade. This arrangement involved all the active band members at that time, with the exception of Matt Wilder , the pianist, who was completely unaware of the situation, and was understandably devastated when it came to light. As far as we know, the closest people to the ministry who were unaware include: Matt Wilder (Micah’s brother and keyboardist in the band) and his immediate family ; Katie (Wilder) Warren, Joseph Warren’s wife, who is also Matt and Micah’s sister; the Wilder siblings’ parents, Michael and Lynn Wilder ; and hotel volunteers Hannah and Lillie. The shock and trauma for these who so faithfully co-labored with the inner circle of the ministry is unimaginable. Their healing dominates our prayers.
In addition to these decade-long sexual arrangements, there existed a persistent homosexual influence from a much older adult male, Max, who has been at the center of the ministry since its inception in 2006. He had gained prominence as the band and ministry members’ guide and “prophet” during their earlier missionary days with the LDS church, and later positioned himself as the band’s patron. In 2013, one founding member of the band abruptly left the band in disgust after being propositioned by Max. This older man was welcomed as an insider to the band’s operations and exercised a powerful influence over its plans and finances for eighteen years. The band’s inclusion of him in its ongoing operational decisions remains a troubling mystery.
The fabric of Adam’s Road has had a thread of deep corruption woven into it since its beginning in 2006; it seems that Satan’s groundwork for sexual sin had been laid at its inception, and, in the last decade especially, it had become brazenly embraced.
Two lessons arise out of this travesty. First, it raises the question of why Matt Wilder was spared from the sin. In our estimation, this is due in large part to the fact that he and his family joined a local church body early on. As a result, he gained not only Biblical knowledge to reverse a lifetime of Mormon teaching, but also benefitted from the accountability and grounding that involvement in a church community provides. Additionally, Matt moved himself and his family out of the hotel where the other band members lived constantly influenced by the older adult male, Max. Second, this serves as a warning about the danger of new converts entering prematurely into the limelight of public ministry. The Apostle Paul’s lengthy absence from the first pages of the book of Acts underscores the need for seasoning, maturing, and in many cases, retraining of those whom God calls to send out.
Our love and prayers for every member of the band continues and is unstoppable. Our objective in this announcement is not to condemn any person, but to bring the light of Christ into a place of darkness. After all, who among us could stand if God kept account of our iniquities as described in Psalm 130:3? We are thankful that God has seen fit to lovingly uncover this sin, despite the pain of the ensuing trauma. Sin steals and kills life; bringing with it attributes of darkness like lying, secrecy and deceit. So, as the light of this world, Jesus, kills sin and wipes out the darkness, we no longer need to hide sin or deny it, but simply lay it at the foot of His Cross and rise up to walk in newness of life!
By God’s spirit, forgiveness can be immediate; but the restoration of trust comes more slowly. We encourage you to join with us in the former and to patiently wait on God’s timing for the latter. While the Body of Christ is populated entirely by forgiven sinners, the restoration of a leader to a prominent role is problematic. Paul’s letters are especially insistent about the issue of reproach (1 Timothy 3:2, & Titus 1:6-8). When a leader willfully embraces a lifestyle of sin while acting in the name of God, the strict requirement of being “above reproach” will prevent their return to leadership.
Some of Lila’s final words to her Tia Rosa and me were these: “He (God) has called me to go back to Florida and serve at the hotel, and eventually to move to Kentucky to build a new ministry for the purpose of sharing the love of Jesus to the world. I love Micah with all my heart, I love his family, and I know God has called me to serve by their side.” My concern is twofold: 1 ) That this “new ministry” would present a counterfeit gospel of the antichrist. And 2) That it would promote polygamy, leading many young innocents astray and into the hands of the devil.
Our prayer for our family and friends in this group is that they hear the true voice of the Holy Spirit and allow the cleansing process of grief and renewal to have its full redemptive effect. The Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. His love is indeed everlasting, enduring through all our seasons of sin.
- In your service and in the Service of our Lord, Mike Abbate, Sr. Pastor, Calvary Chapel LeBaron