Ind. pastor suspension could stretch to six months, Lt. Gov. Beckwith attacks Assemblies of God leaders
Closed-door meeting at scandal-racked Life Church provides first details of Nathan Peternel suspension, reveals confusion, concerns after son ruled sex offender
Indiana Pastor Nathan Peternel could face up to six months of suspension amid the ongoing fallout from his son’s child sex abuse case and a finding of “unbecoming” behavior by Peternel himself, according to an official dispatch from the National Assemblies of God relayed to congregants at a closed-door meeting Sunday.
Peternel will have his license to preach suspended for three months and possibly longer, submit to supervision by another pastor and spend a year in counseling, per the agreement reached with the Indiana district of the Assemblies of God. Peternel also opted against appealing his suspension, according to a person familiar with the closed-door meeting Sunday.
In the letter, the General Council of the Assemblies of God deferred decisions on Peternel’s suspension to the Indiana district leaders. (In response to questions from 24sight News last week about Peternel’s status, a national Assemblies of God spokesperson also directed questions to the Indiana district.)
Confusion has reigned inside the powerful, yet secretive, Indiana church ever since Peternel’s son was arrested last October on four felony counts of owning and trafficking in child sexual abuse material. In their investigation, police also discovered the son with more than 50 pictures and videos of his parents naked or having sex, which spurred a separate investigation by the Assemblies of God.
The Pentecostal denomination bans pastors from owning or viewing pornography, but the homemade sex videos posed an interesting dilemma for state and national church leaders of whether videos inside the covenant of marriage constituted pornography — a first for the Assemblies of God and a question they ultimately punted on, choosing to find Peternel engaged in “conduct unbecoming of a pastor”.
Indiana’s avowed Christian nationalist lieutenant governor, Micah Beckwith, leads one of Life Church’s four campuses and argued Peternel was wrongly being victimized by Assemblies of God leaders, according to the person familiar with the meeting.
Beckwith, whose office is under a separate criminal investigation related to a deepfake porn and possible ghost employment, has vacillated between talking about the scandal and directing congregants not to talk about it, supporting Peternel after he admitted to making the sex videos and most recently saying Peternel did not make sex videos.
At the meeting Sunday, Beckwith urged congregants to target Assemblies of God leaders who he accused of failing in their handling of the Life Church scandal and Peternel investigation. At one point Beckwith stated the denomination leaders gagged Peternel, but Life Church board members interjected telling Beckwith he was wrong, according to the person with knowledge of the meeting.
Life Church’s interim lead pastor Mike Maleto, who is Peternel’s brother-in-law, did not return a request for comment for this story. Beckwith’s communications staff did not return a request for comment, nor did anyone else associated with the church when asked via its official media email address. Nathan Peternel did not attend Sunday’s de facto town hall, according to the person familiar with the meeting.
The monthslong scandal inside Life Church has seen a wave of families depart for other churches and three top pastors resign, amid anger at shifting explanations of what happened and who was responsible. One week after his son was sentenced to six years in prison, Peternel announced he would be stepping aside after the Assemblies of God investigation, but confusion about even that persisted until Sunday.
The latest flare-up in the Life Church scandal came after Law and Crime’s Jesse Weber published bodycam footage from the Sept. 10 search of the Peternels’ home, revealing that Peternel kept bringing his son to church and around children despite knowing he was suspected of owning child sexual abuse material. In the bodycam footage, Peternel also states that his son may have been molested by an older woman when he was younger.
Maleto originally announced they would answer questions about the bodycam footage at the meeting, writing in a message to congregants “we don’t want you hearing things secondhand or wondering what’s going on. You’re family, and you deserve to hear from us directly.”
But Maleto said Sunday they would not take questions on that topic, according to the person familiar with the meeting.
Despite the wave of departures and resignations, Sunday’s closed-door meeting of members from all four campuses, was well attended, according to the person familiar with the meeting.
The Noblesville campus, where Sunday’s meeting was held, has continued to be a hub of political activity since the arrest and sentencing of Jonathan Peternel. In February Beckwith and Turning Point USA hosted a State of the Union watch party with students at the church.
Since Jonathan Peternel’s arrest in October, former congregants and former members of Nathan Peternel’s youth groups have come forward with stories of Nathan Peternel regularly demanding they discuss sex with him. In a 2016 encounter, Peternel demanded to know how a 17-year-old girl and her fiancé pleasured themselves in the bedroom, something Peternel brushed aside in a private meeting last year but has yet to address publicly.
Beckwith and Peternel co-hosted a podcast entitled “Jesus, Sex and Politics” for four years, but stopped posting new episodes two days after the Peternels’ home was searched and their electronics seized by police. They also deleted two episodes of the podcast dealing with sex and sexual assault.
Throughout the closed-door meeting Sunday, congregants debated who should be held accountable for the mess inside the church, but there was no outright shouting or fighting during the meeting, the person familiar with the meeting said.
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The “Jesus, Sex and Politics” investigation:
Beckwith adviser was with son in September when police executed warrant in child porn case - 10/24/25
Beckwith adviser Peternel responds to son’s child porn charges in Sunday video - 10/26/25
AUDIO: Nathan Peternel church message on sex videos, son’s arrest - 10/31/25
Peternel pried teen girl about sex life in closed-door ‘counseling’, woman says - 11/6/25
Beckwith adviser’s son gets public defender as church scandal grows - 11/10/25
Peternel says he can’t be fired by church board - 11/19/25
Peternel says son hacked sex videos of him and wife while high - 12/7/25
Families flee embattled Life Church amid abuse reports, child porn arrest - 12/17/25
Indiana pastor Nathan Peternel regularly pried congregants about sex in pre-marital counseling - 12/22/25
Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith presses church to stop talking about embattled pastor Peternel - 1/2/26
Pastors resign from Life Church - 1/7/26
Jonathan Peternel pleads guilty to four felony counts of child exploitation, abuse - 1/16/26
Do pastor’s sex videos constitute porn violation? - 1/30/26
Peternel gets 6 years in child sex abuse case - 2/13/26
Nathan Peternel stepping aside after investigation deems sex videos wrong - 2/22/26
Third pastor leaves Life Church, head pastor schedules emergency meeting about bodycam footage - 4/13/26
Indiana deepfake porn scandal stories:
Topless deepfake video roils Indiana office, lawmaker’s wife targeted, per sources - 8/2/25
Indy prosecutor probes topless deepfake, Haggard blasts ‘pornographic smear’ of his wife - 8/5/25
BREAKING: Lt. Gov. spokesman quits amid deepfake probe - 8/7/25
Lawmaker whose wife was targeted launching Congressional bid - 8/11/25
Lt. Gov.’s office adopts new employee handbook, Gov. calls in Beckwith for meeting - 8/14/25
The Bible presents transparency as living in the light, marked by honesty, integrity, and the confession of sins, rather than hiding in fear. The same standards apply to leaders, especially those called and entrusted to lead the Church.
Given that this originally came to light in October 2025 followed by a 90-minute annual Church meeting to address questions on February 22 as well as a Life Church Family Meeting open to “anyone” on April 19 to address questions, exasperated, hurt, and confused church members and the public alike are *still* in the dark, with so many questions left unanswered. Is this at the heart of the three respected and beloved pastors who left? We don’t know, but can only speculate.
Pastor Mike Maleto posed the question prior to the last meeting, “How do we facilitate transparency? Because that’s what, it seems like the perception is it’s lacking, and we really don’t want that to be the case.”
As reported, Pastor Maleto had announced to Church members they would answer questions about the bodycam footage at the latest meeting, noting that “we don’t want you hearing things secondhand or wondering what’s going on. You’re family, and you deserve to hear from us directly.”
However, not being true to his word, Pastor Maleto said Sunday they would *not* take questions on that topic…
Luke 12:2-3 states, “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the light.” (Maybe you can hear Johnny Cash’s signature haunting deep baritone resonate in your soul with these words.)
Contrary to my criticism, I do not comment out of malice or judgement but concern. Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is *the* “Truth.” We need those called and responsible to teach about Jesus to be truthful. Out of love, I will kindly offer this reminder and warning to those leaders still at Life Church. James 3:1 states, "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." Mike, Micah, and Nathan, you *are* held to a higher standard. Come out of the darkness and into the light for your own Church members, and for yourselves…
Somehow, “oopsie” just seems like an inadequate response here. It’s not enough just to go after the few who are exposed (no pun intended), the system itself should be investigated to determine how this noxious cream was able to rise to the top (so to speak).