Freedom Church Vero Beach — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Richard Demsick (returned October 2023 after May 2023 resignation)

Founded Verify

Denomination SBC (disfellowshipped)

Service Times Sunday Worship 9:30am; Wednesday 6:30pm — verify times on website

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website freedomchurchverobeach.com/

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

Generic Baptist confession; no specific concerns documented but unverified.

Caution

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Baptist Faith & Message background; no specific concerns documented but unverified.

Caution

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

No verified men's ministry data on the public site.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Generic Baptist; not the documented drift point.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

Not the primary drift cause, but church operating outside SBC accountability since Feb 2023 disfellowshipment.

Not the primary drift trigger; classed BLACK for abuse-cooperation failure + restoration of disqualified senior pastor (per BF&M 2000 Article VI pastor-qualification standards).

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Senior pastor Richard Demsick admitted pattern of sexual misconduct with women under his pastoral care/supervision (per Florida Baptist Convention statement); resigned May 2023 then returned to the pulpit October 2023.

WARNING!

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Pulpit currently filled by a pastor who admitted misconduct with congregants under his care.

WARNING!

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Operating outside SBC cooperative program as of Feb 2023.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Florida Baptist Convention and Treasure Coast Baptist Association both disfellowshipped the church; SBC EC sustained Feb 2023 by 96.46% messenger vote.

WARNING!

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

Disfellowshipped from SBC, FL Baptist Convention, and Treasure Coast Baptist Association.

WARNING!

Assessment

Freedom Church Vero Beach was disfellowshipped by the SBC Executive Committee in February 2023 for failing to cooperate with an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against then-senior-pastor Richard Demsick. Demsick admitted (per the Florida Baptist Convention's public statement) to a pattern of sexual misconduct with women who were under his pastoral care and supervision. He resigned in May 2023 but returned to the Freedom Church pulpit in October 2023 — the church's restoration of a disqualified senior pastor is itself a documented post-2020 SBC drift signal beyond the abuse-cooperation failure that triggered the original disfellowshipment.

#sbc#drift#credentials-committee-referral#disfellowshipped#abuse-cover-up#restored-disqualified-pastor#fl#vero-beach#needs-review

MOOP Engagement Tracker

How this church was personally verified by the MOOP directory team:

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Disfellowshipment documented by SBC Executive Committee, Florida Baptist Convention, and Treasure Coast Baptist Association. Pastor Demsick's restoration October 2023 is documented in Evangelical Dark Web reporting. Address verified from church website homepage and Yelp current listing.

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Live source freedomchurchverobeach.com
[2] Live source baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/freedom-church-to-…
[3] Live source brnow.org/news/freedom-church-to-appeal-executive-committ…
[4] Live source baptistnews.com/article/southern-baptist-convention-ousts…
[5] Live source evangelicaldarkweb.org/2023/11/26/church-disfellowshipped…
[6] Live source flbaptist.org

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.