State agencies withdraw GI Bill funding for House of Prayer Christian Church seminaries

Multiple state approving agencies have withdrawn GI Bill program approval for seminaries connected to the House of Prayer Christian Church, which was raided by the FBI in June.

Veteran advocates allege the schools swindled bible seminary students out of millions of dollars of veterans benefits.

The House of Prayer Christian Church, which is headquartered in Hinesville, Georgia, operates bible seminaries outside of military bases in Hinesville; Augusta, Georgia; Tacoma, Washington; Killeen, Texas; Fayetteville, North Carolina; and, San Diego, California, according to incorporation papers from the secretary of state offices in those states.

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Exploiting members of the military

The USA Today Network previously reported that Veterans Education Success, an advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., asked the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Georgia Veterans Service to investigate alleged abuses of the GI Bill program by House of Prayer.

The organization alleged the church preyed on enlisted soldiers by encouraging them to spend their GI Bill on an unaccredited seminary program with graduation requirements that frequently changed, delaying graduation.

Veterans also alleged House of Prayer "deceives the VA during inspections and targets veterans in order to access GI Bill funding, VA disability compensation, and VA home loans," according to the organization's 11-page letter to the VA and Georgia State Approving Agency.

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State approving agencies make the call on which schools get access to GI Bill funding.

The North Carolina State Approving withdrew program approval in January and multiple other state approving agencies followed suit after the FBI raid.

The Georgia SAA withdrew program approval effective June 27. The Texas SAA withdrew the House of Prayer Bible Seminary’s program on July 21. The Washington SAA followed on Aug. 1, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

"If they find out something is going on, they either suspend them or potentially strip them of access," said William Hubbard, vice president for veterans and military policy for Veterans Education Success. "Suspension, in and of itself, is actually a pretty big step because that cuts them off from getting new enrollments. They definitely don't take that decision lightly."

Since Veterans Education Success's report came out, the organization estimates more than $7 million dollars has gone to the schools in the form of the housing allowance and tuition fees, according to Hubbard. About half of that total amount, $3.5 million, has gone directly to the school.

Things that might lead to an SAA stripping access to GI Bill funding include fraud, committing a federal offense, or student complaints, Hubbard said.

"A lot of student complaints might trigger the state approving agency to go into that school and review their programs, look at their paperwork and do an on-site inspection," he said. "If the findings are derogatory, then they could potentially make the choice to suspend or restrict access... It doesn't surprise me at all that they eventually lost access, certainly based on the litany of issues at the school."

What we know about the FBI raid

FBI agents executed federal search warrants at numerous seminaries affiliated with House of Prayer on June 23.

The churches don't advertise their relationships with one another, but business registration documents reveal their connection, which begins with the church's founder.

The HOPCC, as its current and former members refer to it, began in 2003 when Rony Denis, who served as a minister at another church, recruited approximately 15 fellow ministers from across the country to leave that church and join him, said former church member and pastor Arlen Bradeen.

Denis founded the House of Prayer Christian Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 2004 and moved the organization's headquarters to Hinesville, Georgia, soon after, according to Louisiana and Georgia Secretary of State documents.

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When Veterans Education Success initially looked into the House of Prayer Christian Church two years ago, Hubbard said it received an alarming number of complaints.

"Most of the schools that we keep an eye on, we don't typically refer to the FBI because most of the conduct is not necessarily criminal in nature," he said. "You know – immoral, unethical, potentially fraudulent, but not necessarily beyond the scope of the VA. In this case, though, some of what we had been hearing definitely warranted a referral to the FBI because we're talking mortgage fraud, potential human trafficking, and a lot of other things that are definitely beyond what VA would look at."

FBI spokespeople declined to disclose the reason for the searches, but confirmed no arrests followed the raids.

Open records requests submitted to the Department of Justice and the FBI have been rejected.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: House of Prayer bible schools: State agencies strip GI Bill funding