Community Chapel and Bible Training Center was an independent religious organization founded in 1967 in Burien, Washington. The church originated from a home Bible study led by Donald Lee Barnett, who had completed two years of education at a Pentecostal Bible college. The study began after Barnett’s wife, Barbara, met a Lutheran couple through her work with the Burien Welcome Wagon and invited them to attend Pentecostal meetings.
As participation increased, the group formally incorporated and later acquired substantial land in Burien. These holdings included a sanctuary, a Bible training center, elementary and secondary schools, and a recording studio.
In its early years, church services reflected standard Pentecostal practices, including speaking in tongues, spontaneous prophecies, and musical worship centered on simple, repetitive choruses. Services were often highly emotional in tone. By the mid-1970s, the church reported more than 150 outreach ministries.
In 1979, a major organizational change occurred when the articles of incorporation were rewritten. Authority was consolidated into a four-member board chaired by Barnett. Outside observers described this restructuring as increasing centralized control over church governance.
Following this shift, the church adopted a series of behavioral and dietary rules. Members were encouraged to report one another’s perceived faults through a program known as “Operation Rescue.” Dietary restrictions prohibiting pork and shellfish were introduced based on Barnett’s interpretation of Old Testament law.
Traditional holidays such as Christmas and Easter were discouraged as secular. Barnett also exercised oversight over personal matters, including requiring that his wife be informed of members’ marriage engagements. Expressions of negativity or disagreement were often attributed to demonic influence.
During this period, the church’s theology also changed. Barnett began teaching a form of Oneness Pentecostalism that rejected the doctrine of the Trinity. This resulted in a break with other local charismatic leaders who viewed the teachings as unorthodox.
At the same time, the church introduced several practices described as “spiritual fads.” These included the “white room experience,” described as a state of intimacy with God, and “spiritual surgery,” in which members submitted to God for inner healing. While intended to deepen spiritual experience, these practices created uncertainty among some members.
In the early 1980s, Barnett introduced a practice known as “dancing before the Lord.” By 1985, this evolved into a doctrine called “spiritual connections,” which became the most controversial practice associated with the church.
Members were instructed to identify a “connection,” typically a member of the opposite sex who was not their spouse, and engage in prolonged eye contact while dancing. Barnett taught that participants were seeing Jesus in one another.
These interactions frequently involved close physical contact, including hugging, kissing, and fondling. Barnett maintained that such behavior was spiritual rather than sexual and was intended to reduce inhibitions and strengthen unity within the congregation.
The spiritual connections practice led to significant personal and social consequences. Marital conflict became common, as spouses were encouraged to “release” their partners to their connections to overcome what were described as demons of jealousy.
Critics and former members attributed hundreds of divorces, separations, and instances of emotional distress to the practice. In response to rising concerns, the church established a counseling center to assist members experiencing suicidal thoughts.
Later reports alleged that the counseling center also advised secret abortions to conceal pregnancies resulting from spiritual connections. The Christian Research Institute eventually classified the church as a cult, citing doctrinal deviations and harmful social practices.
By 1986, the church faced escalating legal challenges. Carol Gabrielson filed a civil lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct and related damages stemming from the spiritual connections doctrine. After a jury trial, she was awarded $130,000.
Numerous additional lawsuits followed, including claims of ministerial malpractice and emotional distress. These pressures were compounded by a tragic event in March 1986, when a church member drowned her five-year-old daughter in a motel bathtub, stating she believed she was saving the child from demons.
The woman was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Internal divisions intensified by 1988. Senior elders, citing Barnett’s continued private interactions with women and the growing legal exposure, moved to remove him from leadership. They initiated dissolution proceedings and amended the bylaws to revoke his lifetime appointment.
Barnett challenged these actions in court, arguing that his removal was invalid because it occurred without his presence or approval. During this period, a large portion of the congregation departed.
Some members continued to follow Barnett to services held in a rented room above a bowling alley.
After losing control of the Burien property, Barnett established a new organization in Renton, Washington, known as the Church of Agape. He continued teaching and practicing spiritual connections into the 1990s.
Meanwhile, the original Community Chapel and Bible Training Center, deprived of its founder and its peak membership of more than 3,000, experienced a rapid decline and eventually ceased to exist in its original form.
Key Sources:
Anderson, S. (1998). Angels can fall. Winepress Pub.
Barnett, B. (1996). The truth shall set you free: Confessions of a Pastor’s Wife.
King, M. (1988, April 19). Barnett Loses Bid to Escape Lawsuit. The Seattle Times.
Lilly, D. (1988, March 7). Pastor Plans Court Challenge of Ouster. The Seattle Times.
Overland, N. (1988, May 9). Disconnecting from a Church: Battered Christians search for life after Barnett. Valley Daily News.
Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements 