RC Sproul Jr began his pastoral career when he moved to Meadowview, Virginia in 1996. There he founded The Highlands Study Center. Around the same time he also founded St. Peter Presbyterian Church. It all started as a study group in his home. The functions and activities of St. Peter and HSC were so intertwined it was difficult for anyone to determine where the one ended and the other began. This was also true of the finances, the two being routinely co-mingled, ultimately winding up in Sproul's back pocket. It's been alleged by some that because there was seldom any actual "study" or "students" at The Highlands Study Center (one of the few "student" exceptions being the serial pedophile Steven Sitler¹) the primary purpose of HSC was as a fundraising boondoggle for RC Jr. Indeed, Sproul profited handsomely off donations to HSC, and mostly just because of his name, or rather his father's name.

While pastoring St. Peter Presbyterian Church and heading up The Highlands Study Center (subsequently renamed Highlands Ministries), RC Sproul Jr was an advocate and proponent of the "infant training" methods taught by Gary Ezzo.  

On Becoming Babywise: More Than a Survival Guide, was published in 1993. RC Sproul Jr never subsequently renounced Gary Ezzo's teachings and, so, one might assume he supports them to this day.

Baby Wise gained popularity among authoritarian "full-quiver" homeschooling Christian Patriarchy leaders such as Bill Gothard, Michael Pearl, Doug Phillips, and RC Sproul Jr. Outside those circles, however, Gary Ezzo was widely condemned, especially among pediatricians and other baby experts.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warned against the book, stating that its advice could result in infant development problems such as dehydration, poor weight gain, slow growth, delayed development and failure to thrive, as well as lack of milk supply in the new mother and involuntary weaning of the infant. The Babywise series of books was observed to be in direct contradiction to the AAP's own policy statement, 'Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk,' which recommends 8–12 nursing sessions every 24 hours for newborns, feeding until the baby is sated. (On Becoming Baby Wise)

Gary Ezzo had no training in pediatrics, infant care, nursing, health care, or did he ever work in any capacity that could qualify him as having any baby expertise of any kind. His only alleged qualifications were as a "minister." Yet even in that he never completed any ministerial training, or obtained any ministerial credentials of any kind, nor did he ever pastor a church. In other words Gary Ezzo masqueraded as an expert when he had no expertise of any kind, let alone baby expertise.

As everyone who has ever had a baby knows, babies are a joy, but they can also prove quite inconvenient. For one thing babies can cost parents, and especially moms, lost sleep. The objective of Baby Wise is to eliminate those inconveniences and give parents a restful night's sleep. The program promises to have baby sleeping through the night within 8 weeks. Baby Wise also promised to keep babies "well-behaved" when out in public. Conditioning the baby in this way promises that as they grow into a toddler, an adolescent, and then a teenager, the child will remain docile, compliant and obedient. Given the challenges and difficult schedules of tending to little ones it's no wonder that what Gary Ezzo promised might be appealing to certain parents, especially those obsessed with control. However, the "training" comes at the emotional and psychological expense of the child. It's all about control through breaking the will of the child. In their view any form of willfulness is sinfulness.

Baby Wise ignores the fact that a baby's physical and emotional needs (eating, sleeping, diaper changes, comforting, etc.) often don't coincide with their parents' personal convenience. A developing child's sense of security comes from their parents. If the parents refuse to provide reassurance of security then that child is left with none.

There are multiple troubling aspects to Baby Wise, but two of the more disturbing are called "blanket training" and "self-comfort." Many critics of Baby Wise have characterized it as child abuse dressed up in religious rhetoric. What follows is the eye-witness account of how blanket training and self-comfort was carried out in RC Sproul Jr's home:

Ghirard Says:
December 30, 2013 at 11:08 am
We were there in the early years of St. Peter Presbyterian Church. RC would sometimes invite families to his home for a meal, not so much for the regular folks, but if you were big donors to the church and Highlands Study Center like we were. We saw at least three horrible things that night. The first was the “blanket training”. We’d never seen anything like it before and hope to never have to see it again. It involved RC placing his baby girl on a blanket and every time the baby crawled off the blanket RC would hit the baby with a wooden spoon. This happened repeatedly while we were in the living room with RC while Denise was in the kitchen making supper. All the baby was trying to do was get close to her siblings playing there in the living room. But RC just kept hitting her. RC explained that he was “breaking the will of the child.” He got his goal because the baby got exhausted from her own crying and fell asleep on the blanket. Not once did he ever comfort her after he hit her. He called it “self comforting” and explained that you shouldn’t comfort a crying child because children are manipulative and if you comfort them they’ll get the idea that they’re in charge.

The baby woke up about the same time as Denise called us to supper. RC laid the baby on her back on the blanket and put one of those baby gym entertainment things there over the baby for her to play with. While we were all at the dinner table the baby started screaming. Denise tried to go and comfort the baby but RC sternly told her, “Sit down Denise”. The baby screamed and screamed for the longest time. It was awful to have to listen to. Finally RC got up to check on the baby. He was very angry. Then we heard him say, “Oh, I see what’s wrong.” He came back and explained that the baby gym had fallen over onto her face and she couldn’t get it off her. The screams had been screams of terror, cries for help, but RC ignored them and stopped Denise from helping.

I don’t know what to call it but child abuse. He never comforted the baby and he wouldn’t allow Denise to either. Most people would look at the Sproul children and say, oh they’re so well behaved. If the only goal of blanket training and refusing to comfort your children is to get them to behave themselves then RC has done a great job as a father. I can’t believe that his children feel that their father loves them though. I’ve often thought about the severe psychological problems his children must suffer from today.

Ghirard's comment is backed up by an additional eye witness, "Lindt." In addition to the blanket training Ghirard and Lindt also speak of RC Sproul Jr spanking his first wife, Denise. This article will only address the blanket training (the wife spanking was previously addressed in an article by Spiritual Sounding Board. We may also address the wife spanking issue in a future article, but readers are welcome to comment on it themselves below).

Blanket training is sometimes called "playpen in a purse." In other words the "playpen" is a small blanket that mom can carry in her purse when she takes baby out in public. There are varying degrees of severity used to enforce the "boundaries" of the "playpen." Some of them are downright loony, but in our opinion it's all child abuse. It starts with placing baby on a small blanket on the floor, verbally threatening baby while hitting the floor with a wooden kitchen spoon and yelling, "Stay on the blanket!" This communicates baby's "boundaries." After initial success in blanket training your baby you take it to the next level by tempting baby off the blanket with a treat or toy. When baby crawls for the toy you yell "No!" Threats, yelling and tempting is the tamer version of blanket training. With RC Jr and many other practitioners of blanket training they go immediately to smacking baby with the wooden kitchen spoon when baby crawls off the blanket.

Baby Wise also teaches "self-comfort." What this entails is anytime baby cries you don't pick baby up and comfort it. You just let baby cry and cry until it stops crying, usually falling asleep from exhaustion. You do the same if baby wakes up in the middle of the night crying, whether it be from hunger, needing a diaper change, or otherwise. You just ignore baby and let baby cry themselves back to sleep. "Self-comfort" wasn't invented by RC Jr but he was one of its Baby Wise practitioners. Self-comfort has also been routinely practiced by many other Gary Ezzo devotees.

On a purely practical level the blanket training and self-comfort "worked" for RC Sproul Jr. Any casual observer would look at RC Jr's children and see they were "good kids." Always well behaved, quiet, obedient and submissive. He was proud about how his well-behaved children made him look good in public. When other parents would comment and ask what he'd done to train them to be so well-behaved he'd let them know about Baby Wise. But all that "training" came at the expense of having their wills broken from the time they were babies. It's hard to imagine that any baby subjected to such emotional and physical abuse wouldn't be deeply traumatized by it.
In our view blanket training and self-comfort are, plainly put, child abuse. RC Sproul Jr has never repented to his children for physically and psychologically abusing them. Nor has RC Jr repented to the parents whom he instructed and encouraged, both in word and by his example, to likewise perpetrate blanket training and self-comfort against their own babies. It stands to reason that RC Jr hasn't repented of it because he has no remorse for it. That assumption seems all the more valid in light of recent allegations that RC Jr continues abusing his children.

In March of this year RC Sproul Jr and wife Lisa Sproul were publicly accused by Lisa's daughter of physical, verbal and emotional abuse against Sproul's three minor children:

Sarah Michelle Kelley "I am Lisa's second oldest daughter. They are currently under investigation with the Department of Child Services as well right now... trust me- there will be legal action... They are very physically abusive, and even more verbally/emotionally abusive. We have encouraged as many people as possible to please call the child abuse hotline , and we will not stop until alI 3 children in the home are gone.  * this is all coming from them, and we are their voices"

Sarah Kelley is the same daughter that also outed RC Jr for taking her mother's opioids, allegedly popping some the same night that he'd been arrested for drunk driving. He blew a .175 on the breathalyzer (more than twice the legal limit). But for a chronic daily abuser of alcohol like Sproul, even this high level doesn't account for the magnitude of his inebriated condition, as described in the police report. It seemed as though he was far more drunk than a .175 BAC would account for. Had the police drawn blood and checked for drugs they would have discover that RC Jr was also stoned on opioids.

In addition to the current allegations of child abuse going on in the Sproul home, RC Jr and Lisa are guilty of perpetrating another form of child abuse -- family alienation. RC Jr has cut himself off from all his adult children, all of whom are happily married with children of their own. This means he's also cut himself off from his own grandchildren, and this with his wife's encouragement. They also forbid any contact between RC's minor children and their older siblings, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, or other relatives (the comment thread in one of our previous articles prompted a great deal of discussion about that). 

Immediately prior to the release of RC Jr's latest book, his daughter Darby Sproul Stouffer posted the following on her Facebook:

 "This book is coming out in May. Please do not buy it. My father (RC Jr) is an unrepentant abusive narcissist who is estranged from everyone who used to be his friend and even all of his family outside of his wife and minor children. Just wanted to give a general heads up. Feel free to let others know as well if they mention being interested in it. There is so much more info than just what I’ve shared here, I’m just trying to be concise." 

All of RC Jr's adult children are members in good standing of Reformed Presbyterian churches. Considering all the trauma and abuse they're been subjected to they've remained remarkably restrained in their comments about their disgraced father. But the little they have said is troubling, and it's also consistent with other reports.

Family alienation, even among Christians, though tragic, isn't uncommon. Were RC Sproul Jr merely your average church member and his vocation was an insurance salesman, a realtor, a used car salesman, etc. none of this would be worthy of blogging about. But RC Jr is far more than that. He holds himself out to be a "Pastor" and "Rev." He's therefore placed himself under a "stricter judgment" (James 3:1). How did he become a pastor? He declared it to be so. Oh, and his wife Lisa agrees with him about that. RC Sproul Jr fails every single biblical test for being a pastor (Titus 1:5-9, 1 Tim. 3:1-7, 1 Peter 5:1-4). Let's just take one of them: he "Must manage his own household well" (1 Tim. 3:4). Why is that important? "For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?" (1 Tim 3:5)

It should, therefore, surprise no one that RC Jr managed his church, both before and after his defrocking, in very much the same way as he managed his household -- abusively and autocratically. Over a ten year period he routinely threatened members with "discipline." Everyone understood that meant excommunication and shunning, and it could happen for nothing more than leaving his church and joining another church without his permission. The problem is he made it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to obtain that permission. St. Peter Presbyterian Church was routinely referred to as a "cult" by other churches in the area. It was also called "The Hotel California" -- you can check in anytime you want, but you can never leave.

By 2006 RC Jr's abusiveness caught up with him. Formal ecclesiastical charges were submitted against him to his Presbytery by multiple former members. An investigation was made and resulted in his being defrocked from the ministry for spiritual abuse, tax ID fraud, identity theft, financial malfeasance and duplicity.

"The  consistent  pattern  of  actions  taken  by  these  men  are  duplicitous in nature, and demonstrate that they willingly and knowingly act in an arbitrary fashion in violation of their vows of ordination and in violation of our denomination’s Book of Church Order. Most importantly, their actions manifest that  they  lack  the  qualification  for  the  ministry  (1Timothy  3:1-7).  It  would  be  unwise to allow these men to continue to hold an office for which they are not qualified." Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly Declaratory Judgement

RC Sproul Jr, and his three yes-men elders, were deemed unfit and biblically disqualified for ministry in 2006. In more than a decade since that time has anything transpired demonstrating that RC Jr has become biblically qualified for ministry? Hardly! In fact RC Jr has only gone from bad to worse. In addition to his Ashley Madison adultery hook-up scandal, he was arrested and criminally convicted for felony drunk driving (with two minor children in the car, no less!).

RC Jr's 2006 defrocking proved that he uses confession and repentance for personal advancement and to play the victim. He never repented to any of the families he'd threatened and abused. Any "confessions" he offered up were shams intended to convince his denomination to release him from their jurisdiction and avoid further investigation and an impending ecclesiastical trial. His Ashley Madison "confession" a decade later proved he still doesn't comprehend confession and repentance. He's still playing the victim, and he's still telling lie upon lie to justify himself.

From all the evidence of his life it would seem RC Sproul Jr is devoid of a conscience. Our earnest prayer is that RC Jr will come to experience the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in his life. His heart needs to be broken and softened so he can confess and repent to the many people he has bullied, abused, harmed and injured, starting with his own children. Then he needs to repent to the dozens of families that he spiritually abused and bullied as a "pastor" both before and after he was defrocked.

Lastly RC Jr needs to come to his senses, cease masquerading as "Pastor" and "Rev" and seek honest employment for which he isn't biblically disqualified. We'll continue doing what we can through our reporting to dissuade him from his misguided ministry pursuits. However, we're not hopeful of a happy outcome. We know RC Jr to be an exceedingly proud and stubborn man. However, at the very least, Christians need to be informed that it would be imprudent of them to lend their support to RC Sproul Jr in any way, shape or manner. Our readers are encouraged to assist in that effort, as well as engage in further discussion, by linking this article, or any of our other articles, in their blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media accounts.


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¹The Steven Sitler pedophile scandal, and RC Sproul Jr's direct involvement in it, is just another example of RC Jr's gross incompetence, selfishness, and total lack of regard for his responsibilities as a father and a pastor. Space doesn't permit delving into it here. However should we deem it needful we may publish an expose´ on that topic in the future.