This is not just a story about a soccer club losing a field. It is a story about a 20-year pattern of financial predation, institutional cover-ups, and the exploitation of community trust by Crossroads Christian Church in Corona. To understand why FC Riverside County is currently homeless, you must understand the machine we were dealing with. We were not an isolated business dispute; we were the latest target in a system that has historically prioritized “optics” and revenue over people.
1. The Origin: Barry McMurtrie and the $50 Million Ponzi Scheme
The culture of financial exploitation at Crossroads did not begin with us. It began two decades ago under the leadership of Senior Pastor Barry McMurtrie.
- The “JTL” Ponzi Scheme: In the early 2000s, Crossroads served as the operational incubator for JTL Financial (“Just The Lord”), a massive fraud orchestrated by choir member Randall W. Harding.
- The Pastoral Voucher: Harding didn’t act alone. Senior leadership “vouched” for him, encouraging the congregation to invest life savings into what they believed was a God-ordained opportunity.
- The 12% Kickback: Forensic analysis reveals that JTL took a 12% commission on funds raised. The church acted as a high-performing “sales office” for a regional criminal syndicate that defrauded families out of an estimated $50 million.
- The Aftermath: When the scheme collapsed, McMurtrie left the church in 2007, right as the financial reality set in. He left behind an institution that was “bleeding $50,000 a week” and on the brink of foreclosure. He walked away from the ruin; the congregation was left to pay the bill.
2. The Whitewash: The Election & The Memorial (November 2024)
The hostility we face today began over a year ago. On November 7, 2024—two days after the presidential election—the church released a video titled “How Should You Respond To The 2024 Election?”
In this video, current leadership honored Barry McMurtrie, who had passed away that week. Current Pastor Chuck Booher called him a “friend,” and Doug Husen spoke highly of him on a different video. By honoring McMurtrie in the context of a political victory, they “spiritualized” his history. They effectively whitewashed the era of the Ponzi scheme, signaling that the “Founding Father” era was now merged with a new, emboldened political era. This consolidation of power led directly to the “Black Christmas” eviction we are experiencing now.
3. The Trap: How They Targeted FC Riverside County
We are a premium R&D organization operating with a highly capitalized business model. While competitors rely on city-subsidized fields, we paid rent 10 times higher than the local market standard.
- The Lie of “Exclusive Access”: We were promised top-to-bottom exclusivity by Galen Thomas (Executive Pastor), Kelli Crawford (Director of Campus Operations), and Chris Scott (Athletic Director).
- The Sabotage of Visibility: Our visibility was already compromised by city ordinances that prevented us from placing signage out front. Crossroads exacerbated this situation by installing “sponsorship” banners in the direct line of sight of cars passing on Ontario Avenue. By leveraging the city’s restrictions against us, they successfully camouflaged our operation from the public.
- The Loan Trap: Crossroads hosted events on our contracted days without notice. This didn’t just cost us revenue; it forced us to pay our staff for a full week just to clean up the mess, process credits, and apologize to parents. When I raised concerns, Kelli Crawford explicitly advised me to take out loans to bridge the gap. I was essentially financing their breach of contract.
4. The Culture of Disrespect
The betrayal was personal. While we paid a premium, our property was treated as communal goods for the church “elite.” Specifically, the McDaniel family repeatedly used our professional-grade nets and equipment despite explicit instructions that these were for FC Riverside County use only.
On a personal level, I faced pointed disrespect from Pastor Steve, who refused to shake my hand on multiple occasions. As a Hispanic business owner, I see the same patterns repeating: Crossroads hosts a Spanish church, yet treats Hispanic partners as second-class tenants.
5. The Volunteer Industrial Complex & The Culture of Silence
For a long time, I stayed silent because I was caught in a cycle of spiritual manipulation. Crossroads operates on what is effectively a “Volunteer Industrial Complex”—a system that extracts massive amounts of free labor from the congregation under the guise of “service” to sustain its corporate-level overhead. This system allowed the church to maintain a high-profit, low-overhead operation while simultaneously extracting premium rent from local partners like me.
Because I was integrated into the community—seeing the mission trips and the polished presentations—I was made to feel that to question the leadership was to question God Himself. This environment creates a powerful Culture of Silence. They used my faith to control me, framing my attempts to protect my business as a spiritual failing.
When the city began blocking our field access and I reached out for help, the “system” moved to isolate me:
- The Ghosting: I sent desperate, heartfelt emails to Chuck Booher and Craig Olson. Olson initially promised support before suddenly disappearing; Booher never responded at all.
- The Gatekeeper: Instead of support, I was funneled into a meeting with Galen Thomas. He instructed me to speak only to him, effectively cutting off my access to the rest of the leadership. It was a bureaucratic dead-end designed to keep me quiet while they continued to collect our premium rent.
6. Performative Art: The Jester’s Strategy
For the last three months, my “jester-like” behavior was a calculated performative art piece and a tactical protest. Recognizing that Crossroads used my face and the success of FC Riverside County as a marketing tool to recruit and project an image of “partnership,” I adopted the persona of the “Fool” to intentionally devalue my image as a church asset. By acting out this role, I made myself toxic to their brand, ensuring they could no longer use my story for recruitment while my team quietly built the infrastructure for our independence.
Moving Forward: A New Era
We are done fighting for a seat at a table where we are not respected. We have restructured:
- ratedBuildR Media: To tell our stories and bypass gatekeepers.
- ratedBuildR Construction: To build our own private park.
Our Ask: We have lost tens of thousands of dollars. We are launching a GoFundMe and accepting support via Zelle (951) 310-4165. We are against Christian Nationalism, but we love Christians. We share this so you can make smarter decisions about where you place your trust and your tithes.
FC Riverside County will survive. We will build our own fields. And we will never let anyone silence us again.
