Southern Oregon homeless services nonprofit fires founder Chad McComas amid conversion therapy allegations

The founder of Rogue Retreat, which the source describes as the Rogue Valley’s largest homeless services organization, was fired this week by the Medford-based nonprofit’s board. The board told Pastor Chad McComas on Monday that he was being terminated, citing poor administrative and financial management.

McComas had been on administrative leave as the nonprofit’s executive director since mid-June. That leave followed allegations that conversion therapy practices were taking place at his church, Set Free Ministry in Medford. The claims came from several Southern Oregon activist groups, which alleged that McComas’s influence as founder of Rogue Retreat had led to discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community.

McComas said those allegations were disproven in an investigation by the City of Medford last month. He said he expected something was happening behind the scenes after Rogue Retreat did not act on the city’s report. Rogue Retreat has been conducting a separate, independent investigation into the allegations, but that investigation has not yet been released. Truth and fairness require that findings be weighed openly before conclusions are drawn (Proverbs 18:17).

McComas said that while he may have personal beliefs regarding the LGBTQ community, the allegations of conversion therapy or discrimination have not been proven. He also said he believes Rogue Retreat has faced threats from other nonprofits, which he claimed would pull funding unless he was fired. The source does not report evidence for that claim.

An online petition created Monday to support McComas and reinstate him at Rogue Retreat had gathered more than 150 signatures so far. McComas said he was hoping the board would keep him, describing him as the organization’s founder and the heart of its work. “They chose not to,” he said.

McComas is also concerned about what the firing could mean for homeless services in the region. Rogue Retreat provides a row of tents at Urban Campground in Grants Pass as temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Southern Oregon. “You can’t remove the founder and the heart and soul of an organization without it crumbling,” McComas said. “And right now it’s crumbling. We can say it’s cashflow issues but it’s more than that. It’s morale, it’s how oversight’s being done.”

Rogue Retreat named Development Director Matt Vorderstrasse as interim executive director in late July.

Source: Read the original report