Second Unlicensed Christian Boarding School in Cedar County, Missouri, Closes, Citing Health Reasons

Another unlicensed Christian boarding school in southwest Missouri has closed, the second in Cedar County to be shuttered, The Star has learned. Wings of Faith Academy, which described itself as a school for “troubled girls” and had operated northwest of Stockton for 18 years, notified the Missouri Department of Social Services of its closure in a letter dated June 2, according to Caitlin Whaley, DSS director of policy and communication.

The letter, signed by Debbie Martin, who ran the school with her husband, Percy “Bud” Martin, said: “Due to health reasons, the administrators are no longer able to operate the school.” It added that “All students have withdrawn and gone back to their parents as of May 31, 2022.” Calls to the school’s phone number that week were not returned. Its website said it “is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance,” the last post on its Facebook page was dated May 30, and the phone number listed on the letter had been disconnected.

The school is the second of four unlicensed boarding schools in Cedar County to cease operations. In late 2020, Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville closed after authorities removed the students amid an investigation into abuse allegations. Wings of Faith is considered a sister school to Agape Boarding School, which has been under scrutiny for nearly two years following allegations of abuse. The two schools were closely connected: the girls attended church services at Agape, and Agape founder James Clemensen was listed in Refuge of Grace’s corporation documents as vice president of the board. Clemensen died in October.

The school began in the 1990s as Refuge Independent Baptist Girls Academy in Clinton, Tennessee, and operated under several names in several locations. The Martins later moved to at least two other states, then to Stockton in 2004, where they opened Refuge of Grace Academy. They later renamed it Wings of Faith Academy. In a 2004 interview with the Bolivar Herald-Free Press, Bud Martin said they had decided to move to Stockton after friends at their Michigan church told them about Agape.

The closure comes as religious boarding schools in Missouri, which for nearly four decades were exempt from state oversight, have faced increased scrutiny. Prompted by stories of abuse at several of the state’s unlicensed boarding schools, the General Assembly passed a measure the previous year that for the first time gave the state oversight of these facilities. Authorities also investigated abuse allegations at Agape, and in September five Agape staffers were charged with assaulting students. Earlier that year, the attorney general filed nearly 100 felony counts against Circle of Hope owners Boyd and Stephanie Householder, alleging statutory rape, sodomy, physical abuse and neglect. Those counts are charges, not findings of guilt.

Authorities interviewed students at Wings of Faith during their investigation of Agape but, according to sources who spoke to The Star, found no evidence of abuse there. DSS told The Star the previous year that Wings of Faith had no substantiated reports of abuse or neglect. Most recently, fewer than 20 girls were attending the school, which had an annual budget of $734,122 in 2019, according to the most recent tax return available. Tuition was $3,200 a month, with enrollment and “startup fees” of $3,400 due on arrival.

In 2020, Wings of Faith received $65,000 in lender-approved loans under the federal Paycheck Protection Program’s first round of COVID relief. The school said the loan would go toward payroll for 14 employees, and records show all but about $10,000 of it was forgiven. The school’s parent handbook set out rules, including that “All incoming and outgoing mail is read,” and that discipline could include “Essays, standing against the wall, jumping jacks, running, memorization, and work details.” The handbook added, “We do not spank.”

Aimee Groves, who was among the first students when the school opened near Stockton as Refuge of Grace, said of the closure: “When I found out, it was just like a burden lifted off of me. It was like a dream come true. All I could picture was that they can’t do this to any other girls now.” Groves had been sent to the school in May 2004, after her boarding school, Mountain Park Baptist Boarding Academy near Patterson, Missouri, was shuttered following years of abuse allegations, multiple lawsuits and a 1996 murder.

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