Controversial NAR Apostle, Rod Parsley, leader of World Harvest Church, has been exposed for spiritual abuse once again. Shaden Degen shares her experience.
In this explosive interview, Shaden Degan — daughter of former World Harvest Church (WHC) music ministers Chris and Yolanda Degan — courageously exposes a long history of spiritual abuse, manipulation, racism, and cover-ups under the leadership of Rod Parsley and his daughter Ashton Parsley at WHC, Harvest Preparatory School (HPS), and Valor Christian College.
Shaden, who spent over seven years deeply embedded in the WHC system — as a student, worker, and front-facing member of the church’s music and media ministries — shares firsthand experiences of toxic leadership, educational neglect, and emotional and spiritual control. She details how her family went from being trusted “golden children” to being blacklisted and humiliated after withdrawing their children from the failing HPS.
Watch the interview here. Below is a summary of the video with relevant points and time stamps.
In this bold and emotional episode, we speak with Shaden Degen, who spent over 7 years watching her family serve faithfully under the leadership of The Parsley’s-only to be chewed up, discarded, and offered a $1000 NDA to stay silent, which she refused.
She opens up about the abuse her parents endured as music ministers, the racism and weight-shaming she witnessed, and the devastating impact of attending a so-called Christian school that left her and her siblings two years behind. Once embraced by the church, she was later fired, and her and her family were ostracized and erased by the very people who claimed to be their spiritual leaders and friends.
If you’ve ever been spiritually manipulated, gaslit by church leadership, or told to protect the “ministry” at the cost of your soul-this episode is your wake-up call! Share this episode. Talk about it. Name the abuse. And NEVER be afraid to stand for truth-NO MATTER THE COST!
Source: Mega Maniacs (@MegaManiacs), Attempted Silence for $1000: Shaden Degen’s Experience of Church Abuse, Betrayal, and Breaking Free, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEicutn5rb0, YouTube, Uploaded May 28, 2025. (Accessed May 30, 2025.)
SUMMARY:
From day one, Shaden observed a corrupt spiritual environment that presented a false sense or Charismatic spirituality. The supposed Christian school was plagued by open drug use, sexual activity, verbal abuse, and academic incompetence. Education was so deficient that Shaden and her siblings had to undergo significant remedial work to catch up in other institutions, and one sibling was denied grade progression due to academic delays.
Shaden’s testimony also reveals systemic racism and elitism. She recounts multiple occasions when her father was forced to move Black or older singers offstage to maintain a “visually acceptable” racial balance for televised broadcasts, all under direct orders from Rod Parsley.
“When you work for the Parsleys, they don’t do anything directly. They are never to be perceived as the bad guy. And so – they give a directive. And you do it. You can’t say the one they’re the ones who gave the directive. I watched my dad constantly forced to deliver extremely hurtful decisions, trying his best to say them in a kind way. He was made to move frontline members because of their weight, because of their skin color, because of their age. It- if say that there were eight singers, four white and four African-American, my dad was told by PRP that it was ‘off-balance’ and we needed more white people.”
Valor Christian College, where Shaden graduated co-valedictorian, offered no academic scholarships, and her accomplishments were intentionally ignored due to the Parsleys’ spite. Work-study students were reportedly treated as unpaid laborers, forced to do demeaning tasks for Ashton, including delivering alcohol and clearing beer bottles from her garage.
Ashton Parsley — daughter of Rod Parsley and student pastor in title only — was said to live a party lifestyle, never participating in chapel, spiritual mentorship, or leadership, and was allegedly caught on camera using cocaine.
Staff were routinely berated in public and private, with Rod Parsley screaming obscenities, rebuking people from the stage, and even firing a gun during a staff meeting.
“My dad was there in that meeting where the gun — where Rod shot the gun off… He was thankful Miss Lisa called in sick that day because if not she could have been injured — the bullet fell in the chair right where she would have been sitting.”
Tuesday staff meetings were so abusive that people vomited on the way to work or faked illnesses to avoid attendance.
“My dad would just be real quiet on Monday night because he knew… he was just dreading… what would happen Tuesday morning.”
“I know of an ex-Marine who would throw up on Tuesday mornings just because of how awful the meetings were and how much he dreaded it.”
Shaden also reveals how the church manipulated and controlled people through fear, surveilling former staff by driving church vans past their homes, banning staff from interacting with “exiles,” and forcing them to unfriend people on social media. Even staff clothing and personal friendships were tightly monitored and used as grounds for public rebuke or termination.
Her own dismissal came with a demand to sign a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for a week’s pay. Shaden refused. She concludes the interview by acknowledging the trauma but affirming that God’s unchanging faithfulness, the support of her family, and a biblical foundation have sustained her.
RELEVANT TIMESTAMPS
50:01 – Rod Parsley fired a live gun inside a staff meeting, nearly striking a staff member who had called in sick that day.
1:03:30 – Rod Parsley routinely screamed at staff during meetings and services, leading to widespread fear and emotional trauma.
49:01 – Tuesday staff meetings caused severe psychological distress, including vomiting and panic attacks among staff.
1:22:00 – Shaden’s father was forced to move Black or elderly singers off stage to create a “better” racial appearance on camera.
1:24:03 – Black guest artists were only brought in at Ashton’s discretion, never Rod’s, reinforcing racial tokenism.
38:00 – Ashton Parsley never attended chapel or counseled students as a student pastor yet enforced absurd spiritual authority.
42:39 – Ashton was allegedly filmed using cocaine; her parents were informed but dismissed the evidence.
38:48 – Valor work-study students were used as personal servants, retrieving beer and food for Ashton and cleaning her garage.
47:03 – Shaden was asked to sign fake autographs on books and letters marketed as personally signed by Rod Parsley.
1:38:30 – The church used non-disclosure agreements and hush money to silence Shaden Degen and countless others.
57:48 – Families who left the church were stalked, with church vans driving by their homes as intimidation tactics.
55:30 – Staff were told not to speak to or associate with former employees, treating them as demon-possessed.
27:22 – Valor College offered no academic scholarships, yet bragged about scholarships from the high school to appear generous.
1:32:12 – Guest singers could violate modesty rules freely, while staff like Shaden were publicly rebuked for imagined infractions.
1:06:49 – Rod Parsley cancelled his Christmas Eve service mid-event because of poor attendance, blaming it on ‘technical difficulties’.
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“Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?” Galatians 4:16
Categories: New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), World Harvest Church