Parishioners Attend Trial to Back Pastor Accused of Bilking Woman

A Nazarene minister from Westminster who is accused in a civil trial by one of his former parishioners of bilking her out of $100,000 brought 30 parishioners to court with him Monday in a show of support.

The Rev. Marion McCandless, who according to court documents and testimony has accumulated assets of $3.7 million by way of real estate ventures, said his reputation has been ruined by the case.

“We know him and love him; we know he’s too honest to do anything like this,” said Evelyn Vincent, one of the parishioners at the Westminster Community Church of the Nazarene. McCandless has been the pastor there for 28 years.

But the attorney for Sara Battenschlag, 49, who gave McCandless the money last year before she went into surgery, said the trial could have been avoided if the minister had just given the money back.

McCandless has said that at her request, he invested her money in three separate partnerships. After her surgery, members of her family kept asking for the money, but he could never speak to her directly, he said.

His attorney, Michael F. Smith, told jurors in closing arguments Monday at the one-week trial that if Battenschlag wants the money instead of the investment, the money is waiting in a trust and can be sent back to her immediately.

But Battenschlag’s lawyer, Steven A. Silverstein, said that her money was never invested and that McCandless “got caught, and now he’s trying to weasel his way out.”

Battenschlag, who had lived in Huntington Beach, had saved the money from a 1983 settlement resulting from a car accident in which she was seriously injured. She and the minister agreed that she should invest the money.

McCandless’ attorney told jurors that the trial was “unfortunate” but that his client had not tried to defraud anybody. Smith said that McCandless had only followed Battenschlag’s instructions.

But Silverstein said his client would have been willing to settle three weeks ago at a court conference if McCandless had just given back the $100,000, plus legal fees and interest for the 1 1/2 years during which he had held the money. Now Battenschlag is seeking general and punitive damages that could cost the minister much more.

Silverstein’s closing argument brought hisses and titters from many of the 30 parishioners. He gave them a cold stare at one point and asked the jurors: “Where were they when it was time to testify if they had something to say?”

The courtroom was filled with tension as both sides milled around, hoping for a verdict. The jury will resume deliberations today.

McCandless’ son, Tim, called Battenschlag’s claims false and said she was ruining his father’s good name.