Family Under Attack, An Open Letter

7/12/2025

Open Letter to Pastors:

Dale Wilbanks, First United Methodist Church, Eastland, TX

Jared Johnson, The Woodbridge Church, Ranger, TX

Dear Pastors,

The purpose of this letter is to protect my family from being broken up, and to express the concern I have for the physical and mental health of my wife.   My marriage and family is under attack by a “faith based predator” and It is my hope and prayer that you will receive this information with an open heart and the Love of God.

Anthony Mattson, a member, The Woodbridge Church in Ranger, Texas, is actively pursuing, and exhibiting romantic behavior towards my wife of 50 years.  He does this and continues to do it even though he knows that she is a married woman, that she may be in poor physical health and is not age appropriate for him.  It is troubling that a 79-year-old man has his 72-year-old wife being pursued by a 62 -ear-old predator under the auspices of a Christian community.  I consider this to be a blatant attack on my marriage and family.

As I understand it, he first met my wife at the Wednesday dinners at the First United Methodist Church in Eastland.  According to my wife, when he was first attracted to her, he asked other men in the Eastland FUMC, where she is a member, about her and they told him she was “off limits” because she was married.  He actively pursued her anyway.  She said, he sat next to her in a meeting group and whispered to her that he was attracted to her and that he loved her.  (One of the ploys of such predators could be that he would be a member of one church (The Woodbridge Church) while acting out in another (FUMC Eastland), so his behavior would more hidden and harder to see.)

Men who actively pursue older women in churches, over age of 70 for example, are known to do so because the women are trusting in nature, often lonely or isolated, financially stable with retirement funds, and have a desire for a spiritual connection.  They may be in poor physical or mental health and are easily manipulated.

Common types of predators in religious settings may pose as helpers, friends or even suitors, use scriptures, prophecy or charisma to control or isolate, and discourage independent thought and/or outside counsel.  They often use grooming behaviors such as excessive personal attention, cross boundaries under the guise of “spiritual intimacy,” and may use prayer, confession, or counseling settings to create dependency.  These are all the things he has done and is continuing to do.

Regarding my wife, her thinking and behavior has changed drastically in the past two months and this is very much out of character for her.  She is currently under doctor’s care looking into the possibility of having a recent stroke (TIA).

Recent concerning behaviors she has been doing are that she has been lying and sneaking around with Mr. Mattson, someone who purports to be a Christian person with “Christian values.”  My wife and I have been married for over 50 years, and she has never done any behaviors of that hidden, secretive nature before.

Her current thinking quality is very concerning.  While she is a bright and intelligent woman with a BS degree in Occupational Therapy, she now often makes statements that seem to appear that she is under some sort of mind control, or from some subtle suggestions.  For example, she makes vacuous statements like, “divorce is just a rearrangement of the family members,” “the kids will get over it,” “Yes, I did make a lifelong commitment, but people change their minds.”  As the Matriarch of our family, she has never held or expressed these types of beliefs and nor has she every been anything less than honest, dependable, and honorable.  She is known in the current church as a woman of high standards, is very dependable, and religious.  She has many mutual friends that she is close to, and she is known as an upstanding member of the church community.

Mr. Mattson, on the other hand, is a person of questionable character and he has a lifelong history of being involved in situations that could be considered domestic violence.  (The following information was given by Mr. Mattson to my wife, which she later related to me, or my daughters).  As a child he saw his mother get shot by two men in an argument over her; his ex-wife from a recent divorce, left in the night with another man, indicated she was using him for protection; the current situation in which he is pursuing a married woman with blatant disregard for her husband of 50 years and their children and grandchildren. In addition, it was reported that he has an estranged relationship with an adult son, who apparently “just didn’t get over it.”(In this case, I am using the Ghandian definition of violence, which is, “Violence is the use of force to harm another, whether by deed, word, or even thought. It includes not only physical aggression, but also hatred, anger, oppression, exploitation, and injustice.”)

Mr. Mattson pursued my wife with the following grooming behaviors:  Buying her gifts (golf clubs), taking her golfing, spotting her in workouts, acting like her trainer, having “spiritual conversations” with her, pretending like he has a special relationship with her pastor (which Pastor Dale adamantly denied), pretending he has a special place as a lay person in The Woodbridge Church community, which may or may not be true, signing up to go on a mission trip after my wife had already signed up; taking her to meet his mother when she was in town; taking her to a marina restaurant in Ft. Worth, going on an evening walk with her in Ft. Worth; telling her he loves her and wants to marry her immediately after her divorce is final; recommending the divorce and telling her to do it immediately, and even suggesting to her the lawyer to use for the divorce.   Like any good groomer, he may have made my wife think she was making decisions, but, in fact, she was being manipulated and goaded into any poor choices she may have made.

My request to Pastors Dale Wilbanks and Jerod Johnson regarding Mr. Mattson are as follows:

Mr. Mattson be invited to read this letter and offer any feedback that he thinks misrepresents his reprehensible behavior so it can be corrected.   There is no intention to say or do anything behind his back, and he needs to know his behavior is being brought to light and be able to respond accordingly.

Mr. Mattson be stopped from attending the Mission trip to Costa Rica because, because according to Pastor Dale, he signed up after my wife signed up meaning that he is likely pursuing or stalking her.  Mr. Mattson could be invited to de-select himself from the trip as an act of integrity.

Both Pastors Wilbanks and Johnson bring awareness to this problem to their respective congregations and specifically check in with the older woman in their church to assure they are not being similarly groomed, mistreated and violated.

 

Thanks,

 

Jordan