Church Group Program, Restaurants Close Amid Allegations

KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — A religious group based in northwestern Montana is closing its program to train young missionaries and its affiliated restaurants amid allegations that its leaders exploited their trainees' labor and subjected them to verbal abuse and harassment.
The Daily Inter Lake reports multiple people who were part of Whitefish-based Potter Field Ministries' IGNITE internship program described the organization as like being in a cult.
They say one of the founders, Mike Rozell, manipulated them, asked some female interns if they struggled with sexual sin and prevented people from leaving the group.
Potter's Field Chief Executive Officer Rob McCoy said Monday that the ministry is winding down and the group's MudMan hamburger restaurants and food trucks are being shuttered.
He says calling Potter's Field a cult is "inappropriate."
Rozell did not return a call for comment Tuesday.
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Information from: Daily Inter Lake