When a Ministry Becomes an Academic Program: The Alan Hightower Shift at Stonebriar Church
When a church ministry quietly shifts into a performance-driven program, the consequences can be devastating for vulnerable members.
This article examines how the arrival of an academically oriented leader changed the culture of the Stonebriar Church choir—and how those changes reframed trauma as “unprofessional,” ultimately leading to the removal of survivor Victoria Cameron months after a visible crisis.
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A Change That Was Felt Before It Was Named
DALLAS, TX—For Victoria Cameron, her dismissal from the Stonebriar Church choir did not feel like the consequence of a single incident. It felt like the end result of a structural shift—one that changed how the choir functioned, how authority was exercised, and how vulnerability was interpreted.
That shift coincided with the arrival of Alan Hightower, a North Texas college university professor, into a position of leadership within the choir.
What had previously been presented to Cameron as a ministry-oriented space—one she was invited into by women who believed participation would be healing—began to resemble something else: a professionalized program, governed by academic standards, image management, and exclusion rather than care.
This article examines that transition, why it mattered, and how it reframes the decision to remove Cameron from the choir months after a visible crisis.
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The Choir Before Hightower: Ministry, Inclusion, and Pastoral Framing
When Cameron first joined the choir, it was explicitly framed as a ministry.
She had been invited by women who knew she was struggling and believed the choir could provide:
• community
• spiritual grounding
• a sense of safety during grief and instability
At that time:
• vulnerability was not treated as disqualifying
• participation was pastoral, not evaluative
• leadership emphasized belonging over polish
Cameron was not auditioning for a conservatory.
She was joining a church ministry.
“I told Don and Francey that I hadn’t really sung anything at all for awhile, and they said that was okay, and they invited me to audition anyway. For the audition, I sang “Do-Re-Mi” and “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music. They liked that I could sing the notes on pitch, and said that was refreshing compared to many who had auditioned. They liked the songs I sang. They said most people sing “Happy Birthday” or the children’s song, “Jesus Loves Me,” for their auditions. Don said that I did sound a little strained, that he could hear the strain in my voice, but he said that singing in the choir would help me work through that and help that loosen up. I had been through a lot of strain, and had spent a lot of time crying about a lot of things that were going wrong in my life, and being in the choir was presented to me as something that would provide a window of light into my life to make all of that better,” said Cameron.
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The Arrival of Alan Hightower: Credentials and Reframing
Alan Hightower joined the choir’s leadership after already singing with the group. His arrival was accompanied by significant emphasis on his academic credentials and professional background as a university music professor.
According to Cameron, leadership presented Hightower as:
• a major asset to the music program
• a marker of elevated quality and prestige
• someone whose standards carried weight
From that point forward, Cameron observed a noticeable shift:
• language changed from ministry to performance
• tolerance for visible distress narrowed
• reputation and image became central concerns
The choir did not formally announce a change in mission.
But in practice, the rules changed.
“They rolled out the red carpet for him,” said Cameron about Hightower when he began his leadership position in the Stonebriar church choir.
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“If She Were in My Program, I’d Have Removed Her”
The most consequential moment came when Cameron was dismissed from the choir—approximately three months after the Christmas performance in which she was visibly distressed. (See Article)
At that meeting, Cameron was told by choir leadership that Hightower had commented:
“If she were in my university program, I would have kicked her out months ago.”
That statement matters—not because it was unkind, but because it reveals the lens being applied.
Cameron was not a student.
She was not enrolled in a university program.
She was a congregant participating in a church ministry for healing purposes.
Yet the standard used to judge her was academic expulsion, not pastoral care.
“When someone like Hightower is added to a ministry, you don’t throw out pastoral responsibility and let them take over, you have to keep operating with the heart of a pastor,” said Mark Redman.
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The Redefinition of “Unprofessional”
Stonebriar choir leadership further told Cameron that:
• she was “unprofessional”
• she “made the church look bad”
• her distress reflected poorly on the institution
This framing reframes visible trauma as:
• reputational risk
• behavioral failure
• grounds for removal
At no point, Cameron reports, was there meaningful inquiry into:
• what caused the distress
• whether she was safe
• whether support was needed
The focus was not care.
It was containment.
“I really think Hightower’s influence had a lot more to do with why she was thrown out of the choir than it looked,” said Redman. “On the surface it looked one way to her, but there were other things swirling around in the background that made it happen.”
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Timing Matters: Why the Delay Is Significant
Equally important is when Cameron was dismissed.
The incident she was dismissed for, when she cried openly during a Christmas choir performance occurred in December of 2018. (See Article)
Leadership did not act immediately.
No disciplinary action followed at the time.
No pastoral intervention was initiated.
Only after:
• complaints were raised by David (previously reported)
• and Hightower’s opinion was introduced
did leadership revisit the incident—three months later, after St. Patrick’s Day, in March.
This delay suggests the issue was not urgency or safety.
It was reinterpretation, under a new authority structure.
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Ministry vs. Program: Why This Distinction Matters
Church ministries and academic programs operate under fundamentally different ethical frameworks.
| Ministry Model | Program Model |
| Care-centered | Performance-centered |
| Trauma-aware | Behavior-focused |
| Restoration-oriented | Removal-oriented |
| Confidential | Reputation-driven |
Cameron entered under one model.
She was judged under another.
This standard was not applied to the majority of other choir members, most who were elderly and had been in the choir for many years, but it was applied to her.
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A Broader Pattern: Professional Authority Over Pastoral Responsibility
This article does not allege criminal wrongdoing by Hightower.
It does not speculate about motives.
It documents something simpler—and more concerning:
When professional authority is elevated inside a faith space without safeguards, pastoral responsibility can be displaced.
In Cameron’s case:
• academic norms replaced spiritual ones
• image management replaced care
• vulnerability became liability
“I think that what happened to Victoria at Stonebriar Church was all about Hightower. It was about him and his image. This thing where they said Victoria made the church look bad for crying came from him and he was really saying that she made him look bad, or his caliber of performances that he delivers look bad. What happened to her just doesn’t sound like the way a church handles things,” said Redman.
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What changed between December and March?
What changed was:
• who held interpretive authority
• which standards were applied
• what the institution prioritized
The decision to remove her from the choir cannot be understood in isolation.
It must be understood in the context of a structural shift—from ministry to program, from care to control.
That shift, once made, made her removal almost inevitable.
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Why This Matters
Faith communities often welcome professionals for their expertise.
But when expertise is allowed to override pastoral ethics, harm follows—especially for the vulnerable.
This case raises questions every church should ask:
• Who defines “fit”?
• Whose standards apply?
• And what happens when care and credibility conflict?
Those questions remain unanswered at Stonebriar Church.
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How Readers Can Respond: Next Steps For Those Who Wish To Engage Thoughtfully 
Support Victoria’s Restoration Fund
Learn more about how you can stand with Victoria: Standing With Victoria
Read about The Trafficking Issue at Stonebriar Church
Stonebriar Church in Frisco, TX
Stonebriar Community Church is an Evangelical traditional style church located in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex at 4801 Legendary Dr, Frisco, TX 75034. The pastor of Stonebriar Church at the time of this incident was founding pastor Chuck Swindoll, who retired in October 2024. Chuck Swindoll is an evangelical Christian pastor, author, educator, and radio preacher. He founded Insight for Living, and is chancellor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary. Jonathan Murphy is the current senior pastor of Stonebriar Church. The church website is: https://www.stonebriar.org
