Viral $34,000 Monthly Budget Video by Bethel Leadership Couple Sparks Backlash Over Megachurch’s $16.90-an-Hour Staff Pay
After third-generation church leaders revealed bringing home $52,861 in two months, public tax filings and employment data expose a staggering internal divide between executive wealth, pay-to-work interns, and minimum-wage ministry workers in Redding.
REDDING, California — A viral Instagram video meant to show the everyday struggles of budgeting has instead sparked outrage across Shasta County—after a young couple in Bethel Church leadership revealed they brought home $52,861 in just two months.
In a recent series of Instagram reels, Alley Vallotton—the granddaughter-in-law of Bethel Senior Associate Leader Kris Vallotton—shared her household finances with her husband, Elijah Vallotton. Explaining that they "suck at budgeting" during an "expensive" month, she showed that their household made $18,590 in August and $34,271 in September.
When screenshots of the video hit Redding’s local Reddit forum (r/Redding) and r/BethelSnark, local residents were quick to call out the numbers.
In Redding, the average person earns about $3,243 a month ($38,911 a year), and more than 14 percent of residents live in poverty. In just 60 days, the young Bethel couple brought in roughly $14,000 more than the average Redding resident makes in an entire year.
Even more striking, a review of public tax records and job listings by The Shasta Times shows a massive pay gap inside Bethel Church itself—where members of the ruling leadership families earn six-figure incomes while regular church employees make minimum wage, rely on food stamps, or even pay the church to work as interns.
Family Ties and Side Businesses
Elijah and Alley Vallotton represent the third generation of the Vallotton family on Bethel’s payroll:
First Generation: Kris and Kathy Vallotton serve as Senior Associate Leaders of Bethel Church and co-founded the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM) alongside Senior Leader Bill Johnson.
Second Generation: Elijah’s father, Jason Vallotton, is a Bethel pastor who oversees the church’s fee-based Transformation Center and runs the men's ministry BraveCo. His wife, Lauren Vallotton, serves as Bethel’s Local Church Operations Director.
Third Generation: Elijah Vallotton is the Director of Bethel Global Response (BGR), the church's donor-funded disaster relief department, where Alley Vallotton also works as Strategic Projects and Communications Manager.
In her video, Alley noted that their income comes from one full-time salary plus two private businesses: Elijah’s local tree-trimming company, Cannon Tree Service, and Alley’s online relationship coaching brand.
Critics point out that both businesses benefit heavily from the family’s platform at Bethel. The couple is regularly promoted to hundreds of thousands of followers on Kris Vallotton’s podcast and Jason Vallotton’s YouTube channel. Alley’s coaching business also gained huge traction after she posted a viral reel—viewed 60 million times—sharing that Elijah told her while they were dating that he was "struggling to find her attractive."
Six Figures at the Top, $16.90 an Hour at the Bottom
While Bethel Church of Redding brings in over $60 million a year, it does not have to release its main budget because churches are exempt from filing public IRS Form 990 tax returns. However, public tax filings from Bethel’s separate nonprofit spin-offs show just how much money flows to the top:
Kris Vallotton: Public 2024 tax filings show Elijah’s grandfather was paid $598,405 in a single year across just three related nonprofits—Bethel Media ($258,863), Bethel College/BSSM ($236,470), and Kris Vallotton Ministries ($103,072). That figure does not include his hidden salary from Bethel Church itself or his private book royalties.
Bethel Music Executives: According to FY 2025 tax filings for Bethel Music, the label brought in $20.1 million in revenue and paid its Chief Operating Officer $413,477 ($34,456 a month), while founding family members Jenn Johnson ($132,703) and Bill Johnson ($117,379) also drew six-figure paychecks from related church organizations.
Meanwhile, everyday staff members who keep the church running face a very different reality. According to job postings and 264 salary reports on Indeed and Payscale, Bethel has a "Fair Pay" rating of just 2 out of 5, with many jobs paying California’s exact minimum wage of $16.90 an hour:
Worship Leaders, Bethel Kids Workers, and Coffee Baristas: $16.90 per hour
Front Desk Receptionists & Admissions Advisors: $17.00 per hour
Administrative Assistants: $18.18 per hour
Bethel Christian School Teachers: $18.00 to $20.00 per hour (weekly pay is 57% below the national average)
General & Associate Pastors: $20.79 to $22.00 per hour
Because California law requires employers to pay at least $70,304 a year to put salaried employees on overtime-exempt status, our reporting found that almost all regular Bethel staff—including pastors—are hourly workers whose annual raises are capped at 1 to 2 percent ($0.22 to $0.44 an hour). Some ministry workers are even required to raise their own missionary-style financial support from outside donors to cover their pay.
"Pay-to-Work" Interns and the Cost to Shasta County
Bethel also relies heavily on unpaid student labor from its unaccredited ministry school, BSSM, where roughly 2,500 students pay $5,750 a year in tuition.
When students reach their Third Year—which the church long treated as an internship—they do not get paid. Instead, school finance packets show third-year students must pay Bethel $1,500 in tuition to spend a year working for a church department or staff member. Former insiders told the investigative podcast Heaven Bent that third-year interns have regularly been assigned to do free housework, grocery shopping, lawn mowing, and babysitting at the private homes of senior leaders.
Former workers say staff rarely complain in public for two reasons:
The "Culture of Honor": A core church teaching by senior leader Danny Silk (Culture of Honor) that discourages questioning or criticizing leaders.
Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs): Departing employees are required to sign NDAs before leaving the church, according to our investigations.
For Shasta County residents, Bethel’s business model hits close to home. Because full-time workers making $16.90 an hour with children—along with low-income BSSM students—qualify for Medi-Cal and CalFresh food stamps, local taxpayers end up subsidizing the basic living costs of workers at a tax-exempt megachurch. At the same time, the influx of 2,500 students every year has driven up local rent prices in Redding.
Meanwhile, from the pulpit, Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton teach congregants that giving 10 percent of their income to the church is mandatory—with Vallotton even teaching that believers should pay their tithe before paying utility bills or buying groceries.
With Bethel leadership already facing calls for greater accountability in 2026, Alley and Elijah Vallotton’s $34,271 monthly budget video has touched a raw nerve in Redding—raising fresh questions about who truly profits from the megachurch's success.
