3533 Stephen Welch (Idolatry, Backsliding, Second Chances) With a wife and 4 children, a beautiful home, and a wildly successful company, Stephen Welch was living the American dream. They were attending church and even holding Bible studies, but something started to creep in and take the rightful place of God. He began to really like things: more vacations, bigger homes, another BMW. Stephen would go from riches to rags to a richness of a different kind.