The city of Detroit is suing a pastor and his church over the stalled development of a new mega-church at 7 Mile and Woodward Avenue, saying blight has emerged as a result, according to court documents. Were an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Anne Stych is a writer in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our King Jesus, in his incarnation, wept at the suffering of man and in his full glory he will wipe away every tear as he welcomes us into eternity. font-size: 11px; They dont know how to assess it, and so I would think the first response would be one of humility., But instead, she said, churches think they are right, and somebody in that position isnt going to listen to any instructions, no matter how wise or good it is.. But Chung is subject to the PCAs Book of Church Order because of his PCA ordination, KJ Kim told TRR. Theres a picnic. In 2018, Chung preached a sermon addressing the #MeToo movement in which he told victims to repent for your pain and reaction to your sin nature.. Another woman reported to Chung that she had been raped repeatedly. She said, Its very important for churches to understand theyre killing themselves, and they dont look anything like the God they say they serve. Why do you think youre staying for so long? . Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted. Christian Rocker Posts Stunning Response to Recent Apostasy of Christian Leaders, Chicago Radio Host & a Former Bodyguard Say James MacDonald Asked Them to Arrange Murders, James MacDonald Took Millions from Harvest & Now Demands Broadcast Ministry, Mancow Airs Shocking Comments By James MacDonald: My Response. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time { However, there have also been a number of accusations of abuse of power and harsh treatment towards others that continued to surface regarding this same pastor, Kim continued. What remains is for the regional body that originally adjudicated the case to respond about procedural steps needing correction for the future.. URBANA For Janet Park, the events of last year feel like a waste of time and energy. More than a dozen former CFC members, leaders, and volunteers came forward to TRR. Sungwoo Nam, KCP clerk, said in a statement. Websigns of too much calcium in tomato plants. Not every religious leader is trained in handling the needs of sexual assault victims They should assist with reporting to the appropriate authorities and seek referrals to the victim services and professional counseling services!!! Later, the victim called a friend and told her what Chung had done. Last August, shortly after the WBEZ report was published, the same group of pastors from the KCP appealed the case, which went to the PCAs Standing Judicial Commission (SJC), a quasi-judicial body of sorts, according to several sources. We remind him to abide by the BCO (Book of Church Order), and we believe that he should return to ministry.. Theres a side of me thats like, no, Im not gonna give another ounce of my energy and time to this, and then theres this other side of me thats just so upset at the injustice of it all, that people still dont have the truth., Miryung Fontijn, another member of the allegation group, said she was shocked by the GRACE termination. Yet whistleblowers, who knew about the alleged assault, pressured Chung for a decade to confess to the church. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The motion failed to pass, allowing Chung to remain an ordained minister in good standing with the PCA. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. Although banned from preaching at CFC by the Korean Central Presbytery in which he was /* Progress and audio bars */ We remind him to abide by the BCO (Book of Church Order), and we believe that he should return to ministry," Sungwoo Nam of KCP stated. We also introduced two new members of the [], Editors Note: This panel discussion is from SOLA Conference 2021. The churchs website says that as of July 2021, CFC is under the leadership of Reverend KJ Kim and a lay oversight board and is in the process of particularizing or becoming a fully organized church with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Prominent Korean-American congregation Covenant Fellowship Church (CFC) in central Illinois has terminated its nearly complete independent investigation into alleged spiritual and emotional abuse at the church, according to Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE). In addition, CFC vowed to be clear and transparent with members by providing regular updates on the probe on its website. Hence, the SOLA Network writes the following statement so that the emerging generation of Asian American pastors, leaders, and Christ-followers can be gospel-centric in processing and dealing with the stated incident. .wp-caption-text { He added: Theyre banging on the door, looking for justice, and I dont think leaders of the church should look down upon that because that is exactly what they should be doing if they havent found it where they should find it.. Susie An covers education for WBEZ. Chung preached messages urging congregants to submit to leaders and forgive them and calling victims to forgive their abusers. Many times, I thought I lost my own understanding in God. Join our weekly TGIF newsletter and receive recent articles and fresh resources from the web. As James 3 warns us, teachers will be judged more strictly. .wp-caption img { A year later, the group of 14 whistleblowers submitted their report to the PCAs Korean Central Presbytery and called for the KCP to investigate Chung, arguing CFC associate pastors had failed to discipline him, said Park. On July 13, the KCP met to discuss a complaint about the ruling filed by a group of pastors who wanted the group to remove Chung from the ministry. I actually had gotten to the point where I was naively thinking that [the GRACE assessment] was the one thing that was finally going to [lead] CFC to take a true, humble look at themselves.. But that system broke down: Oversight entities had limited power and the denominations governing rules proved to be inadequate for addressing the issue of abuse in the church. If they found out, they would be devastated and you know how people talk, and I wouldnt want them to have to go through that. . Chung showed Minari to his parents around Thanksgiving 2019, a couple of months before its Sundance premiere. The church followed the report with a letter apologizing for several wrongs. We at the SOLA Network respect and believe in the due processes of member denominations; we encourage the work that our PCA brothers are pursuing to bring the appropriate denominational actions for proper discipline. Ultimately my hope is to discover who God truly is, beyond the God that CFC represented.. Even the pastors, I would say, do a good job at that. The report also recommended that the church hire a third-party auditor to address some members financial concerns, though the Center didnt think there were financial irregularities.. } Nov. 22, 2018. Find more resources and videos here. Join with thousands of others to keep this important public media-based resource available to all. We continue to seek the Lord for His leading in this season of ministry.. Many people were waiting to see what came out of this and then what their response would be to that, Pinyo said. Pastor KJ Kim acknowledged that Chung has been accused of a pattern of abusing his authority. The KCP ruled only on the sexual assault allegation, calling it sexual harassment. They determined that Chung was guilty but has done enough for restoration to ministry. Over the years, Chung rebuked whistleblowers who tried to confront him for causing dissension in the church. They either left or were forced to leave by the leadership they loved, the report states. Keep in touch with Julie and get updates in your inbox! SEOUL, South Korea A prominent church pastor whose behavior came under scrutiny when the #MeToo movement took hold in South Korea was We extend an invitation to worship with us if you are ever in the Champaign area.. In light of this information, on August 15, 2020, the SOLA Council asked Min to resign his position and removed all of Mins content from the SOLA website. One was a claim from many years ago of inappropriate touch with an adult woman. 6 min read. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls, Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. And women are taught to protect men, even when the men are doing something wrong or hurting the women, said former member June Pinyo. Its time to move on.. But now were not really given that chance.. left: 0; In May, CFC severed ties with Chung and hired Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (G.R.A.C.E.) CFC would not be given much specific information prior to the release of the final executive summary, CFC reported in September. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-buffering, My heart breaks. They called for the rescission of the ruling in July but fell short of votes when only 22 individuals sided with the move, out of 35, with 12 who went against it and one abstention. We grieve the fact that our churches have both knowingly and unknowingly created environments where abuse could happen and be kept in the dark. He added that the Book of Church Order wasnt designed to protect victims of abuse, and that the PCA should consider amendments to the book to help make the judicial process less cumbersome for lay members. In your pain and in your healing, may you be comforted and strengthened by the presence of Christ, your advocate, your protector, and your savior. Many CFC members are students there who hail from the Chicago area. That is the message of Esther Lius book Shame: Being Known and Loved. Biblical discipline, especially of a pastor or elder in ordained office, cannot be conducted in solitude by the offender. Kim did not respond to a request for comment on these claims against him. Christian Rocker Posts Stunning Response to Recent Apostasy of Christian Leaders, Chicago Radio Host & a Former Bodyguard Say James MacDonald Asked Them to Arrange Murders, James MacDonald Took Millions from Harvest & Now Demands Broadcast Ministry, Mancow Airs Shocking Comments By James MacDonald: My Response. In May 2021, CFC cut ties with Chung. Access to MinistryWatch content is free. Powered by Church Plant Media We here at SOLA Network affirm these words: SOLA Network exists to influence the emerging generation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. CFC came under fire last summer for its alleged mishandling of sexual misconduct by church founder and former head pastor Min Joshua Chung. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. Last summer, amid the outcry that resulted from the revelations by an Instagram account called @letters_from_rahab, CFC said it would cut financial ties to the pastor and hire a third-party group to do a full investigation. It contracted with an organization called Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE) to assess the church and its response to allegations of abuse. Frank Barker, whose 4,000-member Briarwood Presbyterian Church grew from a Birmingham, Alabama, storefront before he helped found the conservative Presbyterian. He is the ultimate judge who will make right all wrongs and the one who will both save and destroy. WebLearning to Groan in the Holy Spirit | Romans 8:13-16, 26-27 (Pastor Min Chung) We, as a collective voice of Asian American leaders, implore Min Chung to cease all public ministry at least until a new investigation is conducted and proper disciplinary measures are followed. We see this is the third article this month youve found worth reading. visibility: hidden; A 124-page extended version of the report, containing copies of texts describing one victims assault and subsequent intimidation, was submitted to an investigative team of the Korean Central Presbytery (KCP) in November 2020, following up on a five-page allegation letter the whistleblowers sent in August. The mainline Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) announced this week it will change the way it reports statistical information about the denominations membership to, The pastor of a Baptist church in Virginia is in jail on child sex abuse-related charges, the Washington County (Va.) Sheriffs Office, Steve Morgan, founder and president of a group of 26 evangelical-charismatic churches known as the Network, has been hiding a disqualifying sexual. font-size: 13px Im tired, said Tim Ma, who previously served on the CFC worship team. In our previous meetings, they had acknowledged that [Chungs case was] within the scope, so Im not certain why that changed.. Since there is no room in the culture for open candor, exchange of perspectives, and helpful permissive dissension, there is only a cycle of abuse that continues at all levels of leadership," Dan Lee, a whistleblower, revealed. I really did not see this coming, she said. AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. Pastoral leadership is an immense privilege, not a right. The church consists of predominantly a Korean American congregation. If you think that is bad, consider this; We have a PCA pastor, Kiernan Stringer in Toronto, Canada who admits in writing a letter to us and his congregation to breaking the 7th commandment ( You shall not commit murder) and the 9th commandment ( You shall not bear witness against your neighbour), refuses to repent and everyone in the PCA hierarchy refuses to anything about it. Theyre a very inclusive, very inviting community. And I say that as someone who believes the Bible clearly uses language from both spectra, not just one or the other. We grieve the subtle undertones of misogyny that have been present in our churches and have contributed to unbiblical hierarchies and unhealthy power structures. He cited an example in the Bible, in the book of Luke, where Jesus tells the story of a woman and an unjust judge. Korean Church Stops Independent Investigation into Sexual It also alleges that Chung urged a woman not to go to police when she sought his counsel after being sexually assaulted by another church member. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story or making a contribution. Sources at GRACE told WBEZ that the group had conducted interviews with more than 40 former and present CFC members, many of whom spent hours talking about their experiences. It went terribly, according to the report. .grecaptcha-badge { visibility: hidden; } There are 300+ professionals named "Min Chung", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. However, theres nothing on CFCs website about CFCs recent decision to terminate GRACE. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-handle-content { Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church? /*Custom svg icon height fix*/ The group said that though the was guilty, what he did was already enough for his reinstatement and that his hiatus from preaching was also enough to discipline him for the sin. My experience is that more gets done for the perpetrator versus the victim. Eventually, Ashton was removed along with Angel Chen in episode 9 because she didnt live up to the judges expectations. Toward that end, the site requires that people use their full name when commenting. [They] are literally re-traumatizing [themselves] by speaking to us, so the least the other side could do would be to hear those pieces of information, Dunn said, adding that current church leaders, including KJ Kim, were the only remaining people GRACE had left to interview. Mayor Lori Lightfoot was handed a stunning defeat, the first time in 40 years a sitting mayor was not reelected. } WBEZ emailed CFC lead pastor KJ Kim and the churchs Oversight Board with questions about why the church terminated its contract with GRACE, as well as CFCs plan for any long-term changes in the wake of last years events. Another promised change was to bring the church under a regional body within the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA), to seek more oversight and accountability for its leaders and members. According to The Roys Report(TRR), a group of whistleblowers submitted a report to the KCP in November 2020, accusing Chung with various incidents of sexual assaults. However, the gospel also demonstrates that mercy is not given at the expense of justice and vice versa. Esther Yoon-Ji Kang is a reporter for WBEZs Race, Class and Communities desk. He still preaches as a member in good standing. WebMonths ago, we worked it out for Pastor Min Chung to be with us this weekend. Shame is worse than embarrassment. Coverstone confirmed in a separate email to WBEZ that Kim, who had been accused by former church members of failing to respond properly to Chungs sexual misconduct, had been accepted into the Presbytery of Northern Illinois in January. 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