But theres, of course, a lot under the surface as well, he added. Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. } Whistleblowers are making their accusations public after several years of attempts to confront the influential pastor within a reportedly tight-knit, shame-based community. The Council in particular, as men in pastoral leadership of Asian American churches, want to offer an apology. According to a lengthy investigation by National Public Radio station WBEZ in Chicago, Covenant Fellowship Church and its former head pastor Min Joshua Chung for years fostered a misogynistic environment that included sexual mistreatment and oppression of women. by National Public Radio station WBEZ in Chicago, Covenant Fellowship Church and its former head pastor Min Joshua Chung for years fostered a misogynistic environment that included sexual mistreatment and oppression of women. height: 90px; She is convinced she would have been raped if he could. I have to believe that having an an honor/shame cultural background, rather than a right/wrong (or guilt) background, would bring quite a few challenges to conducting an independent leadership investigation. visibility: hidden;
I would be interested to know how much of the loss of members comes from the PCA and how much comes from the-once much larger-PCUSA(not PSUSA). I personally do it for the survivors. As WBEZ previously reported, those restorative steps had included meeting with the CFC pastoral staff regularly for mutual encouragement and care and preventing Chung from preaching at CFC for a limited time. His influence extends beyond the church walls. Former members of Covenant Fellowship Church (CFC) of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where Chung pastored, say the whole church system breeds abuse. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-embed body { Frank Barker, whose 4,000-member Briarwood Presbyterian Church grew from a Birmingham, Alabama, storefront before he helped found the conservative Presbyterian. A new report appears to implicate Covenant Fellowship Church's former head pastor, Min Joshua Chung, in fostering and creating a misogynistic church environment. It URBANA For Janet Park, the events of last year feel like a waste of time and energy. But a vote on the matter failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority, meaning Chung remains a minister, WBEZ reported. On December 4, 2022, CFC became a particular church within the Presbytery of For almost 20 years, Chung kept the alleged sexual assault from church leaders and his wife, Park said. } We also introduced two new members of the [], Editors Note: This panel discussion is from SOLA Conference 2021. However, theres nothing on CFCs website about CFCs recent decision to terminate GRACE. background-color: rgba(219, 78, 136, 0.075); /* Track progress bar background (amount of track fully loaded) WebMonths ago, we worked it out for Pastor Min Chung to be with us this weekend. But Chung is subject to the PCAs Book of Church Order because of his PCA ordination, KJ Kim told TRR. Pastoral leadership is an immense privilege, not a right. Chung continued to speak elsewhere during this time. In May 2021, CFC cut ties with Chung. height: 3px; Finally, we desire and pray for justice and healing for all past and present survivors of abuse. The church consists of predominantly a Korean American congregation. .grecaptcha-badge {
Though the assessment is nearly complete, the termination by CFC effectively halts our work at this time. 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. 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Dr. Min J. Chung is the founding and lead pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church, an 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. 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). And he bullied . It was very much like, Why do you think you got into this relationship? To donate, click here. The motion failed to pass, allowing Chung to remain an ordained minister in good standing with the PCA. Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted. It serves as a digital platform for evangelical leaders, writers, speakers, and bloggers who share the same values of faith to provide Gospel-centered resources.View all posts by SOLA Network, This week we continued sharing our content from SOLA Conference 2021. Regarding recovery, the pastor reconciled with his victim, and regarding his relationship with God, he recognized his sin before God and relies on the blood of Christ, Rev. The report, published in June, is intended to provide resources to handle abuse cases and to offer best practices and guidelines for elders, churches, presbyteries and other entities. Keep in touch with Julie and get updates in your inbox! 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. .mytheme-mejs-container.mejs-container, He is the ultimate judge who will make right all wrongs and the one who will both save and destroy. 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.. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-button > button { While the perfect judgment of God awaits us all, human judgments must be made to reflect His. The audit report isnt linked to any of the online church leadership updates. Many other ministries have removed Chung from their boards and speaking schedules. bottom: 0; For many years, Chung had been a council member and a writer for their site. He also spoke at youth and college-aged events, counseled university students, and preached in several countries. Under the previous structure, CFC was an independent church, with just Chung and the associate pastors, as individuals, belonging to the Korean Central Presbytery (KCP), one of the regional bodies within the PCA. 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. Chung reportedly abused a number of congregants at CFC. Nothing was ever followed up on with me. This is so disheartening. Opinion: What is Revivaland is it Happening at Asbury? margin-top: 9px; Gave $3 Million Grant for Reconstruction of Historic First Baptist Church in Williamsburg. 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. 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. Editors note: This story has been updated to clarify when the KCP received the whistleblowers allegations and to more accurately state certain charges. A vote by the Presbyterian oversight group on July 13 to remove Chung as a minister failed to get the necessary 2/3 vote. At that meeting, however, the KCP instead considered a motion to rescind the April 2021 judgment and to hold a retrial, according to a July 15, 2021, statement from the presbytery. The report doesnt offer explicit details of the incident, but states that the touching was in a way that could be constituted as sexual assault under Illinois law. Rhee told WBEZ she reported the incident to Pastor Chung. The political influence of the Senior Pastor in most independent churches is always a problem but in a denomination the hope is that people with oversight can minimize the political influence I guess not. I talked to him about it. 6 min read. So they think that they can have some level of control of the process some access to information before they get to the final product, Singer said. Marco Morante was eliminated in episode 8, Military, since the judges werent impressed by his outfit with a military motif. Chung is also accused of covering up accusations of sexual abuse against a fellow pastor as well as admitting to inappropriately touching a female congregant for a brief moment. Join with thousands of others to keep this important public media-based resource available to all. One was a claim from many years ago of inappropriate touch with an adult woman. 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 We are personally reflecting on where we may fall short and how we can be proactive in preventing abuse and cover-up, instead of just reacting to it. } right: 0; Kim would not agree to an interview but wrote back: We at CFC continue to seek the Lord in the work of the church and we are grateful to God for the way He is leading our congregation and this is our focus right now. Wade Morris, Popular Baptist Youth Speaker, Dies After COVID-19 Hospitalization. Web[130609] On the knowledge of God. 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. 217 Today: 217 Today host looks back on time at Illinois Public Media, Plans are back on the table for a carbon pipeline in Illinois, Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson head to Chicago mayoral runoff. fostered a misogynistic environment that included sexual mistreatment and Copyright 2023 Christianity Daily. Its time that we simply say enough is enough and no -longer co-sign this terrible plight that impacts people generationally. "MC (Min Chung) is anointed by God, God only exists at CFC and there is no other place like CFC. The CCG called the allegations against Min Chung an inappropriate moral failure between Min Chung and a woman. Park is part of a group that last year brought to light allegations of sexual and spiritual abuse at Covenant Fellowship Church (CFC), a predominantly Asian American church near the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. But the way to combat shame isnt to fix yourself or cover your misdeedsit is to be truly known and loved. One of those associate pastors was KJ Kim, the new head pastor of CFC. Mayor Lori Lightfoot was handed a stunning defeat, the first time in 40 years a sitting mayor was not reelected. WBEZ first reported the allegations against Chung and the crisis unfolding at CFC as the victims of sexual and spiritual abuse shared their stories online. Sometimes weve lost purpose and direction. Even the friend in whom the victim confided feared she would be cursed by God if she spoke against Chung. 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