} Wade Morris, Popular Baptist Youth Speaker, Dies After COVID-19 Hospitalization. The investigation, which began last summer, came after multiple allegations that CFC had silenced and intimidated those who reported sexual misconduct by the churchs former well-known pastor, Min Joshua Chung. left: 0; Hi. The presbytery is a ruling body of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the denomination that ordained Chung. Some people are just too far gone and need a wake-up call.. Get new articles and breaking news delivered to your inbox. 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. Almost every day of the week, they try to recruit people, Ma said. Check out our new Instagram account. 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. Growing up in San Francisco, Yep felt alienated. We are sobered and shudder at the human propensity for sin; we seek Gods grace so that we can be committed to keeping the church protected and honored as the Bride of Christ. bottom: 0; A total of 19 people signed on to the report or are cited as witnesses. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-horizontal-volume-total, 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. And women are taught to protect men, even when the men are doing something wrong or hurting the women, said former member June Pinyo. In contrast, a team of whistleblowers have alleged that the incident was sexual assault. The Korean Central Presbytery called it sexual harassment.. top: 0; 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. Because of the trust that had been damaged and the pain that had been caused, he said, the church board voted unanimously May 27 to separate from Chung. While we do not want to minimize the importance of seeking justice on earth, we want to encourage you with the reminder that it is God who has the final say. According to the report, Kim was initially more interested in stopping the spread of gossip and keeping Chungs sexual misconduct private than holding Chung accountable or protecting victims. We grieve the fact that our churches have both knowingly and unknowingly created environments where abuse could happen and be kept in the dark. Pastor Kim also promised that church leadership would add more layers of accountability and would humbly listen, learn, and grow so we can be a healthier church moving forward.. His influence extends beyond the church walls. Follow her on Twitter @WBEZeducation and @soosieon. The victim did. 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. height: 90px; } */ We grieve the subtle undertones of misogyny that have been present in our churches and have contributed to unbiblical hierarchies and unhealthy power structures. WebLearning to Groan in the Holy Spirit | Romans 8:13-16, 26-27 (Pastor Min Chung) Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted. Victims of abuse who express their grievances on social media, who protest, who take their stories to the media theyre like that woman in that parable, LeCroy said. } } 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. But Chung is subject to the PCAs Book of Church Order because of his PCA ordination, KJ Kim told TRR. Sorry, the underlying pathology of people who act out this way takes more than a few of your cronies to meet at some hotel resort and call that Restoration. Furthermore, what is actually done to assist the victims and their families through this process? 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. Pastor Chung holds a Korean-American identity. Langberg helped an ad interim committee of the PCA write a new report on domestic and sexual abuse in churches. The church brought in a trauma expert to meet with congregants, added elders to its leadership model, and offered congregants ongoing ways to express concerns. A new report appears to implicate Covenant Fellowship Church's former head pastor, Min Joshua Chung, in fostering and creating a misogynistic church environment. 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. To Thyatira: Hold Fast What You Have Until I Come | Revelation 2:18-29 (Pastor Min Chung) joe 2019.02.19 43. I personally do it for the survivors. In October, the church board released a nine-page report from the CCG. The victim was suicidal and traumatized by her initial and continuous interaction with Pastor Min, the friend stated in testimony included in the report. Donate today >>, Wednesday, March 1, 2023 Todays headlines: Caterpillar and the United Auto Workers have reached a new tentative six-year agreement, averting a strike. CFCs current senior pastor, KJ Kim, was also accused of aiding in the cover-up of Min Chungs misconduct in a report compiled by a team of whistleblowers. A sexual assault victim who wished to remain anonymous, but whose identity TRR confirmed, said that CFCs culture discouraged reporting sexual assault to police. We here at SOLA Network affirm these words: SOLA Network exists to influence the emerging generation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The timing of thisso close to the finish of the assessmenthas raised a lot of questions and suspicion among former members, said Pinyo. Now, more than a year after WBEZ broke the story, former members and others familiar with the church say CFC is quietly reversing course. Chung preached messages urging congregants to submit to leaders and forgive them and calling victims to forgive their abusers. Women in many Korean churches are told to be submissive, former CFC members said. The council also encouraged a member in the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) to inform the denomination of the information SOLA had received regarding Min, who is a member of the PCA. We recognize that some have suffered, often silently, because of our church, states CFCs letter. The report states that 62 percent of those surveyed consider CFC to have a works-based culture. The church has been legalistic, the CCG reported, and has lacked transparency and accountability. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-embed body { We prefer to style these with the main accent color of our theme */ Learn how your comment data is processed. She said, Its very important for churches to understand theyre killing themselves, and they dont look anything like the God they say they serve. Over the course of the past few years, the leadership of Covenant Fellowship Church has sought to investigate claims of abuse regarding our founding pastor, Kim wrote in a statement to TRR. WBEZ uncovered multiple other allegations against CFC, including pastors at the church making sexual comments to teen girls, church officials brushing off women who were sexually assaulted who went to them for help, and an overall culture that diminished women. According to U of I spokeswoman Robin Kaler, Covenant Fellowship is once again a registered student organization with the university this school year giving the 32-year-old congregation access to the schools facilities and a new crop of potential members. In September 2019, two other whistleblowers met with Kim as a final step to urge leadership to take proper steps, the report states. The SJC decision stated there can be no reasonable hope of just proceedings with no cooperating victim, although Chung himself had admitted to sexual misconduct. But TRR said that the ruling may still be appealed to the Standing Judicial Commission of the PCA's General Assembly. The SOLA Network exists to influence the emerging generation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Bryan Chapell, the PCAs stated clerk, confirmed to WBEZ in a statement that the discipline matter has been concluded by the SJC. 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. background-color: #fff; Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted. There are Walmart runs. He experienced his childhood in America and went to James B. Conant High School. 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 to conduct a third-party investigation. Sungwoo Nam, KCP clerk, said in a statement. And calls for reform are spreading through the Korean-American community, even as whistleblowers fear retaliation. In 2019, Chung told two associate pastors in a vague and minimized confession that he had sexually touched a woman from his congregation, the whistleblower report states. 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!!! 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. They also ruled that the period when Chung wasnt preaching at CFC was enough discipline for his sin. 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. I went to my head pastor and I was emotionally distressed, she said. 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.. Pinyo told TRR that shes advising her current church leadership on how to be a safe and healthy church that doesnt turn a blind eye to problems. 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. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-horizontal-volume-slider .mejs-horizontal-volume-total, But its especially disappointing because now theyve shown that they do have the tools and resources to make better decisions.. background-image: url("images/mejs-controls-dark.svg"); Former church members expressed dismay over CFCs apparent about-face. He said, Your parents are well-respected members of their church, your fathers an elder [at their church], Rhee recalled. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-buffering, Brea, CA 92821 | 562.694.2100 2022 Living Hope Community Church. Sometimes weve lost purpose and direction. On December 4, 2022, CFC became a particular church within the Presbytery of Former members of Covenant Fellowship Church (CFC) of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where Chung pastored, say the whole church system breeds abuse. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. He said in a statement to WBEZ that the presbytery is currently working with CFC and is discussing whether to receive the congregation into our jurisdiction. Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. How Tragic. color: #888888; The commission declared the KCP should have disciplined the pastor according to the PCAs Book of Church Order not follow the restorative steps the associate pastors had instituted, according to Brian Park. While the perfect judgment of God awaits us all, human judgments must be made to reflect His. Chung discouraged her from reporting the incident to police. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-time-rail .mejs-time-current { Join our weekly TGIF newsletter and receive recent articles and fresh resources from the web. He has either founded or served in leadership for several youth and college ministries throughout the country, and was a board member for international missions organization SIM from 2006 to 2019. Chung had no interest in moving back to the weekend and attempted to get CBS to buy her out of the rest of her contract, valued around $2 million with less than a How Can the Church Support Asian American Women? WBEZ Chicagoalso uncovered about an Instagram account created last May which grew to become a platform for sexual assault survivors, exposing the abuses that have been happening in the church for almost thirty years. It was just like, Why, why did we do this all in vain? Park said. 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. CFC also took steps to join the Presbytery of Northern Illinois and move its pastors credentials from the KCP to the Presbytery of Northern Illinois. Susie An covers education for WBEZ. CFCs main ministry is to the students at the University of Illinois and the church recruits heavily during new student week, said Tim Ma, former CFC member and 2014 Illinois graduate. 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.. Per a New York Times opinion piece from June 13, 2016 called South Koreas Misogyny, Women made up 86 percent of all violent crime victims in 2013, according to police data (most violent crime is sexual in nature, and women suffer disproportionately from sexual crimes)., Per a June 23, 2021 article from foreignpolicy.com, sexism has been a long-standing issue in South Korea. Anne Stych is a writer in Charlotte, North Carolina. Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Pastoral leadership is an immense privilege, not a right. 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. /* Player controls */ The audit report isnt linked to any of the online church leadership updates. The motion requires two-thirds vote. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of "Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse" by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. He also spoke at youth and college-aged events, counseled university students, and preached in several countries. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-total { That is the message of Esther Lius book Shame: Being Known and Loved. font-size: 13px We know this may cause pain for many people, and we deeply regret that CFC has chosen this path.. } Some former CFC members told TRR they believe CFC leaders have lost their way. Its disappointing, but kind of in line with what weve seen from them over the past several yearsprioritizing the institution over the victims, said former church member June Pinyo. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-marker, Several CFC Survivors came forward to tell their stories on an Instagram account. /* Progress and audio bar background */ Pastor Kim confirmed the churchs decision with TRR but did not give a reason. To Thyatira: Hold Fast What You Have Until I Come | Revelation 2:18-29 (Pastor Min Chung) joe 2019.02.19 43. CFC came under fire last summer for its alleged mishandling of sexual misconduct by church founder and former head pastor Min Joshua Chung. 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. Photo: Illustration by Andjela Padejski, Photo by Manuel Martinez/WBEZ News, Move over, Bruce Willis: NASA crashed into an asteroid to test planetary defense, Students protest University of Illinois investments related to fossil fuels. Chung showed Minari to his parents around Thanksgiving 2019, a couple of months before its Sundance premiere. 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.. I really did not see this coming, she said. This story has been updated to clarify CFCs relationship with regional and national presbytery associations. All videos and transcripts are available on our website. Copyright 2023 Christianity Daily. To donate, click here. Another woman reported to Chung that she had been raped repeatedly. Chung founded CFC in 1990, and its now home to more than a thousand members hailing from more than 20 ethno-linguistic groups, according to its website. WBEZ confirmed with Justin Coverstone, the stated clerk of the Presbytery of Northern Illinois, that CFC was in the process of joining that regional body as of early September. Even the friend in whom the victim confided feared she would be cursed by God if she spoke against Chung. Many times, I thought I lost my own understanding in God. The friend urged the victim to tell Chung she hadnt consented to his touch. URBANA A former assistant pastor at a Champaign church has been criminally charged with sexually assaulting a teen who was a member of the congregation. Frank Barker, whose 4,000-member Briarwood Presbyterian Church grew from a Birmingham, Alabama, storefront before he helped found the conservative Presbyterian. For us, Pastor Min is more than just a gifted pastor and teacher. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-horizontal-volume-total { In September 2019, a member of the new leadership team, Pastor KJ Kim, said Chung had admitted to touching a female over the clothing for a brief moment about 20 years ago but had immediately stopped when she asked him to, per a recording obtained by WBEZ. After that, he was visibility: hidden; } top: 19px; 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. Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado. My experience is that more gets done for the perpetrator versus the victim. Nothing was ever followed up on with me. 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