She says he then began to force himself on her and pull his pants down until she pushed him off and ran into the bathroom, locking the door until he left. 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. 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. Web.mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-time-rail .mejs-time-current { Pastor Mins Encouragement to Thai Christians December 4, 2010 CFC Senior Pastor, Dr. Min Chung, gave a message on book of Judges during Servants retreat in August of 2010. I personally do it for the survivors. into silence those who knew of the incident, the report states. bottom: 0; She is convinced she would have been raped if he could. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-horizontal-volume-slider .mejs-horizontal-volume-total, They also ruled that the period when Chung wasnt preaching at CFC was enough discipline for his sin. "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. Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado. He also referred WBEZ to Tim LeCroy, a pastor who chaired the PCAs committee that wrote the domestic and sexual abuse report. He is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity at Talbot Theological Seminary. Sources, including Singer, told WBEZ that CFC was concerned the information-gathering process was biased and that it dug too much into Chungs case, which the church deemed outside the scope of the assessment. 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.. Great! Many times, I thought I lost my own understanding in God. CFC also hired The Center Consulting Group to conduct surveys and evaluate the health of the church. 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. Becky Stephens will become senior pastor at Bucyrus United Methodist Church in July. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of Jesus v. Evangelicals: A Biblical Critique of a Wayward Movement by Constantine Campbell. Follow her on Twitter @estheryjkang. In September 2019, two other whistleblowers met with Kim as a final step to urge leadership to take proper steps, the report states. 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. 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. Meanwhile, Chung maintains a presence and continues to attend KCP meetings, according to sources. } Thank you. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-marker, Why do you think youre staying for so long? . They gave a couple of examples [of bias], which were tenuous at best, Singer said. According to recordings acquired by WBEZ, Chung had admitted to touching a female "over the clothing for a brief moment" but stopped upon request. 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The decision came before an investigation by WBEZ of Pastor Min Joshua Chung of the Covenant Fellowship Church on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. A new report appears to implicate Covenant Fellowship Church's former head pastor, Min Joshua Chung, in fostering and creating a misogynistic church MC (Min Chung) is anointed by God, God only exists at CFC and there is no other place like CFC, Lee said, describing the church environment. Even the pastors, I would say, do a good job at that. Check out our new Instagram account. WebThe Roys Report is a Christian media outlet, reporting the unvarnished truth about whats happening in the Christian community so the church can be reformed and restored.. Other whistleblowers said in the report that that isnt true. Founded by investigative journalist Julie Roys, The Roys Report began as a personal blog where Julie published her commentaries and occasional investigative pieces while During that time, he pastored the church, served on several ministry boards, and taught at the seminary. 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.. Theres a picnic. Even the friend in whom the victim confided feared she would be cursed by God if she spoke against Chung. A Presbyterian oversight group refused to defrock a Korean American minister following allegations of sexual misconduct, reports Ministry Watch. As a whistleblower, its traumatic as well, because there are so many places of pain and injustice along the way, Park 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.. } */ Chung didnt respond when The Roys Report tried to reach him for comment. CFC came under fire last summer for its alleged mishandling of sexual misconduct by church founder and former head pastor Min Joshua Chung. CFC separated from Chung on May 27 and has contracted a third-party investigation into his conduct. The presbytery is a ruling body of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the denomination that ordained Chung. Kim, who is currently the churchs senior pastor, previously 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. But Chung got upset that the victim had told someone and told her to keep the incident quiet between the two of them, the friend said in the report. Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie has said he closed down his Good News International Church four years ago It is interesting the there were 5-6 million Presbyterians in the 1960s the number now is down to paltry 1.5 Presbyterians in the U.S. 1 Million Liberal (PSUSA) To donate, click here. They were also concerned that other victims may exist, she said. It was another missed opportunity, Amy Han said. Facebook photo. Sometimes weve lost purpose and direction. The Rev. Check margin: 0; .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-time-rail .mejs-time-total { A total of 19 people signed on to the report or are cited as witnesses. Another woman reported to Chung that she had been raped repeatedly. (Illinois defines criminal sexual assault as using force or threat or force, and the defendant knows the victim is unable to give knowing consent.). Follow her on Twitter @WBEZeducation and @soosieon. Diane Langberg, a prominent psychologist and leading voice on abuse within church communities, said CFCs termination of the GRACE assessment is yet another move to silence the individuals the church has hurt. 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. . In the wake of last years scandal, CFC also chose not to renew its status as a registered student organization, or RSO, at U of I last academic year. AsAmNews is a community of users interested in reading, learning and commenting on news, events, people & issues in the Asian Americans and Pacific Islander communities. The church hired GRACE to begin the independent assessment in August 2021, and the organization had been gathering information via one-on-one interviews, documents, listening circles and an anonymous survey. 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. margin-top: 18px text-align: left; } A new report appears to implicate Covenant Fellowship Church's former head pastor, Min Joshua Chung, in fostering and creating a misogynistic church environment. 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. Susie An covers education for WBEZ. At least 90 have been discovered so far. The KCP which consists of several pastors who were close with Chung had determined that he had been restored to God, as well as the woman. The A few months later, a group of pastors dissatisfied with the presbyterys April 2021 determination filed a complaint in an effort to indefinitely suspend Chung from ministry. In the wake of last years scandal, CFC also chose not to renew its status as a registered student organization, or RSO, at U of I last academic year. Some members of the allegation group also said they lacked confidence the KCP would handle any future cases differently, given the ties many of the pastors had to Chung. Copyright 2023 Christianity Daily. . I went to my head pastor and I was emotionally distressed, she said. Though disappointed, the whistleblowers said that they were not surprised with KCP's ruling, citing the environment at CFC where Chung leads and the congregation's high regard for the minister. 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. [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. /* Progress and audio bars */ Nothing was ever followed up on with me. GRACE said the termination by CFC effectively halts its work at this time. /* Progress and audio bar background */ content: ''; I really did not see this coming, she said. position: absolute; Rhee told WBEZ she reported the incident to Pastor Chung. figcaption.wp-caption-text { Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of Jesus v. Evangelicals: A Biblical Critique of a Wayward Movement by Constantine Campbell. } 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. The Mississippi. 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. Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church? 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. Donate today >>. WebAs reported by The Roys Report (TRR) last year, Min Joshua Chungarguably the nations most prominent Korean-American pastorwas accused by multiple witnesses of sexual misconduct and decades of cover-up and intimidation. We see this is the third article this month youve found worth reading. 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. In April, the Korean Central Presbytery received an eight-page report summarizing its investigative teams findings and recommendations. An Asian American pastor in Illinois was reinstated to ministry in spite of doubts on his character due to sexual abuse accusations. Attorney Laura Dunn, a contracted institutional response specialist with GRACE, said many of the people with whom she spoke struggled to get through their interviews, some of which took three to four hours. The woman, a former CFC member, said she was sexually assaulted by a leader in the churchnot Chungand reported the incident to a pastor. We prefer to style these with the main accent color of our theme */ WebGreat! Ultimately my hope is to discover who God truly is, beyond the God that CFC represented.. Get new articles and breaking news delivered to your inbox. That same year, the actress retired from acting to start a family with her new husband. Our hope is to provide care and oversight in whatever way is appropriate. He declined to be interviewed in order to respect the privacy of those involved and due to the ongoing nature of allegations.. The church consists of predominantly a Korean American congregation. Whistleblowers are making their accusations public after several years of attempts to confront the influential pastor within a reportedly tight-knit, shame-based community. height: auto; She said, Its very important for churches to understand theyre killing themselves, and they dont look anything like the God they say they serve. Please enable JavaScript in your web browser settings or white-list our domain "premierchristian.news" if you use any plug-ins to block JavaScript. Editors note: This story has been updated to clarify when the KCP received the whistleblowers allegations and to more accurately state certain charges. what happened to pastor min chung Rev. Webwhat happened to pastor min chunguindy football roster. WebDr. Post author By ; cases where eyewitnesses were right Post date March 7, 2023; Almost every day of the week, they try to recruit people, Ma said. In the aftermath, CFC promised to make changes and to be transparent. Join with thousands of others to keep this important public media-based resource available to all. A couple of other organizations have also severed their associations with the CFC founder. Whistleblowers say theyre disappointed, but not surprised, with the ruling. Min Joshua Chung, founder of Covenant Fellowship Church in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, has been "restored to ministry" by an arm of the Presbyterian Church in America despite unanswered questions about alleged sexual misconduct and cover-up. (Image: Screengrab / YouTube) The World Economic Forum ranks the country 115th out of 145 countries in gender equality. LeCroy said victims of abuse, who cannot get redress via the means provided by the church or denomination, can take to various means to seek justice. Dr. Min J. Chung is the founding and lead pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church, an We will not notify you again about this until you next restart your browser. I am probably going to get myself in trouble making this next statement but the context was always a sense of Hyper-Complimentarianism or some hybrid form of it because the Denomination that I refereed of believed in women Pastors but the culture was steeped with this type of theological thinking. 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. Pastor Chung holds a Korean-American identity. He also spoke at youth and college-aged events, counseled university students, and preached in several countries. } Glenn Youngkin Donates $43,750 Salary to Good News Jail & Prison Ministry to Bring Gospel to Inmates, Baltimore Church Pastor Refused to Pay Electricity Bill of Over $30,000, Energy Company Cut Its Power Supply, United Methodist Church Regional Bodies Explore Solutions as Congregations Depart, St. Peter's Basilica Unveils Exclusive 'Prayer Entrance' Amid Tourist Surge, Comedian John Crist 100 Percent Happy His Sexual Misconduct Was Exposed Via Charisma Report, Christian Leaders React To Scathing Report On Ravi Zacharias Sexual Misconduct, What Are The Pros And Cons Of Purity Culture? background-image: url("images/mejs-controls-dark.svg"); He also said that, for sexual harassment of a member of the congregation, the KCP should have dealt Chung a suspension of a period of years, and perhaps even defrocked him. It went terribly, according to the report. 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. The motion failed to pass, allowing Chung to remain an ordained minister in good standing with the PCA. } 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. An arm of the Presbyterian Church in America is allowing Min Joshua Chungarguably the nations most prominent Korean-American pastorto return to ministry despite allegations of sexual misconduct and cover-up. Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), an organization hired by Covenant Fellowship Church to look into the allegations against the I really did not see this coming, she said. The motion requires two-thirds vote. April 21, 2023. Many CFC members are students there who hail from the Chicago area. In our previous meetings, they had acknowledged that [Chungs case was] within the scope, so Im not certain why that changed.. 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. He cited an example in the Bible, in the book of Luke, where Jesus tells the story of a woman and an unjust judge. As outlined in WBEZs initial report, in April 2021, the KCP a regional presbytery of the PCA to which Kim, Chung and other former CFC pastors belong had found Chung guilty of his admitted sexual harassment for inappropriately touching a female congregant in 2001 (instead of a more serious form of misconduct). This website requires JavaScript to function correctly. 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. Kho St Cng Trnh Ngm macy's software engineer salary. We extend an invitation to worship with us if you are ever in the Champaign area.. 5 min read. She bangs on his door all hours of the night until he finally comes and gives her justice, LeCroy explained. Former members of Covenant Fellowship Church say Chungs abuse is part of a larger pattern of abuse and silencing at CFC and affiliated ministries. The decision to return Chung to ministry may be appealed to the Standing Judicial Commission of the PCAs General Assembly. Chung, who founded the church in 1990 on the University of Illinois-Champaign Urbana campus, announced in the summer of 2019 that he would transition out of the head pastor role and a team of associate pastors would lead the church. 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. On December 4, 2022, CFC became a particular church within the Presbytery of As a whistleblower, its traumatic as well, because there are so many places of pain and injustice along the way, Park said. Webmastro's downtown los angeles opening date. LeCroy said victims of abuse, who cannot get redress via the means provided by the church or denomination, can take to various means to seek justice. Nothing was put in place, to my knowledge, to keep me safe from him. .wp-caption-text { The motion to rescind the KCP decision needed a two-thirds vote in favor. He experienced his childhood in America and went to James B. Conant High School. We remind him to abide by the BCO (Book of Church Order), and we believe that he should return to ministry.. Several survivors would ask theKorean Central Presbytery(KCP), a denominational oversight group, to investigate Chung's inappropriate touching incident before WBEZ's reporting. We extend an invitation to worship with us if you are ever in the Champaign area.. For investigators at GRACE, CFCs decision to terminate the assessment is a highly unusual move. It was very much like, Why do you think you got into this relationship? Pete Singer, GRACEs executive director, called the cancellation very rare, adding he is aware of just one other organization that has done the same. He and his wife Tracy are celebrating eleven years of marriage together and have three children: Caden, Isabella, and Ian. 5 min read. Webwhat happened to pastor min chung. WebWorked at Associate Pastor of New People Baptist Church (Sae Kook Min Baptist Church (1978-1987) and PoDowon Baptist Church (2006-2010) Lives in Gimpo Pastor Cyrus Chung Chung .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-total { .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-time-rail .mejs-time-loaded { color: #888888; .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-buffering, Covenant Fellowship Church in central Illinois has terminated an independent investigation of "spiritual and emotional abuse" led by GRACE. Inside the Actresss Marriage to a Pastor. to conduct a third-party investigation. The KCP which consists of several pastors who were close with Chung had determined that he had been restored to God, as well as the woman. The regional presbytery also determined no additional disciplinary steps were needed for Chung other than what the church had already instituted. 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. 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. Follow her on Twitter @estheryjkang. They failed to get enough votes. Meanwhile, Chung maintains a presence and continues to attend KCP meetings, according to sources. In a world of fake news theres never been a greater need for quality Christian journalism. top: 19px; He still preaches as a member in good standing. The motion failed to pass, allowing Chung to remain an ordained minister in good standing with the PCA. A church in Urbana-Champaign reverses on promises to address abuse allegations. margin-top: 9px; Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of "Jesus v. Evangelicals: A Biblical Critique of a Wayward Movement" by Constantine Campbell. Later, the victim called a friend and told her what Chung had done. } All rights reserved.Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-float, Do share this story to encourage others to pray too. One of those associate pastors was KJ Kim, the new head pastor of CFC. It was just like, Why, why did we do this all in vain? Park said. 500K PCA and other conservative denominations. The victim was suicidal and traumatized by her initial and continuous interaction with Pastor Min, the friend stated in testimony included in the report. (The version of the report released to TRR referenced and summarized the texts instead in the interest of the victims privacy.) Eventually, that group reconsidered and completed the assessment. WebDr. Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, also known as GRACE was hired by Covenant Fellowship Church to look into the allegations against the church and its former head pastor, Min Joshua Chung. A few months later, a group of pastors dissatisfied with the presbyterys April 2021 determination filed a complaint in an effort to indefinitely suspend Chung from ministry. Those who looked deeper discovered sexual misconduct and abuse of power by Chung, former long-term church members, pastors, and leaders state in a 67-page report released to The Roys Report (TRR). In February of 2019, Park said she reported the matter to Kim and urged him to allow a third-party investigation, but Kim refused. The commission ruled the KCP had made procedural errors during its initial look at the allegations against Chung, according to Brian Park, one of the pastors in that presbytery who filed the complaint to the SJC. CFC has begun posting Leadership Updates on its website. We are accountable to our congregation and the denomination that has charge over its leaders and we believe that this is best for our church and its future. Conversations about sex, including consent, are taboo. 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.
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