covenant fellowship church scandal

I shouldnt have been drinking.. WBEZ reached out to the KCP via email in June. We pray that CFC reconsiders this course of action and chooses to re-engage with GRACE for completion of this independent assessment.. We are Covenant Community Fellowship! Were trying to solve a problem and make churches a safer place for women., Owen Lee, the pastor in Virginia, has heard similar comments about CFC and the unwanted attention it has been getting on social media. I shouldnt have been out that late. Later, the victim called a friend and told her what Chung had done. Covenant Fellowship Church changes little after scandal - WBEZ It has its roots in a charismatic prayer meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland, then Washington, DC, called Take and Give (TAG), which grew into Covenant Life Church, the former flagship of Sovereign Grace. J-Gen canceled its summer retreats to grieve and reflect.. 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. You have entered an incorrect email address! Without the help she needed, Lin said she could not find a way to leave the relationship. Many have said they still wonder if they bore some responsibility for what happened to them. Others said the events of the recent months place an unfair burden on current members who have little or no connection to the CFC of old. One source said, I remember hearing somebody say, I came to [UIUC] for Pastor Min and now hes not even going to be a pastor. . Its time that we simply say enough is enough and no -longer co-sign this terrible plight that impacts people generationally. Chung preached messages urging congregants to submit to leaders and forgive them and calling victims to forgive their abusers. Back on the UIUC campus, Chung served as something of a patriarch to the hundreds of students at CFC. Park added, I think that God has the ability to redeem anything and anyone, so I think its really dangerous to be like, except for CFC, because then were saying that there are things outside of Gods ability and control.. Sovereign Grace Churches - Wikipedia Photograph by Kate Warren. It was just like, Why, why did we do this all in vain? Park said. 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. Join us for worship services on Sundays at 10:30 am (unless special events where we have two services) or for Bible Study on Wednesdays at 12:00 pm or 7:00 pm. Without its RSO status, the church can no longer reserve campus spaces and recruit new students on Quad Day, an annual event held at the start of the fall semester where new students are introduced to organizations on campus. Follow her on Twitter @estheryjkang. On its face, it is an exploration of Asian American Christianity, a small subset of an American religious subculture. Were going to help survivors heal regardless of whether the survivor remains at the church, The Allender Centers Wong-Heffter said. Min Joshua Chung himself was an undergraduate at the University of Illinois. Covenant Fellowship Church | Glen Mills PA The report accuses Chung of orchestrating a cover-up of sexual abuse allegations against another Korean-American pastor of a church with close ties to CFC. For one of the members of the KCP allegation group, who asked to remain anonymous out of respect for family members and friends who still attend CFC, the Instagram page also accomplished its initial goal. In August 2019, Chung stopped preaching at CFC, but said it was to facilitate a transition to a team leadership model. A friendly face should greet you at the front doors. Minister accused of sexual misconduct remains ordained, Tenant dies in NY Chinatown fire above Yu & Me Books, Ancestry releases records from Chinese Exclusion Act era, Arrest made in assault on couple in Koreatown anti-Asian attack, Indian American sworn in as Ambassador by Kamala Harris, OpEd: Asian Americans werent the ones that killed affirmative action, The Afterparty: Hilarious whodunnit with a quirky Asian family twist. He still preaches as a member in good standing. Covenant Community Fellowship - Home There were stories about pastors grooming teen girls and making sexual comments, church leaders minimizing mental health issues like suicidal thoughts and depression, women being sexually assaulted and going to spiritual leaders for help, only to be told it takes two to tango. Most of the posts were about experiences or people connected to CFC. Some current members said friendships have been fractured in the past couple of years. Illustration by Andjela Padejski, Photo by Manuel Martinez / WBEZ News, Fertile Soil For Abuse: A Reckoning At Covenant Fellowship Church, CPS knew for years about sexual misconduct claims against staff at a city high school, but promoted principal anyway, records show, Inside the sexual misconduct scandal involving workers at Evanstons beaches, How Covenant Fellowship Church Is Dealing With Old Sexual Abuse Allegations. Susie An covers education for WBEZ. Toward that end, the site requires that people use their full name when commenting. One was a claim from many years ago of inappropriate touch with an adult woman. You would go to a place that holds some accountability and [there] would be steps and protocols., However, in churches, pastors are seen as the head and that they have been given leadership and power from God, then it almost puts them in a separate category, Wong-Heffter explained. The friend urged the victim to tell Chung she hadnt consented to his touch. Follow her on Twitter @estheryjkang. Marah Sotelo remembered just how extremely misogynistic that place was. 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. Chung continued to speak elsewhere during this time. In one instance, Chung assaulted a woman in the back seat of a car in 2001, the report alleges. Beliefs | Covenant Fellowship | Church in Glen Mills, PA The Sex-Abuse Scandal That Devastated a Suburban Megachurch Around 1980, he officially co-founded Covenant Life Church with his friend, Larry Tomczak, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Chris Sotelo said he and his wife are still deconstructing their time at CFC to this day to figure out and decipher what was good and what was not what was God and what was [CFC] culture.. Andy Farmer - Pastor - Covenant Fellowship Church | LinkedIn 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. 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.. Despite the procedural errors, the SJC also declared the case would effectively be terminated and not sent back to the KCP to be retried. 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. The motion failed to pass, allowing Chung to remain an ordained minister in good standing with the PCA. I always felt very engaged., There was no question, if you were coming from [the] Chicago suburbs, and you were Korean or Asian, you would just go there.. Rhee is not the only woman who sought Chungs help after being sexually abused. Chung, Rhee said, gave me this confidence that he was going to take care of it.. PCA Allows High-Profile Pastor Back Despite Alleged Sexual Misconduct In the coming months, there would be several more meetings and announcements from the church regarding this matter, including public apologies at other leaders meetings from Chung himself. 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. , Rhee said Chung told her, if she were to go to the police, it would likely end in a he said, she said scenario. The hope is that, moving forward, we can not just rebuild but transform how we handle those kinds of situations, she said. Thats how much guys think about sex. , Fontijn and many others who spoke to WBEZ tied Chungs teachings to evangelical Christianitys purity culture, which she said puts the shame and onus on girls: the girl is the seductress. At no point in time did Jesus hide abuse; in fact, he was one to bring it into the open, she said. Watch on Roku. Covenant Fellowship Baptist Church We desire nothing more than to be compassionate Christians and a compassionate church yet we know that we have not lived up to this mission. Many former CFC members who spoke to WBEZ said these practices were all part of a culture of deference and loyalty to the charismatic pastor. 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. 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. And I have no further grievances on how the matter was handled. Sean Lee also said the woman wrote: The narrative that it was more than a touch is false.. Covenant Fellowship - ourcfbc.org A vote by the Presbyterian oversight group on July 13 to remove Chung as a minister failed to get the necessary 2/3 vote. 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. And women are taught to protect men, even when the men are doing something wrong or hurting the women, said former member June Pinyo. Esther Yoon-Ji Kang is a reporter for WBEZs Race, Class and Communities desk. Covenant Fellowship is a church full of messed up people engaged in a relationship with Jesus Christ . Were an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. According to the written accounts of multiple people, Chung said that he disciplined himself by fasting and prayer and that he had handled the misconduct properly. Now, more than a year after WBEZ broke the story, former members and others familiar with the church say CFC is quietly reversing course. Community Community matters at Covenant Fellowship. It was very much like, Why do you think you got into this relationship? For survivors like Anna Rhee, the unearthing of survivors stories, as well as Chungs own sexual misconduct, have set her on a journey of healing 20 years after her own assault and subsequent conversation with the pastor. Frustrated after the KCPs determination, the creator of @letters_from_rahab started the Instagram account as a way to call for transparency and accountability in Chungs sexual misconduct case both from Chung, himself, as well as leaders like Kim. The senior leadership team that would take his place said many times that the transition was long planned and unrelated to any allegations of sexual misconduct. Lin said she grew depressed and attempted suicide, which resulted in her being hospitalized. On May 2, 2021, a new Instagram account by the name of @letters_from_rahab appeared on the popular social media platform. Great! In this case, Id say this is the logical result of Korean Cultures Confucian-infused hierarchy: father-son, king-subject, husband-wife, elder-younger, friend-friend (where one is above the other in rank). 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. In an email to Roys, Kim wrote that the decision to terminate the churchs agreement with GRACE was made with much prayer and deliberation.. She said it has taken many years and a lot of therapy to get to a place where she feels comfortable coming forward with her story. Covenant Community Fellowship About See all Passion for Jesus. 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. Covenant Fellowship Baptist Church is a praying, biblically-based, soul-winning, giving church for Christ Jesus. Janet Park, a CFC alum and member of the allegation group, told WBEZ that she was the one who confronted Chung in 2009 after learning of his misconduct. Sermons - Covenant Fellowship Church And then I realized this was going south very quickly, Rhee said. To donate, click here. While Chungs salary was always kept modest at one point as low as $6,000 per year many of his familys expenses were taken care of by the church, CFC alums and other benefactors who were close to Chung, Lay said. Enter your email address to receive new posts by email. She said, Often, these churches are also kind of unified around the pastor and supporting the pastor. She added victims are often told it is unbiblical or un-Christian to take any problems to people outside the church. She writes for American City Business Journals BizWomen. As an RSO, CFC would be able to recruit new freshmen each year. Chung was responsible for setting up the churchs governing structure, which gave him unchecked power and little oversight. Whether yo It was not less than that, but not more than that. WBEZ. They also have an Instagram called letters_from_rahab . The presbyterys membership is around 60, according to one KCP pastor. She said she drew inspiration from the accounts biblical namesake, Rahab, a marginalized woman and prostitute whose act of faith and obedience saved the Israelites. Why do you think youre staying for so long? . 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. That board, along with the senior pastors, were selected to help govern CFC together, according to the Meet the Team page on the churchs website, accessed by WBEZ on May 24. Our History In August of 1990, God planted Covenant Fellowship Church (CFC) on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with the vision of producing kingdom workers. We remind him to abide by the BCO (Book of Church Order), and we believe that he should return to ministry.. She reached out to the @letters_from_rahab team to ask them to connect her to any victims who need resources after experiencing trauma. Get new articles and breaking news delivered to your inbox. She said she and others in the group were disappointed by the outcome of the KCP vote. Covenant Fellowship Church | Greenville TX 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. Former members say Covenant Fellowship Church has reneged on its vows to investigate allegations of sexual and spiritual abuse. Rhee said she was sure he would have raped her if she hadnt been able to fight him off. Chung then discouraged her from reporting the incident to the authorities, Rhee said. A Korean church located near the Champaign-Urbana campus of the University of Illinois that came under fire last year for allegations of ongoing sexual misconduct has terminated an independent investigation before its completion. 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. Serving with a denomination as a District Leader I saw leaders shuffled to different churches who were related to significant people in the denomination who continued to act our inappropiately on women and it was imply ignored or excused. I think it was pretty early on when our relationship became sexual, but not by choice, Lin said. Sermons | Covenant Fellowship | Church in Glen Mills, PA We would tell him because he was sort of who you would talk to, even before the thought of going to the police because the idea is that he would know what to do, Rhee said. 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? Former Covenant Life Church member Pam Palmer-whose daughter, Renee, allegedly was sexually assaulted as a child by a fellow congregant-organized a group of families who sued the church. Some who spoke to WBEZ said that when they sought help from church leaders who were CFC alums, they were told boys will be boys or that they should simply forgive their perpetrators. Especially in the Korean community, to call out a pastor, youre going against God-given authority.. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. We sent a list of questions and asked if Nam would point us to someone who could comment on the case. This story originally appeared at MinistryWatch., Religion Unplugged56 BroadwayNew York, NY 10004, Religion Unplugged is a production of The Media Project and a member of the Institute for Nonprofit NewsEIN: 83-0461425site design by Peter Freeby Privacy Policy, Clemente Lisi, books, Pope Pius XII, Jews, Zenger, Hamil Harris, Primary Feature, Samuel Rodriguez, National hispanic christian leadership conference, Uvalde, Uvalde school shooting, Zenger, Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment. The senior pastor is Jared Mellinger, who has led the church since 2008. JT Park said he could not agree to that, and he and his wife left his church of 18 years. Weve lost our reputations. The girl controls the guy based on how she dresses, how she presents herself.. How much do [girls] think about food? The group sent a statement saying they would not provide any interviews due to a full investigation by an independent third-party group specializing in abuse within churches. It was another missed opportunity, Amy Han said. Dress casually or dress up, but come as you are comfortable! Analysis: How Bad is Denominational Decline? In one particular case, according to sources, Chung took steps to cover up sexual abuse committed by a fellow pastor, Samuel Lee, who was leading Faith Alliance Bible Church (FABC) in suburban Des Plaines from the 90s to the early 2000s. Criminal acts were committed against these women. The church consists of predominantly a Korean American congregation. The victim was terrified and did whatever she was told, the report states. Covenant Fellowship Church At University Of Illinois Reckons With
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