The motion to rescind the KCP decision needed a two-thirds vote in favor. 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. The woman, a former CFC member, said she was sexually assaulted by a leader in the churchnot Chungand reported the incident to a pastor. padding: 1px; LeCroy said the procedures and laws of the PCAs Book of Church Order by which churches, presbyteries and pastors abide dictates that the lower court, [the presbyterys] decision is to be respected, and that the SJC often does decide things along procedural grounds, and not the merits of the original case. He said, Your parents are well-respected members of their church, your fathers an elder [at their church], Rhee recalled. The victim was suicidal and traumatized by her initial and continuous interaction with Pastor Min, the friend stated in testimony included in the report. 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. 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. Chung began private counseling sessions with the victim, using that time to urge her to keep silent about the assault, the report states. .wp-caption-text { Former members say Covenant Fellowship Church has reneged on its vows to investigate allegations of sexual and spiritual abuse. 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. left: 0; The leader of a Christian cult in Kenya is due to appear in court next week, as the exhumation of bodies found in mass graves on his land continues. He also spoke at youth and college-aged events, counseled university students, and preached in several countries. 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.. 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. 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 Your monthly support will make a world of difference. peter cancro politics; headway reimbursement rates Nothing was put in place, to my knowledge, to keep me safe from him. 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. For many years, Chung had been a council member and a writer for their site. He also referred WBEZ to Tim LeCroy, a pastor who chaired the PCAs committee that wrote the domestic and sexual abuse report. Smith said she agreed to report the incident and received help from the University of Illinois Rev. Chung joined the church in 2005 as the minister of missions, taking over a storied tradition of deploying missionaries around the world, said Walter Kim, an 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. } In February of 2019, Park said she reported the matter to Kim and urged him to allow a third-party investigation, but Kim refused. At a later meeting, the KCP would discuss a complaint filed by several pastors who wanted to see Chung removed from office. Webwhat happened to pastor min chung pickwick lake fishing guides. However, nine elders objected to the decision and asked for Chung's suspension. 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. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-buffering, The Rev. Chung preached messages urging congregants to submit to leaders and forgive them and calling victims to forgive their abusers. 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). . Hi. 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. 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). However, a senior consultant at Center Consulting has ties with Chung. But after receiving the findings and recommendations from its investigation team, the KCP decided to restore Chung to his post. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-embed body { However, some internal tension caused many leaders to depart the church, with Chung stepping down as head pastor in 2019. My experience is that more gets done for the perpetrator versus the victim. In April, the Korean Central Presbytery received an eight-page report summarizing its investigative teams findings and recommendations. 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. 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. Min Chung is the founding and senior pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church. 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. Inside the Actresss Marriage to a Pastor. Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie has said he closed down his Good News International Church four years ago They may get along with that for a long time but somewhere along the way, the rot will show, and it will end up destroying them.. A couple of other organizations have also severed their associations with the CFC founder. Sungwoo Nam, KCP clerk, said in a statement. My heart breaks. At the same time as former and current members of CFC were being interviewed by GRACE, the case against the figure at the center of the controversy Min Chung made its way through the PCAs judicial system. Toward that end, the site requires that people use their full name when commenting. Covenant Fellowship Church is nondenominational, has no elders, and is not a PCA member. The KCP did investigate the incident but resolved that Chung had been "restored to God, as well as the woman, and that that discipline instituted by CFC pastors was found to be sufficient." The church has, since, grown into a congegration with more than a thousand attendees. 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. 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. 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. According to recordings acquired by WBEZ, Chung had admitted to touching a female "over the clothing for a brief moment" but stopped upon request. Without its RSO status, the church was not able to reserve campus spaces and recruit attendees on Quad Day, an annual event held at the start of the fall semester where new students are introduced to organizations on campus. Kho St Cng Trnh Ngm macy's software engineer salary. 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). Athletes achieve physical and emotional feats at Christie Clinic Race Weekend, Champaign man gets 40-year sentence for killing teenage boy, 217 Today: A new political opera is coming to life at Krannert Center. font-size: 11px; At least 90 have been discovered so far. Enter your email address to receive new posts by email. Becky Stephens will become senior pastor at Bucyrus United Methodist Church in July. In addition, hundreds of accounts surfaced online criticizing the church for mishandling alleged incidents of sexual abuse committed by church members, highlighting how Chung and other church leaders downplayed that abuse. 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. Another woman reported to Chung that she had been raped repeatedly. The cost has been high for the whistleblowers, said Amy Han, one of the whistleblowers who submitted the report. 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. The leader of a Christian cult in Kenya is due to appear in court next week, as the exhumation of bodies found in mass graves on his land continues. background-color: #fff; Moreover, for the sake of god, Min Chung had carried out various beneficial things for the duration of his life. Pastor Chung was claimed and accused in the scandal for certain genuine wrongdoings of sexual and obnoxious attack. In addition, his embarrassment was examined and discovered by numerous people on Reddit. Now, more than a year after WBEZ broke the story, former members and others familiar with the church say CFC is quietly reversing course. The Revelation of Jesus Christ | Revelation 1 (Pastor Min Chung) joe 2019.02.19 52. We continue to seek the Lord for His leading in this season of ministry, he said. 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. 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. 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. /* Player background */ 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). In the aftermath, CFC promised to make changes and to be transparent. 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. [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. Follow her on Twitter @WBEZeducation and @soosieon. Webwhat happened to pastor min 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. .mytheme-mejs-container.mejs-container, .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-horizontal-volume-slider .mejs-horizontal-volume-current, 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. Christie Clinic Race Weekend: Race results and next years preparations. Yet this generations aggrieved version of sexism has taken on a different character from their fathers more traditional version of sexism featuring machoism and strict gender roles., https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/opinion/south-koreas-misogyny.html, https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/06/23/young-south-korean-men-hate-liberals-feminists/. A final assessment was set to be published by this summer. Susie An covers education for WBEZ. Chung was also an adjunct professor at Urbana Theological Seminary from 2005 to 2018. Rev. For Janet Park, the events of last year feel like a waste of time and energy. J-Gen canceled its summer retreats to grieve and reflect.. Whistleblowers are making their accusations public after several years of attempts to confront the influential pastor within a reportedly tight-knit, shame-based community. 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. K.J. 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. You have entered an incorrect email address! 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. Park is one of the whistleblowers who submitted the report to the KCP. Dr. Min J. Chung is the founding and lead pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church, an interdenominational, multi-ethnic ministry located on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 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. 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. 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. Pastor Min Chung admitted some guilt but faced few consequences. 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. 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. Without its RSO status, the church was not able to reserve campus spaces and recruit attendees on Quad Day, an annual event held at the start of the fall semester where new students are introduced to organizations on campus. To Ephesus: Remember To Love Me | Revelation 2:1-7 (Pastor Min Chung) joe 2019.02.19 64. Premiers news output takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. People close to the woman said she didnt wish to speak to TRR. In much of Asian culture, you never want to look bad in front of the community and you never want to be the cause of someone else being shamed, said Frank Mesina, a former CFC member. lely golf summer membership. Alengthy investigationby National Public Radio station WBEZ in Chicago last year and social media posts by past members portrayed Covenant Fellowship Church and Chung as fostering a misogynistic environment that included sexual mistreatment and oppression of women. On December 4, 2022, CFC became a particular church within the Presbytery of Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church? Experts say the scandal and subsequent backsliding at CFC illustrates how many churches and their governing bodies are ill-equipped to address allegations of abuse. background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); 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. It was just like, Why, why did we do this all in vain? 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.. Its time that we simply say enough is enough and no -longer co-sign this terrible plight that impacts people generationally. There was never a feeling that this should be reported.. I really did not see this coming, she said. 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. transform: translateY(445%); In August 2019, Chung stopped preaching at CFC, but said it was to facilitate a transition to a team leadership model. Hannah Chao figcaption.wp-caption-text { } Websigns of too much calcium in tomato plants. 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. Almost every day of the week, they try to recruit people, Ma said. SOLA Network, a digital platform and conference including Asian American pastors from all over the country, recently broke ties with Chung. Chung continued to speak elsewhere during this time. 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. What remains is for the regional body that originally adjudicated the case to respond about procedural steps needing correction for the future.. Despite the procedural errors, the SJC also declared the case would effectively be terminated and not sent back to the KCP to be retried.
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