Conversations about sex, including consent, are taboo. There were also claims of pastors making sexual comments to teen attendees, officials brushing off sexual assault claims, and a general setting where women were seemingly less valued than men. The congregation also sought to evaluate the health of the church through The Center Consulting Group (CCG). Sorry, your web browser is not capable of supporting the features required by this website. 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. 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.. 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. Covenant Fellowship Church in central Illinois has terminated an independent investigation of "spiritual and emotional abuse" led by GRACE. Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted. I personally do it for the survivors. To Ephesus: Remember To Love Me | Revelation 2:1-7 (Pastor Min Chung) joe 2019.02.19 64. } Pastor Min Chung Profiles | Facebook .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-float-current, Do share this story to encourage others to pray too. 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. /* Reduce height of the progress and audio bars */ But The Roys Report said Kim has been accused by a whistleblower group of covering up other past misconduct by Chung. Dr. Michael Brown Examines, Pastors Should Talk About Divisive Politics From The Pulpit, And Here's Why, Phonies, Superficial Christianity Being Exposed Amid Pandemic, Pastor John MacArthur Says. Check 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. Rev. .wp-caption img { Kim did not respond to a request for comment on these claims against him. Pastor KJ Kim acknowledged that Chung has been accused of a pattern of abusing his authority. Pastor Min Chung admitted some guilt but faced few consequences. 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. Korean Church Stops Independent Investigation into Sexual 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. For a monthly gift of $11or more wed also be able to send you a free copy of the brand new Premier Bible, a wonderful Anglicised version of the NLT packed with exclusive bonus content, reading plan and resources to help you get the most out of scripture. The Roys Report seeks to foster thoughtful and respectful dialogue. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-handle-content { Pastor 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. height: 3px; .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-horizontal-volume-slider .mejs-horizontal-volume-total, background-image: url("images/mejs-controls-dark.svg"); In September 2019, two other whistleblowers met with Kim as a final step to urge leadership to take proper steps, the report states. Many people conceive of tweets as analogous to TV or newspaper or radio that there are people who tweet, there are people who read the tweets, as Munger puts it. In May 2021, CFC cut ties with him. Did Pastor Min Chung Resign After CFC Scandal? Where Is he .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-buffering, .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-float-corner, what happened to pastor min chung 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. Pastor Min Chung CFC came under fire last summer for its alleged mishandling of sexual misconduct by church founder and former head pastor Min Joshua Chung. color: #888888; Minister accused of sexual misconduct remains ordained, Business leader wants AAPI voters to use their money and their vote, Ke Huy Quan responds to rumors about Indiana Jones 5 appearance, Report shows islamophobia and bullying in schools remains high, Naomi Osaka praises Giannis Antetokounmpos answer to question about failure, Indian American founder of tech start-up pleads guilty to fraud, 15,000 signatures submitted opposing Philadelphia 76er arena, Survey: Racism & mental health top concerns of Chinese Am, Vincent Chin Institute Launched to fight hate, Ex-beauty queen double downs on racist video, 2023 resource guide for services to the AAPI Community, A Sweltering Problem Begs For A Cool Solution. what happened to pastor min 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. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-handle-content { what happened to pastor min chung - custommaterials.com 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. Now, more than a year after WBEZ broke the story, former members and others familiar with the church say CFC is quietly reversing course. A church in Urbana-Champaign reverses on promises to address abuse allegations. 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.. Copyright 2023 Christianity Daily. 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 Becky Stephens will become senior pastor at Bucyrus United Methodist Church in July. Many times, I thought I lost my own understanding in God. Whistleblowers are making their accusations public after several years of attempts to confront the influential pastor within a reportedly tight-knit, shame-based community. 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. Its a moment of reckoning for the Korean American church, former CFC member June Pinyo said. 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. Pastor KJ shows no signs of remorse, shows no sign of pastoral care, only concerned with keeping us quiet.. Happened 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. 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. Even the pastors, I would say, do a good job at that. Get new articles and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Webwhat happened to pastor min chunguindy football roster. Whistleblowers say theyre disappointed, but not surprised, with the ruling. } 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. 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. We acknowledge that this was wrong., Kim said the woman had forgiven Chung long ago.. Webrestaurants near san clemente outlets; aretha franklin favorite color; best items to unlock isaac: repentance; why did syd leave the commish; average 100m time for 13 year old background: #db4e88; This website requires JavaScript to function correctly. 5 min read. /* Progress and audio bars */ Min Joshua Chung | video screenshot / Good Fruit Co. / YouTube. 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. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story or making a contribution. Although banned from preaching at CFC by the Korean Central Presbytery in which he was In our previous meetings, they had acknowledged that [Chungs case was] within the scope, so Im not certain why that changed.. The Roys Report 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. Yet whistleblowers, who knew about the alleged assault, pressured Chung for a decade to confess to the church. Developing Patience for the Slow Work of Justice 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) K.J. However, nine elders objected to the decision and asked for Chung's suspension. Get Your Domain Names Here! Premiers mission is to provide the Church with the most up to date and relevant news, told from a Christian perspective. New report reveals how Korean pastor in Chicago fostered ' to conduct a third-party investigation. 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. Even the friend in whom the victim confided feared she would be cursed by God if she spoke against Chung. Friday, April 28, 2023 Todays headlines: A newly signed Illinois law will let out-of-state doctors and nurses practicing on temporary licenses stay here. Unlike many websites we haven't put up a paywall we want to keep our journalism free at the point of need and as open as we can. But we cant do it without you. } Prominent Korean-American Church Ends Nearly A new report appears to implicate Covenant Fellowship Church's former head pastor, Min Joshua Chung, in fostering and creating a misogynistic church environment. 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 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. 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, 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. 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. To Smyrna: Be Faithful Unto Death | Revelation 2:8-11 (Pastor Min Chung) joe 2019.02.19 44. Chung turned over leadership of the church he founded in 2019 to a team of associate pastors, according to Ministry Watch. 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 Mississippi. Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), an organization hired by Covenant Fellowship Church to look into the allegations against the Authors Channel Summit. 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. 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. We extend an invitation to worship with us if you are ever in the Champaign area.. 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. visibility: hidden; Min Joshua Chung founded Covenant Fellowship Church in 1990 as an outreach effort to local college students. 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. Theres such a pressure put on women to be pure going into marriage, but then we create this environment in the church where its kind of ripe for abuse, and for women to stay silent when there is some kind of assault, Pinyo said. Rev. After that, he was 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. Park said when she confronted Chung, he said had a dream in which God showed him that he was a lampstand for his generation, and that he should keep preaching as part of his healing. Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado. 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. Websigns of too much calcium in tomato plants. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-total { Follow her on Twitter @estheryjkang. Becky Stephens will become senior pastor at Bucyrus United Methodist Church in July. Smith said she agreed to report the incident and received help from the University of Illinois Growing The motion to rescind the KCP decision needed a two-thirds vote in favor. 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. New report reveals how Korean pastor in Chicago CFC has already disassociated with Chung on May 27 and hired the services of Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment(GRACE) to investigate the pastor. what happened to pastor min chung 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) 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. It was another missed opportunity, Amy Han said. .jet-smart-listing__post-title:after { Despite the procedural errors, the SJC also declared the case would effectively be terminated and not sent back to the KCP to be retried. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-marker, Minister accused of sexual misconduct remains ordained Esther Yoon-Ji Kang is a reporter for WBEZs Race, Class and Communities desk. Chung discouraged her from reporting the incident to police. WebAs of July 2021, CFC came under the leadership of Reverend KJ Kim and a lay oversight board. lely golf summer membership. He also spoke at youth and college-aged events, counseled university students, and preached in several countries. 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. 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. Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie has said he closed down his Good News International Church four years ago "MC (Min Chung) is anointed by God, God only exists at CFC and there is no other place like CFC. Its time that we simply say enough is enough and no -longer co-sign this terrible plight that impacts people generationally. Singer said any organizations that back out do so because they dont understand the nature of an independent assessment or investigation. Chung preached messages urging congregants to submit to leaders and forgive them and calling victims to forgive their abusers. Another woman reported to Chung that she had been raped repeatedly. A couple of other organizations have also severed their associations with the CFC founder. /* Player controls */ Nothing was put in place, to my knowledge, to keep me safe from him. Happened Eventually, that group reconsidered and completed the assessment. Park is one of the whistleblowers who submitted the report to the KCP. 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. She said, Its very important for churches to understand theyre killing themselves, and they dont look anything like the God they say they serve. According to recordings acquired by WBEZ, Chung had admitted to touching a female "over the clothing for a brief moment" but stopped upon request. The World Economic Forum ranks the country 115th out of 145 countries in gender equality. 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). .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time { For investigators at GRACE, CFCs decision to terminate the assessment is a highly unusual move. 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. We judge that his relationship with God is restored as we consider the grace of God. Bryan Chapell, the PCAs stated clerk, confirmed to WBEZ in a statement that the discipline matter has been concluded by the SJC. According to sources, in the past few months, CFC has terminated the assessment with GRACE and wiped any trace of the leadership updates from last year (as seen on a web page accessed by WBEZ on Sept. 21). Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Thank you. Chung reportedly abused a number of congregants at CFC. We pray that CFC reconsiders this course of action and chooses to re-engage with GRACE for completion of this independent assessment.. Pastor Min Chung is also known as one of the youth movement Joshua Generation conference and college movement founders. Pastor Chung holds a Korean-American identity. He experienced his childhood in America and went to James B. Conant High School. After that, he was acknowledged at the University of Illinois. 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. Min Chung is the founding and senior pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church. background-color: #fff; 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/. In addition, CFC vowed to be clear and transparent with members by providing regular updates on the probe on its website. (The version of the report released to TRR referenced and summarized the texts instead in the interest of the victims privacy.) .grecaptcha-badge { 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. 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. 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. what happened to pastor min chung - nordicya.com The motion requires two-thirds vote. 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). .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-horizontal-volume-slider .mejs-horizontal-volume-current, 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 victim was terrified and did whatever she was told, the report states. Nothing was ever followed up on with me. 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. She said, Its very important for churches to understand theyre killing themselves, and they dont look anything like the God they say they serve. CFC has begun posting Leadership Updates on its website. He said, Your parents are well-respected members of their church, your fathers an elder [at their church], Rhee recalled. Many CFC members are students there who hail from the Chicago area. We continue to seek the Lord for His leading in this season of ministry, he said. Join with thousands of others to keep this important public media-based resource available to all. 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.. 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. 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. font-size: 11px; 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. Chung turned over leadership of the church he founded in 2019 to a team of associate pastors, according to Ministry Watch. 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.
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