This is so disheartening. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-marker, Happened Despite the procedural errors, the SJC also declared the case would effectively be terminated and not sent back to the KCP to be retried. 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. 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.. font-size: 10px But theres, of course, a lot under the surface as well, he added. } It went terribly, according to the report. background-color: rgba(219, 78, 136, 0.075); margin: 0; content: ''; Why do you think youre staying for so long? . Many other ministries have removed Chung from their boards and speaking schedules. Zimmerman didnt answer calls or emails to comment on his relationship with Chung. 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. 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. GRACE said the termination by CFC effectively halts its work at this time. .elementor-widget .elementor-icon-list-icon svg { And calls for reform are spreading through the Korean-American community, even as whistleblowers fear retaliation. 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. Copyright 2023 Christianity Daily. However, nine elders objected to the decision and asked for Chung's suspension. 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. 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. He also referred WBEZ to Tim LeCroy, a pastor who chaired the PCAs committee that wrote the domestic and sexual abuse report. figcaption.wp-caption-text { kept the alleged sexual assault from church leaders and his wife, PCA Allows High-Profile Pastor Back Despite Alleged 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. But he said the church had recently decided to hire an outside group to investigate in order to work towards rebuilding trust and create a healthier culture that better reflects Jesus.. As a whistleblower, its traumatic as well, because there are so many places of pain and injustice along the way, Park said. But TRR said that the ruling may still be appealed to the Standing Judicial Commission of the PCA's General Assembly. 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. SOLA Network, a digital platform and conference including Asian American pastors from all over the country, recently broke ties with Chung. /* Track progress bar background (amount of track fully loaded) Others claimed that Chung assaulted them several times, including while on a two-hour car ride. Theres a picnic. 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. Premiers mission is to provide the Church with the most up to date and relevant news, told from a Christian perspective. Langberg helped an ad interim committee of the PCA write a new report on domestic and sexual abuse in churches. 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. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Park is one of the whistleblowers who submitted the report to the KCP. Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. The victim was terrified and did whatever she was told, the report states. 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 judge sentenced 57-year-old Daryl Vandyke on Wednesday after the Champaign man admitted that he used an ax or other sharp-edged garden tool to kill Steven Butler III, in July 2021. 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. 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. We judge that his relationship with God is restored as we consider the grace of God. Even the friend in whom the victim confided feared she would be cursed by God if she spoke against Chung. 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. He and his wife Tracy are celebrating eleven years of marriage together and have three children: Caden, Isabella, and Ian. 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). 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). 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 Theyre a very inclusive, very inviting community. to conduct a third-party investigation. A church in Urbana-Champaign reverses on promises to address abuse allegations. Nothing was ever followed up on with me. Many CFC members are students there who hail from the Chicago area. [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. Former members of Covenant Fellowship Church (CFC) of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where Chung pastored, say the whole church system breeds abuse. We remind him to abide by the BCO (Book of Church Order), and we believe that he should return to ministry.. The friend urged the victim to tell Chung she hadnt consented to his touch. We judge that his relationship with God is restored as we consider the grace of God. Prominent Korean-American Church Ends Nearly 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. Langberg helped an ad interim committee of the PCA write a new report on domestic and sexual abuse in churches. What remains is for the regional body that originally adjudicated the case to respond about procedural steps needing correction for the future.. background-image: url("images/mejs-controls-dark.svg"); Rhee told WBEZ she reported the incident to Pastor Chung. 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. 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 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 Chung turned over leadership of the church he founded in 2019 to a team of associate pastors, according to Ministry Watch. 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. Its a moment of reckoning for the Korean American church, former CFC member June Pinyo said. 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. Although banned from preaching at CFC by the Korean Central Presbytery in which he was 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. There was never a feeling that this should be reported.. K.J. Sorry, your web browser is not capable of supporting the features required by this website. 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. 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. } what happened to pastor min chung - nordicya.com Christie Clinic Race Weekend: Race results and next years preparations. April 21, 2023. Do share this story to encourage others to pray too. Meanwhile, Chung maintains a presence and continues to attend KCP meetings, according to sources. Another day, theres basketball. There are Walmart runs. I have really chosen to not respond to many of these issues but when I was a young man right before I went to college to study for the ministry one of the men who was a brother to a popular board member of the church attempted to molest me at my parents home while I was recovering from a severe pneumonia. Covenant Fellowship Church At University Of Illinois Reckons 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.. [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. The group said that though the was guilty, what he did was already enough for his reinstatement and that his hiatus from preaching was also enough to discipline him for the sin. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-float-corner, 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. AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. WILL and the Illinois Newsroom are committed to bringing you in-depth, relevant coverage that keeps you informed and engages you with our community and state. what happened to pastor min chung Dr. Min J. Chung is the founding and lead pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church, an Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-embed, The Rev. Kho St Cng Trnh Ngm macy's software engineer salary. 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.. 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? } We extend an invitation to worship with us if you are ever in the Champaign area.. Post author By ; cases where eyewitnesses were right Post date March 7, 2023; .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-horizontal-volume-slider .mejs-horizontal-volume-total, 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. Min Joshua Chung | video screenshot / Good Fruit Co. / YouTube. 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. 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.