It affects your identity, making you want to hide parts or even all of yourself. Editors note: This story has been updated to clarify when the KCP received the whistleblowers allegations and to more accurately state certain charges. 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. Were an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. font-size: 10px Pastor KJ Kim acknowledged that Chung has been accused of a pattern of abusing his authority. says that as of July 2021, CFC is under the leadership of Reverend KJ Kim and a lay oversight board and is in the process of particularizing or becoming a fully organized church with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). The investigation, which began last summer, came after multiple allegations that CFC had silenced and intimidated those who reported sexual misconduct by the churchs former well-known pastor, Min Joshua Chung. We prefer to style these with the main accent color of our theme */ figcaption.wp-caption-text { The lawsuit alleges that the property at 19150 Woodward Ave. is dilapidated and a public nuisance, and orders Pastor Marvin The churchs website says that as of July 2021, CFC is under the leadership of Reverend KJ Kim and a lay oversight board and is in the process of particularizing or becoming a fully organized church with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). URBANA For Janet Park, the events of last year feel like a waste of time and energy. border: 0 none; 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. 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.. } J-Gen canceled its summer retreats to grieve and reflect.. In addition, CFC vowed to be clear and transparent with members by providing regular updates on the probe on its website. 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. WBEZ uncovered multiple other allegations against CFC, including pastors at the church making sexual comments to teen girls, church officials brushing off women who were sexually assaulted who went to them for help, and an overall culture that diminished women. 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 padding: 1px; Korean Church Stops Independent Investigation into Sexual Harold Kim (Christ Central of Southern California), Steve Chang (Living Hope Community Church), Owen Lee (Christ Central Presbyterian Church), Hanley Liu (First Chinese Baptist Church Walnut), Will Chang (New Life Presbyterian Church), Michael Lee (All Nations Community Church), Hannah Chao (All Nations Community Church), Soojin Park (Christ Central Presbyterian Church), Tim St. John (Lighthouse Community Church), Moses Y. Lee (Rosebook Presbyterian Church). In light of this information, on August 15, 2020, the SOLA Council asked Min to resign his position and removed all of Mins content from the SOLA website. } } We, as a collective voice of Asian American leaders, implore Min Chung to cease all public ministry at least until a new investigation is conducted and proper } As WBEZ previously reported, those restorative steps had included meeting with the CFC pastoral staff regularly for mutual encouragement and care and preventing Chung from preaching at CFC for a limited time. Finally, we desire and pray for justice and healing for all past and present survivors of abuse. content: ''; The church that Min pastored operated without a board of elders or denominational oversight, which allowed him to create a system with few checks or balances. In May 2021, CFC cut ties with Chung. He also spoke at youth and college-aged events, counseled university students, and preached in several countries. 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. 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. Now, more than a year after WBEZ broke the story, former members and others familiar with the church say CFC is quietly reversing course. Amid rumors of sexual misconduct, Chung announced in the summer of 2019 that he would transition out of the head pastor role and that a team of associate pastors would take over. 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. Pastor Kim confirmed the churchs decision with TRR but did not give a reason. However, a senior consultant at Center Consulting has ties with Chung. Pastor Chung holds a Korean-American identity. Wade Morris, Popular Baptist Youth Speaker, Dies After COVID-19 Hospitalization. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. 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. Even the friend in whom the victim confided feared she would be cursed by God if she spoke against Chung. 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. I have to believe that having an an honor/shame cultural background, rather than a right/wrong (or guilt) background, would bring quite a few challenges to conducting an independent leadership investigation. Many have called into question the biblical sufficiency of these measures, and the SOLA Network also expresses strong concern regarding the decision of the KCP. WebTHE RADIO SHOW WILL BE LIVE! } On July 9, 1988, Whelchel tied the knot with Steven Cauble, her first husband and associate pastor at The Church on the Way. visibility: hidden; For almost 20 years, Chung kept the alleged sexual assault from church leaders and his wife, Park said. /*Custom svg icon height fix*/ In September 2019, two other whistleblowers met with Kim as a final step to urge leadership to take proper steps, the report states. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story or making a contribution. 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. 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. Chung began private counseling sessions with the victim, using that time to urge her to keep silent about the assault, the report states. .grecaptcha-badge { visibility: hidden; } To Thyatira: Hold Fast What You Have Until I Come | Revelation 2:18-29 (Pastor Min Chung) joe 2019.02.19 43. Susie An covers education for WBEZ. A Presbyterian oversight group refused to defrock a Korean American minister following allegations of sexual misconduct, reports Ministry Watch. It also alleges that Chung urged a woman not to go to police when she sought his counsel after being sexually assaulted by another church member. But its especially disappointing because now theyve shown that they do have the tools and resources to make better decisions.. } Chungs church reckoned him to have an especially high place of anointing, making him untouchable when he does wrong, said Dan Lee, another whistleblower in the report. If you think that is bad, consider this; We have a PCA pastor, Kiernan Stringer in Toronto, Canada who admits in writing a letter to us and his congregation to breaking the 7th commandment ( You shall not commit murder) and the 9th commandment ( You shall not bear witness against your neighbour), refuses to repent and everyone in the PCA hierarchy refuses to anything about it. 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. Chung turned over leadership of the church he founded in 2019 to a team of associate pastors, according to Ministry Watch. Korean Christians have had such a tremendous and positive impact over the last few decades on local communities and believers, its difficult to overstate. 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. 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. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls, Sin has real and lasting consequences and should be dealt with appropriately with discipline and repentance, not in spite of the gospel, but precisely because of it. Posted on: Feb 04, 2023 User login The victim was terrified and did whatever she was told, the report states. /* Progress and audio bar background */ Our King Jesus, in his incarnation, wept at the suffering of man and in his full glory he will wipe away every tear as he welcomes us into eternity. Unfortunately, GRACE has been informed by CFC that they are terminating the assessment, an update linked on GRACEs website stated. Min committed sexual misconduct against a female young adult whom he was pastoring. On December 4, 2022, CFC became a particular church within the Presbytery of 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. color: #888888; 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. As 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. Why do you think youre staying for so long? . Hence, the SOLA Network writes the following statement so that the emerging generation of Asian American pastors, leaders, and Christ-followers can be gospel-centric in processing and dealing with the stated incident. 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. . Front-runner for Oscar. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-horizontal-volume-total { height: 90px; transform: translateY(445%); 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. top: 6px; into silence those who knew of the incident, the report states. In the aftermath, CFC promised to make changes and to be transparent. That same year, the actress retired from acting to start a family with her new husband. bottom: 0; The timing of thisso close to the finish of the assessmenthas raised a lot of questions and suspicion among former members, said Pinyo. On July 13, the KCP met to discuss a complaint about the ruling filed by a group of pastors who wanted the group to remove Chung from the ministry. 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. In addition to the alleged sexual assault, the report lists several other allegations against Chung. /* Track progress bar background (amount of track fully loaded) fostered a misogynistic environment that included sexual mistreatment and To make a donation,click here. 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 the leaders of CFC, we repent and acknowledge our failings and the many ways that we need to change.. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-embed, background-image: url("images/mejs-controls-dark.svg"); To donate, Presbyterian Church (USA) Will Gather Nonbinary/Genderqueer Membership Statistics, Virginia Pastor Accused of Sexually Abusing Girl During Church Sleepover, Whistleblowers Say Leader of Network of Churches Hid Sexual Crime for 36 Years, Former Pastor Accused of Rape Resigns from Churchome After TRR Investigation; Church Official Makes False Claims, Arkansas Youth Pastor Pleads Guilty to 13 Counts of Sexual Assault, Bishop Scott Jones Moves from Extreme Center of UMC to Global Methodist Church, A Christian Health Nonprofit Saddled Thousands With Debt as It Built a Family Empire Including A Pot Farm, Bank and Airline, 2 Megachurches Rocked by Allegations They Allowed Pastor Guilty of Clergy Sexual Abuse to Re-Offend, EXCLUSIVE: John MacArthur Shamed, Excommunicated Mother for Refusing to Take Back Child Abuser, Days-long Revival Sweeping Asbury University in Kentucky, EXCLUSIVE: John MacArthur Covered Up Pastors Sexual Abuse, Witnesses Say, EXCLUSIVE: John MacArthurs Church Supported Convicted Child Abuser & Pedophile, Records Show, Dante Bowe Posts, Then Removes, Apology for Behavior Causing Split with Maverick City Music, Matt Chandler Steps Aside After Admitting Inappropriate Online Relationship, John MacArthur Pulls Out of Ligonier Conference, Pastor Resigns From Houston Megachurch After Admitting Affair, Televangelist Creflo Dollar Renounces Past Teachings on Tithing, But Questions Persist. 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