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. Anew reportfrom the Chicago radio station WBEZ has gone into extensive detail regarding Chung's misogynistic conduct. 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. height: auto; However, there have also been a number of accusations of abuse of power and harsh treatment towards others that continued to surface regarding this same pastor, Kim continued. 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. He experienced his childhood in America and went to James B. Conant High School. [Churches and presbyteries] are not trained to look into [abuse], Langberg said. Sungwoo Nam, KCP clerk, said in a statement. 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. For Janet Park and other members of the group that filed the initial allegations against Chung and the CFC pastors, the GRACE termination felt like a particularly painful blow. He is the founder of truthmattersministries.com. 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. As a whistleblower, its traumatic as well, because there are so many places of pain and injustice along the way, Park 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. into silence those who knew of the incident, the report states. 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. 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 What remains is for the regional body that originally adjudicated the case to respond about procedural steps needing correction for the future.. Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted. 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. The World Economic Forum ranks the country 115th out of 145 countries in gender equality. Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church? At a later meeting, the KCP would discuss a complaint filed by several pastors who wanted to see Chung removed from office. 5 min read. Min Chung is the founding and senior pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church. background-color: #efefef; Pastor KJ shows no signs of remorse, shows no sign of pastoral care, only concerned with keeping us quiet.. Covenant Fellowship Church in central Illinois has terminated an independent investigation of "spiritual and emotional abuse" led by GRACE. CFCs main ministry is to the students at the University of Illinois and the church recruits heavily during new student week, said Tim Ma, former CFC member and 2014 Illinois graduate. After that, he was J-Gen canceled its summer retreats to grieve and reflect.. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-total, In an email to Roys, Kim wrote that the decision to terminate the churchs agreement with GRACE was made with much prayer and deliberation.. Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie has said he closed down his Good News International Church four years ago }. In addition to the alleged sexual assault, the report lists several other allegations against Chung. In the aftermath, CFC promised to make changes and to be transparent. 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.. All rights reserved.Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 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.. 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. The following web browsers are supported by this website: Please contact your system administrator if you require assistance upgrading or changing your web browser. 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. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-time-rail .mejs-time-current { While this was happening, the report states, Chung was exercising nearly Godlike authority to pressure his victim and various others whod learned about the incident to stay silent. He still preaches as a member in good standing. They dont know how to assess it, and so I would think the first response would be one of humility., But instead, she said, churches think they are right, and somebody in that position isnt going to listen to any instructions, no matter how wise or good it is.. 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 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. 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 vote by the Presbyterian oversight group on July 13 to remove Chung as a minister failed to get the necessary 2/3 vote. Follow her on Twitter @WBEZeducation and @soosieon. Opinion: What is Revivaland is it Happening at Asbury? I really did not see this coming, she said. But theres, of course, a lot under the surface as well, he added. 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. Almost every day of the week, they try to recruit people, Ma said. WebDr. [Churches and presbyteries] are not trained to look into [abuse], Langberg said. Great! Mark 5:20-34 "Healing Touch" (Pastor Min Chung) .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-time-rail .mejs-time-loaded { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); Former members say Covenant Fellowship Church has reneged on its vows to investigate allegations of sexual and spiritual abuse. Park is one of the whistleblowers who submitted the report to the KCP. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-horizontal-volume-total { 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. But TRR said that the ruling may still be appealed to the Standing Judicial Commission of the PCA's General Assembly. 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. In our previous meetings, they had acknowledged that [Chungs case was] within the scope, so Im not certain why that changed.. 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. Last summer, amid the outcry that resulted from the revelations by an Instagram account called @letters_from_rahab, CFC said it would cut financial ties to the pastor and hire a third-party group to do a full investigation. It contracted with an organization called Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE) to assess the church and its response to allegations of abuse. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-float-current, We prefer to style these with the main accent color of our theme */ His influence extends beyond the church walls. Get new articles and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Copyright 2023 Christianity Daily. In addition, CFC vowed to be clear and transparent with members by providing regular updates on the probe on its website. 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. height: 3px; WebDr. Hannah Chao /* Current track progress and active audio volume level bar */ 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). 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. . 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. There are Walmart runs. But we cant do it without you. April 21, 2023. For Janet Park and other members of the group that filed the initial allegations against Chung and the CFC pastors, the GRACE termination felt like a particularly painful blow. 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. We extend an invitation to worship with us if you are ever in the Champaign area.. right: 0; As of July 2021, CFC is lead by Reverend KJ Kim and is in the process of becoming part of the Presbyterian Church in America.