what happened to pastor min chung

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. They also ruled that the period when Chung wasnt preaching at CFC was enough discipline for his sin. Chung, who founded the church in 1990 on the University of Illinois-Champaign Urbana campus, announced in the summer of 2019 that he would The commission declared the KCP should have disciplined the pastor according to the PCAs Book of Church Order not follow the restorative steps the associate pastors had instituted, according to Brian Park. [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. Illinois Newsroom gets stories from public radio stations from across the state, including WBEZ-Chicago, WCBU-Peoria, WGLT-Normal, WVIK-Rock Island, WIUM-Macomb, WNIJ-DeKalb, WSIU-Carbondale, WUIS-Springfield, and St. Louis Public Radio. 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. But we cant do it without you. A total of 19 people signed on to the report or are cited as witnesses. She said, Its very important for churches to understand theyre killing themselves, and they dont look anything like the God they say they serve. Chung turned over leadership of the church he founded in 2019 to a team of associate pastors, according to Ministry Watch. Now, more than a year after WBEZ broke the story, former members and others familiar with the church say CFC is quietly reversing course. She bangs on his door all hours of the night until he finally comes and gives her justice, LeCroy explained. They gave a couple of examples [of bias], which were tenuous at best, Singer said. 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. The commission declared the KCP should have disciplined the pastor according to the PCAs Book of Church Order not follow the restorative steps the associate pastors had instituted, according to Brian Park. Chung didnt respond when The Roys Report tried to reach him for comment. For investigators at GRACE, CFCs decision to terminate the assessment is a highly unusual move. 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. Langberg helped an ad interim committee of the PCA write a new report on domestic and sexual abuse in churches. We prefer to style these with the main accent color of our theme */ WebAs of July 2021, CFC came under the leadership of Reverend KJ Kim and a lay oversight board. In the wake of last years scandal, CFC also chose not to renew its status as a registered student organization, or RSO, at U of I last academic year. Why do you think youre staying for so long? . Join with thousands of others to keep this important public media-based resource available to all. Becky Stephens will become senior pastor at Bucyrus United Methodist Church in July. Anew reportfrom the Chicago radio station WBEZ has gone into extensive detail regarding Chung's misogynistic conduct. Premiers news output takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. The decision came before an investigation by WBEZ of Pastor Min Joshua Chung of the Covenant Fellowship Church on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. 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). left: 0; .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-controls .mejs-horizontal-volume-slider .mejs-horizontal-volume-total, top: 0; He is the founder of truthmattersministries.com. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. margin-top: 9px; Glenn Youngkin Donates $43,750 Salary to Good News Jail & Prison Ministry to Bring Gospel to Inmates, Baltimore Church Pastor Refused to Pay Electricity Bill of Over $30,000, Energy Company Cut Its Power Supply, United Methodist Church Regional Bodies Explore Solutions as Congregations Depart, St. Peter's Basilica Unveils Exclusive 'Prayer Entrance' Amid Tourist Surge, Comedian John Crist 100 Percent Happy His Sexual Misconduct Was Exposed Via Charisma Report, Christian Leaders React To Scathing Report On Ravi Zacharias Sexual Misconduct, What Are The Pros And Cons Of Purity Culture? It was just like, Why, why did we do this all in vain? Park said. 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. 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. No one in the USAis sharing news like we are across radio, magazines and online so please help us to continue that today. .wp-caption-text { Pastor Min Chung admitted some guilt but faced few consequences. The woman, a former CFC member, said she was sexually assaulted by a leader in the churchnot Chungand reported the incident to a pastor. 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. Authors Channel Summit. Pete Singer, GRACEs executive director, called the cancellation very rare, adding he is aware of just one other organization that has done the same. He cited an example in the Bible, in the book of Luke, where Jesus tells the story of a woman and an unjust judge. 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. CFC came under fire last summer for its alleged mishandling of sexual misconduct by church founder and former head pastor Min Joshua Chung. Thank you. In our previous meetings, they had acknowledged that [Chungs case was] within the scope, so Im not certain why that changed.. I would guess the numbers will continue to collapse keep up the good work PCA. Fontijn, Park and others told WBEZ they are angry the victims of sexual and spiritual abuse who came forward to be interviewed by GRACE will not be heard. The motion requires two-thirds vote. CFC separated from Chung on May 27 and has contracted a third-party investigation into his conduct. 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. Langberg helped an ad interim committee of the PCA write a new report on domestic and sexual abuse in churches. Esther Yoon-Ji Kang is a reporter for WBEZs Race, Class and Communities desk. Photo: Illustration by Andjela Padejski, Photo by Manuel Martinez/WBEZ News, Move over, Bruce Willis: NASA crashed into an asteroid to test planetary defense, Students protest University of Illinois investments related to fossil fuels. 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. 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. content: ''; A couple of other organizations have also severed their associations with the CFC founder. She said, Its very important for churches to understand theyre killing themselves, and they dont look anything like the God they say they serve. They failed to get enough votes. Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted. My heart breaks. 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. 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. top: 19px; 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) .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-loaded, CFC has begun posting Leadership Updates on its website. 5 min read. Ultimately my hope is to discover who God truly is, beyond the God that CFC represented.. I went to my head pastor and I was emotionally distressed, she said. April 21, 2023. Another day, theres basketball. In addition, CFC vowed to be clear and transparent with members by providing regular updates on the probe on its website. Singer said any organizations that back out do so because they dont understand the nature of an independent assessment or investigation. Hi. Learn how your comment data is processed. Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church? In addition to the alleged sexual assault, the report lists several other allegations against Chung. Covenant Fellowship Church is nondenominational, has no elders, and is not a PCA member. 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. 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. 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. All rights reserved.Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 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Especially in the Korean community, to call out a pastor, youre going against God-given authority.. 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. An Asian American pastor in Illinois was reinstated to ministry in spite of doubts on his character due to sexual abuse accusations. 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. 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. 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. Joshua Generation, commonly called J-Gen, a ministry for high schoolers that Chung founded, also severed ties with 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. 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. 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. 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. 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." We remind him to abide by the BCO (Book of Church Order), and we believe that he should return to ministry..

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