But TRR disclosed that CCG's senior consultant, Charles Zimmerman, has ties with Chung. Former CFC member Janet Park said that when she confronted Chung in 2009, he told her that he kept the matter a secret because the victim had insisted on doing so. Nine teaching elders protested the KCPs ruling, saying they didnt think Chung was truly repentant, and called for indefinite suspension. Copyright 2023 Christianity Daily. 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. However, theres nothing on CFCs website about CFCs recent decision to terminate GRACE. To donate, click here. background-image: url("images/mejs-controls-dark.svg"); To Thyatira: Hold Fast What You Have Until I Come | Revelation 2:18-29 (Pastor Min Chung) joe 2019.02.19 43. Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted. For investigators at GRACE, CFCs decision to terminate the assessment is a highly unusual move. } 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. 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. top: 0; The cost has been high for the whistleblowers, said Amy Han, one of the whistleblowers who submitted the report. height: auto; } 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. They called for the rescission of the ruling in July but fell short of votes when only 22 individuals sided with the move, out of 35, with 12 who went against it and one abstention. 6 min read. We continue to seek the Lord for His leading in this season of ministry.. 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. Join with thousands of others to keep this important public media-based resource available to all. 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.. What remains is for the regional body that originally adjudicated the case to respond about procedural steps needing correction for the future.. Web[130609] On the knowledge of God. The Council in particular, as men in pastoral leadership of Asian American churches, want to offer an apology. Chung turned over leadership of the church he founded in 2019 to a team of associate pastors, according to Ministry Watch. On July 9, 1988, Whelchel tied the knot with Steven Cauble, her first husband and associate pastor at The Church on the Way. People close to the woman said she didnt wish to speak to TRR. But now were not really given that chance.. Chung was also an adjunct professor at Urbana Theological Seminary from 2005 to 2018. He said, Your parents are well-respected members of their church, your fathers an elder [at their church], Rhee recalled. The Roys Report seeks to foster thoughtful and respectful dialogue. Chung had no interest in moving back to the weekend and attempted to get CBS to buy her out of the rest of her contract, valued around $2 million with less than a In October, the church board released a nine-page report from the CCG. But its especially disappointing because now theyve shown that they do have the tools and resources to make better decisions.. But theres, of course, a lot under the surface as well, he added. For almost 20 years, Chung kept the alleged sexual assault from church leaders and his wife, Park said. Great! 2nd Peter 1 : 2 ~ 3, by pastor Minho Chung The Austin-area congregation declared itself open to LGBTQ persons on staff and that the church building would be available to host same-sex wedding ceremonies. (Illinois defines criminal sexual assault as using force or threat or force, and the defendant knows the victim is unable to give knowing consent.). Meanwhile, Chung maintains a presence and continues to attend KCP meetings, according to sources. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-handle-content { } A Presbyterian oversight group refused to defrock a Korean American minister following allegations of sexual misconduct, reports Ministry Watch. However, nine elders objected to the decision and asked for Chung's suspension. 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. 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). Charles Zimmerman has been a speaker at One In Love, which Chung founded, and theyve both been main speakers at Global Kingdom Young Adult Missions Festival, where Chung was a board member. 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). We remind him to abide by the BCO (Book of Church Order), and we believe that he should return to ministry.. 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. .elementor-widget .elementor-icon-list-icon svg { Women in many Korean churches are told to be submissive, former CFC members said. 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. 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. Sungwoo Nam, KCP clerk, said in a statement. The CCG called the allegations against Min Chung an inappropriate moral failure between Min Chung and a woman. 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. Kim also alluded to the KCP investigation. } .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-marker, /* Reduce height of the progress and audio bars */ These include the SOLA Network, a group of Asian American pastors, and the Joshua Generation, a high school ministry that the minister also founded. 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.. In September 2019, two other whistleblowers met with Kim as a final step to urge leadership to take proper steps, the report states. 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. Singer said any organizations that back out do so because they dont understand the nature of an independent assessment or investigation. In our previous meetings, they had acknowledged that [Chungs case was] within the scope, so Im not certain why that changed.. The victim did. A 124-page extended version of the report, containing copies of texts describing one victims assault and subsequent intimidation, was submitted to an investigative team of the Korean Central Presbytery (KCP) in November 2020, following up on a five-page allegation letter the whistleblowers sent in August. Pastor Kim also promised that church leadership would add more layers of accountability and would humbly listen, learn, and grow so we can be a healthier church moving forward.. I went to my head pastor and I was emotionally distressed, she said. In August 2019, Chung stopped preaching at CFC, but said it was to facilitate a transition to a team leadership model. 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. Joshua Generation, commonly called J-Gen, a ministry for high schoolers that Chung founded, also severed ties with Chung. He added that the Book of Church Order wasnt designed to protect victims of abuse, and that the PCA should consider amendments to the book to help make the judicial process less cumbersome for lay members. /* Player background */ .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-button > button { background-color: rgba(219, 78, 136, 0.075); The church brought in a trauma expert to meet with congregants, added elders to its leadership model, and offered congregants ongoing ways to express concerns. . To Pergamum: Do Not Compromise | Revelation 2:12-17 (Pastor Min Chung) Whistleblowers say theyre disappointed, but not surprised, with the ruling. Members didnt feel safe talking to leaders and sometimes felt ostracized, the report said. She bangs on his door all hours of the night until he finally comes and gives her justice, LeCroy explained. The church followed the report with a letter apologizing for several wrongs. Chung reportedly abused a number of congregants at CFC. Heartland Greenway LLC refiled its application with the Illinois. Toward that end, the site requires that people use their full name when commenting. They gave a couple of examples [of bias], which were tenuous at best, Singer said. 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. 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.. Anne Rhee (not her real name) recalled when she began to kiss a male friend from church. They also ruled that the period when Chung wasnt preaching at CFC was enough discipline for his sin. The mainline Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) announced this week it will change the way it reports statistical information about the denominations membership to, The pastor of a Baptist church in Virginia is in jail on child sex abuse-related charges, the Washington County (Va.) Sheriffs Office, Steve Morgan, founder and president of a group of 26 evangelical-charismatic churches known as the Network, has been hiding a disqualifying sexual. 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. WebAs of July 2021, CFC came under the leadership of Reverend KJ Kim and a lay oversight board. The timing of thisso close to the finish of the assessmenthas raised a lot of questions and suspicion among former members, said Pinyo. Zimmerman didnt answer calls or emails to comment on his relationship with Chung. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-horizontal-volume-total { . 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 It was just like, Why, why did we do this all in vain? Park said. But TRR said that the ruling may still be appealed to the Standing Judicial Commission of the PCA's General Assembly. }. Per a New York Times opinion piece from June 13, 2016 called South Koreas Misogyny, Women made up 86 percent of all violent crime victims in 2013, according to police data (most violent crime is sexual in nature, and women suffer disproportionately from sexual crimes)., Per a June 23, 2021 article from foreignpolicy.com, sexism has been a long-standing issue in South Korea. Nov. 22, 2018. We here at SOLA Network affirm these words: SOLA Network exists to influence the emerging generation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado. 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) Leadership of the assessmenthas raised a lot of questions and suspicion among former members, said in a statement,. Urbana Theological Seminary from 2005 to 2018 questions and suspicion among former members said! 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