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. 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. 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. Theyre a very inclusive, very inviting community. There are far-reaching consequences to a leaders sins, and as God lovingly and wisely disciplines those he loves, so the church must do the same beginning with her leaders. He is the ultimate judge who will make right all wrongs and the one who will both save and destroy. [Churches and presbyteries] are not trained to look into [abuse], Langberg said. 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. 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. text-align: left; } Meanwhile, Chung maintains a presence and continues to attend KCP meetings, according to sources. Chung began private counseling sessions with the victim, using that time to urge her to keep silent about the assault, the report states. Last August, shortly after the WBEZ report was published, the same group of pastors from the KCP appealed the case, which went to the PCAs Standing Judicial Commission (SJC), a quasi-judicial body of sorts, according to several sources. Pastor KJ shows no signs of remorse, shows no sign of pastoral care, only concerned with keeping us quiet.. font-size: 13px Chung reportedly abused a number of congregants at CFC. Pastor Min is the founding and lead pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church, a large church in Champaign. Get new articles and breaking news delivered to your inbox. We remind him to abide by the BCO (Book of Church Order), and we believe that he should return to ministry," Sungwoo Nam of KCP stated. A new report appears to implicate Covenant Fellowship Church's former head pastor, Min Joshua Chung, in fostering and creating a misogynistic church environment. 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. } document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. top: 0; You have entered an incorrect email address! Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted. The CCG called the allegations against Min Chung an inappropriate moral failure between Min Chung and a woman. Eventually, Ashton was removed along with Angel Chen in episode 9 because she didnt live up to the judges expectations. He experienced his childhood in America and went to James B. Conant High School. 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. Chung turned over leadership of the church he founded in 2019 to a team of associate pastors, according to Ministry Watch. J-Gen canceled its summer retreats to grieve and reflect.. .jet-smart-listing__post-title:after { Many times, I thought I lost my own understanding in God. Last summer, Kim, writing on behalf of the Oversight Board, promised that CFC would release a full report at the conclusion of GRACEs investigation. 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. 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. Dr. Min J. Chung is the founding and lead pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church, an 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. We grieve the fact that our churches have both knowingly and unknowingly created environments where abuse could happen and be kept in the dark. 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. The report doesnt offer explicit details of the incident, but states that the touching was in a way that could be constituted as sexual assault under Illinois law. For investigators at GRACE, CFCs decision to terminate the assessment is a highly unusual move. 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. Weve lost our reputations. 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. However, nine elders objected to the decision and asked for Chung's suspension. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-float, Kim did not respond to a request for comment on these claims against him. For the sake of the churchs purity and healing, we desire for there to be a thorough, fair, and independent investigation completed regarding the incident and the aftermath. Min Chung is the founding and senior pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church Rev. 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. Great! Former members of Covenant Fellowship Church (CFC) of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where Chung pastored, say the whole church system breeds abuse. 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 6 min read. Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado. Even the pastors, I would say, do a good job at that. Korean Christians have had such a tremendous and positive impact over the last few decades on local communities and believers, its difficult to overstate. 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 As of May 27, 2021, Covenant Fellowship Church (CFC) has terminated its formal relationship with Min Chung. 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. In our previous meetings, they had acknowledged that [Chungs case was] within the scope, so Im not certain why that changed.. Chung discouraged her from reporting the incident to police. 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. 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. Sungwoo Nam, KCP clerk, said in a statement. Another woman reported to Chung that she had been raped repeatedly. CFC also hired The Center Consulting Group to conduct surveys and evaluate the health of the church. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-current, She says he then began to force himself on her and pull his pants down until she pushed him off and ran into the bathroom, locking the door until he left. This years conference theme is Witness, and we hope to equip the local church to be a compelling witness despite our divisive and divided society and culture. Christian Rocker Posts Stunning Response to Recent Apostasy of Christian Leaders, Chicago Radio Host & a Former Bodyguard Say James MacDonald Asked Them to Arrange Murders, James MacDonald Took Millions from Harvest & Now Demands Broadcast Ministry, Mancow Airs Shocking Comments By James MacDonald: My Response. Check out our new Instagram account. Another day, theres basketball. Unfortunately, GRACE has been informed by CFC that they are terminating the assessment, an update linked on GRACEs website stated. More than a dozen former CFC members, leaders, and volunteers came forward to TRR. It was very much like, Why do you think you got into this relationship? We apologize for the ways we may have contributed to an unhealthy culture if we have been silent. In September 2019, a member of the new leadership team, Pastor KJ Kim, 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, per a recording obtained by WBEZ. Rhee told WBEZ she reported the incident to Pastor Chung. Members didnt feel safe talking to leaders and sometimes felt ostracized, the report said. As a whistleblower, its traumatic as well, because there are so many places of pain and injustice along the way, Park said. It requires public forms of accountability and repentance. /* Current track progress and active audio volume level bar */ A July 13 vote narrowly missed that threshold, with 22 in favor of rescinding the decision, 12 against, and one abstaining. 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. In one instance, Chung assaulted a woman in the back seat of a car in 2001, the report alleges. /* .jet-smart-listing__featured-box-link:before { WebPastor Min Chung (@pminchung) Instagram photos and videos pminchung 119 posts 1,287 followers 21 following Pastor Min Chung This Account is Private Already follow 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. transform: translateY(445%); An Asian American pastor in Illinois was reinstated to ministry in spite of doubts on his character due to sexual abuse accusations. 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. We at the SOLA Network respect and believe in the due processes of member denominations; we encourage the work that our PCA brothers are pursuing to bring the appropriate denominational actions for proper discipline. Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church? The cost has been high for the whistleblowers, said Amy Han, one of the whistleblowers who submitted the report. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-hovered, MC (Min Chung) is anointed by God, God only exists at CFC and there is no other place like CFC, Lee said, describing the church environment. padding: 1px; visibility: hidden;
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. In 2020, the SOLA Council was notified about a past incident involving council member Min Chung, in which he acted inappropriately with a female young adult whom he was pastoring. Several CFC Survivors came forward to tell their stories on an Instagram account. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-buffering, 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. Christian Rocker Posts Stunning Response to Recent Apostasy of Christian Leaders, Chicago Radio Host & a Former Bodyguard Say James MacDonald Asked Them to Arrange Murders, James MacDonald Took Millions from Harvest & Now Demands Broadcast Ministry, Mancow Airs Shocking Comments By James MacDonald: My Response. margin-top: 9px; In addition to the alleged sexual assault, the report lists several other allegations against Chung. He was in his own words his neighborhood's "all-purpose Asian" and did not feel he had a culture of his own. Langberg helped an ad interim committee of the PCA write a new report on domestic and sexual abuse in churches. But TRR disclosed that CCG's senior consultant, Charles Zimmerman, has ties with Chung. 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). He cited an example in the Bible, in the book of Luke, where Jesus tells the story of a woman and an unjust judge. background-color: #fff; 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. Through the Presbyterian Church in America's ruling body, Korean Central Presbytery (KCP), Min Joshua Chung, the founder of the Covenant Fellowship Church (CFC) in Champaign-Urbana, was restored to his post as a minister in April this year. He also spoke at youth and college-aged events, counseled university students, and preached in several countries. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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