A church in Urbana-Champaign reverses on promises to address abuse allegations. Even the friend in whom the victim confided feared she would be cursed by God if she spoke against Chung. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-button > button { At least 90 have been discovered so far. 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. The victim was terrified and did whatever she was told, the report states. Sungwoo Nam, KCP clerk, said in a statement. He also said that, for sexual harassment of a member of the congregation, the KCP should have dealt Chung a suspension of a period of years, and perhaps even defrocked him. 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. 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.. Prominent Korean-American Church Ends Nearly Complete } 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. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Webwhat happened to pastor min chung. LeCroy said victims of abuse, who cannot get redress via the means provided by the church or denomination, can take to various means to seek justice. Joshua Generation, commonly called J-Gen, a ministry for high schoolers that Chung founded, also severed ties with Chung. Yet this generations aggrieved version of sexism has taken on a different character from their fathers more traditional version of sexism featuring machoism and strict gender roles., https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/opinion/south-koreas-misogyny.html, https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/06/23/young-south-korean-men-hate-liberals-feminists/. to conduct a third-party investigation. The SJC decision stated there can be no reasonable hope of just proceedings with no cooperating victim, although Chung himself had admitted to sexual misconduct. Korean Church Stops Independent Investigation into Sexual A Presbyterian oversight group refused to defrock a Korean American minister following allegations of sexual misconduct, reports Ministry Watch. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-handle-content { font-size: 10px Sorry, your web browser is not capable of supporting the features required by this website. Covenant Fellowship Church At University Of Illinois Reckons We judge that his relationship with God is restored as we consider the grace of God. For Janet Park, the events of last year feel like a waste of time and energy. We see this is the third article this month youve found worth reading. WebAs of July 2021, CFC came under the leadership of Reverend KJ Kim and a lay oversight board. Editors note: This story has been updated to clarify when the KCP received the whistleblowers allegations and to more accurately state certain charges. 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 Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted. .grecaptcha-badge { visibility: hidden; } And women are taught to protect men, even when the men are doing something wrong or hurting the women, said former member June Pinyo. top: 0; The Revelation of Jesus Christ | Revelation 1 (Pastor Min Chung) joe 2019.02.19 52. Many other ministries have removed Chung from their boards and speaking schedules. GRACE said in a statement that although all that remained in the investigation was a minimal number of interviews, primarily with CFC leadership, it had been informed by CFC that the assessment would not continue. 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. The victim did. 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. Chung began private counseling sessions with the victim, using that time to urge her to keep silent about the assault, the report states. He is the founder of truthmattersministries.com. Its a moment of reckoning for the Korean American church, former CFC member June Pinyo said. The Roys Report 500K PCA and other conservative denominations. Susie An covers education for WBEZ. Rev. Why do you think youre staying for so long? . I have really chosen to not respond to many of these issues but when I was a young man right before I went to college to study for the ministry one of the men who was a brother to a popular board member of the church attempted to molest me at my parents home while I was recovering from a severe pneumonia. But theres, of course, a lot under the surface as well, he added. font-size: 13px what happened to pastor min chung A final assessment was set to be published by this summer. Webwhat happened to pastor min chung. A major area we processed was how I respond to authority and feeling pressured, obligated, attacked, and manipulated. 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. 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. According to recordings acquired by WBEZ, Chung had admitted to touching a female "over the clothing for a brief moment" but stopped upon request. I went to my head pastor and I was emotionally distressed, she said. 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." "MC (Min Chung) is anointed by God, God only exists at CFC and there is no other place like CFC. At least 90 have been discovered so far. Conversations about sex, including consent, are taboo. } Dr. Min J. Chung is the founding and lead pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church, an interdenominational, multi-ethnic ministry located on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At that meeting, however, the KCP instead considered a motion to rescind the April 2021 judgment and to hold a retrial, according to a July 15, 2021, statement from the presbytery. /*Custom svg icon height fix*/ WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Covenant Fellowship Church in central Illinois has terminated an independent investigation of "spiritual and emotional abuse" led by GRACE. He still preaches as a member in good standing. The cost has been high for the whistleblowers, said Amy Han, one of the whistleblowers who submitted the report. We advise you upgrade your web browser before continuing to use this website. Growing position: absolute; Copyright 2023 Christianity Daily. Leaders - SOLA Network In May 2021, CFC cut ties with him. On July 9, 1988, Whelchel tied the knot with Steven Cauble, her first husband and associate pastor at The Church on the Way. The Roys Report seeks to foster thoughtful and respectful dialogue. Its time that we simply say enough is enough and no -longer co-sign this terrible plight that impacts people generationally. 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. The motion failed to pass, allowing Chung to remain an ordained minister in good standing with the PCA. 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. The presbytery is a ruling body of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the denomination that ordained Chung. 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. 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. 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. 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 what happened to pastor min chung New report reveals how Korean pastor in Chicago Despite the procedural errors, the SJC also declared the case would effectively be terminated and not sent back to the KCP to be retried. She said, Its very important for churches to understand theyre killing themselves, and they dont look anything like the God they say they serve. 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. 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. 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. what happened to pastor min chung PCA Allows High-Profile Pastor Back Despite Alleged On December 4, 2022, CFC became a particular church within the Presbytery of Meanwhile, Chung maintains a presence and continues to attend KCP meetings, according to sources. Premiers mission is to provide the Church with the most up to date and relevant news, told from a Christian perspective. Especially in the Korean community, to call out a pastor, youre going against God-given authority.. I personally do it for the survivors. .mytheme-mejs-container .mejs-time-loaded, 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. Theres a side of me thats like, no, Im not gonna give another ounce of my energy and time to this, and then theres this other side of me thats just so upset at the injustice of it all, that people still dont have the truth., Miryung Fontijn, another member of the allegation group, said she was shocked by the GRACE termination. Pastor KJ shows no signs of remorse, shows no sign of pastoral care, only concerned with keeping us quiet.. Pastor Chung holds a Korean-American identity. 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. Pete Singer, GRACEs executive director, called the cancellation very rare, adding he is aware of just one other organization that has done the same. Chung, who founded the church in 1990 on the University of Illinois-Champaign Urbana campus, announced in the summer of 2019 that he would } What remains is for the regional body that originally adjudicated the case to respond about procedural steps needing correction for the future.. WBEZ confirmed with Justin Coverstone, the stated clerk of the Presbytery of Northern Illinois, that CFC was in the process of joining that regional body as of early September. /* Track progress bar background (amount of track fully loaded) } Did Pastor Min Chung Resign After CFC Scandal? Where Is he right: 0; Esther Yoon-Ji Kang is a reporter for WBEZs Race, Class and Communities desk. Those who looked deeper discovered sexual misconduct and abuse of power by Chung, former long-term church members, pastors, and leaders state in a 67-page report released to The Roys Report (TRR). 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. In one instance, Chung assaulted a woman in the back seat of a car in 2001, the report alleges. 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. The report, published in June, is intended to provide resources to handle abuse cases and to offer best practices and guidelines for elders, churches, presbyteries and other entities.
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