How the Evangelical Culture of Forgiveness Hurts Victims of Sexual Abuse

From Slate-

When megachurch pastor Andy Savage sat on a stool in front of his congregation on Sunday and confessed to a regretful sexual incident from his past, he ended his statement with an apology and a request for forgiveness. “I love you all very much,” he said, at which point the congregation rose to applaud. In context, Savage’s congregants were returning an expression of love, not grotesquely cheering for an assault. Nevertheless, the optics were painful—and so are their implications: The flock’s insta-forgiveness of its pastor illuminates the way evangelical culture, long known for its harsh judgment, is now just as likely to err in favor of what theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.”

The incident in question happened in 1998, when Savage was a 22-year-old youth minister at a Baptist church in suburban Houston. Jules Woodson was a 17-year-old high school senior who attended the church youth group. In Woodson’s account, Savage offered to drive her home from an event at the church, but instead he drove her down a dirt road, stopped the car, and pressured her to perform oral sex. When she told another pastor at the church what had happened, she says he suggested that she had “participated” in the incident, and Savage was allowed to resign with no public reckoning or police involvement. (The pastor who she turned to has been placed on leave by his current church over the allegations.)

More here-

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2018/01/11/andy_savage_and_the_evangelical_culture_of_forgiveness.html

A pastor admitted a past ‘sexual incident’ with a teen. His congregation gave him a standing ovation.

From The Washington Post-

On December 1, as headlines across the country blared with news about Matt Lauer’s surprise firing from the “Today” show for sexual misconduct, a woman named Jules Woodson tapped out a short email. It ran only 78 words but was nearly 20 years in the making. “Do you remember?” the subject line read.

“Do you remember that night that you were supposed to drive me home from church and instead drove me to a deserted back road and sexually assaulted me?” Woodson wrote. “Do you remember how you acted like you loved me and cared about me in order for me to cooperate in such acts, only to run out of the vehicle later and fall to your knees begging for forgiveness and for me not to tell anyone what had just happened?”

She closed with three words and a hashtag. “Well I REMEMBER,” the email said. “#me-too.”

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/01/10/a-pastor-admitted-a-past-sexual-incident-with-a-teen-his-congregation-gave-him-a-standing-ovation/?utm_term=.8c5127b61fda

Memphis mega-church pastor admits he molested a minor days before his ‘True Love Waits’ workshop

From Memphis-

Twenty years ago Memphis mega-church teaching pastor Andy Savage sexually assaulted a high school senior who was 17 years old.

According to Fox 13, the Highpoint Church leader admitted to the act on his social media platforms. At the time, Savage was in college and working as a staffer at a Texas Baptist church now known as StoneBridge. He said in his statement that he apologized immediately and asked for forgiveness from the victim.

“I apologized and sought forgiveness from her, her parents, her discipleship group, the church staff, and the church leadership, who informed the congregation,” he said on the church website. “In agreement with wise counsel, I took every step to respond in a biblical way.”

The response from Savage came after the woman came forward with graphic details to The Wartburg Watch, a site started by two Christian women who pursued their faith, but saw “disturbing trends within Christendom.”

More here-

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/memphis-mega-church-pastor-admits-he-molested-a-minor-days-before-his-true-love-waits-workshop/

TRASHING MEGACHURCHES

From Ministry Matters-

Trashing megachurches is often popular. According to the standard stereotype, they’re big exurban factories resembling car dealerships with giant parking lots and giant American flags, catering to rich, socially irresponsible SUV driving Sunbelt Republicans anxious to hear superficial, self-serving health and wealth sermons from huckster preachers in flashy suits.

A recent article by Jonathan Merritt cites a liberal advocacy group report asserting that, of the 100 largest congregations in America, none are LGBTQ affirming, over 90 percent have white pastors and only one has a female pastor. Merritt calls this report “explosive” without directly condemning the churches. But many on social media have predictably issued their disapproving tut-tuts. The originating advocacy group wants to shame these churches.

More here-

http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/8672/trashing-megachurches

Multi-Campus Church Debuts New 3D Experience To Make It Feel Like Pastor Is Actually There

A little humor to start the day-

Experiences Church finally debuted its long-awaited 3D experience at each of its 12 campuses Sunday morning, with state-of-the-art VR goggles making it feel like the pastor of the church is actually there each and every week, churchgoers confirmed.

Each of the church’s 1,000 seats was equipped with a VR headset, with footage of Pastor Ryan rendered in real-time by a powerful PC.

“The effect is really convincing—very lifelike,” one church member said afterward. “You really feel like the man who is called to shepherd your soul is really there in the room with you—like you could actually reach out and touch him.”

More here-

http://babylonbee.com/news/multi-campus-church-debuts-new-3d-experience-make-feel-like-pastor-actually/

Elevation Church Debuts Water Slide Baptismal

A little humor to begin the day-

Regular attenders of Elevation Church reported being surprised Sunday morning when they were directed to the “new balcony entrance” for seating.

“We normally get there early so we can sit as close to pastor Steven as possible,” Marie Dotwiler told reporters. “We were all like, ‘What’s going on?'” They did not have to wonder for long.

Pastor Steven Furtick took the stage under a single spotlight, and after some coy banter, he reportedly announced that it was “Baptism Sunday,” but that this was “not your Mama’s Baptism Sunday.” At this cue, a giant water slide, stretching from the balcony down to a small pool of water, was unveiled from behind a large curtain as the worship band began performing TLC’s 1994 hit “Waterfalls.”

More here-

http://babylonbee.com/news/elevation-church-debuts-water-slide-baptismal/

Are So-Called “Non-Denominational Churches” Really “Non-Denoms?”

From Patheos-

There it was again. The same has happened to me numerous times over the past several years. Someone told me about a great new church in an affluent suburb of a major American metropolis. It is attracting thousands to its services and programs. And among its attractions is that it is “non-denominational.”

This time I said what I thought: “I’ll bet it’s not really ‘non-denominational;’ at least not in the way you think. Let me look at its web site and I’ll bet I can tell you what denomination it affiliates with.” The answer was more or less the usual: “No, no, it’s truly non-denominational; it has no denominational affiliation.”

I always think to myself “Why is that important? What is it about ‘denomination’ that people run away from? And why do churches that are really denominational—in some sense—so anxious to hide their affiliation with other churches or groups?”

I am the editor of the forthcoming fourteenth edition of the Handbook of Denominations in the United States—a reference work that has been published approximately every five to ten years by Abingdon Press (The United Methodist Publishing House) for many decades. I have spoken out publicly, here and in public talks, in defense of denominations. I admit to being completely nonplussed by this trend of churches claiming to be non-denominational even when they do have some denominational affiliation.

More here-

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2017/06/called-non-denominational-churches-really-non-denoms/

The megachurch boom rolls on, but big concerns are rising too

From RNS-

Change is coming to American megachurches — those behemoths for believers that now dot the religious landscape.

There are more participants in megachurch worship than ever.

“Last weekend 1 in 10 adults and children who went to a Protestant church went to a megachurch — about 5 million people,” said Warren Bird, director of research for Leadership Network and co-author of a megachurch study released Wednesday (Dec. 2).

But individual attendance is down to once or twice a month — or less.

“They think ‘regular attendance’ is ‘I get there when I can,’” said the second co-author, sociologist Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. The study examines megachurches (2,000 people in weekend attendance is the basic qualifier) in comparison with other, smaller congregations.

More here-


http://www.religionnews.com/2015/12/02/megachurch-evangelical-christians/

Texas Megachurch At Center Of Measles Outbreak

From Texas-

Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. more than a decade ago. But in recent years, the highly infectious disease has cropped up in communities with low vaccination rates, most recently in North Texas.

There, 21 people — the majority of whom have not been immunized — have gotten the disease, which began at a vaccine-skeptical megachurch.

The outbreak began when a man who contracted the virus on a recent trip to Indonesia visited the Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, about an hour and a half northwest of Dallas.

Earlier this week, crowds flooded in for regular services. Rose Mwangi had her Bible in hand and said she's not worried "because I know Jesus is a healer, so I know he's covered us with the blood...There's no place for fear."

A Mixed Message

Eagle Mountain is led by pastor Terri Copeland Pearsons, the daughter of televangelist Kenneth Copeland. Church leaders wouldn't grant interviews, but Pearsons released a statement after the outbreak saying she isn't anti-vaccine. But Pearsons added that she still has some reservations about vaccines.

More here-

http://www.npr.org/2013/09/01/217746942/texas-megachurch-at-center-of-measles-outbreak

Worship goes on amid dispute at Crystal Cathedral

From CBS-

The soaring, glass-paned megachurch built decades ago by the Rev. Robert H. Schuller will keep airing its weekly "Hour of Power" television broadcast and hold services, despite a dispute between its board and its 85-year-old founder that has torn apart the storied congregation.

In a statement released Tuesday, Crystal Cathedral Ministries said it will hold regular worship services on Sunday and continue to air the television program both domestically and internationally, although Schuller and his family members have been fired or have cut ties with the church.

Crystal Cathedral Ministries also said it objected to attempts by Schuller and some of his family members to collect more than $5.5 million in breach-of-contract claims and to file intellectual property claims against the church. Crystal Cathedral Ministries is in bankruptcy and sold its landmark cathedral and 31-acre campus last month to help pay off more than $40 million in debt.

The claims would leave the church with no money for operations or to pay its unsecured creditors, even with a $3.5 million settlement proposed by the Schullers, the statement said.

Schuller and his wife Arvella, 81, resigned abruptly from the ministry's board last weekend because of the dispute. On Sunday, the last family member at the Crystal Cathedral — daughter Sheila Schuller Coleman — announced she was leaving to start a church with her parents' blessing.

More here-

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57397006/worship-goes-on-amid-dispute-at-crystal-cathedral/