..
Hillsong London campus pastors resign after 12 years;
new leaders announced
By Anugrah Kumar,
Christian Post Contributor|
Monday, February 07, 2022
| YouTube/Hillsong Church UK
The lead pastors of Hillsong’s London campus, Robby and Jenny Lewis, have resigned after more than 12 years at the location. They have not stated the reason for their departure or their future plans.
“I just want to say thank you to every single one of you — for the last 12.5 years — for everything that you have poured into me, all the encouragement, the love, allowing me to be part of your life,” Robby Lewis said at the end of the Jan. 30 service. “A number of years ago, I said, ‘I am who I am today because of all of you,’ and I absolutely mean that.”
The resignation was announced on the same Sunday in which Hillsong Global Senior Pastor Brian Houston stepped down for the time being as the head of the Australia-based global Evangelical church network as he fights criminal charges of allegedly covering up abuse allegations against his father.
During the Jan. 30 service in Central London, Daniel and Jo Watson, who formerly served as youth pastors of the campus, were announced as the campus’s next pastors.
“We are extremely excited,” Daniel Watson told the church. “We are extremely humbled to be given this honor, and following [the Lewises], we are thankful for everything [they’ve] done and the foundations that [they] have laid. We are excited to carry on.”
The Watsons have been part of Hillsong Church for 10 years, according to the church’s website.
“Throughout the years as Youth and Young Adults Pastors, they have been able to establish a strong partnership with the Metropolitan Police, gaining their endorsement for all our youth and schools work, and advising the Mayor of London on various youth issues and the church,” the online bio reads.
Archived snapshots of the campus’ website dating to Jan. 20 showed Ben Bluemel listed as assistant location pastor. He is no longer listed on the website. It’s unclear what his status at Hillsong Central London is at this time.
The Christian Post reached out to Hillsong for comment on Lewis’ resignation and Bluemel’s status. A response is pending. Hillsong has over a dozen campuses in the United Kingdom.
In recent years, some serious leadership problems have surfaced at Hillsong’s United States-based campuses. Hillsong East Coast was hit with financial and sexual scandals surrounding former pastor Carl Lentz and other leaders connected with Hillsong NYC.
Last April, Hillsong paused its Dallas campus after Pastors Reed and Jess Bogard resigned in January as they were being investigated for leadership failures and accused of overusing church expense cards.
Houston, who helped found Hillsong in the suburbs of Sydney in 1983, stepped down on Jan. 30, saying he would remain absent for the rest of this year as he faces trial for allegedly concealing sex abuse (gay child sex abuse on several boys) committed by his father, Frank Houston, decades earlier.
“Last year, I … received unexpected news of charges against me that allege the concealing of information that may have been material to prosecute Frank Houston,” Houston told the church in a statement. “These allegations came as a shock to me, and it is my intention to vigorously defend them. So I have agreed to step aside from all ministry responsibilities until the end of the year.”
Last August, prosecutors charged Houston with one count of concealing a serious indictable offense by his father. Brian Houston is accused of failing to report allegations that his father sexually abused a young male in the 1970s to authorities after having been informed in 1999.
At the time, Brian Houston was the head of the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God. Frank Houston formerly served as the head of the Assemblies of God in New Zealand until 1971.
Houston founded the global church network in the suburbs of Sydney in 1983. Phil and Lucinda Dooley are new interim global pastors.
Another Hillsong resignation is that of Darnell Barrett, the former creative director of Hillsong Church Montclair in New Jersey. He was accused of sending explicit photos to a Hillsong volunteer.
Satan often has a way of infecting the beginnings of a ministry. Is it possible that Brian's attitude toward his father's sin has infected the whole global ministry? It seems there is a great need for the 'Fear of God' in Hillsong's churches.
Venue Church Pastor Tavner Smith apologizes for
‘inappropriate relationship’ in return to pulpit
By Leonardo Blair, Senior Features Reporter|
Wednesday, February 09, 2022
After months of headline-grabbing drama, including repeated denials to his staff that he was engaged in an adulterous affair, Pastor Tavner Smith of Venue Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, confessed to his embattled congregation Sunday that he was involved in an “inappropriate relationship.” He asked for forgiveness as he returned to the pulpit after a brief sabbatical.
“Before I preach a word today, I’ve just come to say I’m sorry. So many things I’ve said, that I’ve done, that I’ve not said, that I’ve run from were wrong,” Smith said, according to a recording of the apology posted on YouTube by journalist Julie Roys.
“I was involved in an inappropriate relationship. And I want to say that I’m sorry that I put you through any embarrassment, heartache or confusion. I’ve wounded people and I’ve caused devastation that I know I can never take back,” he added. “As your leader and pastor, I come to you to publicly acknowledge my mistakes and truly ask for forgiveness. It grieves me to think that my pride and my selfishness could’ve caused anyone hurt.”
Smith’s apology on Sunday comes as the scandal around his personal life led to the hemorrhaging of members and staff in recent weeks after he was confronted about an alleged relationship with a married church staff member.
Just days earlier, on Feb. 3, The Chattanooga Times Free Press published leaked audio of some 100 church volunteers questioning Smith at a Dec. 17 meeting about his relationship with a church employee with whom he was once reportedly found half-naked.
The Daily Beast reported that during a surprise visit to Smith’s home last November, church volunteers who hoped to cheer up their pastor found the employee dressed in a towel while Smith was in his boxers.
Smith claimed that they “had been making chili and hot dogs and gotten food on their clothes,” but volunteers weren’t convinced he was telling the truth.
"Making chili and hot dogs" - is that what they call it now?
“I don’t think none of us was that dumb,” one volunteer told The Daily Beast. “If she dropped chili on her clothes, why are you in your boxers? Was you all like, throwing chili at each other?”
In the audio of the December confrontation, Smith denied having sex with the employee and characterized their relationship as “great friends.” He admitted that they kissed after they both stopped living with their spouses. He also stated that he intends to pursue a relationship with her once their divorces are finalized.
Smith and his wife, Danielle, who have three kids together, began divorce proceedings last May, according to court records.
“I was 14 months outside of living with Danielle and separated,” Smith said in the leaked audio. “At her point, she was eight months living outside and separated.”
“When she’s not married and I’m not married, yeah, we hope to pursue each other,” he continued. “As long as she is still married, we are not going to have any type of romantic relations.”
At least eight employees of Venue Church quit their jobs after confronting the pastor about the allegation as a viral video surfaced online showing him kissing his love interest.
As the controversy unfolded, Venue Church’s following began showing signs of damage.
Some “two-thirds of the roughly 150 cushioned chairs” at a recent 9 a.m. service at the Chattanooga location of the church were “unfilled,” The Chattanooga Free Press reported. Chattanooga Campus Pastor Michael Patterson II announced in a video message played during a livestream broadcast a call for volunteers to join their “dream team.”
A Facebook page critical of the church, called “The Venue is NO Church,” also published evidence showing that Venue Church is now only operating from the Chattanooga campus on Lee Highway. The church previously listed a campus in North Georgia. That location is no longer listed on the church’s website.
In his apology on Sunday, Smith made it clear that after spending time with God and receiving counseling about how he has been handling his affairs, he is seeing a lot more clearly now.
“Through this last month in my counseling and my time with the Lord, I’ve made commitments to put my focus on the Lord, my family, this church, and my health, as my top priorities,” he said. “And I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for standing through the storm and the pain. I am committed to love you and serve you better than I ever have before and I ask you for your grace and patience as we move forward together.”
Tavner Smith has no business being a church pastor at this point in his life!
Revelation 21:8
New International Version
8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Minnesota Pastor Resigns amid Allegations of Abuse,
Concealing Abuses Committed by Family Members
Milton Quintanilla |
Contributor for ChristianHeadlines.com |
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Northridge Church
A Minnesota pastor and his wife have resigned following allegations of abuse and concealing abuses committed by family members on the church staff.
Mark Perryman, the senior pastor of Northridge Church, an Assemblies of God congregation in Owatonna, Minnesota, reportedly resigned last Sunday. His departure comes less than a week after his son-in-law, former associate pastor Sean Masopust, was charged with criminal sexual conduct.
Last Friday, Perryman’s wife, Tammy Perryman, resigned as director of the church’s daycare, Sunshine Tree.
According to The Roys Report, former church members recently alleged that Perryman quietly fired Masopust in 2018 after he was accused of assault. Perryman’s daughter, Felicia Masopust, quietly resigned from her position as the church’s youth pastor last month after she, too, was accused of sexual misconduct.
 |
| Masopust |
In a recent interview with The Roys Report, 17-year-old Grace Karsten, who worked at the daycare for two years, alleged that a grown man abused her and that Felicia Masopust failed to report it to authorities or inform Karsten’s mother.
Karsten was 14 years old when she told Felicia about the abuse. In a Facebook post, Karsten noted that after telling Felicia about the abuse, Felicia would say that she looked mature for her age.
Several other former youth group members also shared their experiences at Northridge after Sean was arrested.
For instance, Alysa Heien alleged in a public Facebook post that Felicia falsely spread a rumor that Heien, who was then in seventh grade, had a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old group volunteer. Heien said that Felicia spread the rumor to protect the person who actually had the sexual relationship with the volunteer. The volunteer was dismissed.
Additional allegations were made against the daycare for its poor supervision of children. Former daycare workers Karsten and Jordan Travis shared stories of abuse and misconduct with The Roys Report and on social media.
According to state records, licensing officials found several violations at the daycare in March 2019 and December 2021, including a failure to keep an eye on the children at all times. Records show that Sunshine Tree’s license to care for up to 63 children remains active.
This is one of the reasons I hate seeing family-run churches. There is too much temptation to tolerate 'minor' sins of relatives, and, sin being progressive, they often grow into more serious sins, and then the senior pastor is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
No comments:
Post a Comment