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Pastor Matt Chandler takes ‘leave of absence’ over
inappropriate Instagram messages with woman
By Leonardo Blair,
Senior Features Reporter FacebookTwitter
Christian Post
Matt Chandler is lead pastor of The Village Church in Texas. | Screenshot/The Village Church
Matt Chandler, lead pastor of teaching at The Village Church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, assured his congregation Sunday that he planned on being their lead pastor “for the next 20 years" but had accepted a decision by his elder board to immediately take a “leave of absence” due to his use of inappropriate language in Instagram messages to a woman who is not his wife.
“We are strong proponents of brothers and sisters in Christ being friends, but there are boundaries around what’s appropriate in these kinds of friendships. A pastoral role requires a greater awareness of those boundaries,” The Village Church elders announced in an Aug. 28 statement.
“In this case, while the messages were not romantic or sexual in nature, the frequency and familiarity of the messages crossed a line. They revealed that Matt did not use language appropriate for a pastor, and he did not model a behavior that we expect from him.”
According to the elders, the Texas-based pastor revealed the inappropriate messaging between himself and the woman after being confronted about them several months ago by the woman's friend in the church's foyer.
The pastor said that shortly after the woman raised concern about the messages, he shared those concerns with Josh Patterson and elder Chairman Jasien Swords and “submitted to their leadership in addressing the situation.” He also informed his wife about the situation.
“I didn’t think I had done anything wrong in that,” Chandler explained as he faced his congregation. “My wife knew that. Her (the woman’s) husband knew that. And yet there were a couple of things that she said that were disorienting to me. “
After a review of the situation, The Village Church elders concluded that while the inappropriate messages “did not rise to the level of disqualification,” they, along with Chandler, agreed that his behavior “was a sign of unhealth in his life and that the best course of action would be for him to take a leave of absence from teaching and preaching at The Village Church.”
It would also be the best case for the congregation.
“The elders have decided, and I think they are right, that my inability to see what I was in probably ... [revealed] some unhealth in me. And I don’t know if that’s tied to the pace I run or the difficulty of the last six, seven years, but I agree with them,” Chandler said.
'Unhealth', is that like a new word for 'sin'?
The Village Church elders said their lead pastor’s leave of absence “is both disciplinary and developmental” to allow him time “to focus on growing greater awareness in this area.”
Elders did not give a specific time for Chandler’s return to the pulpit but noted that “his return will be dictated by the expectations the elders have laid out for his development.”
“I’m just really embarrassed. I feel stupid. I feel dumb. I feel like I’m embarrassing my wife and kids, putting a ton of pressure on our staff. [I] feel like I’ve fallen short for you,” Chandler told his congregation while holding back tears.
“You might not even be a Christian; you might be saying, 'What the H?' But the Word of God holds me to a certain standard. And I need to live into that, and I fell short,” the Texas pastor explained.
He further noted that he is grateful that the elders held him accountable because it would have been easy to make it “nothing.”
“Forgive me,” Chandler told his congregants before praying, adding, “I love you.”
There is nothing in this article to indicate that he is the least bit concerned about his relationship with the Lord. No sign of embarrassing Him, just falling short of the Bible. His relationship with Jesus should be his primary concern, but apparently isn't.
What would you expect to see from Chandler if you were on the Elder Board of the Village Church?
'You pulled me into a world of terror': Victims face North Texas
church leader in court after sentenced to life for child sex abuse
Prosecutors say Stanley Gerald Champ preyed on children he met at a
Kaufman County church.
Author: Rebecca Lopez, WFAA
Published: 5:06 PM CDT September 1, 2022
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — Inside a Kaufman County courtroom, sex abuse victims faced the man who hurt them. The abuse took place since they were children.
WFAA is not identifying them.
"To the defendant here today, you stole my innocence before I even knew how to write my own name," said victim one.
A jury found Stanley Gerald Champ guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child and sent him to prison for the rest of his life.
"No one is above the law and I think that was really apparent today with the jury and the sentence they sent today," said District Attorney Erleigh Wiley.
Champ was a leader at the Gray’s Prairie Mennonite Church in Kaufman, which is where prosecutors said he found his victims.
"You pulled me into a world of hurt and a world of sheer terror," said victim one.
Prosecutors said there were multiple victims and that the abuse went on for years. One of the victims testified that when she told the older people at the church, they didn’t believe her.
"When I came forward in 2019 I was called a liar and only dreamed I was assaulted," said victim two.
The victims said it wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare.
"Gerald sought out and took pleasure in little girls being injured and violated because he liked it," said victim two.
Prosecutors said there may be victims besides those in Kaufman County because the church sent Champ to work in other states.
"Think about what they knew of him and how insulated he has remained," said prosecutor Leslie Odom.
The courtroom was packed with his family and fellow church members who support him. Defense attorneys asked the jury to take that into consideration and also his age.
I get so sick of congregations who support monsters like this at the expense of their victims. It happens all the time and I fear it will not go well for such people on the Day of Judgement.
They could have sentenced him to a minimum of 25 years.
"I would ask that you show his family in this courtroom that punishment is for the sake of everyone and the hopes that one day my client and his family will have the hope of his returning,” said Mark Calabria, defense attorney.
Champ was taken in handcuffs and shackles to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Victims said they have a life sentence of pain, anguish and trauma because of what happened to them.
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