On This Date at MinistryWatch

Alistair Begg announces retirement, IF:Gathering’s partnership with illumiNations, abuse at Missouri boarding school, and more.

ONE YEAR AGO: On September 16, 2024, MinistryWatch reported that Truth for Life radio Bible teacher Alistair Begg announced his retirement as senior pastor of Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Months prior to that, Begg had drawn rebukes from Christian leaders for advising a woman to attend her grandson’s transgender wedding. Read more here.

TWO YEARS AGO: On September 14, 2023, MinistryWatch reported on the funds being raised at the IF:Gathering in partnership with illumiNations 12 Verse Challenge since 2021. Participants had pledged more than $5 million, but questions remained about the status of its projects. Read more here.

THREE YEARS AGO: On September 9, 2022, MinistryWatch reported that a judge’s order shutting down a Missouri boarding school was on hold pending verification of whether a person affiliated with the school charged with physical abuse of a child was a current or former employee. The school was facing multiple lawsuits and allegations of years of sexual and physical abuse. Read more here.

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FOUR YEARS AGO:  On September 15, 2021, MinistryWatch reported that Tennessee pastor Greg Locke, known for controversial stands on COVID-19 and the 2020 election, had been banned from the social media giant Twitter. According to Locke, someone burned a trailer full of Bibles outside his church on Easter 2024. He also survived a drive-by shooting in September 2024. Read more here. 

FIVE YEARS AGO:  On September 15, 2020, MinistryWatch reported that Dr. Charles Stanley announced he was stepping down as pastor of First Baptist Church—Atlanta after 50 years of service. Stanley died in April 2023 at the age of 90, and in March 2024 In Touch Ministries announced the creation of the Charles Stanley Institute. Read more here. 

TWELVE YEARS AGO: As reported in Black Enterprise magazine in 2013, Pastor I.V. Hilliard of the Texas-based New Light Christian Center asked his congregation to give $52 “Favor Seeds” to upgrade the blades on his helicopter. Such gifts, he suggested, would be rewarded with a “breakthrough favor” for the giver within 52 days or 52 weeks. The upgraded blades promise to save the ministry $50,000 in the long term, the pastor noted. In August 2024, MinistryWatch reported that Hilliard’s “parsonage” in Texas was for sale for $15 million (it has since dropped in price and is listed for $12.5 million). Read more here.