The following stories had the most page views at the MinistryWatch website during the month of February. We present them here in a “countdown” format, from 10 to 1. The first few sentences of each story are reproduced below. To read the entire story, click on the link. To read the Top 25 stories of 2024, click here.
By Kathryn Post. It’s still a matter of debate whether the salute performed by Elon Musk at an Inauguration Day speech in Washington — a chest thump followed by a straight-armed gesture — was intended to evoke a Nazi salute. But on Jan. 29, a small Anglican denomination dismissed a priest for his apparent imitation of the Musk salute at a public event, saying he had been inappropriately “trolling” pro-abortion supporters.
By Kim Roberts. The domestic mission agency of the Presbyterian Church in America has removed a webpage containing links to advice about how illegal immigrants can avoid being detained by law enforcement authorities.
By Tony Mator. Months after Calvary Chapel Cary discovered its lead pastor, Rodney Finch, had secretly listed the church for sale, the 9.8-acre property in Apex, North Carolina, is back on the market, and weekly services have ceased. Meanwhile, a pastor Finch ousted during the dispute has opened a new independent fellowship minutes away.
By Jessica Eturralde. On February 10, police arrested four individuals connected with allegations of child abuse at Maranatha Christian School (MCS) in Florence, South Carolina. The Florence County Sheriff’s Office alleges that on January 23, daycare worker Laurin Boyce, 73, “intentionally and repeatedly assaulted a child by slamming the heard of the child into the crib, covering the child’s head with a blanket, pressing down on the child’s head for a length of time and also dragging the child out of the room.”
By Yonat Shimron. At a church just outside Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Feb. 18, 33 ministers from the Christian Reformed Church in North America stood up to read aloud a declaration, officially accepting ordination in a rival denomination, the Reformed Church in America. The group ordination ceremony — the first of its kind — is one of the more public signs of an ongoing split in the Christian Reformed Church on the part of churches no longer willing to abide the CRC’s firm stance on sexuality.
By Kathryn Post. On Feb. 7, Wheaton College, the evangelical Christian school outside Chicago, publicly congratulated Russell Vought, a conservative activist and architect of Project 2025 who attended the school, for his confirmation by the U.S. Senate as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Within hours, hundreds of Vought’s fellow alumni had complained that Vought’s agenda contradicted the values they had been taught at Wheaton.
By Kim Roberts. Dr. Burk Parsons, senior pastor at St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, and a teaching fellow at Ligonier Ministries, has been indicted by a commission of the Central Florida Presbytery and is currently suspended from his duties at St. Andrew’s as he awaits the resolution of the case.
By Adelle M. Banks. The Rev. Richard Edwin Youngblood, the brother of a minister who has accused Bishop T.D. Jakes of sexual misconduct, has made his own accusation against Jakes, claiming the Texas megachurch leader climbed into bed with him on a church business trip.
By Tony Mator. As Christian ministries scramble to discern and communicate the impact of President Trump’s 90-day pause on foreign aid, Samaritan’s Purse wants to assure donors its global poverty-relief and disaster response efforts are secure.
By Jessica Eturralde. In 2024, a century-old church chose to close and sell its property, including its 40,000-square-foot facility, and give their earnings to charity. Immanuel Baptist Church in Greenville, North Carolina, disbanded last fall due to an aging congregation and declining attendance. The church used the building’s sale proceeds—about $1.5 million—to make significant donations to nearly 70 charities supporting causes like food security, education, hospice care, and domestic violence prevention.
Access to MinistryWatch content is free. However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. To make a donation, click here.