MinistryWatch’s Top 10 Stories for June
The following stories had the most page views at the MinistryWatch website during the month of June. 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 Tony Mator. Months after drawing rebukes from Christian leaders for advising a woman to attend her grandson’s transgender wedding, Truth for Life radio Bible teacher Alistair Begg announced his retirement as senior pastor of Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Begg, 72, broke the news to his congregation Sunday, Sept. 8, giving a projected end date of Sept. 14, 2025.
By Jessica Eturralde. Florida police have charged a church financial secretary with bilking her church out of nearly half a million dollars. On April 11, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO) arrested Melissa Ganey English (Rhoden), 44, for allegedly embezzling funds from Amelia Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach, where she worked. Court documents say English managed the church’s finances for about 11 years—the last five of which she reportedly embezzled.
By Jessica Eturralde. Following the dismissal of the last of several lawsuits filed against McLean Bible Church and its lead pastor David Platt, the D.C. megachurch has released a detailed internal report chronicling years of bitter infighting and political polarization.
By Kim Roberts. Bryan Chappell has announced that he plans to retire as stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church in America following pushback from his recent appearance on the Gospelbound podcast with Collin Hansen.
By Tracy Simmons. On 30 acres at the edge of Moscow, Idaho, construction crews are erecting a Jeffersonian set of classical buildings arranged around a central quad, resembling a miniature University of Virginia. But this isn’t a public university. It’s the new campus for Logos School, part of the influential pastor Doug Wilson’s decadeslong effort to transform this college town into a conservative Christian redoubt. The expansion reflects the rapid growth of Wilson’s Christ Church, which he has led for nearly 50 years.
By Kim Roberts. Jerry Klemm, a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, knew that being chosen to prosecute the case against St. Andrew’s Chapel senior pastor and Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow Burk Parsons over the last several months would be taxing. What he didn’t expect were the hours of counseling and comfort he would need to oversee for those who came forward about the hurt and wounds they have experienced.
By Kim Roberts. Five former leaders of groups associated with Sean Feucht have issued a formal statement bringing to light what they call “longstanding and serious moral, ethical, financial, organizational and governance failures” by Feucht and calling for an independent investigation into possible fraud and embezzlement.
By Kim Roberts. Burk Parsons, senior pastor of St. Andrew’s Chapel and chief editorial officer and teaching fellow for Ligonier Ministries, has been found guilty by a church judicial commission on three charges and indefinitely suspended from his role as a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America.
By Kathryn Post. Michael Tait, an alum of Christian rock bands Newsboys and DC Talk, is facing allegations of sexual assault from three men he met in the Christian music industry, according to an investigation from The Roys Report published June 4. Newsboys members Jody Davis, Duncan Phillips, Jeff Frankenstein and Adam Agee said in a statement they were “devastated” by the implications of the allegations against Tait, who left the band earlier this year.
By Bob Smietana. A federal appeals court ruled that a lawsuit against Christian financial guru Dave Ramsey by a former employee who was fired for being pregnant while unmarried can go forward. Caitlin O’Connor sued the Lampo Group, Ramsey’s Franklin, Tennessee-based company, alleging religious discrimination. But the company said O’Connor was fired for violating the company’s ban on premarital sex, and argued that firing was not based on religion.
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