MinistryWatch’s Top 10 Stories for May
The following stories had the most page views at the MinistryWatch website during the month of May. 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 Kim Roberts. Former doctoral students suing Grand Canyon Education (GCE) over its representations about the requirements of doctoral programs at Grand Canyon University (GCU) prevailed against a motion to dismiss and can continue their lawsuit.
By Kim Roberts. Gateway Church is seeking the intervention of a Tarrant County district court to stop an arbitration proceeding sought by its founding pastor, Robert Morris, for over $1 million. On April 23, 2025, Morris sent a letter to the Institute for Christian Conciliation, a division of Ambassadors of Reconciliation, with a demand for arbitration between himself and Gateway Church seeking enforcement of the terms of a deferred defined benefit plan and the intellectual property rights to his books and other works.
By Kim Roberts. Dr. Burk Parsons, senior pastor at St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, and the editor of Ligonier’s Tabletalk magazine, is reportedly under investigation by the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). According to minutes of the Central Florida Presbytery, the Minister and His Work committee found sufficient evidence to warrant an investigation into Parsons. A vote taken on November 19, 2024, states the committee believes there is a “strong presumption of guilt” that “Parsons may have violated [ordination] vows 5 & 7.”
By Kim Roberts. Burk Parsons, senior pastor at St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, and a teaching fellow at Ligonier Ministries, will be tried by the Central Florida Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) sometime between late April and mid-May, according to an email sent to members of the St. Andrew’s congregation. The trial will not be public.
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By Illinois Baptist Staff. A mental health counselor for two counseling services in Metro East St. Louis in Illinois has been charged with five counts related to sexual exploitation of a minor. Matthew S. Cuppett of Collinsville was charged May 5. One count of grooming and two counts of exploitation of a minor under age 17 are felony charges. Two additional counts of exploitation of a child are misdemeanors. The alleged victim is a 13 year old, with incidents occurring over a seven-month period ending in February.
By Bob Smietana. An influential Calvinist pastor who quit the Southern Baptist Convention over concerns that it was too liberal has been suspended by his church for causing controversy online, running fake social media accounts that criticized his church’s elders and other pastors from a conference he ran.
By Kim Roberts. Falling enrollment, faculty cuts, and administrative resignations — Bob Jones University appears to be a college in turmoil. While some alumni are critical of recent decisions, they are also cheering for change in hopes the school they love can survive.
By Kim Roberts. A group of Christian leaders comprising an “elder accountability team” recommended that Line of Fire’s Dr. Michael Brown be released to resume his public ministry from which he has refrained since November.
By Bob Smietana. Kay Arthur, a popular Christian speaker, author and longtime host of the “Precepts for Life” Bible teaching program that was broadcast around the world, has died. She was 91. “She will be remembered for her love for the Lord, His Word, and His people,” Chattanooga-based Precept, the ministry Arthur co-founded with her late husband, Jack, said in announcing her death.
By Kim Roberts. Liberty University has agreed to a $15-million settlement of a lawsuit with former president Jerry Falwell Jr., according to tax documents reviewed by USA Today. The documents reveal the university, located in Lynchburg, Virginia, will pay Falwell Jr. $5.5 million to settle litigation and $9.7 million for retirement.
