MinistryWatch’s Top 10 Stories for the Month of July
The following stories had the most page views at the MinistryWatch website during the month of July. 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 2023, click here.
Warren Cole Smith. Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling is one of the best-selling books of all time. Published in 2004, it has sold more than 45 million copies. Its cultural impact has also been significant. Nonetheless, the book has stirred controversy since the year it was published. And I don’t mean the fringe “discernment bloggers” and “conflict entrepreneurs” who profit from controversy, who find every slope slippery and find heretics in every pew.
By Jessica Eturralde. Clarks Summit University (CSU) announced on July 1 that the college, including its Baptist Bible Seminary, will not offer classes as of the fall 2024 semester. CSU is a private Christian Baptist college located in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. Dr. Richard J. Murphy, along with a group of pastors and educators, founded the university in 1932. According to its website the university has prepared Christ-centered, career-ready graduates for over 90 years. In an email, CSU’s 10th president, James Lytle, announced the “difficult news” with a “heavy heart.”
By Bob Smietana. In a head-scratching turn of events, the executive board of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm now says its leader has not been fired. On the evening of July 22, the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission announced Brent Leatherwood, the group’s president, had been fired — a day after he praised President Joe Biden for ending his reelection bid. Less than 12 hours later, the ERLC’s executive committee issued a new statement, saying Leatherwood would remain in leadership.
By Associated Press. A fire all but destroyed the historic church sanctuary at First Baptist Dallas, sending smoke billowing over the city but causing no deaths or injuries, Dallas firefighters said.
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By Daniel Ritchie. Community members are stunned and demanding greater transparency from a South Carolina church after learning its pastor is a registered sex offender. Don Logan, 57, pastor of Eternal Church in Fort Mill since 2015, was convicted of child sex abuse in 1997. According to Indiana court records, Logan pleaded guilty to a felony charge of sexual misconduct with a minor younger than 16 as part of a plea agreement in 1997.
By Jessica Eturralde. The aftermath of fallen Gateway pastor Robert Morris continues as the church’s leadership team transitions its ministries without him. Elders of Gateway Church—a Texas megachurch claiming 100,000 worshippers per week—and overseers of Pastor Robert Morris Ministries said they are canceling all future radio and television broadcasts upon learning that Morris’ “moral failure” involved a minor. “We are heartbroken and grief-stricken for this woman who has carried this burden of abuse for decades,” the letter says.
By Kathryn Post. On an episode of the “Bodies Behind the Bus” podcast July 11, two former members of the Village Church Denton in Denton, Texas, alleged that church leaders employed a custodian for five years, despite knowing he had previously admitted to sexually abusing a child. The custodian, they said, was Steve Chandler, the father of Matt Chandler, lead pastor of its umbrella church at the time.
By Kim Roberts. Stonebriar Community Church, a Dallas-area megachurch that was founded in 1998 by Chuck Swindoll, told its congregation via email this week that it dismissed one of its associate pastors for a “moral failure.” Former Associate Pastor Tony Cammarota “confessed to church leadership of a moral failure” on July 7, read the email obtained by the Dallas Morning News. “He is deeply remorseful but his sin disqualifies him from serving on our staff as a pastor,” it added.
By Mark Wingfield. Johnny Hunt finally got to tell his side the story about what happened at a beachside condo in 2010, when he is accused of sexually abusing a pastor’s wife the age of his own daughters.
By Brittany Smith. In May, the United Methodist Church (UMC) held its General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. At the assembly, delegates voted (692-51) to remove a long-standing measure barring clergy who identify as LGBTQ+ from being ordained in the denomination. While this decision, and the exodus of more than 7,000 churches from the UMC, have been making national headlines, the ripple effects are hitting all the way down at the local church level. One example is out of Western North Carolina.
