On This Date at MinistryWatch
SBC Acting President resigns, Nathan Zacharias maintains father’s innocence, MacArthur sues California, and Mark Driscoll resigns.
ONE YEAR AGO: On August 18, 2023, MinistryWatch reported that Willie McLaurin, the acting president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, resigned suddenly after admitting he had falsified his resume. Read more here.
TWO YEARS AGO: On August 12, 2022, MinistryWatch reported that Nathan Zacharias, son of the late disgraced apologist Ravi Zacharias, posted his first blog in seven months to explain that his recent silence is not due to him having changed his mind about his father’s character. “Many people have written in to ask if a quiet blog means something has changed,” said Zacharias in a post dated Aug. 4. “As was the case before, no, nothing has changed. We still believe in Dad’s innocence, we still believe the investigation was biased and unethical, and we believe RZIM’s leadership mishandled many things, as well.” Read more here.
FOUR YEARS AGO: On August 14, 2020, MinistryWatch reported that Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church filed a lawsuit against California officials, saying the state-issued health restrictions aimed at minimizing the spread of COVID-19 “violate the California Constitution.” The complaint claims California has applied the protections of the U.S. and state constitutions unequally: “When many went to the streets to engage in ‘political protests’ against ‘racism’ and ‘police brutality,’ these protestors refused to comply with the pandemic restrictions. Instead of enforcing the public health orders, public officials were all too eager to grant a de facto exception for these favored protestors.” MacArthur and his church ultimately prevailed in this lawsuit. Read more here.
TEN YEARS AGO: On August 25, 2014, MinistryWatch reported that Mark Driscoll, pastor of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church, relinquished leadership of the megachurch for at least six weeks while elders investigated charges against him. Driscoll ultimately resigned and within a year Mars Hill Church, once one of the largest in the nation, shut down. Read more here.
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