Rez.Church Pastor Resigns, Legal Battle Between Church & School Continues

Jonathan Wiggins resigned due to accusations of “moral failure.”

Jonathan Wiggins, pastor of Rez.Church in Loveland, Colorado, resigned his position last week because of “moral failure and personal shortcomings,” according to a report in the Loveland Reporter-Herald.

Rez.Church photo via Google Photos / Insert of Jonathan Wiggins

“Following recent accusations, we, the trustees, have accepted Pastor Jonathan’s resignation effective immediately,” Britton Cottrell, a board member at Rez.Church in Loveland, reportedly said during Sunday worship.

“We, along with our advisers, first learned of these accusations on Friday. We met all day yesterday, and we have moved swiftly to address the issue,” Cottrell said. “We are committed to handling this matter with grace, with integrity, and in accordance with biblical values.”

The church’s receptionist told MinistryWatch the church is waiting on its trustees to provide any formal statement about Wiggins’ resignation.

Nate McHenry, former campus pastor for Resurrection Christian School (RCS) — founded by Rez.Church — wrote on social media: “Today is a sober day for our community. Pastor Jonathan Wiggins has resigned due to moral failure and personal shortcomings. This news is painful–I am sorry for all who have been wounded.”

“We can see the mercy of God at work—mercy for Jonathan and mercy for Rez.church. Jonathan is created in the image of God, and Jesus loves him deeply,” McHenry added.

RCS and Rez.Church have been engaged in disputes since at least 2023 over the use of and improvements to the facilities.

In August, the church filed a lawsuit against the school for alleged lease violations, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald. The school filed a motion for an injunction to prevent its eviction and termination of the lease.

Recently, the school filed a counterclaim asserting that the church attempted to control it, even though it was originally intended to be independent. It included Wiggins in its counterclaims.

The school also alleged that the church falsified documents in order to strengthen its case.

RCS holds a 99-year lease on the church’s property, paying a rate of $1 per year, but the specifics of the lease terms have been a point of contention between the two parties.

In 2023, RCS sued the church after efforts at faith-based mediation and legal mediation failed.

According to a letter by RCS, “[t]he more than 25-year partnership between RCS and Rez has steadily devolved as a result of Rez leadership’s prolonged and calculated pattern of hostility and harassment.”

The RCS leaders asserted that Rez’s actions “continue to be in direct violation of our mutual agreement to submit any disputes to mediation,” while RCS has “consistently sought peace through mediation, dialogue, patience, and forgiveness, and we will continue to do so.”

At issue most recently between the two are removal of the school’s name from signage, weekday access to a corridor for movement, and athletic field lighting.

Both groups have claimed they wanted reconciliation. In a pastoral letter to the Rez congregation in August, Wiggins said, “While it is common for large organizations to sort out their contractual disputes in appropriate forums, God’s people can choose to bless, honor and pray for both organizations. God is so much bigger than our differences. I believe there is a positive, hopeful path forward for all involved.”

On Sunday, August 24, Wiggins said, “We want to pray for healing and reconciliation and just to move forward.”

On August 25, the church filed its lawsuit against the school.

Rez.Church sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the installation of lights on the athletic fields, but the judge ruled against the requested TRO.

In 2022, Wiggins filed a defamation lawsuit against former church staff and members for defamation, slander, libel, and conspiracy. He accused defendant Christine O’Connor of using text messages taken out of context to accuse Wiggins and her husband of inappropriate homosexual behavior and illegal drug use.

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