World Evangelical Alliance Responds to Anonymous Whistleblower

Concerns were published by newspapers founded by Korean pastor David Jang.

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), a global ecumenical movement that works to unify evangelicals across geographical and denominational lines, has responded to a “whistleblower report” that criticized its leadership and governance.

Photo by Diva Plavalaguna (Pexels) / Insert of WEA logo

The whistleblower report raised concerns about the WEA ranging from its “increasing engagement with Roman Catholic institutions and broader ecumenical bodies” to the theological positions of some of its leaders. The report also claims the WEA lacks accountability because the chairman of the board also serves as the group’s chief executive officer.

The report did not identify the whistleblower, but it was published on April 29 by the Christian Council of Korea, which was previously part of the WEA.

“The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) deeply values the unity and theological orthodoxy of the global evangelical community,” WEA’s statement reads. “Therefore, we are profoundly concerned by both the content of recent statements and the way the Christian Council of Korea (CCK) has called into question the WEA’s theological positions, governance and moral integrity and practice in a public forum, especially without first approaching the leadership directly to discuss their concerns.

The WEA’s lengthy statement responds to the theological and governance concerns raised by the whistleblower document, noting that the upcoming General Assembly is slated for October 27-31 in Seoul.

“In line with this, we attempted to reach out to the [Christian Council of Korea] to initiate direct dialogue and discuss concerns, but our request was declined,” the statement said.

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The WEA statement claims it has not abandoned its evangelical convictions, but engages with other faiths to “seek global solutions for religious freedom and peacebuilding.”

Regarding theological positions, the WEA said it requires members to adhere to historical tenets of evangelical Christianity, but allows for “theological systems and church expressions arising from specific cultures, geography and history that clearly uphold these tenets.”

In response to governance and transparency issues, the WEA said it is committed to “accountability and integrity,” and is “actively reviewing these matters.”

The source of accusations

The details of the whistleblower account were published in Christian Daily International, a publication that is part of a group of brands founded by Korean pastor David Jang.

Olivet University, also founded by Jang, is being investigated by an arm of the Department of Homeland Security for alleged labor trafficking, visa fraud and money laundering.

In addition, he is being sued by former students at Olivet who claim they were victims of an international trafficking scheme run by Jang and those working for him, according to reporting by Newsweek.

Jang joined the North American Council of the World Evangelical Association from 2007 to 2018.

In 2012, when Lifeway Christian Resources was considering selling its Glorieta Conference Center to Jang, Christianity Today did a lengthy piece on Jang’s background and some who believe he is the “Second Coming of Christ.” Lifeway ultimately decided against the sale.

The Christian Post, also founded by Jang, reported that the Christian Council of Korea has twice cleared Jang “of having ties to the Unification Church,” and two more times cleared him of “doubts associated with Jang and Second Coming Christ.”

Peirong Lin, deputy secretary general of WEA, told MinistryWatch that the first they heard of the whistleblower allegations was through the reporting of Christian Daily International.

When asked about the anonymous nature of the report, Lin said, “We are very concerned about this anonymous whistleblower. We do not know the name of the ‘whistleblower’ nor if they have had any previous affiliation with the WEA.”

“At this moment, we believe that we will ask Christian Daily if they have verified the source through conversation with the person before publishing their article. In the meantime, we have resolved not to respond to any further anonymous letters,” she added.

MinistryWatch attempted multiple times to reach Christian Daily International and Christianity Daily to ask about the source but received no reply.

Lin said WEA is still willing to discuss the issues with Christian Council of Korea as they seek to “pursue unity and trust.”

World Evangelical Alliance has 5 stars and an A transparency grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a donor confidence score of 93.

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