Posted on 08/29/2022 10:28:08 AM PDT by Morgana
FLOWER MOUND, Texas (BP) – The Village Church announced Sunday (Aug. 28) that lead pastor Matt Chandler will take a leave of absence from teaching and preaching following his admission to “inappropriate messaging” with a woman on Instagram.
Chandler admitted the messaging was “unguarded and unwise” though the messages were neither “romantic nor sexual” in nature, but the “frequency and familiarity” was not wise for someone in his position.
Chandler said the church’s elders determined his “inability to see this for what it was revealed something not right and unhealthy,” adding that The Village “cannot be a place that does not hold its pastors and elders accountable.”
Chandler agreed to the elders’ suggestion that he take the leave of absence and admitted to feeling “embarrassed and stupid.” He affirmed the leave of absence was both “disciplinary” and “developmentally caring” for his family and the church.
Chandler has pastored the 5,000-member church since 2002 and has served as president of Acts 29, one of the largest church-planting networks in North America, since 2012. In addition to Acts 29, The Village is also aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention. Chandler has made several appearances at SBC annual meetings and Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission events. Most recently, he was part of a late-night panel discussion hosted by 9Marks at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim.
Churches upholding morality and a follower accepting responsibility??? It’s almost as if a Church is good for the health of society or something.
I think it has something to do with Matthew 22:14
Matt got woke in the last two years.
My theory is these big pastors get too famous and busy to pray and study scripture.
My theory is “Jimmy Swaggart Syndrome.”
Tears flowing profusely, “I have sinned.”
He also survived a brain tumor
Satan works overtime on believers. The evil are already in his back pocket. Always stay vigilant.
Developing story?
Yeah it’s sad but thats what happens when you’re not accountable to anyone. He got caught. Hopefully God will restore and unwoke him.
Wouldn't pass as a used car salesman.
I had a brief email exchange with him once. Nice guy who built the largest church among the 20-35 crowd. He was very Baptist. One of his narratives was “Everyone is in recovery” which was really popular with the younger crowd. I listened to his sermons every week, stealing as much as I could. But he went off of SermonAudio and I could no longer download them.
Eeeew....I’d rather get a sexy text from our dog.
You make very good points. Celebrity and brain tumor could either or both play a role. However, did he apologize to the woman, his family, his church? Did he merely acknowledge embarrassment for being “stupid”? Did he repent? New story may leave many details out. But if the investigation has gone on for several months it makes me wonder if this is the end of the problem. Praying God’s will be done for VC and MC.
He had a brain tumor 10 years ago. If he hasn’t had a scan lately, he might want to get one. If he has, at least he didn’t try to pin this on his health issue.
betcha he did some inappropriate massaging too!
What did he text? It wasn’t sexual in nature so what was it?
I see a pastor getting woke as helpful cover for sin. If he can incrementally get his flock to tacitly approve sin, his sin won’t be seen as a sin, should it come out.
Pretty evil.
Oh good gawd-—you people jumping to conclusions. My goodness, there’s no information on what he texted but it did state his wife and the woman’s husband were “involved” in the texts. It was probably about “abortion” or something stupid and he lost his cool.
Look...I despise liars like Joel Osteen and Creflo Dollar but this seems like he got angry and told her off. Yeah-—in this day and age, as a Christian, I have to repent daily when dealing with these leftists online.
Perhaps we should look at this from our Lord’s perspective. Scripture tells us that when God wants to judge the world, He begins by disciplining the church (I Peter 4:17). The plethora of outed church leaders, from the Catholics and the Orthodox to the Pentecostals and the Charismatics, is a clear indication that God will have His church cleansed and prepared for a world that is about to be judged. What we see as the despair of defeat, God sees as the preview of victory.
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