The lead pastor of a prominent evangelical church in Texas announced an indefinite leave of absence Sunday as he made a tearful confession to his congregation about an online relationship with a woman who was not his wife.
The announcement from Matt Chandler, the lead pastor of The Village Church in Flower Mound, northwest of Dallas, comes amid ongoing controversy within his church’s larger denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. Earlier this month, leaders of the denomination revealed that several of its major entities are under investigation by the Justice Department in the wake of multiple problems related to clergy sex abuse.
Chandler said the relationship with the woman was not “romantic or sexual,” but “unguarded and unwise” and he “fell short” of his role as a church elder.
He said an investigation started earlier this year, but did not provide many details.
“Several months ago a woman approached me here in the foyer. She had some concerns for how I was DMing on Instagram with a friend of hers. I didn’t think I had done anything wrong in that,” he said. He noted his wife, and the husband of the woman he was messaging, knew about their correspondence.
Chandler said he immediately flagged the woman’s concerns to the church elders and his wife. The elders of the church commissioned an independent law firm to conduct a review of his messaging history on social media, his cellphone and email.
He told his congregation that the concerns about the relationship “were really about frequency and familiarity,” which played out in the form of “coarse and foolish joking, some unbefitting of my role here as a lead pastor.”
The review found Chandler’s language wasn’t “appropriate” for a pastor. The elders found that he violated internal social media use policies and failed to meet the church’s standard for elders to be “above reproach.”
The review also found that the interaction with the woman was a unique case and not part of a larger pattern, Josh Patterson, the other lead pastor of The Village Church, said after Chandler spoke.
The elders determined that his behavior was not “disqualifying of an elder” and “did not rise to a level that would warrant more severe discipline,” Patterson said.
Thus it was concluded Chandler would take a “disciplinary” and “developmental” break from the pulpit, “which allows him time to focus on growing greater awareness in this area,” Patterson said.
“If I’m honest, I’m really embarrassed. I feel stupid. Feel dumb. Feel like I’m embarrassing my wife and kids, putting a ton of pressure on our staff, feel like I’m falling short for you,” Chandler said.
“But the Word of God holds me to a certain standard and I need to live into that and I feel short. I’m apologizing to my family, to you, to all those involved in this situation,” he continued.
In a statement, the church said the timeline for Chandler’s return “will be dictated by the expectations the elders have laid out for his development.”
Chandler became pastor of First Baptist Church of Highland Village in Texas in 2002, which later became known as The Village Church.
The Village Church’s Flower Mound site draws a crowd of about 4,500 attendees, according to The New York Times, and has planted several churches in state.
Chandler married his wife, Lauren, in 1999 and they share three children, according to the church’s bio.
He said he plans on remaining connected with the church, saying at the top of his announcement he plans on being the pastor there for the next 20 years.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
