This is just in. And it seems to be good news–very good news. I hope this is a beginning toward healing for all involved. Peace, MPT.
According to The Wartburg Watch…
Here’s the statement from the church. Karen’s statement follows this one.
Statement to The Village Church from Matt Chandler and the Elders
Covenant Members of The Village Church,
We want to update you regarding our review of The Village Church’s current care and discipline process, specifically our desire to repent where we have sinned against those we have not treated with the love and care we are called to give as shepherds under the authority of a holy, loving God. If you have not already done so, we encourage you to watch or listen to the sermon “Wanderer/Restorer” from May 31 before reading further. This email will review one specific situation and then give a brief update on the elders’ current work related to care and discipline at The Village.
Over the past few weeks, you received two emails explaining a sensitive and tragic situation involving Jordan Root and Karen Hinkley. Those emails were intended to provide clarity and insight into a fragile and complex series of events. Since we sent those emails, we have had the opportunity to gather more information, have more conversations and hear from more people.
Early on the morning of Wednesday, May 27, Matt Chandler sent a personal email to Karen asking to meet with her facetoface in a place of her choosing. The following afternoon, the church sent an email to all Covenant Members in order to communicate our belief that we owed Karen an apology. Karen responded to Matt a few days later noting that she was encouraged but cautious and wanted time to seek counsel, pray and process before agreeing to a meeting. During weekend services on May 3031, Matt’s sermon reiterated our desire to repent, ask forgiveness and seek out genuine reconciliation with anyone we treated unlovingly.. After the sermon was posted online, Karen responded with an email communicating her desire to meet with Lead Pastors Matt Chandler and Josh Patterson. On Wednesday, June 3, Matt and Josh met personally with Karen and a couple of Karen’s close friends. Karen’s friends extended gracious Christian hospitality by offering their home for the meeting.
Matt and Josh started the conversation by telling Karen that they were not there to defend the actions of The Village but to ask forgiveness. Matt and Josh specifically told Karen, after further review of her situation, that she did have biblical grounds for divorce or annulment, that she should have been released from Covenant Membership as she requested and that she should not have been put under church discipline. Matt and Josh reiterated that they were not there to defend the actions of The Village but simply to repent and hear from Karen directly. Karen’s response was seasoned with faith, hope and love. She graciously accepted the apology and extended forgiveness. This beautiful exchange set the tone for the rest of the day, which was spent trying to unwind stories, clarify confusion and discuss next steps. By the end of the meeting, Karen was satisfied that we had heard all of her concerns and was eager to see us follow through on some specific items.
In the days following the meeting with Karen, Josh and Brian Miller met with Dallas campus elders and staff to further examine our interactions with Karen and Jordan in a new light. As a result of these conversations, The Village Church is taking the following actions:
We are apologizing more specifically to Karen in front of you, our members. While Karen is no longer a member, we are doing so with her permission and cooperation. Some of the information in our original Covenant Member email sent on May 23 was insensitive and did not reflect the fuller picture we have learned through our subsequent meetings and conversations. We are sorry for our error and how it affected Karen.
While the gospel is certainly for all sinners and grace is available for Jordan, we believe that the nature of his sin requires treatment that is beyond what The Village has been able to offer—and we should have recognized our limitations earlier. Based on an external referral, we have engaged a Licensed Sex Offender Treatment Provider to counsel Jordan Root. We will vigilantly follow the recommendations of this counselor regarding necessary next steps.
We reached out to several individuals at SIM, including the president, to apologize for times when we did not fully heed their counsel and were perceived to be threatening. Also, we are working with SIM to continue in our longstanding partnership to take the gospel to the nations.
As we communicated in our previous emails, we believe that the policies and procedures that are currently in place at The Village Church to protect children and families are strong. However, that belief has not stopped us from diligently moving forward with a thorough assessment of our abuse prevention and reporting processes across all campuses. In the months to come, experts will be analyzing everything we do in this regard to ensure that we implement best practices across the board.
The elders have also already had several meetings, both small and large, to review our current practice and procedures. There will be definite changes to our system based on these meetings, including a much more patient process before a member enters formal church discipline. We also want to recognize that there is a time and place for specialized treatment that goes beyond the kind of care that we, or even a qualified biblical counselor, can offer. We are working on these new policies and procedures and will update you when they are complete.
As Covenant Members of The Village, you know that the Church is comprised of people who have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. As a result of this divine reconciliation, we have also been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18). We are also called to an ongoing ethic of confession and repentance. Our hope in sending this email is to show you we are, by God’s grace, trying to do both of these things and to update you on the specific steps we are taking to repent and change. Reconciliation is often hard and painful, but it is always beautiful. Thank you for your patience and grace in this time. It is an honor and joy to serve you.
###
Statement from Karen Hinkley
As I laid in bed the night of December 16th, I wondered if I would wake up the next day and find myself in the middle of a crisis of faith. But by the grace of God, every morning since I’ve woken up with my faith intact and even strengthened. I believe that the only feasible explanation for this is that God had a plan for me that required me to trust Him. In His goodness, and in answer to the prayers of many of His people on my behalf, He has sustained my faith during the most trying of times, and He is now bringing this chapter to a close for me in the most beautiful of ways.
I woke up to an email from Matt Chandler the morning of May 27th. He apologized and sought forgiveness for not reaching out to me sooner, and asked if I would consider sitting down with him and Josh Patterson face-to-face, with the sole purpose of hearing from me about the hurt I had experienced at the hands of The Village Church and what they could have done better. Naturally, I was skeptical at first, and I wrestled with whether I could trust his motives due to the timing of the email. But I decided to take a few days to pray, process, and seek counsel.
By Sunday, May 31st I had decided to take a leap of faith and meet with Matt and Josh. I knew it was a risk, but I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about repentance and reconciliation, and I felt that God was leading me to be willing to hear my brothers out. That evening I watched Matt’s sermon from the weekend online and was further encouraged in this direction. I sensed sincerity in his confession and apology. I emailed Matt, and we set up a meeting for Wednesday. We both communicated eager anticipation for what God might do.
As Wednesday approached I wasn’t sure what to expect. I chose to keep the meeting under strict confidence at that time, sharing it with only a few trusted friends so they could pray. I thought the meeting would have the best chance for success if it wasn’t a public spectacle from the beginning. Two of those friends graciously offered to host the meeting in their home and provide lunch for the five of us. It was clear to me that God was at work.
After sharing a meal together on Wednesday, the conversation turned to the reason we were there. Matt and Josh looked me in the eyes, apologized, and asked for forgiveness. They told me that they felt awful about how I had been treated. They said I had biblical grounds for annulment or divorce, that I should have been granted my withdrawal from membership immediately, and that I never should have been put under discipline. They wanted to hear anything I was willing to say about what had happened, and they promised to do everything they could to make it right and make sure that what happened to me never happened to anyone again. I thanked them for their obvious sincerity and forgave them.
We spent the next several hours talking about what had happened to me and what my concerns were. By the end of the day, Matt, Josh, my two friends and I were delighted to realize that we all wanted the same things for the same reasons. Matt and Josh promised many changes to come, and I have watched with joy over the past week as they have kept their word and begun to implement those changes. I believe the elders of The Village Church are showing fruit of genuine repentance, and I believe God will use them powerfully in the days to come.
I am praising God for what He has done, and I continue to be amazed by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to bring about reconciliation in the most unlikely circumstances. God is good, God is mighty, and God is faithful. All the time.
I know this is not the end of the story for many, but I believe it is the end of the story for me. This has been a long and difficult road both for me and for those who have walked closely with me, and I still have quite a bit of healing left to do. I believe it is time for me to move on in peace, trusting God to finish the good work He has started at The Village Church. I believe God is using what happened to me to do something beautiful, in His time and in His way, and for that I am exceedingly thankful.
In the Name of Jesus and for His sake,
Karen Hinkley
***
Your thoughts? Special thanks to the Wartburg Watch for allowing me access to this story.
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I don’t have many thoughts but I am smiling. This is how it’s done.
Beautiful. Literally brings tears to my eyes. So glad to hear how these brothers in the Lord stepped up and cared for Karen truly addressing the situation. May such leadership increase for God’s glory!
This is such good news.
Beautiful. Redemption. This is what it looks like to be a leader, to be a follower of Jesus. To both repent of wrong-doing and to offer forgiveness. This part of Karen’s journey has some hope. And Chandler is the most authentic neo-calvinist leader in my book.
I am very glad for Karen. Now she can heal in peace, including the work of making her immediate forgiveness a reality in her life.
If these guys are doing all that they say they intend to do, it’s a very good beginning. I’m particularly pleased about their admittance of the inadequacy of “biblical counseling” for Jordan’s treatment. I’m also glad that they admitted to messing up with SIM.
Their deeply flawed theology/practices remain. Changing that will take some time and probably requires keeping the pressure on.
It would help everyone a great deal if they took up a serious ministry for the children used in the porn industry. They are the victims at the heart of this story. They are in desperate need and Jesus had extra concerns and love for children.
What theology is deeply flawed?
The assumption of hierarchy in the Body creates problems in every direction.
Also, holding to aspects of TULIP suggests that the community’s view of God is too small.
TVC does have an active outreach among ladies working in strip clubs. Not the exact same, but a step in the right direction. Let’s just not make too many assumptions about what the church is or is. to doing.
I made no assumptions—what an odd thing to write, EV.
I suggested an approach of restitution and reconciliation specific to this situation.
Think how good it would be for Jordan! And how satisfying for Karen to see her former church centered on what she had to reject in Jordan, and what she worried over afterwards. And how much it would teach your community about the issues surrounding child porn and pedophilia, which was mishandled because misunderstood!
Working with strippers is also excellent. They are not as deeply victimized as sexually-exploited children, but still in need.
Your community is proud of your membership numbers, yes? Be sweet to do both!
I am encouraged that the 2 leaders did as much as they did as a first step. One minor quibble is that when Karen resigned, I would have preferred that her resignation was “accepted” by TVC rather than her being “released” from church membership.
As an egalitarian believer, I believe the next step should be for TVC to repent of their complementarian doctrine and actively cultivate women to be elders, but failing that, at least have women leaders that are available to the elders for discussion in cases like this.
Yes, true repentance goes to the root of the problem: the next step should be for TVC to repent of their complementarian (Patriarchy/ men rule and women submit) doctrine and actively cultivate women to be elders, but failing that, at least have women leaders that are available to the elders for discussion in cases like this.
The complementarian theology isn’t going to change. It is too rooted in scripture. They do have women deacons. It is believed scripture supports it.
And there we’ve arrived at the real problem. The patriarchy system is just the symptom, a solution to the real problem (not a good one). The binary thinking regarding life and Scripture at TVC and other reformed churches is poisonous and archaic, really. Until they realize that Scripture is not a standard, a prescript, but wisdom of those who pursued God and used as such in our current context, they’ve no hope of changing and will continue to hurt people. The Word (Jesus) is above the word (Bible). And Jesus greatest commandment is to love God, which is lived out through the second, love your neighbor. Scripture as a standard too often violates the greatest (and second) commandment.
So culture should help us interpret scripture?
For some reason I can’t reply directly to you, SS.
But yes.
Scripture is not the inerrant word of God then?
I don’t see it as the inerrant word of God. I think it was written by men who deeply pursued God and was influenced greatly by their experience of Him. I don’t see anywhere in Scripture that claims inerrancy, anyway. You should try reading Peter Enns’ new book “The Bible Tells Me So.” It’s really great.
And really, when you study church history, I think you see over and over a shift toward inerrancy to where we tend to see it defined in the Bible Belt (as 100% error free, and literal) as the Bible has lot influence, and thus the clergy lost power.
The inerrancy argument is a power play. It’s a ploy for control. I think a great number of folks realize this as well and can’t say as much because the “authority” of their church staff will come down on them.
Encouraging. 🙂
Way to be (in the words of fellow blogger and activist Glennon Doyle Melton at momastery.com/blog) a “TRUTH TELLER/HOPE SPREADER” You rock, MPT !
Sounds like a decent start. As I reflect on my decade plus in membership and leadership at TVC, I finally found why I felt so uncomfortable, and why so many things are broken in TVC (and at other reformed churches, churches with membership covenants, etc)…they’re not places where it’s safe to doubt, to question, to experiment. They are places where things are guarded, controlled, and manipulated at the finest detail.
Now if we were to put those qualities on to a parent, what would we think they’re kids would look like? Kids that seem ok, but never happy, in fact there would appear to be an underbelly of misery. Kids that fear their parents. Kids that fear the outside, the abnormal, discovery. Kids who have a giant fear of failure. Kids that struggle making good decisions (menial, minor and major) once they become adults. Co-dependent kids.
That’s what I saw in TVC members. We have some friends that still go there and their community group just disintegrated because the leaders didn’t have the time to lead. This was our friends’ 4th home group in 3 years. But these things are just symptoms of a real problem. The problem is that it’s a culture where you’re measured to a standard. If you want to be a leader, you have to fit these qualities. Everything has its detailed description, its prescript.
It’s a place run by The Law, but they can’t see it. It makes me sad, and as I’ve said before I don’t want to come across as holier-than-thou or condescending, but it’s the truth. There’s no evolution or freedom to be found there.
So all that to say, I think Matt & Josh are truly sorry, but it’s inevitable that it happens again…and sooner rather than later.
I’m sorry your experience was not a great one. My experience is quite different. Coming to TVC, I have felt quite a relief. Coming from churches where discussing your sins and struggles with other believers was not even a thought and where there was zero church discipline, I have felt so much freedom, and I know many others with that same experience. I have never felt threatened or afraid. The leaders of our church, while certainly not perfect, yearn for the gospel to be at the center. They are doing their best and have humbled themselves to say they are making changes where there have been major issues.
No church is perfect. Never will there be. But finding a church where the gospel is truly proclaimed and practice is what is important for the believer. If TVC isn’t that for you, that is obviously fine. But you can’t discount the experiences of thousands who don’t feel the way you do.
I have heard difficult stories and experiences since all of this has come out, but I have seen and heard hundreds more where lives have been transformed and freedom has been found. Praise the Lord for that. And praise the Lord for a church who is taking action to make real changes in a system that has been hurtful to some.
To Former TVC Member: I love what you have to say so much. It’s so spot on in terms of my own experience with an ACTS 29 church. One thing I particularly loved: “The inerrancy argument is a power play. It’s a ploy for control.” THIS!!! I don’t know that I’ve read a more perfect statement. And this can be applied to the majority of churches today. TVC and other reformed churches are not the only environment where this is a reality. My husband has read so much on church history and the bible and its history and origins and I have a hunch you two would land in the same arena. And church abuse is the reason he and I have stepped back from church altogether. We haven’t stepped foot in a church in 18 months. We were asked to leave our last church (an Acts 29 church in Oklahoma) because we did not ‘tow the line’ and we dared to question and raise doubts. They initially led you to believe it was a safe place for those things but when we actually vocalized our questions and concerns, we were quietly asked to leave. I guess we should be grateful they did it quietly? So we had the complete opposite experience of Karen in that we were not being told we were under discipline and told our resignation was not accepted. We were just simply asked to go away. We had been searching for many years for a church where it is a safe place to question some of the bible’s words, question the ‘rules’ any one of these places had in place, have doubts about eternity and more specifically, eternal punishment in a place called hell (which, as you may have gathered by now, we no longer believe exists). So this church was sort of the last straw for me personally. I just don’t have the willingness right now to try and find a place that’s a group of people who love Jesus and love others and want others to know we love them and that Jesus loves them and nobody has an agenda other than to just love and have community and listen to others tell their stories and laugh and cry with them and just be a community. A place where the word Grace doesn’t also include the word but after it. It’s just simply Grace. I’d love to communicate with you privately former TVC Member if you are willing to do so? If you are, maybe MPT can coordinate an email exchange?
I’m sorry you had a similar experience as we did but yours sounds even more intense as you were pretty involved at TVC. I’m sad for anyone who goes through this. It’s so disappointing and hurtful. I have to say though that all is not lost. The past 18 months have been quite pleasant and a beautiful little season for us personally. A lot of healing has happened and it’s really shifted the way we view the world in general and how we treat everyone in our path. Your statement ‘the problem is that it’s a culture where you’re measured to a standard’ describes an epidemic in churches today. It’s the very reason outsiders don’t want to come to church. It’s the reason those in church who don’t ‘measure up’ (whatever the hell that means anyway) are miserable. We’re ALL the same. We all have doubts, struggles, fears, failures. On a basic level, TVC (and others) remind me so much of high school. If you are not part of the ‘in’ crowd then you are not acceptable.
Heather I really appreciate you sharing your story and what you are recounting is eerily familiar to my experience with TVC and the Acts 29 church world in general. I escaped fundamentalism by coming to the Village but after the rosy newness of it wore off there seemed to be systemic “fundamentalism” at it’s core. My wife and I don’t have a lot of patience for that so we quietly resigned our membership and left our home group and haven’t been in a church since (except for visiting with relatives out of town). Oddly despite the dire pronouncements our life has not gone down hill or ended up in the gutter. It makes me wonder why church as we know it even exists at all. If you would like to dialogue further just reply to this post and I will respond with a link to my blog.
Thank You Jesus for loving us all through this process, no matter where we found ourselves as spectators. Thank You for the hearts of Karen, Matt and Josh as they demonstrated with courage and vulnerability how the Spirit can bring about reconciliation and restoration. I pray for the road ahead that we all may be united as members of ONE body contending for ONE faith serving ONE God.
Beautiful! The gospel at work. Praying that mega church leader, Mark Driscoll, would see this example and be moved to do the reach out to those he’s harmed, so that he and all can experience joy and freedom of reconciliation and the full benefits of forgiveness.
Thank you for posting this! I’m sorry to say that when I received the member email regarding the apology, one of my first thoughts was to see whether or not you would follow-up on your prior accounts of the situation. Thank you for proving me wrong and sharing the conclusion!
Exellent final post on subject at Wartburg Watch: http://thewartburgwatch.com/2015/06/15/lessons-learned-from-the-village-church-and-matt-chandler-on-membership-abuse-and-repentance/comment-page-1/#comment-201816
This definitely was long overdue, but a step in the right direction. I hope public outcries are not the primary motivator for pastors to admit wrong doing. Nevertheless, Karen graciously accepted the apology and left the door open for others who have been wronged to do the same. I also think this is a great example of accepting an apology, but becoming wiser and not setting herself up as the victim once again. She is moving on and I do believe that is a consequence of the inappropriate and unbiblical actions TVC took against her.
Personally, I have spent much time reading, researching, and questioning mega-churches and multi-campus churches and their impact. I have a bad taste in my mouth. True, due to their very nature, the financial powerhouse they can use for missions and care for our brothers and sisters is astounding. I hope that is how their moneys are appropriated.
However, it appears a great deal of time and financial commitment is wrapped up in the advancement of the personality of TVC (and other multi-campus churches operate very much the same way). Maybe it is time we took a look inward and asked ourselves is this what Christ wants for his church?
From joyfulnoise: “However, it appears a great deal of time and financial commitment is wrapped up in the advancement of the personality of TVC (and other multi-campus churches operate very much the same way). Maybe it is time we took a look inward and asked ourselves is this what Christ wants for his church?”
Exactly!! Can’t believe how many times I have thought this same thing… that “mega-churches” while they do some good are primarily concerned with the maintenance and propagation of the empire.
I believe that most of them have their days numbered and we will see what happens when their primary personality (remember Mark Driscoll / MHC) either resigns, retires or passes away.
In reading through her account on another site, I realized that TVC threatened to withhold financial support to other missionaries supported by SIM if SIM continued to support Karen. Has TVC apologized to SIM? In the account it said that for the benefit of others on the field they could only support Karen for 6 months or so because of the TVC threat. Seems like this should be addressed.
Glad that this situation is seeming to be headed in the right direction, but sad to hear so much of the same reasoning, statements and strategies from TVC that we encountered when we were one of the “couples” set to reach out to and mentor a couple where a husband confessed to what we were told was a “not loving his wife well” when in fact it also was a admittance of a sexual felony.
When will keeping women and children safe be more important than a man’s reputation?
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