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A Pataskala, Ohio, church has posted an apology video after students attending a youth gathering there put up videos of children slapping, spitting and cutting a pastor. The incident took place Monday night at an “after school hangout” at Impact City Church, where high and middle school students spend time doing such things as listening to a short gospel message, lead pastor Justin Ross said. Ross said in the video on the church’s Facebook page that it was meant to help students learn about Easter and the crucifixion. While at the gathering, Ross said he did not lead it. Associate...

Anyone watching the History Channel series?

The South Carolina megachurch pastor who drew criticism when he bought his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini as an anniversary present last December, denied cheating on her in a national television appearance. Seated next to his wife, Aventer, John Gray answered a question from one of the hosts of “The Real” about having an affair. “The answer is no. I didn’t,” video posted on YouTube shows Gray saying on the talk show that aired Monday. He also denied fathering a child as a result of an affair, saying “There’s no baby, none of that.” Gray, whose Relentless Church is based out...

Nearly 800 New York Catholic priests received a message about how to maintain their moral integrity from Pastor Rick Warren, who used Scripture passages and his experiences from 40 years as an Evangelical Christian pastor, to speak personally to fellow pastors. His talk, “Maintaining the Moral Integrity of the Ministry to Which God Has Called Us,” was delivered during the archdiocese’s biennial Safe Environment Convocation at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie June 6-7. “Brothers, what we do matters more than what anybody else does in the world,” said Pastor Warren at the outset of his presentation. “That’s because the only...

Pastor John Gray, who leads his own church in Greenville, South Carolina, and still preaches at Lakewood Church in Houston, is responding to people who criticized him for the lavish anniversary gift he gave to his wife for their eighth wedding anniversary on Dec.11. In a video captured by R&B singer and actor Tyrese, Gray surprises his wife Aventer with a Lamborghini Urus. According to the Kelley Blue Book, the 2019 luxury SUV starts at $200,000.

FULL TITLE: Megachurch daycare volunteer caught on video molesting a three-year-old boy 'sexually assaulted at least THIRTEEN other children' A South Carolina church daycare volunteer charged with molesting a three-year-old boy is now being accused of sexually assaulting at least 13 other children. The bombshell allegations were laid bare in a lawsuit that was filed on Wednesday against 28-year-old Jacop Robert Lee Hazlett and the North Charleston NewSpring Church. Hazlett supervised the care of three- to five-year-olds at the megachurch. His arrest affidavit says a security camera recording showed him performing oral sex on the toddler in a bathroom on...

A Southaven pastor is a viral sensation after descending from the rafters of his church to the pulpit during a Sunday sermon. The video was posted Sunday afternoon and racked up over a million views on Facebook within a few hours, and over two million views by Monday morning. Facebook comments identified the pastor as the Rev. Bartholomew Orr from Brown Missionary Church. When contacted, Orr said that the high-flying stunt was born from a mix of simple curiosity and a desire to deliver Sunday's gospel message in an innovative way — or how to be a "digital disciple." "How...

With the release of her new book, "The Most Beautiful Thing I've Seen" Grammy nominated artist Lisa Gungor goes deep on family, church, and being pushed out of the world she knew so well.

Despite the fact that God expresses His love for the righteous throughout the Old Testament – Jew and gentile alike – in a new book, one of America’s biggest mega-pastors claims the Hebrew Scriptures portray Him as “unapproachable,” living behind a curtain with love reserved only “for His covenant people,” suggesting He is a different deity than the one portrayed in the New Testament. It’s the latest shocking suggestion from Andy Stanley, whose suburban Atlanta congregation exceed 34,000 attendees and a national following. He writes in “Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed on the World,” released last week, that...

In the summer of 2008, Bill Hybels stood in front of thousands of pastors and other church leaders gathered at Willow Creek Community Church and admitted his megachurch had failed. “We made a mistake,” he told the crowd gathered for the 2008 Global Leadership Summit (GLS). A detailed Willow study had found that the church had helped many people find new faith in Jesus, but had failed to teach them how to practice the spiritual disciplines needed to grow their faith. He vowed the megachurch would do be better in the future. Ten years later, Willow Creek’s leaders confessed even...

North Point Community Church Senior Pastor Andy Stanley recently explained to popular radio host and Messianic Jewish author Michael Brown why he's quit using the term "the Bible says." In an episode of Brown's podcast "Line of Fire" that aired Monday afternoon, Stanley explained why, although he considers the Good Book inerrant, the term "the Bible says" doesn't work with those he's trying to evangelize. "Once upon a time that was very effective in our country. Those days are long gone. But unfortunately, church leaders still want to leverage 'the Bible says,' which is great for people who take the...

Hillsong Church has, over the years, hardly avoided the limelight, often finding itself at the center of hotly-contested debates. Now one of its biggest leaders is running headlong into the creation debate. Joel Houston, eldest son of the Sydney-based church’s founders, lead musician in the worship band Hillsong United, and co-pastor of Hillsong Church in New York City, tweeted Monday that “evolution is undeniable.”

CBS News has learned Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is investigating six prominent televangelist ministries for possible financial misconduct. Letters were sent Monday to the ministries demanding that financial statements and records be turned over to the committee by December 6th. According to Grassley's office, the Iowa Republican is trying to determine whether or not these ministries are improperly using their tax-exempt status as churches to shield lavish lifestyles. The six ministries identified as being under investigation by the committee are led by: Paula White, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Kenneth...

Televangelist, author and convicted felon Jim Bakker is back with another product he says cures 'all venereal disease' and is made up of 'silver.' In a video clip where he's introducing the product, the star of The Jim Bakker Show sits beside his co-host and wife, Lori Bakker, as the two tout the benefits of 'Silver Solution.' 'Do you know the one thing we never talk about, really, is one of the few gels and products that cures, or gets rid of, all venereal diseases,' he says to the man and woman sharing the screen with the Bakkers, in a...

December has apparently proven to be an interesting month for the Rev. Andy Stanley, son of a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and lead pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta — one of the largest congregations in the country. Though it is only now breaking in to the open, the Baptist world has been rocked by a Dec. 4 sermon in which the son of famed TV evangelist Charles Stanley discounted the importance of believing in the virgin birth of Jesus.

Pastor Andy Stanley says the Bible is too hard to defend Evangelical pastor preaches that the Bible isn’t the foundation for the Christian faith by Lita Cosner and Scott Gillis Published: 22 September 2016 (GMT+10) Andy Stanley has a church network of over 30,000 people in the Atlanta area, and his church was rated the fastest-growing in America in 2014 and 2015.1 Recently, he has been criticized by many evangelicals for saying that we need to take the focus off the Bible and put it on the Resurrection, because he claims that gives us a firmer foundation for our faith....

Bill Hybels, founder and senior pastor of the multi-campus Willow Creek Community Church, has denied multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, including a consensual affair with a married woman, who retracted her claims. Investigations commissioned by the church also could not substantiate the allegations. In an extensive investigation of the allegations published by the Chicago Tribune on Thursday night, former members of the church, including those who resigned from high-level leadership positions, argue that the church's investigations have been deficient. The Tribune report also alleges a pattern of behavior against Hybels that includes suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss, and...

Pam Orr, chair of Willow Creek Community Church's elder board in suburban Chicago, has apologized to multiple women who publicly accused the megachurch's founder, Bill Hybels, of sexual misconduct in recent months and revealed after listening to some of them, "we do not believe the stories were all lies." In a statement released by the church late Wednesday, Orr, who had previously defended Hybels against the allegations along with the elder board, also revealed that she will step down from her role at the end of this month and will be replaced by longtime church member Lane Moyer. "Our top...

Megachurch Pastor Creflo Dollar recently told his congregation not to throw shade at rapper-turned-gospel performer Snoop Dogg. The California-based godfather of rap and actor recently released “Bible of Love” through his All the Time Entertainment, in association with RCA Inspiration. The “Gin and Juice” and “Drop It Like It’s Hot” rapper said he was inspired by his grandmother and pulls in some heavyweight gospel talent like the Clark Sisters and Rance Allen. Dollar, pastor of World Changers Church International, said the church should focus on grace and not past behavior. He was preaching on the “Spirit of Grace.”

The founder Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago, one of the nation's largest evangelical churches, has stepped down six months ahead of schedule. The Tuesday announcement by the Rev. Bill Hybels to his congregation comes after published reports Hybels was the subject of inquiries by church leaders. They were looking into claims Hybels engaged in inappropriate behavior with women in his congregation. He was cleared of the allegations. Hybels has been a counselor to presidents and is considered one of the most influential evangelical figures in the country. His announcement came at his church Tuesday night. "I have decided to...