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April 7th, 2014
12:41 PM ET
Megachurch pastor resigns, citing 'moral failing'Fort Lauderdale, Florida (WPLG Miami) The senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale has resigned after confessing to cheating on his wife, according to WPLG Miami. Pastor Bob Coy, 58, reportedly confessed a "moral failing which disqualifies him from continuing his leadership role at the church" to Calvary leaders on Wednesday. A board meeting was called the next day, when he resigned. Coy, who has led the church since its founding in 1985, said he will now focus his full attention on his personal relationship with God and his family. The radio, television and digital media that distributes Coy's teachings have also been suspended. "The governing board of the church is providing counselors and ministers who will help guide him through the process of full repentance, cleansing and restoration," Calvary Chapel said in a statement. Calvary is one of the largest churches in Florida, with some 20,000 members who worship in 10 locations across the state. "Trusting in God's providence, protection, provision and direction, the staff of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale will continue our mission to 'make disciples' through regular services at all campuses and through myriad other ministries the church has established over the years," the statement said. At an open service at the church Sunday, a letter was read to the congregation from Coy and the board. Assistant pastors who are on staff will continue their usual rotating schedule as teaching pastors for all services, the statement said.
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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"said he will now focus his full attention on his personal relationship with God and his family."
That is exactly what God would have had him do. So clearly he was not doing God's work.
You know who said "Let him without sin cast the first stone." and this was to save a 'working girl'...
A big issue I have with organized religion be it a legitimate old school one or a new McMegaChurch is that they LOVE to cast stones but per the saying of that "Old school New Age Guru" they are far from without sin.
Will the stoning be televised? I'd better get prepared. I still have trouble setting up that one box for pay-per-view type events.
No, I don't know who said that and nor do you. It certainly wasn't Jesus Christ, given that the pericope of the woman taken in adultery was a forgery parachuted into the pre-existing text of John sometime in the Middle Ages. Biblical scholars are almost unanimous on the point.
Casting stones? Sounds like my guidance teacher. Silly teenage me thought that when he made the allegation he had an incident in mind. Upon looking for it, I found the churches were mostly serving their members or just being and they were not bothering much with anything outside, with the exception of sending money.
However said teacher was always watching the evangelical kids hoping that one of them would give the teacher an excuse to throw stones. Saddest of all was that a third of the class adopted the teacher's ideas wholesale and with no evidence the kids started to believe that churches cast stones. None of them considered that the teacher was himself casting stones.
People will always let you down....Jesus never will.
comedy gold!
on second thought, you are right ... jesus doesn't exist so he can never let you down ... people do exist so they can ...
The question has never been 'did Jesus walk the earth'?, it's always been is He the son of God'?. The problem here is that you are not knowledgeable of world religions. There is no since you trying to understand them in an online forum.
The problem is that jesus is only walking in your imagination.
It sounds like you're a very lonely old man who has been hurt in this world and now doesn't trust anyone, so in needing a social outlet you turn to the god you imagine exists and find comfort in your imagination...an imagination that then becomes supported by the stories in the bible. There are other ways to get out and socialize without an unproven deity being put in your face...you should look in to it...it will do your heart good and it will free your mind of religion.
Okay believers get out your hankies and make excuses for this "christian" I know the "routine". He'll go for counseling, beg for forgivness and the flunkies, (i mean) followers will give him more money. And in the end god will accept him and tell him to to tell others how to live their lives!
Anybody else watch Wrestlemania last night?
I watched a doc'umentary, Game of Thrones.
Same here
me three
I also watched an historical piece - Beowulf.
(You all made a better choice...)
That's not the one with Hulk, is it? In any case, no.
It was.
Lol, deity worshipers...hee hee!!
Hee hee to you. Here you are fulfilling every stereotype of gleeful anti religious prejudice, throwing your own stones while accusing other people of same.
You would think that this sort of thing wouldn't occur enough for there to be a LET's Law just for these types of situations, but your thinking would be wrong...
LET's Religiosity Law #13 – If you believe any of the christian ass-clowns on television (or the radio) are “helping” you get closer to Jesus and not doing it to get your money, but also have the capacity to be shocked when their misdeeds/lies eventually come to light… well, you are an imbecile. This law is immutable.
A little power, a little money and not much else can make hypocrites of us all.
I think in cases like this, atheists seem to be the most judgmental. Some are worse than fundie Christians. You atheists cause more harm to your own atheism than I ever could!😄☺️😃☺️😙☺️☺️☺️
All people are judgmental. Christians have commandments against judging others, atheists don't. Live up to your own convictions before casting an eye to others.
Careful, there Boston – the Finisher is using a real crap-load of emoticons, so he's just got to be right.
Needs more caps or we simply can't take him/her seriously.
And your response is incredibly judgmental.
@thefinisher1: As an atheist who likes to free people from religion, I want to thank you for all your hard work. Your every post is a great tool for atheists everywhere.
You don't cause any harm to atheists at all, finisher. You should stop giving yourself airs.
I was thinking the same thing. It's hilarious that this person could even think they did any harm with their illogical rants.
Just another version of "I know you are, but what am I?" played by a supposed adult.
Religion, at it's very core, is judgmental. Saying "We're right, you're wrong." , what would you call that? And what, besides pride would you call a "megachurch"? Christians always argue as if they're the ones making sense, when they're arguing that which cannot be proven. If you'd figure that out and just stay out of arguments you'd be better off.
SHOCKING that a preacher, of all people, would fool around with other women not his wife. SHOCKING! And to think that GOD watched every squirm and roll he and his illicit squeeze took in bed (one of the major "perks" of being God – you don't need any hidden webcams!). Of course, he can now claim that a loving, forgiving God will forgive his "trespasses" as he resumes his career of taking money from gullible believers!
"one of the major "perks" of being God – you don't need any hidden webcams!"
LMAO!
Yes, all god needs is x-ray vision to see through the roof. Wait, isn't god a voyuer for watching people have s3x? Does that mean he likes p0rn also?
He likes the live shows.
and he'll agree to 'move out' of his $120 trillion mansion. paid for by 'donations'
Whaaat, more Evidence on top of more Evidence of the Absolute, Complete and Total stupidity of atheism/evolution/idolatry!!!
Oh, its you, Sal. I thought someone farted.
Want to explain how cheating on one's wife twice and being addicted to porn like this guy was is evidence of anything but a mega church minister living a double life?
one would think that the pastor would have prayed for help from his god to not "stray". If this god did not respond, why? It seems that we are left with only a few possibilities. This god wanted him to stray for the oft claimed "mysterious" reasons, evidently needing to harm people to accomplish what it wants, a silly thing for a omnipotent being "needing" to do anything. Or, the pastor has nothing special with this god and this god doesn't care to answer his prayers. Or, This god doesn't not exist.
Pastors are nothing more than human, with no special relationship with their gods that they cannot show to exist. it's too bad people give them resources and time for nonsense.
Did he "confess" or did he get caught by his wife?
And if he hadn't got caught then would he have quit his job?
I doubt it somehow. These guys only "confess" when they get found out...
Religion and hypocrisy...Same thing.
Also see the article about the Archbishop in Atlanta. Only repents/changes when caught.
indeed. if they aren't caught, they are sure that their god or gods are okay with their stupidity.
People give money to Life Coaches, motivational speakers, etc. There's quite an industry of them. I bet many are effective at getting their clients to perform better and even feel better. There must be some return on the investment or they would have faded away. Preachers are the pioneers in that industry to me.
Yep. They all depend on fear and ignorance to support their lies.
So following this logic, the fact that human beings commit various and sundry sins ranging from cheating on spouses to stealing a candy bar, infers that God does not exist. Is this what you're gonna stick with?
yep. humans do stupid things. There is nothing that shows a magical being that smites or rewards certain behaviors exists. Please do show that the god of the bible exists. Show how it interacts with the world. Show that any of the essential events of the bible ever occurred. Show that other gods don't exist.
The problem with theist claims is that their claims are exactly the same as every other theist, that one can "see" their particular god in the universe, that their god punishes certain things, etc. And there is no evidence for any of it. Theists depend on fear, ignorance and arrogance. They must assume that a god agrees with them and only them, that this god will punish anyone who disagrees with them and that this god is the only right one, despite the thousands of gods that humans have invented.
My invisible pink unicorn is praying for him.
LOL, don't be ridiculous. Invisible pink unicorns can't possibly exist! It says clearly in the Pastafarian Handbook that The Flying Spaghetti Monster created the world with his noodly appendage without any help from invisible pink unicorns.
Bet he blame the Devil.
Well at least he got the first letter right.
I am constantly amazed by Christianity's need to know about the private sex lives of everyone and broadcast stuff like this.
His porn problem is personal, and between him, his wife and his god. His affair is a violation of the vow he made his wife, assuming he vowed to be faithful to her, and with the god he believes blessed that vow. There was no need for the reasons for his stepping down to be made public unless he was also breaking a law.
Of course if we would acknowledge that all men are not made to be monogamous, or if his religion actually gave him tools to guide him in upholding his vows, we might not even be having this conversation.
his affair was a violation of this oath to the faerie god more than his wife. learn about the religion u speak b4 u speak
Seriously? You're going to upbraid someone on their education when you use "u" and "b4"?
Pardon your rudeness. I was a Christian for many years.
The vow made in a Christian marriage ceremony is to your spouse AND your god. Thus, the way I said it.
There is still no reason it needed to be made public unless he was breaking a law or putting people in danger.
Well there is the whole begging for money under false pretenses thing.
Whether or not he solicited for money and whether or not you determine his pretenses to be false, that has absolutely nothing to do with his affair.
I agree – except for the men are not made to be monogamous part – some are, some aren't. I am about sick of these things becoming front page news and it generally also depends on the likeability of the person and their career choice. Let's leave these things between those that it truly affects, his wife and family. That's it.
Unfortunately, that isn't possible in a church that has 20,000 congregants...the word that their pastor stepped down and the reasons for it were bound to become newsworthy, given how popular he was.
There is truth to the adage "the bigger they are, the harder they fall"...
I feel sorry for his family and their private pain that had to become public.
Not all people are made to be monogamous, male or female. I knew from a very young age that it wasn't for me. Of course I thought at the time that precluded me ever getting married. It would take years before I discovered the concept of polyamory.
Personally I'm torn on this one.
Yes, members of the clergy are humans and they make the same mistakes as all other humans. This is inevitable and forgiveness is an important human characteristic.
When they stand in the pulpit and lecture people on how to behave morally, arguably they should do so with the minium of hypocrisy possible. Yes, they will fail to live up to "ideal" standards but depending on what they emphasize in their sermons, I can see an argument that someone loses their credibility and authority when preaching on a topic where they have publically made mistakes.
The aspect of taking money to do this exacerbates the issue of them holding themselves to high standards of behavior.
My guess is that there is more to this than meets the eye related to the internal politics of the church and his spouse and that resigning may be the right course for the organization.
Oh, I'm not saying he shouldn't have resigned. I agree he should have, because he has a responsibility to live as an example of what he believes and is teaching while in that position and if his life does not match up with it, he needs to fix one or the other.
In this case, he was totally right to resign. The affair is between him and his wife, but his infidelity undoubtedly casts doubt on his ability to do his job.
However, all need be said by the board, or even him, was that he was stepping down for personal reasons and would be spending time with his family.
Of course, you are right that there is probably more to it, and if this affair was with a member of his congregation, the allegations run far deeper because that lends consent issues, particularly if the person was younger than he was.
But because the Christian dogma seems to be so hung up on sex and sexuality they have to make sure that the whole world knows that this man had an affair.
Seems silly to me. Are they going to start announcing it anytime anyone anywhere does it?
My sense is that there is a lot of 'damage control' going on here – much more than is apparent on the surface.
I respect the decision but suspect that the rabbit hole goes deeper and the Calvary Chapel Association has moved in to make sure there is minumal fallout. While I am sure it is accurate, the "affair" story is sufficiently plausible to eliminate any further questions.
The Calvary Chapel Association covers an enormous number of churches. This "branch" in Florida had ten campuses and 500,000 members according to the local TV report.
"moral failing which disqualifies him from continuing his leadership role at the church"
If moral failings disqualify you, how are there any people qualified?
great question.
as A. Wommack often says: "God has never had anyone qualified working for Him yet."
It's nice when we can agree.
I agree.
mmm... ah eh oh uh... Jesus the Christ was qualified in Everything!!
But not you.
@bostonian,
Christ made the qualification for me. That's a whole lot better than atheism/evolution and idolatry which are all Absolutely, Completely and Totally Stupidity Forevermore.
Hey, Sal – you;re using the internet, right? And a computer? To talk to people all over the world. Using electricity to do so. Soooo, who were the people responsible for you being able to do that?
Good! Scientists!
So, if those scientists are right on the money, why is it that palaeontologists, biologists, zoologists, etc, etc, etc, who all agree that evolution is, for all intents and purposes, a fact are all wrong?
Sal,
It's good advice to use proper English in the same sentence that you accuse others of being stupid in, don't you think?
" but remember no all who claim Christianity are christians."
Understatement of the century.
This is true. Only God knows the hearts of everyone and who is Christian or not. He also knows that His people are subject to sin, and He is a forgiving God when one repents. That's basic Christianity 101.
Actually, it depends on the testament. He was kind of a vindictive bastich in the OT.
Yes I sinned but hey thanks for all the cash. Now I am starting a new ministry but alas it will require donations to get it off the ground. So who will come with me, a reformed sinner, to continued the Lords work.
Who's the more foolish? The fool, or the fool that follows him?
That said, this man is no fool. It's not like he's giving any of the money back.
Its not about the money. which is why he resigned..he's focused on God and his family as a true christian would..if you cant control your own house how can u control the house of God.
Djdeez1211 Great response, but remember you are talking to people who come to here to put Christianity in a negative light.
Stop even responding to the devil's soldiers!
Lol... So he's focusing on God and his family AFTER cheating. Hardy, har, har!
Perhaps, he may have wanted to focus just a little bit on God and family first. He might not have needed to cheat and disgrace his God, his family and himself. But hey, I'm no "true christian". No, I just follow the Christ. But a "true christian" I'm most certainly not, thank God.
Devil's soldiers…you're funny.
And I just call 'em like I see 'em. This has nothing to do with attacking christianity – I call out the same for politicians, too – all stripes, all religions. You're the one defending a hypocrite and sinner of the highest order in your religion.
And sure, I have my own failings – we all do, but I'm not bilking people out of millions while pretending to be something I'm not.
Onward, christian soldier...
Devil's soldiers? Scalia, is that you?
Apparently, he's so focused he ended up rogering a woman other than his wife.
Yep – he's in control all right.
You've seen reporting that these 'moral failings' were with a woman?