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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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Isn't adultery a sin ? It's even in the top 10 commandments from god himself ! Is he in big trouble with god now ? Will god smite him ? Or, if he promises to worship god, will,god will let him off the hook ? Christians need answers to these questions so they know where to draw the line or, know how much they can get away with if they are willing to worship Jesus and confess their sins to become absolved and go to heaven.
he'll repent with tears in his eyes,
they'll forgive him,
he'll be back to swindling money from the pews in 6 months.
amen.
The young man gazed to the heavens and asked... “Oh great one, How can I make this journey?”
“My body aches, and my feet blister with pain...”
“The weight of my life savings, in my pockets, is more than I can bear...”
A bright light appeared from the heavens... A voice, deep with compassion, reached out to the young man...
“For all the greatness inside you, and wealth that you carry... your journey must continue...”
“While you have a heart of gold and precious thoughts... you must let go your life savings that your feet will not blister...”
“At the 3rd rock, under the fig tree, you will find a wise man,”
“Follow his guidance, and undo this burden that you carry...”
The young man eventually found the wise man... and did as he was told...
The weight was lifted from his body...
As he rejoiced with happiness... his journey continued, no longer in pain...
your point?
As a minister, this saddens me for a very different reason. While I realize that a pastor should avoid hypocrisy in any form – and pastors who engage in such hypocrisy should, correctly, be chastised and "punished" in some way – I do not believe that the mere act of having an affair should be enough to force them to step down or be removed. Setting aside that in psychology, it can actually "help" that a therapist has engaged at one point or another in immoral or unethical actions that may be a subject of one's therapy (since it makes it easier to empathize with the patient), a "moral failing" of this type simply does not rise to the level (imho) of requiring removal or resignation. At very least, it should not be up to a governing board or other council; it should be up to the congregation – since it is the congregation that suffers from the removal or resignation of a senior pastor.
Are you suggesting preachers should have affairs to be more effective?
That is, of course, a silly question. No, I'm not. I'm simply suggesting that this particular transgression does seem to rise to the level that would require their removal or resignation.
This world class HYPOCRITE was trashing gay marriage while making a farce of his own.
Interesting insight Mr. Minister........let the congregation decide if they want their present pastor to convince them to empty their pockets every Sunday or someone else.
Your cynicism is typical...but inaccurate. Not everything in religion is about money. In fact, many churches I have been to do not even make a collection. I was simply suggesting that if and when pastors find themselves in a position in which they feel they have transgressed at a level that they (or their governing Board) believe may make them less effective, it is the congregation who should make that decision, not the governing body.
7. Thou shall not commit adultery.
I am not suggesting that adultery is "okay." I am suggesting it does not rise to the level at which a pastor should be forced out or resign.
maanirantel,
The HYPOCRITE was telling everyone that God was always watching them. Obviously, he was LYING about believing that. He's told too many lies and taken too much money from them to keep his job.
I am sick and tired of hearing about these christian clergy and their se.xual exploits. Next thing you know they will start having floats in parades and have characters in TV shows and running for public office! It's because of them that this country is going down the toilet!
WOW ! This dude is really well connected. He has a personal relationship with god all mighty, all powerful, creator and manager of the entire universe !
CNN is detestable. On the home page, the "teaser" to this story said "megachurch pastor admits affair, quits" and that is utter speculation. He admitted no affair – another media outlet THINKS he may have had an affair. Is this journalism or advertising?
Mike Ford,
The story was reported by a Miami tv station. CNN reported what they said.
So the "detestable" one is CNN? Not one word about the minister's failure.
Try again.
CNN read the report, as did I. The story didn't report that he confessed it, it said he "reportedly" confessed it, but cited no source. CNN validated this shoddy journalism by using it in the teaser. They know better.
I'll bet you wouldn't know who this guy was even if he stepped on your foot. Please stop pretending you care.
I care about journalism.
"The senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale resigned after confessing to cheating on his wife, which disqualifies him from continuing his leadership role at the church."
- WPLG website and source of the story
who told the reporter he confessed to an affair?
Since you "care" about journalism soooooo much. Lets hear your complaints about fox news.
where would you like me to start?
Start where ever you want. I'm all eyes.
The confession to church leaders was just the tip of the iceberg.
I'm sure soon he'll just go full-Swaggart on us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05GAeQ45YxU
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.
What story were you reading? What do you think they're talking about. Raisins?
Actually, Mike, he did confess an affair to the church board, which led to the announcement of his resignation. Even Christian Today is reporting so. Please apologize to CNN.
I will not. CNN cited a report that cited no source when reporting Coy "reportedly" confessed an affair. Without a citation, as a journalist, I wouldn't report such a thing. It's like going to print with gossip.
Ok mike since you seem to have so much info. Why did he leave? Forget CNN. Tell us your facts.
You're here to kvetch about CNN, not to uphold any kind of journalistic standards.
Are you on every site complaining about the same thing? It's being widely reported.
Just the one I have highest hopes for.
Pastors must council church members, women constantly with problems and he can't tell them deal with it everyone has problems, he must be empathetic. The pastor listens and listens and the woman transfers her affection to him and he spends so much time with her that he eventually fails. Happens all to often in their profession, I hope his wife can deal with it, based on the life of King David, I know God will forgive him, he has already confessed.
Not much of a counselor if he can't avoid diddling his clientele, in this case his sheep. That is counselling 101. Their transference should make no difference, you act like he didn't have a choice & was a victim. What would he have done if he had a male become emotionally connected?! Guess he would've had to diddle him as well.
if he is a man of god either he didn't mind that god was watching, he believes god doesn't watch us or he really, REALLY doesn't believe in god. which is it?
He believes in money, not god.
Or he's simply human and screwed up.
This is in no way a "screw up". If you mother was watching you .. there's no way you would fornicate with another woman in front of her ... and your mother cannot punish you to hell for eternity. But since he "knows" his god is watching, there's no chance he would have done this.
Everybody screws up...it's human.
There's a big difference between a simple screw up and fornicating in front of your god or mother or sister or wife or Christmas shoppers at the mall. If you can avoid doing it in front of real people, you can certainly avoid doing it in front of your gods. I don't buy the simple "screw up" excuse, it's not a simple screw up when you truly believe your eternal soul is literally at stake .. it's easily avoidable.
Shrug. If you're holding him to a higher standard than you would hold yourself, okay.
Many christians have affairs, belief has little to do with it.
When what's at stake is literally your eternal soul and an eternity of punishment in fire with Satan .. there is no way anyone, who actually believes, would ever take a chance that your omnipotent all seeing god might not catch you. There is no way he could actually believe in his god.
Try this one Kelley,
"the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak"
The fact that he wasn't caught but rather voluntarily came clean with his board of directors should tell you what he believes.
Don't make excuses for him. He shouldn't have done it period!
He sinned, and fell short of the glory of God. Why he did it, is because he gave into the temptations of the flesh and disobeyed his Heavenly Father. What child in this world has not at one time or another disobeyed the rules and commandments of their parents/guardians? Far be it for you or I to act like we've never been disobedient to those over us, some of us even as adult bend or rather break the rules. Rather than being crude, what we are to do, is take this as a reminder of how much we need God to help us in our daily walk, and not dwell so much on the short comings of others. Lord over someone else who stumbles only lowers our own standing with the Father, and causes us to be guilty of self-rightness and foolish pride.
That was suppose to say "Lording over" and "Self-righteousness"
pinteresthumor
"What child in this world has not at one time or another disobeyed the rules and commandments of their parents/guardians? Far be it for you or I to act like we've never been disobedient to those over us, some of us even as adult bend or rather break the rules."
Why don't we hear such comments from Christian HYPOCRITES when the story is about gays?
THE MAN WAS A PREACHER. NO ONE FOLLOWED GOD MORE THAN HIM. He gave god the finger just like everyone else should.
Falling short of the "glory of god" will always happen since man's definition by default makes that an impossible goal. Problem is there really is not mythical being watching over our shoulders making sure we don't or taking notes for future punishments. It's just humans pretending that someone is up there watching to keep others in line. Obviously this pastor realizes nobody's watching and probably only 'fessed up because it was about to come out anyway.
God was unavailable for comment, but friends close to him say he is devastated not only that Pastor Bob cheated on him, but also that it was with Metatron.
God was unavailable? Hard to believe.
I'm telling ya he was looking for flight 370.
He quits after becoming a rich man resulting from his 'ministry'.
This guy is a creep and a liar. In short, a Christian pastor.
Why is every Pastor judge by how much is in his wallet, rather than whether he practices what he preaches to the best of this ability as an obedient servant of God? Did it ever occur to you that some Preachers started out with a day job while they were preaching that they may have prospered in financially? The fact that this is often ignore is what makes me shake my head. My foster mother before she died was a Pastor of a church she started from humble beginnings. I could find no corruption in her walk with God 17 years ago and I can't think of any now. Also, she worked real estate for some time, while her husband work for a food packaging company. He was an awesome man that everyone called, Mr. Kool. The owned their home and he drove a Lotus, which at the time was not cheap at all. On some sundays we went down to city hall where most of the homeless lived to feed them breakfast before we would head to church for service. She never asked for anything that the church did not need to grow and prosper the ministry's causes to win souls. I was just a troubled teen back then, but I owe my life to God for putting me in her household for the time that I was there, because much of what I learn and witnessed at that time made a life long impact on my life. I am a father now, and a man of faith and I would not be the man I am today if I did not know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I accepted him when I was just a teen and even though I wondered for sometime, I eventually found my way back. Not because life got too hard and I was too weak to cope with the harsh realities of life without clinging to an imaginary being. Not at all. My life has gotten far better than it has been in years, so it has nothing to do with weakness and desperation. My life has gotten so much better in my opinion and I realized that I was still running from my calling, and I didn't feel right enjoying my life when I was not living out my truest purpose. I'm not trying to persuade you of anything, I'm just share truth about my life as I know it, and to tell you that not all christians, and not all leaders within the Church are corrupt, money grubbing, swindlers out to take you for all you've got. I would sooner die than to be one of those types. I take spiritual leadership to be equally as important as being a father to my children, and in some ways you might almost say more, but that's debatable because I couldn't breath without my child in my life. I am not a perfect man, husband, or father, but I will make it life's ambition to get as close as close can get and no man can decide how close or far another can reach. That is only for God to decide whether people believe He exists or not.
Lovely story. Unfortunately not every religious person expresses themselves the way your parents did. A lot are overbearing, phony, pushy amoungst other things. You need to address them. Other people's experiences are different from your own.
Why has atheism changed over time? Ancient atheism isn't like today's atheism. There are thousands of different atheistic beliefs, each one with their own set of rules. All believe to be correct. Funny, logic and reason hasn't guided today's atheists at all! Lying for atheism is unhealthy atheists. I'm here to help you. 😊
Sounds like you're talking about christianity.
Your posts don't read they way you seem to think they do. They seem more like you are an angry, unhappy person. And since they are nonsense posts, no one can actually talk to you. You have built a wall.
That tells me you don't want to talk to anyone. You are sad and lonely. Try joining in and enjoying the blog sometimes, rather than your silly shtick. Bless your heart.
Repeating yourself does not make it true. By the way, I am happy 😄
Oh the hypocrisy in that statement...lol
Exactly. So stop repeating it.
If you are a happy person, why are you so unfriendly? You are about as far from happy as I have ever seen. Are you a liar too? I would recommend that you pull yourself together and love your brothers and sisters.
Being atheist has nothing to do with logic or reasoning or science or evolution or anything at all .. it is simply not believing in any theism, gods, goddesses, demi-gods or godlets. There is only one way to be atheist, that is to simply not believe. It's really not complicated.
Horses,
Do you believe in the existence of objective morality(morality independant of personal opinion)?
Morality is a social construct necessary for survival of the species.
Truth, do you? I don't think I've seen your position on this.
Hello truthfollower01 .. hello. You asked a question and I answered it. Did I not answer the way you wanted?
If Hitler thought what he did was morally good would you say he was wrong?
Akira,
I do believe objective morality exists. I believe that morality is grounded in the nature of God, which is unchanging.
trutthf: "If Hitler thought what he did was morally good would you say he was wrong?"
How are you using the word "wrong" in this sentence? Objectively wrong or subjectively wrong? I'm sure you know by now there's a difference, and it will likely yield a different answer...
Doris,
I'm trying to get Horses opinion on objective morality. He/she may share a different view than yours. Also, did you get a chance to look at my post concerning Bart Ehrman and Michael Licona?
Yes I did look at what you posted, and I don't believe that fills in the big holes that need to be filled.
Anyway, what I see time and time again is that you are loading your questions. I notice you attempt to elicit a response against these bare terms: correct/incorrect good/bad wrong, etc. When you ask a question in discussion of objective versus subjective morality, then be honest and preface each value you would like others to consider with "objective" and "subjective". That is the differentiation being discussed, is it not?
If you are asking the question:
"If Hitler thought what he did was morally good is it your subjective opinion that he was wrong?"
that is quite different from
"If Hitler thought what he did was morally good do you believe that, objectively**, he was wrong?"
** (where objectively involves what you believe to be a divine truth that exists on its own in the world)
In the latter case, it's quite useless trying to prove an objective truth by assuming that an objective truth already exists, but that's really what you'd like to do – isn't it? What else could you be trying to do? (I would think it wouldn't help you at all to simply ask for an opinion [the former case].)
Prove that you do not just have a similar opinion that you have derived in the same subjective manner as atheists, only from something that only represents a claimed unsubstantiated source. Prove that objective (divine) morality exists without resorting to subjective means.
Doris,
Think about those three facts in relation to the resurrection claim. What other option best explains the facts other than the historical resurrection of Jesus?!?
Are the resurrection claims independent of personal opinion?
Actually there is only a non-belief in the unseen and unproven.
He's a man of god .. & just wanted another of his flock yelling oh god oh god. I think that qualifies it as a business expense!
"But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God." Romans 14:10.
Which god?
Quoting your bible is like an 8 year old stabbing at you with their pretend Star Wars light saber ............. cute and ineffective
I don't think that I'd like to have an eight year old with a working light saber. Maybe that's a good thing.
Or a believer with a working god. Fortunately, that's not a problem.
Atheists believe in magic but won't admit it. Believing we exist without a creator (LOL atheists can't wiggle themselves out of this one!) needs evidence and facts. Atheists have nothing so one can conclude from lacking evidence atheism is false. Time to follow logic and reason atheists! 😃☺️☺️☺️😄😊
It's always entertaining to hear from one of the minister's fellow Christians.
May you be touched by his noodly appendage.
I was created by my mother and father. The same exact way you were created by your mother and father. There's nothing to wiggle out of. It's called biology.
@thefinisher1
Now I am beginning to get some insight into you. You miss your parents, or are angry at them and have found a surrogate in atheists to vent your frustration. That is fine. You have to do what you have to do to get well.
You poor miserable person, have you thought about asking to be re-admitted to the psych ward...the delusions seem to be getting worse with everything you post.
I am not an atheist but you seem to refer to logic and reason. Everything about religion flies in the face of reason and logic. In fact one famous founder of a particular sect of Christianity stated that reason is the enemy of faith.
Very unfortunate.
malarkey
Just another blatant and obvious fraud hiding behind a preacher's microphone, who incredulously dupe the "believers" who buy this malarkey and hand on the words of these inane orators. Chalk up another.
"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,"
They really need counselors (plural) and ministers (again plural)? .. How hard is it to tell this guy to keep it in his pants?
sounds more like he's going through a colonic regimen
I'd say that giving him a good "flushing" each time he falls would be more effective than church counselling ever could be.
"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,"
In other words "don't mess with our money"
Funny, the guy commits adultery then resigns from a church that worships a god that allegedly came to earth and knocked up another guys wife
You've gotta absolutely love the fact that Christianity, in it's entirety, is based on an unmarried god knocking up another man's wife .. absolutely priceless!! They make this not believing so darn easy.
The hypocrite was in it for the money.
Impossible. He's a man of god.
All the money went to help the needy.
No churches ever get rich, do they?
Looks like he was in it for more than just the money.