Through Conflict, Sovereign Grace Ministries Changing

According to a story in the Washington Post, earlier this summer, inside Gaithersburg-based Sovereign Grace Ministries, there was a growing sense that things had gone too far with founder C.J. Mahaney. Mahaney would go on to take a leave of absence from the 100-church denomination, saying he was guilty of “various expressions of pride.” Former church members said Mahaney had created something they thought was more like a cult. Mahaney's leave came days after a former top Sovereign Grace pastor distributed hundreds of pages of e-mails and internal church documents which included discussions that showed Mahaney and others threatening the movement’s co-founder, saying they would make private family details public if the man were too openly critical of Sovereign Grace. Mahaney declined to comment to the Post. However, two blogs on which former members vent have shot into the tens of thousands, with posters often telling stories about Sovereign Grace pastors being abusively controlling, shaming people who criticized clergy and dividing families when someone disagreed with a pastor. And Mahaney’s protégé, Josh Harris, Covenant Life’s lead pastor, left the denomination’s board because of differing views on what God is trying to say through the shake-up.