Supporters of City Harvest Church in Singapore appear in an April 2013
public photo on a Facebook page titled "COC Must Not Remove the 8
Leaders of CHC."
FIRST READ:
Charities watchdog acts to oust City Harvest leaders
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2013/04/charities-watchdog-acts-to-oust-city.html
Singapore Pastor Kong Hee Faces Removal From City Harvest Church
http://www.christianpost.com/news/singapore-pastor-kong-hee-faces-removal-from-city-harvest-church-95368/
Megachurch Leader Among 7 Others Threatened With Losing Posts Due to Criminal Case
By Nicola Menzie ,
Christian Post Reporter
May 6, 2013|6:40 pm
The Singapore Commissioner of Charities
has given City Harvest Church Senior Pastor Kong Hee and seven of his staff
until May 13 to challenge their removal from their church posts amid a criminal
case alleging fraud. Meanwhile, church members and supporters are rallying in
support of their pastor and ministry leaders.
"We are sad to inform you that the
Commissioner of Charities has notified the Management Board of his intention to
remove eight City Harvest Church leaders and members from their office(s) or
employment as governing board member, officer, agent or employee of, or trustee
for, the Church," reads a statement from CHC Executive Pastor the Rev.
Aries Zulkarnain, who also serves as chairman of the church's management board.
Among those leaders and members threatened with
removal are: Senior Pastor Kong, Pastor Tan Ye Peng, Serina Wee, Sharon Tan,
John Lam, Chew Eng Han, Teo Meng How and Jacqueline Tan.
City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee arrives at the Subordinate Courts in Singapore June 27, 2012.
"This is a very challenging time for our
eight Church leaders and members, their families, and our Church. Please
continue to pray ceaselessly for them and for the Church. Let us remember what
our Advisory Chairman Dr. A.R. Bernard has exhorted us to do: Rejoice in hope,
be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer (Rom. 12:12 ESV)," adds Zulkarnain
in the statement.
Kong, 48, issued his own statement in response,
telling parishioners, "... I understand that the Commissioner of Charities
has assured the CHC Board that I will not be prevented from preaching at CHC's
services. This is only fair as there is no basis for the COC to encroach on the
services of the church."
He added, "I look forward to being in church
to worship God with my friends and family. I hope that you continue to keep me,
my family and the church in your thoughts and prayers."
Congregants have launched a Facebook page titled
"COC Must Not Remove the 8 Leaders of CHC" in hopes of gaining enough
supporters to pressure the Commissioner of Charities to change course. The
page, which encourages visitors to email an appeal to the COC, has attracted
more than 1,800 "likes" since its creation on April 17, 2013.
A statement on the Facebook page reads in part:
"Please help us appeal to COC NOT TO REMOVE our 8 leaders from CHC. The
removal is permanent if it ever materializes. We do not know what's the
outcome, but we just need to try our best. Many of us have been blessed by CHC;
by our leaders. We experienced God because of them. They are our family. Let's
do our best and let God do the rest."
In August 2012, Singapore's
Commercial Affairs Department came forward after a two-year inquiry with
allegations that Pastor Kong and other staff members had diverted $18 million
reportedly initially meant for City
Harvest Church's
building fund to support his wife's music career. Kong's wife, Ho Yeow Sun, has
not been charged with any wrongdoing, with the Commissioner of Charities
reportedly citing insufficient evidence. City Harvest
Church, as a nonprofit
organization, is under the jurisdiction of the government's charity commission.
At the time of the charges, the Commissioner of
Charities requested that the affected City Harvest
Church congregants and
staff voluntarily leave their posts in the ministry until the case was
concluded. Now, however, it appears the COC is trying to make the suspensions
for those persons, including Pastor Kong, permanent. The megachurch pastor has
denied the criminal allegations and is expected to enter a not guilty plea in
court next month.
New York City Pastor A.R. Bernard, who leads the
37,000-member Christian Cultural Center
in the borough of Brooklyn, flew out with his wife to Singapore on Sunday and is scheduled to preach
at City Harvest Church
throughout the week. Bernard, appointed to the post in 2010, occasionally
visits the Singapore
megachurch and attended a City
Harvest Church
leadership meeting in November. Before a previous trip in July, Bernard asked
supporters to suspend judgment in the criminal case against Pastor Kong and
other members of the megachurch.
"Please pray for Pastor Kong Hee, his
family, and City Harvest Church. And remember 'facts and truth are not always
synonymous,'" the NYC minister tweeted at the time.
Pastor Kong and his wife gained notoriety in Singapore after they founded City Harvest
Church in 1989, an
evangelical nondenominational congregation of 30,000. The ministry launched
this past Easter its first stateside campus, City Harvest Church USA in Irvine, Calif.,
led by CHC Singapore's former executive pastor, Derek Dunn.
