Under pressure from a critical documentary, televangelist Benny Hinn has offered a nonspecific apology for returning to the fundraising “gimmickry” he swore off years ago. On Tuesday, Stephen Strang, CEO of Charisma Media, which has published several books by Hinn, spoke to Hinn in what Strang billed as an “exclusive” interview. Strang’s interview only lightly touched on recent controversy prompted by a YouTube documentary about Hinn by minister Mike Winger, as previously reported by The Roys Report (TRR).    ..read more

A prominent Anglican church in Virginia waited 16 years to investigate or inform its congregation about a former youth pastor’s alleged sexual abuse, a third-party investigation has found. According to the report by law firm Isler Dare, Jeffrey T. Taylor sexually abused three boys—two of whom were 13—while Taylor was a youth director from 1990-1999 at the historic The Falls Church Anglican (TFCA) in Falls Church, Virginia. Despite this, Eddie Isler, the investigator, told The Roys Report (TRR) he was unaware of any pending criminal charges against Taylor.   ..read more

(ANALYSIS) When Christian author, speaker and radio host Eric Metaxas interviewed a guest who claimed to have uncovered an election fraud plot, he did what many influencers on both the left and the right do when a claim fits their political biases—he received the guest’s story uncritically and provided validating (and perhaps hyperbolic) feedback. But in this case, Metaxas found himself roped into a defamation lawsuit along with 14 other defendants, including his interviewee, four other Christian influencers and the Trump campaign—a lawsuit Metaxas’ attorneys argued will have a “chi ..read more

A Kansas City prayer room with ties to disgraced International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) Founder Mike Bickle, gathered Tuesday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of IHOPKC, despite the ministry’s ongoing sex abuse scandal. Hope City, a prayer room, community center, and church, is led by Bickle’s sister, Lisa Stribling, and her husband, Ray. According to a leaked recording of the ceremony, Lisa Stribling and her son, Richy Bickle, spoke at the event.   ..read more

Gospel for Asia (GFA) founder K.P. Yohannan has died of cardiac arrest, after being struck by a car yesterday while walking near the GFA headquarters near Dallas, multiple sources report.  According to a statement from Gospel for Asia, which recently rebranded as GFA World, Yohannan died of “a sudden cardiac arrest in a hospital in Dallas, Texas, where he had been receiving treatment since his accident.” The ministry had posted on Tuesday that Yohannan had been “involved in a car accident” and sought prayers.    ..read more

A California pastor has been arrested following allegations he sexually abused two foster children under his care, according to a press release published by the Hesperia Police Department last week. Jose Manuel Lozano, 54, served as a bilingual pastor at Zion Assembly Church of God in Hesperia, California, an affiliate church of Zion Assembly Church of God International, according to the LA Times. Hesperia is located about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles.   ..read more

(ANALYSIS) Making history last week, delegates at a United Methodist Church General Conference in Charlotte agreed to allow same-sex clergy and marriages. Each UMC conference the past 52 years had upheld centuries-old heterosexual restrictions, most recently in 2019. Since then, 7,658 conservative congregations — one-fourth of the prior total — have left the UMC in the biggest U.S. schism since the Civil War, which enabled lopsided support for change. Instead of the requirement that UMC clergy honor “fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness,” they are now expected to practice “faithful ..read more

Three women are accusing the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and a megachurch in Houston of failing to protect them from a youth pastor who sexually abused them as minors, according to a lawsuit filed last month. The women, referred to as “Jane Does,” allege the SBC and Champion Forest Baptist Church “invited, encouraged, and enabled a predator to be part of their trusted inner circle,” the lawsuit states. The women are asking for more than a million dollars in damages.   ..read more

The recent decline in total memberships among congregations affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention slowed in 2023, while baptisms, worship service attendance and small group participation all grew. The Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by Lifeway Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions details the annual numerical changes for the Southern Baptist Convention. Membership declined for the 17th straight year, dropping below 13 million for the first time since the mid-1970s. However, the less than 2% decline was the smallest in recent years.   ..read more

A medical examiner today ruled that South Carolina pastor’s wife, Mica Miller, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, ABC 15 News reported. The ruling comes after the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office announced it was investigating Miller’s death. It also comes amid statements by Miller’s family members that Miller’s husband—John-Paul Miller, pastor of Solid Rock at Market Common in Myrtle Beach—was abusing Mica, and that Mica feared for her life. “Mica stated to me on many occasions ‘if I end up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me, it was JP,’” Mica’s sister, Sierra Francis ..read more