Sovereign Grace Churches (SGC, previously Sovereign Grace Ministries and People of Destiny International) is a network of Reformed, continuationist, and confessionalist Christian churches, primarily in the United States. Sovereign Grace maintains that churches should exist in close partnership and describes itself as a 'family of churches. Beyond its U.S. congregations, Sovereign Grace has churches in Mexico, Australia, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Great Britain, Germany, and several other countries.
Sovereign Grace Churches has faced controversies related to leadership and the handling of sexual abuse allegations. Former members and critics have described aspects of the movement under founder C. J. Mahaney as cult-like, while the organization and its supporters have disputed that characterization and denied allegations of systemic wrongdoing.
History
The organization of over 80 member churches grew out of the charismatic renewal of the 1970s under the leadership of Larry Tomczak. It has its roots in a charismatic prayer meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland, then Washington, DC, called Take and Give (TAG), which grew into Covenant Life Church, the former flagship of Sovereign Grace. Tomczak co-founded the church with C. J. Mahaney. Mahaney has referred to himself informally as a "former pothead." Larry Tomczak withdrew from the Charismatic scene shortly before the creation of Covenant Life Church.
In 1981, Brent Detweiler, pastor of Indiana Christian Fellowship in Indiana, Pennsylvania, asked Mahaney and Tomczak to provide oversight and accountability for his church. The two churches formed an informal church-planting partnership. In 1982, shortly after planting a church in Cleveland, Mahaney, Tomczak and Detweiler formed People of Destiny International as an umbrella organization for their various ministries. The original apostolic team comprised Mahaney, Tomczak, Detweiler and Bill Galbraith.Detweiler, Brent. Mark Altrogger and Sovereign Grace Church of Indiana, PA Leave SGM. February 3, 2013. Tomczak and Mahaney and the movement were influenced by Bryn Jones and Terry Virgo, leaders of the British New Church Movement. Both Tomczak and Mahaney spoke at New Frontiers' Bible Weeks and the Stoneleigh Conference.
They were also friendly with Maranatha Campus Ministries for a period. In "The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought" published in 1995, Alister McGrath associated PDI with the Shepherding Movement and described it as having "informal links with Bryn Jones", the UK house church leader. In the mid-1990s, while Tomczak was still involved in the group's leadership, religious anthropologist Dr. Karla Poewe wrote that "Vineyard is particularly attractive to the young and intellectual... People of Destiny serves a Catholic constituency" although participants at that time would not agree with this assessment, contrasting PDI with the Vineyard Church. The theological focus gradually shifted during the mid-1990s and it was later suggested that the increasing New Calvinism of PDI was a major factor in Larry Tomczak's departure from the movement.
Although reconciled with C. J. Mahaney in 2011, Tomczak earlier described the parting of ways with Sovereign Grace Ministries as "an unbelievable nightmare" during which his family "were threatened in various ways if [they] did not cooperate with [PDI/SGM]... A letter was circulated in an attempt to discredit me and to distort the events surrounding my departure." Other notable charismatic figures, such as Lou Engle, founder of The Call prayer concerts, and Ché Ahn, pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, California, also ceased to be formally associated with PDI during this period. As of 2008 the group identified itself as "a family of churches passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ... with a strong doctrinal basis that is evangelical, Reformed, and continuationist." This move towards Reformed (or Calvinist) doctrine is illustrated by Sovereign Grace's partnerships with Reformed theologians—such as John MacArthur, Mark Dever, and John Piper—in events like the Together for the Gospel Conferences. In the summer of 2009, Detweiler, who had left the SGM board in 2009, released a series of documents detailing numerous grievances with Mahaney, including concerns about Mahaney's leadership style. On July 6, 2011, Mahaney announced that he would be taking a leave of absence as a team reviewed charges brought against him of "pride, unentreatability, deceit, sinful judgment, and hypocrisy." One of the purposes for this period included reconciliation with former SGM ministers. Larry Tomczak reported that Mahaney had gone out of his way to rebuild their relationship after 13 years of estrangement. On January 25, 2012, Mahaney was reinstated as president of the organization by the board after three review panels found no reason to disqualify him from his role as president, or to "call into question his fitness for gospel ministry."
Early in 2012, Sovereign Grace Ministries announced their intention to relocate their headquarters from Gaithersburg, Maryland, to Louisville, Kentucky, citing Louisville's lower cost of living as well as the growing connection with the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in town. Some critics have suggested that the move may have more to do with the fractured state of the organization's relationship with the SGM flagship church, Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg. Later in 2012, the movement's former flagship, Covenant Life Church, departed from SGM, a decision supported by an overwhelming 93%. of voting members. Additionally, the Sovereign Grace churches in Indiana and Altoona, PA, Sarasota and Daytona Beach, FL and Charlottesville, VA cut ties with the movement during this period. Daytona Beach's pastor Jesse Jarvis noted a "leadership culture characterized by excessive authority and insufficient accountability" as rationale for the church's departure. The Indiana church was one of the charter members of SGM. About 80 churches from the United States and around the world remained in the organization. By March 2013 approximately 20 churches had left Sovereign Grace Ministries. During that same month C.J. Mahaney announced "that he would step down as president of SGM's beleaguered network of churches."
In January 2015, Joshua Harris, leader of SGM's former flagship church Covenant Life Church, resigned as lead pastor, saying he planned to attend seminary to pursue more formal education and connection to other branches of Christianity. He believed that "the isolation of Covenant Life, and of a small cluster of churches of which it was a part, may have fed leadership mistakes, including the decision of pastors—himself among them—to handle a child sexual abuse case internally instead of going to police."
History of name changes
Sovereign Grace Churches was known as "People of Destiny International" until 1998. British restorationist leader Terry Virgo says that Larry Tomczak and C. J. Mahaney, leaders at the time, had become "increasingly uncomfortable" with the "People of Destiny International" name, and it became "PDI Ministries". In 2002, the group adopted its next name of "Sovereign Grace Ministries." In December 2014, executive director Mark Prater announced that the group's name would change to "Sovereign Grace Churches", to reflect its newly changed structure.
Church planting Church planter Fred Herron described the PDI/SGM church planting method of founding new churches: a pastor leads a group of members to relocate to a different city and form, or plant, a new church. The first church adoption was in Cleveland Ohio. North Coast Church formerly called Crossroads Christian Community was founded in 1980. It was a growing fellowship of 200 people but lacked the apostolic oversight for greater growth. Co-pastors Steve Witt and Bob Cohen invited an "Apostolic Team" the fall of 1980 to come and assist in "apostolic restructuring." Steve Witt's father had been influential in Larry Tomczaks salvation and transfer from Cleveland to DC area. A team arrived in April 1981 of 11 people, including Tomczak and family. They stayed for one year before returning to Washington, D.C., leaving behind a team to oversee and develop North Coast Church. North Coast thrived and grew until its ultimate demise decades later. For many years, PDI did not adopt existing churches, but later altered its policy. SGM adoption of an existing church begins with the development of a relationship with leadership and continues with dialogue to evaluate the doctrinal and practical compatibility of Sovereign Grace with the church desiring adoption.
Sovereign Grace Music
Sovereign Grace Churches also operates Sovereign Grace Music, based in Louisville, Kentucky, where contemporary worship albums have been released every few years since the 1980s. Sovereign Grace Music is directed by worship leader Bob Kauflin, a former member of Christian band Glad, and is known for lyrics grounded in biblical doctrine. Kauflin employs many other songwriters and pastors from other churches to aid in the songwriting process for Sovereign Grace Music. In 2011, Sovereign Grace Music's album Risen charted at No. 41 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart. Since then, five other albums have charted, the highest being From Age To Age (2012) at No. 25.
Controversies Cult allegations Some former members and critics have described Sovereign Grace Churches as having "cult-like" characteristics, citing the authority historically exercised by founder C. J. Mahaney and accounts from former members who said dissent or criticism of leadership was discouraged. Journalistic coverage of controversies surrounding the organization has also noted accusations of "dictatorial conduct" within the movement that estranged former members and were compared to cult-like behavior. Supporters of the organization dispute this characterization and have denied allegations of systemic wrongdoing.
Claims of abuse cover-up