Calvary Chapel Faces Lawsuits and Accusations of Covered-Up Abuse and Unaccountable Leadership

Greg Griego, a minister in Albuquerque, was killed along with his wife and children last week near the city. Authorities have not been named in the source, but The Daily Beast reports that the couple’s 15-year-old son allegedly committed the killings. Griego was described as a beloved minister and a born-again gang member. He reportedly served in several settings: as a minister in Albuquerque’s fire department, at a detention center, and in the prison ministry at Calvary Albuquerque.

Calvary Albuquerque is a megachurch affiliated with the Calvary Chapel network, which includes more than a thousand similar churches. According to the report, the son allegedly spent hours after the killings at Calvary Albuquerque, where he told church members that his family had died in a car accident.

The Albuquerque case is not the first time in recent months that a Calvary Chapel-affiliated church has been linked to a grim news story. The report says Calvary is one of several large evangelical denominations drawing national attention as lawsuits accumulate over alleged abuses that pastors and church leaders are said to have covered up. Calvary’s leaders have faced accusations over decades, ranging from unaccountable leadership to covered-up sexual abuse. Such allegations, the report notes, raise questions similar to those faced by the Roman Catholic hierarchy about the role the church’s top leaders played behind the scenes, where leaders answerable for the people in their care is the lesson at stake (Luke 12:48).

Source: Read the original report