Ep. 199: Leaving The Network, Saddleback Church, and Bill Hwang Faces Lawsuit

On today’s program, a fast-growing church planting network called simply The Network, is facing criticism by a group of former staff and lay leadership.  We also have the results of an investigation done by Saddleback Church into its new pastor.  The new study finds no evidence of wrongdoing.  We begin today with news that an employee of disgraced Wall Street financier Bill Hwang is suing his former employer.  The employee says he was forced to donate to a Christian Charitable Fund. A few housekeeping items before we go. First, I wanted to mention that I would be in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday, that’s July 19.  If you live in Iowa and you’re on our daily email list, you should have already received an invitation, but if not, please shoot me an email and we’ll make sure you get one.  My email is wsmith@ministrywatch.com Secondly, MinistryWatch has been featured recently on NBC’s Nightly News, in Rolling Stone Magazine, at the investigative news site Pro Publica, and in the magazine Government Executive.  All that within the past three weeks.  If you get our daily emails, you can find links to those stories there. Thirdly, next week we’ll be taking some time off from the podcast.  Just one week, so don’t fret, and feel free to get caught up on any episodes you haven’t listened to yet.  But we’ll be back on the 29th.  The producers for today’s program are Rich Roszel and Jeff McIntosh.  We get database and other technical support from Cathy Goddard, Stephen DuBarry, Emily Kern, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Anne Stych, Bob Smietana, Paul Glader, Paul Clolery, Emily Miller, Christina Darnell, and Warren Smith. Special thanks to Religion UnPlugged and The NonProfit Times for contributing material for this week’s podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.