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Pastor of Megachurch Matt Chandler is set to return to preaching today, after three month absence

by Alex Collett
Matt Chandler.png - Banner image
The Village Church, YouTube

Pastor Matt Chandler is set to preach today within Texas Megachurch, The Village Church in Flower Mound, for the first time, after taking a three month absence due to unsuitable social media messages with a woman who is not his wife.

Elders wrote in an email shared with The Roys Report that Mr Chandler has "spent alot of time in prayer and personal reflection' and has "completed everything asked of him."

From an email sent to the congregation this week, reported by the Christian Post he will return today to celebrate the church's 20th anniversary.

Within the copy of the Roys Report, the elders said: "We asked a lot of Matt, including time spent in study and prayer, personal reflection, and multiple intensives with trusted outside experts. 

"Matt has completed everything asked of him with submissiveness, steadfastness, and humility, and we have received positive feedback from all involved,

"Therefore, we are pleased to share with you that his return to preaching is scheduled for this Sunday 4th December.

"Although we did not work toward this date as a target for Matt's return, we did not think it was appropriate to delay Matt's return to avoid it falling on the anniversary."

Mr Chandler back in August was forced to take a leave of absence after messages he exchanged with a woman supposedly "crossed the boundaries" of what is expected of a pastor because of their "frequency and familiarity", despite not being sexual or romantic in nature.

The messages came to light after an individual confronted the pastor, who then shared the concerns with his family and the church elders. 

Mr Chandler who was also serving as the president and chairman of the global church planting network Acts 29 up until August also asked him "to step aside from Acts 29 speaking engagements" following the decision by The Village Church.

Addressing his congregants on Sunday 28th August 2022, Pastor Chandler said: "I'm just really embarrassed. I feel stupid. I feel dumb. I feel like I'm embarrassing my wife and kids, putting a ton of pressure on our staff. [I] feel like I've fallen short for you."

"Forgive me," he concluded. "I love you."

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