First, you’ve got to go away in order to stage a comeback. It’s cold and snowy here in Chicago in February, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes a “sabbatical”. In the Dominican Republic.

Second: MacDonald has the whole family feeding from the same trough. He himself, wife and kids are making BIG salaries from fleecing the faithful. Maybe they should get……jobs….??

BTW: He is a terrible speaker…”and, and, and, and, and”. He has the breathing and pausing characteristics of a former stutter. Plus I think he fiddles himself while standing on stage, with his hands in his pockets.

This fall from grace couldn’t have happened to a more deserving fella.

I’m not going to mince words because I like Pope Francis: there was (and maybe still is) a particular issue with the culture in the Catholic Church, and Francis’s mistakes may well have been a product of that culture. What I think he (Francis) is trying to do is to change the culture, and he has (by his own admission) been pretty authoritarian in the past. I admire his apparent desire to change and grow (“Popes can be wrong” is one of his most celebrated statements!), and believe it is a very good thing for the Church.

Reactionaries really can’t stand him, and are quick to call him out for being “authoritarian”. But I must confess that I see their opposition to him as a sign that he might be doing something right! 😉

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-agrees-his-critics-pope-can-be-wrong

Good morning Tacitius,
This gets back to the whole quantity vs. quality. Yes – He did build a mega church and the TED website discusses problems around the massive debt and other issues. I was reading about the feedback ‘Stupid’ .
https://theelephantsdebt.com/2019/02/15/speaking-truth-to-power-a-letter-by-dave-jennings/
It wasn’t pretty and was used to show that many people had tried to advice/correct James over the years without any success. What happened to James MacDonald wasn’t just a bad day captured and spread by social media, it is the culmination of years of ‘bad’ behavior. My personal feeling that James was worshiping the Golden Calf of Fame & Forutune .
Packing the pews was only 1 thing the HBC Executive team was compensated on, the rest involves the mundane of keeping to budget, managing your team (Bullying is not an effective management style), working with affiliated churches, weathering the enviable down turns…..
Success doesn’t define a church – it is endurance.
— CJ
PS. I forgot that I’m worried that HBC will not survive this Tusnami and a lot of the walking wounded will be spiritually homeless soon. Our hopes and prayers are needed that they don’t turn their backs on Jesus.

Honestly, I think abuse is a problem anywhere adults and kids intersect. It is going to happen, so hopefully we will take proper precautions in every sphere. When it does happen, a strong and open repsonse is everything.

Well, they did build a megachurch from nothing under his leadership, so I suspect he was pretty involved those other six days of the week…