In wake of Calvary Church turmoil, some pastors resigning

A leadership exodus is underway at Charlotte’s Calvary Church, where senior pastor John Munro returned to the pulpit last month after surviving a still-secret allegation that he violated part of the church’s employee handbook.

Since Munro’s reinstatement by church elders, at least three pastors – nearly a third of the church’s pastoral staff – have resigned or announced they are leaving Calvary, one of the city’s largest and most prominent Christian evangelical churches.

The Rev. Scott Vail, who helps manage the staff and ministries as executive pastor, said he will exit Calvary on Oct. 15. He’s been at the church for more than seven years. Already gone: the Revs. Ryan Amidon, a youth pastor, and Raul Latoni, pastor of discipleship and internationals.

Calvary has lost its church pianist, too: Donna Amidon is Ryan Amidon’s wife. She was also Munro’s announcer on “Back to the Bible,” a radio ministry that terminated its contract with Munro after receiving a “serious complaint” about him in mid-August. That complaint came from another employee and was similar to the Aug. 15 allegation brought by a church employee.

“Back to the Bible” CEO Arnie Cole said in a statement that it acted after conducting an investigation that included recorded interviews with Munro, his accuser and people at Calvary.

Donna Amidon is still employed by the Nebraska-based radio ministry, which had been recording Munro’s Bible teaching program in Charlotte.

Though the church and “Back to the Bible” reached different conclusions about whether to keep Munro on their payrolls, neither will offer any details about what is alleged to have happened.

Contacted by the Observer, Munro declined to address the departures. He issued this statement: “Calvary Church is blessed with a large number of ministries, but our mission and calling is to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our many volunteers and staff are united in that mission, and we look forward to continuing the work which the Lord will do here and throughout the world.”

‘An innocent error’

On Sept. 7, Bill Bailey, an elder representing Calvary’s lay leaders, told the congregation that an outside investigation had determined that the “H.R. complaint” that alleged Munro violated the employee handbook “was not supported.”

However, Bailey said, the session – the church’s lay leaders – “did find that (Munro) exercised judgment that did not comport with the high expectations set forth in the ‘Leaders Ethical Conduct’ policy.”

Bailey added that “we’re not at liberty to share specific details.”

Munro, speaking the same Sunday, was equally vague. He thanked God “for my godly wife who stood with me.” And he said he had committed “an innocent error of judgment that, while neither unlawful nor sinful, failed to demonstrate the judgment the church expects of me.”

Details not revealed

Still, in the few weeks since then, pastors and others at Calvary have been resigning. Until Ryan Amidon and Latoni left, there were 10 pastors. When Vail follows, the church will have seven.

Asked this week about the Munro case, Ryan Amidon said Calvary has asked “all the staff ... not to comment.”

He would say that he and his wife resigned Sept. 19. “It was a personal decision,” he said. “It wasn’t anything we were asked to do.”

Vail, who will be a church employee until Oct. 15, was also mum about why he is leaving. “At this point, I can’t give you any details,” he said.

Latoni could not be reached for comment. In a sermon he gave at Calvary on Aug. 31, when the investigation of Munro was still being conducted, Latoni said it was a “difficult time” for Calvary and mentioned “our congregational crisis.” He called on those in the pews to “trust God completely.”

Bailey, the elder, did not return Observer messages Thursday.

Donna Amidon, who flew to Nebraska this week to meet with “Back to the Bible” officials, said a Charlotte-based show is “in a holding pattern. Now that (Munro) is no longer the Bible teacher, everything is up in the air. Nothing is decided.”

Munro, a native of Scotland and in his mid-60s, has been Calvary’s senior pastor since 2006. There’s no evidence to date that the controversy surrounding him is affecting turnout at Calvary, which draws between 3,000 and 3,500 to its 9:45 a.m. Sunday service.

On Sept. 21, when Munro formally returned to the pulpit after being put on paid leave during the investigation, he got a standing ovation from the 3,436 people in attendance.

This story was originally published October 2, 2014 at 5:53 PM.