C. J. Mahaney

C.J. Mahaney
Born (1953-09-21) September 21, 1953 (age 73)
OccupationPastor
SpouseCarolyn
Ecclesiastical career
ReligionReformed Christianity
ChurchSovereign Grace Church

Charles Joseph Mahaney is an American Christian minister. He is the senior pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, and was formerly president of Sovereign Grace Ministries, now known as Sovereign Grace Churches. He was one of the founding pastors and leaders of Covenant Life Church, in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Under Mahaney's leadership, Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville is a member of Sovereign Grace Churches and works with the Southern Baptist Convention for training and Christian mission work. Mahaney resigned from the presidency of Sovereign Grace Ministries in 2013 in order to plant Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville.

A 2012 class-action sex abuse lawsuit was filed against Sovereign Grace Ministries and listed Mahaney as a defendant. The lawsuit was dismissed due to the statute of limitations; Mahaney released a public statement explicitly denying all claims in the suit.

Early life and education

Mahaney was born in Maryland into a Catholic household, the middle child of five. He was the son of a metalworker in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Mahaney attended Springbrook High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. He reports having been converted to Protestantism in 1972 at age 18 by a friend who shared his faith. He says that a newspaper ad motivated him to join a local prayer meeting known as Take and Give, which evolved into Covenant Life Church.

Career

In 1974, aged 20, Mahaney met Larry Tomczak, with whom he led and taught a large local prayer group named Take And Give (TAG), started by Lydia Little. He says his only reading in theology at that time consisted of the Bible and The Late, Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey.

In 1977, Mahaney became senior pastor of what had evolved into Covenant Life Church. He cites his reading of the works of 19th-century Baptist leader Charles H. Spurgeon and the Reformed theology of John Calvin as influences.

Mahaney was the senior pastor of Covenant Life Church for 27 years,[citation needed] after which the senior pastor role went to Joshua Harris (on September 18, 2004).[citation needed] In 2012 he planted a church on the east side of Louisville, Kentucky, Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, with Bob Kauflin, Brian Chesemore, Jeff Purswell, and Gary Ricucci.[citation needed] In 2006, Ligon Duncan, Mark Dever, Albert Mohler, and Mahaney founded the biennial Together for the Gospel conference.[clarification needed][independent source needed]

Mahaney announced that he was pulling out of the 2014 T4G, due to his perception of the distractions his continuing presence would bring from ongoing lawsuits against his Sovereign Grace Ministries. He returned for the 2016 conference, but withdrew again in 2018.

As of 2015, Mahaney was the senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville.[citation needed][needs update] He resigned from the presidency of Sovereign Grace Ministries in April 2013, while planting the church.[independent source needed][failed verification]

Voluntary leave of absence

In June 2011 Mahaney voluntarily took a leave of absence for self-examination after charges were leveled against him by a former Sovereign Grace pastor. His leave occurred in the wake of accusations from a former top Sovereign Grace pastor who distributed hundreds of e-mails and internal church documents that portrayed Mahaney as focusing on the sins of others below him in the church hierarchy. After Mahaney's departure, the Sovereign Grace board gave a strong vote of confidence to him, saying that he is "a qualified minister of the gospel and this board approves his pastoral and teaching ministry."

In April of 2012, a report was released after an extensive outside review performed by Ambassadors of Reconciliation,[clarification needed] in response to the charges brought against Mahaney.

Mahaney continued to serve as president of Sovereign Grace Ministries.[when?][citation needed] Covenant Life Church, the church Mahaney co-founded and pastored for 27 years, left Sovereign Grace Ministries.

Dismissed sexual abuse lawsuit

In 2012, a class action lawsuit was filed against Sovereign Grace Ministries, alleging that leaders, including Mahaney, had covered up child sexual abuse. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice in May 2013. The Maryland Court of Appeals also dismissed the case after finding that the plaintiff's lawyer had filed the appeal too early. After the case was dismissed, a former volunteer at CLC, Nathaniel Morales, 56, was convicted of sexually abusing three young boys between 1983 and 1991. During the trial, Mahaney's brother-in-law, former pastor Grant Layman, admitted that he did not report sex abuse claims to authorities but tried to handle them within the church. In February 2016, Mahaney was the subject of a Washingtonian magazine article, titled "The Sex Scandal That Devastated a Suburban Megachurch - Inside the Rise and Fall of Sovereign Grace."

Personal life

Mahaney met Carolyn Layman in the 1970s, while he was teaching at Take and Give and she was working as a secretary at a Christian conference ministry in Sarasota, Florida, and they soon married. Mahaney has one son and three daughters.

Selected publications

References

  1. ↑ Mahaney, CJ. "A Statement from CJ Mahaney". Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. Archived from the original on February 7, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Lee, Morgan (July 1, 2014). "Sovereign Grace Sex Abuse Case Appeal Dismissed by Maryland's Court of Special Appeals". The Christian Post. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Keeping their eyes on the cross". The Washington Times. December 23, 2002. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  4. ↑ Duncan, Ligon; Dever, Mark; Mohler, Albert & Mahaney, C.J. (2012). "The People & History: Together for the Gospel". Together for the Gospel (T4g.org). Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)[independent source needed]
  5. ↑ Menzie, Nicola (July 2, 2013). "CJ Mahaney Drops Out of 2014 Together for the Gospel Conference Due to Sovereign Grace Lawsuit". Christian Post. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  6. ↑ Allen, Bob (March 8, 2018). "Haunted by Old Lawsuit, C.J. Mahaney Withdraws From Together for the Gospel Confab". Baptist News Global. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  7. ↑ Mahaney, J.C. & SGCL Staff (July 10, 2015). "Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville". Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville (SGCL; SGCLouisville.org). Retrieved July 10, 2015.[independent source needed]
  8. ↑ Smith, Peter (July 12, 2011). "Mohler Backs Mahaney, Dismisses Claims of Abusive Leadership". Courier-Journal. Louisville, KY. Retrieved October 29, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  9. ↑ Kwon, Lillian (July 11, 2011). "C.J. Mahaney Takes Leave Over Charges of Pride, Hypocrisy". Christian Post. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  10. ↑ Mahaney, C.J. (July 6, 2011). "Why I'm Taking a Leave of Absence". SovereignGraceMinistries.org (work blog). Archived from the original on September 20, 2011. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  11. ↑ Harvey, Dave (July 13, 2011). "Sovereign Grace Ministries Board of Directors Announcement Regarding C.J. Mahaney". SovereignGraceMinistries.org (work blog). Archived from the original on March 19, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  12. ↑ Kober, Ted & Keinath, Rev. Ed (April 10, 2012). "Report to The Board of Directors of Sovereign Grace Ministries" (PDF). Ambassadors of Reconciliation. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 26, 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2026 – via SovereignGraceMinistries.org.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ SGM Staff (July 14, 2012). "Board Update: Response to Ministry Recommendations". SovereignGraceMinistries.org (SGM) (work blog). Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  14. ↑ Schapiro, Jeff (December 20, 2012). "Maryland Megachurch Secedes From Sovereign Grace Ministries". The Christian Post. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  15. ↑ Allen, Bob (November 19, 2013). "Mahaney, Mohler share speaker platform". Associated Baptist Press. Archived from the original on December 10, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  16. ↑ Bailey, Sarah Pulliam (May 24, 2013). "Evangelical leaders stand by pastor accused of abuse cover-up". Religion News Service.
  17. ↑ "Megachurch Pastor Confesses to Protecting Child Molester for Years". www.christianpost.com. May 16, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  18. ↑ Stanley, Tiffany (February 14, 2016). "The Sex Scandal That Devastated a Suburban Megachurch". Washingtonian. Retrieved February 15, 2016.