Sovereign Grace Ministries - History

History

The organization of over 70 member churches grew out of the charismatic renewal of the 1970s under the leadership of Catholic Charismatic Larry Tomczak and has its roots in the Gathering of Believers (now Covenant Life Church) in Maryland. It was formally established in 1982. CJ Mahaney and Larry Tomczak were the co-founders of both Covenant Life Church and People of Destiny International (PDI), the former name of Sovereign Grace Ministries. Mahaney describes himself as a "former pothead." Both Mahaney and Tomczak withdrew from the Charismatic Catholic scene shortly before the creation of Covenant Life Church.

Tomczak and Mahaney were both close to Bryn Jones and Terry Virgo, leaders of the British New Church Movement, speaking at New Frontiers' Bible Weeks and Stoneleigh Conference. They were also associated with Maranatha Campus Ministries for a period.

In "The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought" published in 1995, Alister McGrath associated PDI with the shepherding movement and described it as having "informal links with Bryn Jones," the UK house church leader. In the mid-1990s, while Tomczak was still involved in the group's leadership, religious anthropologist Dr. Karla Poewe wrote that "Vineyard is particularly attractive to the young and intellectual... People of Destiny serves a Catholic constituency.", contrasting PDI with the Vineyard Church.

The ministry changed considerably after Tomczak left the leadership of PDI in 1998 and later suggested that the increasingly Calvinistic theology of PDI was a major factor in his departure. Although reconciled with C J Mahaney in 2011, he earlier described the parting of ways with Sovereign Grace Ministries as "an unbelievable nightmare" during which his family "were threatened in various ways if did not cooperate with ... A letter was circulated in an attempt to discredit me and to distort the events surrounding my departure." Other notable charismatic figures, such as Lou Engle, founder of The Call prayer concerts, and Che Ahn, pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, CA, also ceased to be formally associated with PDI during this period.

Sovereign Grace Ministries currently identifies itself as "a family of churches passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ... with a strong doctrinal basis that is evangelical, Reformed, and continuationist." This move towards the Reformed (or Calvinist) wing of the church is illustrated by Sovereign Grace's partnerships with speakers such as John MacArthur, Mark Dever, and John Piper, who speak at the Together for the Gospel Conferences. In 2002, Wayne Grudem, a theology professor at Phoenix Seminary in Arizona, said "What I see is outward evidence of God's favor. That's at the heart of the success of this church... I know of churches around the United States who are looking to Sovereign Grace Ministries as an example of the way churches ought to work."

In July 2011, Mahaney announced that he would be taking a leave of absence as a team reviews charges brought against him of "pride, unentreatability, deceit, sinful judgment, and hypocrisy." One of the purposes for this period included reconciliation with former SGM ministers. Larry Tomczak reported that Mahaney had gone out of his way to rebuild their relationship after 13 years of estrangement. In July 2012, Mahaney was reinstated as president of the organization by the board after three review panels found no reason to disqualify C.J. from his role as President, or to "call into question his fitness for gospel ministry."

Early in 2012, Sovereign Grace Ministries announced their intention to relocate their headquarters from Gaithersburg, Maryland to Louisville, Kentucky, citing Louisville's lower cost of living as well as the growing connection with The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in town. Some critics have suggested that the move may have more to do with the fractured state of the organization's relationship with the SGM flagship church, Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg.

In late 2012, charges were brought against Sovereign Grace Ministries for allegedly concealing sex abuse among laymen. The plaintiffs claim church leaders did not report accusations of misconduct to the police and offered legal advice to suspected pedophiles.