After a monthlong leave of absence marked by staff resignations and turmoil, embattled Pastor Albert Tate on Sunday gave a tearful, yet vague apology before his California megachurch, Fellowship Monrovia.
“A year ago, I engaged in inappropriate text messaging, and my wife saw it very quickly,” Tate confessed. “By God’s grace, we started to do deep work—therapy, with community, with our board.”
Tate also admitted that Fellowship Monrovia was “not a great place to work” and that its culture was “hard on staff, hard on our membership, hard on our executives.”
Tate said his wife, LaRosa Tate, and his family had forgiven him for his failings and misconduct. Then, becoming emotional, he stated, “But as your shepherd, and as your spiritual leader, I also ask for your forgiveness. I was not the best that I could have been. I was less than the best spiritual leader. That impacted you, as well.”
Tate made no allusion to serious allegations against himself and other church leaders, which include financial malfeasance and sexual harassment, among other things.
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Tate’s congregation applauded his apology, as heard on an audio recording of the service posted to the church’s website. Fellowship Monrovia did not livestream Sunday’s service like it normally does, nor post video of it.
A congregant who was at the 9 a.m. service, Yi Jiang, told The Roys Report (TRR) that other Fellowship pastors were noticeably absent during the service. Jiang said only one pastor, Pastor to Counseling Becky White, was up front praying for people at the end of the service, when normally four to five pastors are there.
Jiang added that she also saw a pastor crying in the lobby after the service. And she said two youth pastors, who resigned last week, were saying goodbye to students and parents, who were upset the pastors were leaving.
Staff letter alleging misconduct sparks turmoil
Sunday’s dramatic service followed a letter circulated last Monday from “a concerned group of staff members and key leaders of Fellowship Monrovia Church.” The letter included links to documents detailing serious allegations of misconduct by Tate, other senior church leaders, and the church board.
Among the allegations were using designated funds to pay “hush money” to resigning staff and failing to “thoroughly investigate” multiple HR complaints about Tate’s alleged “manipulation, malice, sexual harassment . . . and failure to meet the moral and character standards of pastoral leadership.”
The letter did not include the names of its authors but included a poll, allowing readers to sign the letter and note whether they agreed with it.
Robert Haleblian, who recently resigned as an intern at Fellowship Monrovia, told TRR he knew the authors of the letter and trusted “that their interpretation of a situation is accurate.”
Jiang also said she knew the authors and vouched that they were Fellowship staff and leaders.
Haleblian and Jiang, who said they signed the letter and agreed with it, told TRR that the authors initially intended to collect signatures and then present the letter with signatures to the board.
But hours after the letter began circulating, Fellowship Monrovia Executive Director Tristan Gist sent an email to “All Staff,” saying that because of the letter, “an investigation is now required.” Gist’s email encouraged anyone who “participated in any way” to come forward. It also stated that all staff were required to meet “privately this week” with Gist and HR Manager Lara Damarian, and that church offices would be closed the rest of the week.
TRR reached out multiple times to Gist for comment, but he did not reply.
Three days later, the board sent a statement via email to the congregation, which the church also posted online. The statement announced the board had decided to give Tate a “path of restoration,” beginning with him addressing the congregation on Sunday.
The statement did not disclose details of Tate’s restoration. But it said congregants could “rest assured” that the plan is “comprehensive,” and would “include clear support, as well as appropriate accountability measures and benchmarks.”
The board admitted it kept news from the congregation about Tate’s inappropriate texting before disclosing it Sept. 24, when announcing Tate’s leave of absence.
According to the letter from concerned staff, the board first learned of Tate’s texting in December 2022—nine months before it disclosed the texting to the congregation. The letter also claimed that the board and Tate hadn’t planned to disclose Tate’s misconduct to staff and did so only when “congregants began to ask staff pastors about it” in July 2023.
On Sunday, Tate referred to the nine-month period with his wife, when staff and congregants were in the dark, as “a private journey, not a secret one. We had community and we had accountability.” During this time, Tate continued to preach and pastor as usual.
In its statement last Thursday, the board claimed that Tate’s “inappropriate” texting was “limited.”
However, Haleblian said staff told him that former Fellowship pastor, Rachel Ceballos, confronted Tate in a staff meeting Sept. 20—four days before the board announced Tate’s leave of absence—about an inappropriate text from Tate to another woman.
TRR reached out to Ceballos, who confirmed Haleblian’s account. She added that board member, Christian Washington, was at the Sept. 20 meeting.
A month later, Ceballos resigned and posted on Instagram that “revelations, both public and private, have cast a shadow” over her time at Fellowship Monrovia. “To say I’ve been consistently let down by the choices of those in senior leadership, choices that have caused real pain and fracture, is an understatement.”
TRR reached out to Tate for comment about the allegations against him, but he did not respond.
On a post-script to its statement emailed last Thursday, the board said it was aware of the letter from concerned staff, “expressing impassioned concerns for the welfare of Fellowship.”
The board said it had “reviewed all questions, allegations, and issues brought to our attention, and, where relevant, discussed these with Albert, with staff, and with congregants. With every good faith effort . . . the board has acted with integrity” and made decisions “for the benefit of Fellowship Church.”
According to Haleblian and Jiang, about 400 staff and lay leaders have signed the letter from concerned staff. Haleblian added that since the board has already published its response, glossing over many of the issues raised, he isn’t sure what the authors of the letter are going to do next.
More than half of church staffers gone
The latest developments at Fellowship Monrovia cap about five months of turmoil and turnover.
According to Haleblian, who’s been at Fellowship for more than a decade, things began unraveling after July 3, when former Chief of Staff Michael Field abruptly resigned. The next month, two more senior staff left the church.
In October, Ceballos and Markay Fairley, Fellowship Monrovia’s longtime worship director, resigned. The church also reportedly told Angela Lee, executive director of Harambee Ministries, that it would no longer pay her salary and dropped its annual $127,000 support for Harambee.
After the board’s statement published last Thursday, two more pastors resigned—High School Pastor Hannah Helwege and Youth Director Daniel Namkung.
In all, about 15-20 staff—more than half of Fellowship’s total employees—have either resigned or been laid off in the past five months, Haleblian and Jiang said.
One issue raised in the letter from concerned staff is that Tate, “with knowledge of the board,” paid some staff who resigned severance payments in exchange for signing non-disclosure agreements. This “hush money” allegedly “came at least in part from Fellowship’s designated funds, which are set apart for specific purposes,” the letter claims. The letter also states that Fellowship policy forbids giving severance to employees who resign.
Additionally, the letter alleges that consultants hired by the church over the past year for “various purposes—including crisis management” cost the church more than $100,000. And to mitigate “the current financial crisis . . . 12 staff members have been laid off within 2.5 months without any communication to the congregation,” it states.
TRR reached out to Mark Labberton, former president of Fuller Seminary and one of five members on Fellowship Monrovia’s board, with specific questions related to the letter from concerned staff. Labberton did not respond to our questions.
However, when asked in early October about Tate’s leave of absence, Labberton replied that the board was “doing a comprehensive review of Albert Tate and will be reporting to our community fairly soon.”
‘No checks and balances’ in church leadership
In addition to financial issues, the letter from concerned staff revealed serious questions concerning Tate’s moral conduct—and the board’s willingness to hold him accountable.
The letter states that in August, the board claimed in a meeting that they had brought in an outside organization to investigate Tate’s “marital misconduct,” discovered nine months earlier. But, the letter says, “No outside organization was hired to conduct a thorough investigation of this infidelity”(emphasis in original letter).
The letter also reveals many other issues with Tate, which it claims the board has not appropriately handled.
“(T)here have been multiple Human Resources reports submitted about the Senior Pastor’s neglect, manipulation, malice, sexual harassment, lack of empathy, intimidating threats, oversight of a toxic work environment, and failure to meet the moral and character standards of pastoral leadership,” the letter states.
Although a staff member was terminated for sexual harassment in early 2023, Tate effectively was given a pass when credible allegations of sexual harassment were lodged against him, the letter says. Plus, when staff and congregants “seek basic acknowledgement, ownership, and remorse for wrongdoing . . . at the hands of the Board and Senior Pastor, our request is rejected, deemed ‘punitive,’ or any wrongdoing is denied,” the letter adds (emphasis in original letter).
“There are no ‘checks and balances’ (emphasis in original letter) to the power held by the senior leadership and the board. . . . (P)ower is trapped in a self-reinforcing loop. Per the Board bylaws, the Senior Pastor is accountable only to the Board, and the Board is accountable only to the Senior Pastor.”
The letter also states, “If any signs of disagreement or lack of alignment with the Senior Pastor or Board are demonstrated, staff is pressured into silence.”
The letter also noted that though the board mandated Tate was to have no contact with staff during his leave, Tate repeatedly violated this boundary, communicating to some staff that their loyalty would be rewarded. The letter says these violations were reported to the board, but Tate received no punishment.
In light of the issues cited, the letter asks for the board to be dissolved; an interim fiduciary committee to be created; and a fully local elder board to be “implemented with urgency.” (Four of the board’s five members are Christian leaders who do not attend Fellowship Monrovia.)
In its statement released last Thursday, the board admitted that “Fellowship’s organizational and governance structures need to be altered for the health of the church.” The board added that it anticipates a “number of significant changes taking place,” which it would share with the congregation “in the near future.”
Former staff and congregants speak out
Michael Field and the two other senior leaders who resigned in August, Brandan and Tiana Spencer, left without criticizing the church. However, the most recent staff to resign or be laid off have been openly critical on social media.
On her Instagram account, Angela Lee said she was “shattered” by what Fellowship Monrovia “has become.”
“I have felt so disrespected by this place,” Lee continued. “I have been lied to by this place, and I (and) my family has (sic) been forgotten by this place.”
She added, “With devastation and utter heartbreak, my husband Paul and I have decided that Fellowship can no longer be our church home. I don’t know where we are going, but it can’t be here. . . . I want Fellowship, but not built on the narcissistic system that continues to prop it up.”
High School Pastor Hannah Helwege expressed similar sentiments on her Instagram account.
“Over the last few months my beloved church community has become unrecognizable,” Helwege wrote. “The pain that this family is experiencing is unbearable, and I am deeply grieved that my efforts (& those of many, many others) to stop the bleeding & bandage the wounds have fallen short thus far.”
TRR reached out to Helwege and Lee for more information about their experience at Fellowship Monrovia. Helwege did not respond, and Lee did not have any on-the-record comments.
Jiang told TRR she’s heartbroken by recent developments and by the service on Sunday.
“The only thing that (Tate) admitted to was inappropriate text messages last year,” she said. “He didn’t address the contents of the staff letter, which included allegations of sexual harassment.”
Jiang added that Labberton, who preached the sermon, “made it almost impossible for anyone to speak up because he kept emphasizing forgiveness and grace and how we needed to forgive Albert. . . . It’s not about forgiving him. It’s about making sure the allegations are looked into and that they’re addressed.”
She added, “It was such spiritual abuse and using the Bible to keep people in check.”
Haleblian said he wasn’t at the service Sunday, nor does he plan on attending services at Fellowship again.
“I was shocked to find out that the board had decided to bring Albert back without communicating a restoration plan to even the staff,” Haleblian said. “. . . They wanted to wash their hands of the situation. And they thought that by putting Albert back, they could walk away blameless. But I think, as you can tell from Sunday’s reaction, they just caused a bigger problem than they could have ever imagined.”
Albert and LaRosa Tate’s Message to Fellowship Monrovia – Nov. 5, 2023*
Fellowship Monrovia Board Member Mark Labberton’s Message – Nov. 5, 2023*
*Recorded on cell phone
Julie Roys is a veteran investigative reporter and founder of The Roys Report. She also previously hosted a national talk show on the Moody Radio Network, called Up for Debate, and has worked as a TV reporter for a CBS affiliate. Her articles have appeared in numerous periodicals.
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19 Responses
This is one of the best written articles that I have read in a long time. It truly exposes the hypocrisy in the Church. Albert Tate and the Board have some explaining to do. Fellowship was once a vibrant Church community. It is now a very broken, sad, lost, toxic, godless refuge.
I think of this column more and more when these all too frequent situations occur.
https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/frenchpress/remembering-what-repentance-looks-like/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Remembering+What+Repentance+Looks+Like&utm_campaign=Remembering+What+Repentance+Looks+Like
The article above speaks clearly and in forensic detail about the matters it reports on.
What then jumps out at me, and concerningly so, is what is possibly suggested by; “Tate’s congregation applauded his apology, as heard on an audio recording of the service posted to the church’s website.”
What are the ins and outs of why the congregation are in this relation to what this article reports? Is there room for specific focus on that outcome, on how things might now play out for the members of this congregation. Beyond what is often considered in terms of “abuse” of an individual or individuals, do we have to also consider a collective abusing which might require its own perspective and terms of address.
I agree with your statements, this article is well written, including the standout statement about the church applauding his asking forgiveness. I went to the 9 am and no one applauded in the moment of his asking. Two times even. So I’m not sure how that was surmised. Perhaps it occurred in the following service. There were some applauses at other instances.
There were applause in 9am. We sat third row, our row didn’t. But many around did. 11am more applauded. It’s clear they hadn’t seen the staff letter and have not idea what’s going on or are just attenders for his celebrity.
Many in the congregation are unaware of the depth of the problem and heard only the inappropriate texts and emails by Albert. They do not know about the rest of the allegations. Sitting in the audience it was heartbreaking to see the clapping and shouting knowing all that has happened and the great people that served Fellowship who have left. This was once my church home and now it needs serious help to ever be the place it once was. Agree with the collective abuse
Churches that have been abused by their pastors and leaders need to tell them that they want and will offer forgiveness and restoration but that they will not be allowed in any leadership position in their church ever again. Then they will see how much their former leaders love their congregation and how serious they are about repentance.
So much hurt. The people I consider family having to choose between morally leaving, or staying because they love the community they’ve built. That should NEVER be a deciding factor when working for a church. To LaRosa and kids, I see you and love you and I am so sorry. To the staff who left, you are so brave. Thank you for speaking your truth. To the board, honestly fuck you. Choosing to support the money making pastor instead of sharing our true God to the community is sickening. That is NOT forgiveness. That is NOT reconciliation. That is NOT love. That is NOT Jesus. That is manipulation and we deserve better. To the victims, I don’t know who you are, but I cannot imagine the fear you are feeling. I am praying for healing and courage through this season. To Robert, you are one brave soul and it was an absolute honor to intern alongside you, my friend. Your candor and vulnerability will not go unnoticed.
P.S. There is still so much unknown here. Please be gentle with the people.
Albert Tate is still listed on the Board of Directors list of the Global Leadership Network. The whole story sounds so similar to how Willow Creek elders handled things including the round of aplause!
A really close friend of mine who’s an ex-staffer at fellowship made this comment about Albert’s apology, “I mean, what else could he do? Stand up comedy?” I asked him, “has it always been like this?” His reply was simply, “years…”
When Pastors are more focused on becoming a brand name that’s when they need to step away!
Tate was in Hawaii 5 days before he announced one incidence of infidelity when there were multiple. He then came back, and flew back out to Hawaii, all while on paid leave. He gets paid to go soul searching in Hawaii and all my friends lose their jobs. He is a charlatan!
This article is a tour de force. 9 years ago in 2014 there was a board fight at the Willow Creek Association/Global Leadership Network (WCA/GLN). Megachurch pastor Bill Hybels was accused of clergy sexual misconduct. Some board members at WCA/GLN thought the board should do their own separate investigation, independently of Willow Creek Community Church. Those board members who wanted that separate investigation lost the fight, and all 3 of them, Jon Wallace, Kara Powell, and Nancy Ortberg, resigned. Hybels was thus allowed to CONTINUE harming younger woman for AN ADDITIONAL 4 YEARS, while Willow Creek Community Church carried fake investigations amounting to cover up.
In 2016, one of the elders at Willow Creek Community Church who had participated in fake investigations 2014-2016 transferred to the board of WCA/GLN–her name was Kim Simios. Now she’s the CHAIR of the board of WCA/GLN.
Now, surprise surprise, ANOTHER board member at WCA/GLN, Albert Tate, has been accused of clergy sexual misconduct, and once again, his church, Fellowship Monrovia, are botching their handling of it, and have openly stated their intention to place Tate RIGHT BACK INTO THE POSITION OF POWER HE ABUSED. While multiple other organisations have kicked Albert Tate off their boards, including both Azusa Pacific University and church planting group Stadia–guess what? Not WCA/GLN. They’ve elected to keep him on their board, saying “We are praying for Albert, his family, and his church”, with no sympathy expressed for the people Albert has harmed. It’s like they just can’t stop behaving in the same horrible, institutional-betrayal-of-victims way. Here’s the screenshot of the list of board members of WCA/GLN from today. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10159810539857423
One small correction–one of the boards, that of church planting network Stadia, kicked Albert Tate off the board, while the other, Azusa Pacific University–stated Tate left that board himself prior to the recent revelations. I note that the president of Stadia, Greg Nettle, was himself on the board of Tate’s Fellowship Monrovia as recently as February of this year, and apparently bailed out of that board at some point since then.
After rewatching Craig Groeschel’s interview with Pastor Albert Tate on leadership, I was struck by an apparent disconnect between his stated principles and recent events. There is wisdom in the old adage to focus on people’s actions more than their words. This interview provides a thought-provoking case study on the challenges leaders face in living up to their own high standards. It’s worth watching the entire interview, but start watching around the 15:00 mark https://youtu.be/HnxLAi_hAY8?si=Y4auop397B0wDHdM&t=902
[1/2] “A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing” by Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer provides an insightful and important framework for understanding what happened at Fellowship and what congregants can learn moving forward.
“Tov” is a Hebrew word for “good” or “goodness.” Unfortunately, Fellowship, like other churches, are susceptible to power abuse, sexual abuse, and spiritual abuse. The question is how to create a church culture that resists abuse and promotes healing, safety, and spiritual growth.
Here are some lessons from the book that I think are relevant for Fellowship congregants, those who have left and those who are staying:
[2/2]
1. “Narcissism” and “Power Through Fear” are two warning signs of a toxic church culture. Narcissistic pastors surround themselves with admirers to feed their egos and fill leadership roles with compliant enablers, undermining biblical standards of leadership. Their selfish drive for importance overrides the need for accountability. Authoritarian leaders are spiritual tyrants who derive unholy pleasure from dominating and controlling their followers, rather than entrusting them with authority and eliciting cooperation.
2. When faced with allegations of wrongdoing, a “tov” church will respond with genuine confession and repentance and a commitment to find the truth, even when it’s painful. The tendency of leaders in a toxic culture is to deny or spin the truth in the face of allegations. “The goal of reconciliation is to restore a sinner to fellowship, not a leader to power.”
3. Churches with a toxic culture tell one or more of the following false narratives: 1) Discredit the critics, 2) Demonize the critics, 3) Spin the Story, 4) Gaslight the critics, 5) Make the perpetrator the victim, 6) Silence the truth, 7) Suppress the truth, and 8) Issue a fake apology.
4. Tov Churches nurture the following habits of goodness: 1) Empathy (resisting a narcissist’s culture), 2) Grace (resisting a fear culture), 3) Put people first (resisting institutional creep), 4) Tell the truth (resisting false narratives), 5) Justice (resisting the loyalty culture), 6) Service (resisting the celebrity culture), and 7) Christlikeness (resisting the leader culture).
To learn more about what a “good” church looks like, explore: https://www.churchcalledtov.org/
This is so sad. I must say as others have said this is a well written article.
As a pastor my heart is heavy and sadden for the people of the fellowship in Monrovia.
I live about 30 minutes from the city of Monrovia.
You all will be in my prayers.
Hello. My name is Kenneth E. Roberson, Sr. and I posted a comment following Ms. Roys’ first article about Senior Pastor Tate.
On 11-2-23, Fellowship’s Board issued a letter and, during the 9 a.m., 11-5-23 Sunday service, Pastor Tate made various comments. I have reviewed the letter and comments, and conclude (1) there is evidence that the Board and Pastor Tate have been purposely ambiguous when using the terms “limited and inappropriate texting” and “inappropriate text messaging,” respectively, to describe his improper texts, (2) there is a Biblical principle that once a Scripturally-authorized determination has been made that a church’s leader has sinned, open disclosure of the sin is warranted with specificity, not ambiguity, as to what the sin was, and neither the Board nor Pastor Tate are honoring that principle, (3) the Apostle Paul told Timothy at 1 Tim. 5:20 concerning elders that sin, “rebuke before all, that others also may fear,” and this implies specificity, not ambiguity, when identifying what the sin was; however, although the Board has impliedly determined that Pastor Tate sinned, it has not complied with 1 Tim. 5:20, (4) it is unclear whether the Board members are “elders” or, therefore, Scripturally authorized to implement 1 Tim. 5:20 as to Pastor Tate or any other Fellowship leader in the first place, and (5) the 11-2 Board Letter suggests a Board “rush to approve” Pastor Tate’s return to preach and lead the staff in January 2024. The 11-2 Board Letter, a video of the above Sunday service, and my 11-17-23 comments to Fellowship about both, and related matters, may be found at https://kerobersonsrltrtofellowshipchurch.blogspot.com/.
After the Fellowship Town Hall on 11/19, which Julie was in attendance, I really hope this investigation continues. The congregation very much deserves this independent clarity.