Services at an influential Nashville-area megachurch were disrupted Sunday after the wife of the church’s founding pastor stood up and accused his successor of conspiring against him.
During a 9:00 a.m. service at Grace Chapel in Franklin, Tennessee, just south of Nashville, pastor Rob Rogers apologized to the congregation for an ongoing conflict with the Rev. Steve Berger, Grace Chapel’s founder.
Berger, who nearly three decades ago founded the church — whose members include Tennessee Governor Bill Lee — stepped down as lead pastor at the church in January in order to start a discipleship program for influencers in Washington, D.C.
But according to Rogers on Sunday, the transition between pastors had not gone well, and news of the conflict between the two men had spread through the church in recent weeks.
Rogers said that during the transition, he had “pushed too hard and fast,” leading to conflict between himself and Berger. “Offenses have been taken, wounding has happened on both sides and there’s been a level of skepticism toward one another in this process that is neither right nor good.”
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That conflict led both Rogers and Mark Bright, executive pastor at Grace, to offer to resign.
The apology from Rogers was repeatedly interrupted by outbursts from the congregation — including one church member who called for a prayer of repentance.
After that prayer, Sarah Berger got hold of a microphone, walked on stage and began berating Rogers, who she said had not repented “for sinning against my husband.”
“It has been made manifestly evident that there’s been an endeavor to cancel the founding pastor of Grace Chapel,” she said.
Berger accused Rogers and Bright of labeling her husband as a “Christian extremist” and said the couple would be leaving the church, where Steve Berger had assumed an advisory role as “founding pastor” after naming Rogers as his successor.
Steve Berger caused controversy following the Jan. 6 insurrection, blaming antifa activists for storming the Capitol. Berger, who had been in Washington that day to attend a pro-Trump rally, later apologized for those remarks during a Facebook video.
He also denounced the attack in the Capitol.
“The events that happened at the Capitol were tragic, deadly, and unpatriotic,” he said. “I condemn these actions unequivocally. Sadly, they are all too reflective of the vitriol within too many people.”
Berger stepped down as lead pastor at Grace Chapel soon afterward. He and other leaders said the transition had been in the works for several years.
Sunday’s online broadcast to the service was cut during Sarah Berger’s remarks. After the outburst, a late morning service at the church was abruptly canceled.
“The elders of Grace Chapel firmly rebuke the outburst and resulting manner that erupted during our service,” the church’s elders said in a statement posted on social media Sunday night. “We are deeply disappointed in the way various individuals conducted themselves towards Pastor Rob, his family, our current leadership, and the elder board.”
“As elders, we deeply regret allowing this disruption to go forward.”
Several high-profile churches have seen private disputes go public recently, often involving the successor of a well-known pastor.
McLean Bible Church faces a lawsuit over a recent vote for elders from members unhappy with pastor David Platt, who succeeded long-time former pastor Lon Solomon. At Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis, the successor to influential pastor John Piper resigned over the summer after ongoing internal conflicts in the church and a school Piper founded.
Before the disruption, several elders spoke to the church, detailing some of the conflict between Rogers and Bright. They also announced that Rogers had been reinstated as pastor of the church, despite his earlier resignation.
During his apology, Rogers, who had been endorsed as the new pastor by Berger, said he regretted that the transition between the two had been difficult. He said that Berger had long been a spiritual mentor and said the two were committed to reconciliation.
In their statement, the church’s elders reiterated their support for Rogers and asked church members to pray for both Rogers and Berger.
“We pray for a hedge of protection around this highly emotional and volatile situation that involves people we dearly love,” they said. “We have a huge opportunity to come back stronger than ever and not allow Satan to get a foothold that causes division and offense among our congregation.”
Bob Smietana is a national reporter for Religion News Service.
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17 Responses
Did I read right, that this happened during worship? If so, I’d like to know what their understanding of worship is.
This is perhaps a more honest reflection of what worship has become these days. Who is being worshipped? God or the slick worship team and sermon performer? Do we clap for God when we are alone? If it is only during a service and if so who are we actually clapping for?
Worship: the great misunderstood concept. Time to reflect on Romans 12:1,2. Note ‘renewing of mind’. An intellectual activity that transforms us to be disconformed to the world.
Worship is both a direct form of engagement with God, as well as an “all of life” commitment.
And worship can be by both a group meeting together (the church), and by an individual during the week (personal prayer and bible reading)
Romans 12 is very much focused on the “all of life” worship of the individual and the church.
As someone who loves the “Regulative Principle” of corporate worship, I obviously find public disagreement breaking out in the midst of a church service to be awful. Worship in a church service is supposed to be focused on God, not upon personal disagreements. Those can be addressed outside of the context of the worship service.
Good point – or, you know, that decently and in order thing… I think floating around there in 1Cor14 isn’t it…:-)
According to a video on You Tube there was a special segment of the service devoted to a statement by the elders and and apology from Rob Rogers.
Where was the sound person and why didn’t they cut off her microphone?
Of course, this story only scratches the surface. There is evil and cowardice happening at Grace Chapel. Go to FreedomforGracie on Instagram. Her story os tragic and the media will not listen.
Mrs. Berger lost me at “wears hip hugger jeans and only tucks in one shirttail”. Teenager-ish dress and behavior–just nope.
I can’t tell what’s more disappointing – how all of this has played out (in service?!), or that we are still judging others based on attire. As someone who wears jeans and sometimes only tucks in the front shirttail, I can tell you I STILL love Jesus.
Church is not a social club.
I agree, church isn’t a social club. A social club is about reinforcing one’s social status and, in our country, a most important aspect of high social standing is looking “young”. I think in church the older women should aim for dignity, not youth, in their dress and manner.
I’m interested to hear more about the dress code at your church.
I”ve been in contentious churches myself where a lot of people were talking about things involving the pastor (or pastors). The problems can often be alleviated if a church meeting is called to give people a chance to voice what they feel. This rarely happens as its the last thing governing leadership wants. They could be targets and not in control. Even those meetings if they happen are tightly controlled with a few leaders giving explanations which don’t answer the hard questions, thus leaving what the members have to say out all together. I believe this woman spoke out because it was the only way she could with everyone present. Believe me in that most present weren’t “worshiping” anyway. Its like the elephant in the room, but no one is acknowledging it. I commend that woman for speaking out. She put a voice to what alot of others wanted to say publicly, but couldn’t.
Regardless of the circumstances involved Berger comes across as a right wing nut case. His blog seems to clarify this as well as prior interviews. I wouldn’t go near any church with a pastor like him.
I doubt you would go near any church period.
I can’t believe she got up on stage without a mask!!
I am not trying to be a jerk or gossip, but these people have opened themselves up to serious, demonic deception, by affirming, practicing and teaching necromancy. I say that as someone, who way, beyond ruined my life with divination, when I was young. As terrible as it would be to lose a son, that is not whom they are communing with. That which pretends to be their son, is not human, and is not God, and doesn’t work for God. I feel for their grief, but they are in a position where only deep, radical repentance will do, IF they are believers in Jesus. If not, they need to as allow Him to save them.
Again, I’m not lording it over them, but I know what kind of damage those kinds of spirits can do to a person, with intention of damaging, and damning, everyone, if they could. All of those occult spirits work together, and are alike in serving Satan; in fact, we do not even know that evil spirits have assigned roles, special talents or powers, or are pretty much interchangeable (although I might be forgetting something in the Bible, I guess). But what we do know about them is that evil spirits work together against the knowledge of God, and for the agenda of the devil, in our own lives and those of everyone else. In light of the dangers they are courting, a church split could be the most merciful thing they could happen to them and their church..They all need to repent of this occult lie of communication with the dead. It is meant to destroy, not heal. But the opportunity to repent is a gift; it IS grace.
As for the political extremism, the influence of egregious, false prophets in bringing it about, is well documented on YouTube and other social media.
(I couldn’t find the Reply box so I also contacted the site)