Calvary Chapel Cary in Apex, North Carolina is a church plagued by controversy, unanswered questions, and a multitude of abuse allegations. After we published our Check on this church earlier this year, pastor Rodney Finch’s radio program on The Bridge with Lloyd Pulley was canceled.
There are talks of other Calvary Chapel affiliates cutting ties with CC Cary for the laundry list of complaints against them as well and for good reason. The allegations we reported in our Check for CC Cary are not minor. Among them are allegations of substance abuse, child abuse, financial misconduct, abuses of power, and more. To read the full list, check this church here.
Another complaint that continues to be pursued by those concerned about the church is regarding its bylaws. To date, CC Cary has withheld its bylaws from several individuals and entities who have requested to view them. The Roys Report requested them during their investigation into the church last year, which the church initially agreed to provide, but then later said they wouldn't provide them. Former members of the church have also requested them only to be ignored.
I have requested the bylaws from Calvary Chapel Cary as well. My most recent attempt, through the North Carolina DOJ, is worth noting. While my initial request to several people at CC Cary went ignored, we got a response from the church once I filed a complaint with the North Carolina DOJ. The email correspondence between myself, the North Carolina DOJ, and a representative of Calvary Chapel Cary, is below.
Red Flags: Abuse of Power, Deception, & Potentially Unlawful Behavior
This lack of transparency and repeated withholding of the church’s bylaws is a big red flag, my friends. It points to an abuse of power, deception (as withholding information is deception), and potentially unlawful behavior, both regarding the allegations of unlawful behavior against the church’s leaders, but also regarding the possibility that the church is violating its own bylaws.
A church’s bylaws define the church’s obligations, authorities granted to certain people in leadership positions, and legal boundaries. It defines the roles and responsibilities of the pastor and other leaders of the church as well. To keep this information a secret, especially from its own members, is unreasonable given the plethora of concerns and complaints against the church, and highly suspicious.
If CC Cary isn’t legally obligated to provide their bylaws to “anyone” that asks for them, as noted by CC Cary in their email response to my complaint with the North Carolina DOJ, who are they legally obligated to provide them to? The church members? The board of directors? The church staff? Someone must be allowed to see them in order to make sure the church isn’t breaking its own laws as documented in its own bylaws.
How do abusive and potentially criminal pastors get fired from Calvary Chapel’s local churches anyway? If CC Cary refuses to hold itself accountable and Calvary Chapel as a whole turns a blind eye to serious concerns and allegations of abusive and criminal behavior by its own pastors, it’s up to us, church checkers, to do it ourselves.
I reached out to Pastor Rodney Finch of Calvary Chapel Cary for comment and correction on this post. He responded, but declined to make any corrections, nor would he make any comments regarding the bylaws.
Examine everything, church checkers. Get to the truth, and if the shoe fits, for the love of God, put it on and walk away.