Fellowship Leadership Faces Hundreds of Concerned Congregation Members

Pastor Albert Tate and two board members of Monrovia's Fellowship Church faced several hundred congregation members tonight, many of whom were concerned about how quickly Tate will resume his preaching after his required leave of absence, about how the church has been run, how staff members have been treated, and about the use of church funds.

At the "Town Hall Meeting" at the church's office at Huntington and California, board member Obed Martinez said one of the main causes of problems at the church is that it grew so fast that it outgrew its administrative structure, and Tate said that his inappropriate texting, for which he was put on leave, was to a woman outside the church and that he has never sexually harassed anyone, though he said that in staff meetings some comments which some people thought were funny were considered by others to be inappropriate. He said he has learned, "Albert, shut up."

Regarding layoffs, Tate said the church was staffed for three campuses, but now only has one, and income was inadequate for all those staff members. Also, Martinez said, there has been a post-COVID giving dip. Tate added that the social media discussion of the church's problems has made the problem worse, and board member Christian Washington said the church's finances are "not good."

Regarding resignations, the leaders said that sometimes staff members simply don't like the direction the church is going. The problem, Tate said, is that "we were dysfunctional, not abusive." Tate also said there has been no hush money paid to anyone who has left, though he said the church has tried to be generous in its severance pay.

Christian investigative journalist Julie Roys (her site here) brought up this point during the time for questions from the audience. She said that the church handbook says that no severance money would be paid to staff members who leave voluntarily, then she asked if any of those who left voluntarily had been given a "six-figure severance."

Tate responded that she had been publishing lies (meaning, apparently, that she had published information from sources that he believes were lying) and that he was "not interested in commenting to a journalist," but later - while he didn't exactly answer the "six figure" question - he added that the church has tried to give severance to as many people as possible. 

Regarding the use of church funds, the leaders said there has been no misappropriation of funds and that the church has been audited yearly by the firm CapinCrouse, which Tate described as the "Cadillac" of auditing firms, and it has never found any problems.

In addition to the meeting, congregation members have posted a petition, named Justice for Fellowship Monrovia Church, that calls for an “independent investigation into these allegations against Senior Pastor Albert Tate and the Fellowship Church Board.” Details. 

Also, another group, called Hope for Fellowship, posted a statement that objects to the church board’s “lack of transparency” and wants to refocus “on the values upon which it was originally founded.” Specifically, it wants to focus on prayer, hope and encouragement, and having a central place to share information, including information on “how we can support our staff, which includes financial support for former staff members who are unemployed and contribute to restorative justice ministries that Fellowship no longer supports…” Details.

- Brad Haugaard