As many of you know, a Christian fraternity that is basically a front for Morning Star International--the artists formerly known as Maranatha Campus Ministries--sued Carolina for yanking its recognized organization status. Carolina bent over backwards to accomodate these guys, but the fraternity still went to court. The fraternity is, for all intents and purposes, a ministry of one of Morning Star's most important churches--a church that grew out of Maranatha's Carolina chapter.
As I write this, there's no word on how the hearing went. I have a special interest in this, since I was burned by theBut there is something interesting to report. The Raleigh News and Observer probed into this fraternity and its ties to that church--but allowed the pastor to lie on the record about his past.
Morning Star/Maranatha has had a presence at Carolina in one form or another since a revival they conducted in 1981. The Maranatha chapter that resulted has grown into
King's Park International Church, which is now one of Morning Star's key churches. The founding pastor, Ron Lewis, has been in charge from the very beginning--he formally stepped down as senior pastor in 2002, but still calls the shots. The N&0 talked to him, not his successor--very telling.
And yet, Lewis had this to say about his past in Maranatha.
In the 1980s, Lewis was affiliated with Maranatha Christian Church, a national organization that disbanded after complaints about cultlike practices.
(...)
Lewis said he left Maranatha in the late 1980s because some of the church's practices "weren't the most healthy for Christians to live and grow by."
There's one problem with Lewis' claim--it's palpably false. For one thing, it wasn't just Lewis that was affiliated with Maranatha--it was KPIC as well. Despite claiming a 1990 founding date, the church was incorporated in 1986 as Maranatha Christian Church of the Triangle. It's changed its name twice, but it's legally the same church. One would think that if Lewis were that disgusted with the rules, he'd have dissolved the old corporation and incorporated a new one.
More importantly, Lewis played a major role in the shell game Maranatha engaged in to make everyone think they'd really broken up. For instance, in 1990 Lewis filed himself as the North Carolina registered agent for "Maranatha Campus Ministries International"--a new organization incorporated in Florida. This happened well after Maranatha supposedly dissolved. And get this--this certificate is still active in North Carolina today.
A few months after that, Lewis appeared on a Texas certificate of authority as veep of this same new Maranatha corporation. This certificate is also still active today.
I'm surprised that the N&O let him get away with lying on the record after getting him to admit he was part of Maranatha. Oh well, it's a start ... at least it's out there.