Acts 29’s Response to Matt Chandler’s Leave at The Village Church

Matt Chandler, who serves as President and Chairman of the Board of Acts 29, recently notified Acts 29 of some concerns raised at The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas. These concerns were about his use of private messaging on social media in the context of his role as Lead Pastor. The elders of TVC reviewed those concerns, including commissioning an independent investigation of his messaging history with a particular woman.

TVC elders concluded that though Matt was not involved in a romantic relationship with this woman, in this messaging he failed to live up to the standard of conduct expected of a church elder. As a result, TVC announced this morning (August 28) that the elders are putting Matt on a leave of absence from preaching, during which he will focus on growing in the areas of his life and walk that contributed to this behavior. You can view TVC’s announcement, including comments from Matt, here. 

Acts 29 prioritizes personal integrity and holds our leaders to a high standard of conduct. Considering the findings of the TVC investigation and consistent with the leave of absence from preaching and teaching that the Village Church has placed Matt on, the Acts 29 Board has asked Matt to step aside from Acts 29 speaking engagements during this time. 

We hope that Matt can use this time away from speaking to focus on the process that TVC elders have laid out for him.

Executive Director Brian Howard, who has provided day-to-day leadership for Acts 29 since May 2020, will continue to lead Acts 29 throughout this time.

This decision does not in any way change our commitment to plant disciple-making churches throughout the world. In all of this, our greatest concern is for Jesus to be honored. We rely on Jesus to guide us and the Holy Spirit to lead us. We pray for all who are directly affected by this and we especially pray for all the members and leaders at The Village Church.

(Posted August 28, 2022)