John Munro, senior pastor of Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina—one of the area’s most popular churches—is on paid leave while the board investigates allegations that he violated part of the employee handbook.
A Scotland native, Munro has served as the megachurch’s senior pastor since 2006. According to the Charlotte Observer, elder Billy Bailey told the 4,000-member congregation on Sunday that an “HR complaint” was filed against Munro but did not offer details.
Bailey also told the church that “Back to the Bible,” a global radio ministry, terminated Munro’s contract with the radio ministry for alleged misconduct.
“Because we, as elders, are charged with protecting our flock and seeking truth,” Bailey said, “we retained an outside investigator to assist us in gathering facts and information from all involved to ensure impartiality and neutrality.”
Munro could not immediately be reached for comment, but a letter emailed to members noted “the church takes these matters extremely seriously” and “situations such as these can bring tremendous stress and heartache to all concerned. Speculation and gossip can exacerbate these already difficult circumstances.”
The Munro controversy is not the first for the church. The Observer reports Calvary’s original contractor, affiliated with the then-scandalous PTL ministry, was fired after months and millions of dollars in delays.
