Dallas-Area Church Leaves Acts 29, Citing Potential ‘Corruption’ (2024)

By Josh Shepherd

• January 4, 2024
• 4:20 pm CST
• 15 Comments

A Dallas-area congregation planted by a flagship Acts 29 megachurch has left the prominent evangelical church-planting network, citing potential “corruption and compromise.”

On Tuesday, Rick White, lead pastor of CityView Church, announced in a thread on X, formerly Twitter, that the church in Fort Worth, Texas, has ended its affiliation with Acts 29 Network.

“It saddens me that it had to come to this,” White wrote, “after 18 years of serving and giving, along (with) my personal investment.”

The church’s board of elders, which includes White, wrote a letter to members summarizing three reasons for the departure from Acts 29, and White posted an “abridged version” of that letter online. The letter alleges that Acts 29 has a flawed leadership structure “susceptible to corruption and compromise” and that recent decisions reflect a “leftward, theological drift.”

It concludes stating that the affiliation with Acts 29 no longer “helps (to) multiply churches.”

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The letter notes CityView’s close ties with Acts 29, stating that CityView Church’s Acts 29 membership is the longest-lasting in Texas. White also has served on staff as regional director of Acts 29’s Texas and South-Central regions, and the network’s website currently features multiple articles on church planting authored by White.

As previously reported by The Roys Report (TRR), Acts 29 has made recent headlines with multiple controversies.

Multiple churches disaffiliated from Acts 29 early last year after reportedly being stonewalled when seeking transparency regarding the network’s finances and decision-making process.

Additionally, in fall 2022, Acts 29 Executive Chairman Matt Chandler took a three-month leave from his church and his Acts 29 leadership role due to an “inappropriate online relationship.”

Chandler, who was president of the network from 2012 to 2020, has close ties to CityView Church. Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church for over two decades, helped launch CityView Church as a church plant of The Village in 2006.

The letter from CityView’s board of elders refers to, but does not name, current Acts 29 president Brian Howard and implies nepotism under his leadership. It states that Howard and “two family members . . . work for the Network – all three at a substantial combined financial cost to the network.”

According to the Acts 29 website, Howard’s wife, Chandra, is director of human resources at Acts 29 Network and his daughter, Ashley, serves as executive assistant to Acts 29 U.S. Vice President Justin Anderson.

TRR reached out to Acts 29 Network for comment but did not hear back.

The letter also laid out examples of Acts 29 signaling “leftward positions on multiple social matters.” Acts 29 leaders allegedly failed to speak “plainly and decisively on the matter of women preaching in Acts 29 churches.” This past September, the network also reportedly posted a video titled “Walking with Jesus Among our LGBTQIA+ Friends,” which the CityView board called “poorly conceived” and an “embarrassing distraction” before it was taken down.

As the “most egregious and public example” of leftward drift, the letter cited Acts 29 leaders’ attempts to foster awareness of race issues. The letter states in part:

“Acts 29 staked an ideological position when it posted some Racism and Racial Reconciliation resources (which) were clearly skewed leftward. Acts 29 went so far as to recommend Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning for nearly four months before finally removing that resource from the Acts 29 web site.”

Within the context of its final point—that Acts 29 fails in its mission to multiply churches—the letter asserts the mindset that drives its current leadership.

“Acts 29 tends to lead by pragmatism and is often captured by the whims of the moment,” the letter states. That means the network isn’t helping to plant churches “with a generational mindset,” the church elders wrote.

The letter maintains that Acts 29 has a “top-heavy structure,” noting that as “staff and operation (sic) has grown, Acts 29 has required member churches to contribute more money, time and commitment.”

And it alleges CityView has rarely received recent referrals from the Acts 29 website, reflecting the network’s “fading reputation as a trusted ‘brand’ in the larger evangelical landscape.”

The letter, which alternates between the tone of a group letter and one written solely by White, concludes on a decisive note: “Today, it is our best assessment that Acts 29 no longer deserves our continued loyalty or trust. In fact, it is my belief that I should have led our elders towards resigning from Acts 29 membership sooner.”

TRR reached out to White and CityView Church for comment but did not receive a response.

Several commenters online voiced their support for White’s letter and the church’s decision.

Justin Buzzard, pastor of Garden City Church in San Jose, California, noted that his church left Acts 29 last year “after 11 years and after trying for change.” He told White: “I respect your reasoning, tone, and communicating publicly (scores of pastors keep leaving quietly due to fear, not caring, or thinking this = love).”

Christian digital creator Josh Daws, host of “The Great Awokening Podcast,” posted on X: “This is significant. Rick is not a hotheaded reactionary. If he says there are problems in Acts 29, there are problems in Acts 29.”

And Jeff Noble, lead pastor of Northstar Church in Blacksburg, Virginia, shared the church’s letter online and wrote, “I know Rick and respect his ministry. This is a good, gracious and sobering read for churches and leaders involved in the Acts 29 Network.”

Update: This article was corrected to accurately state the location of Garden City Church.

Freelance journalist Josh Shepherdwriteson faith, culture, and public policy for several mediaoutlets. He and his family live in the Washington, D.C. area.

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