The Other Side Of The Coin

My niece was an ex-CHC member...

SuntecReit: The "straw that breaks the camel's back"

"I can tell you bluntly that the public was waiting to see if this church would collapse..." ~ A. R. Bernard, founder of the Christian Cultural Center, New York City’s largest evangelical church

My Church My Life (City Harvest Church) ~ 28 Oct 2015



City Harvest Church members support pastor Kong Hee ~ 28 Oct 2015



Ex-Charismatics, an ex-CHC member's testimony of the painful experience at Kong Hee's and Sun Ho's pentecostal ‎megachurch, CHC, read more...

Sun Ho Fancy Free MTV (Cause A Ruckus Album) — Lyrics should be rewritten like this:

Woke up no longer a millionaire,
Walking down the street with dishevelled hair,
All the boys stare, say that I'm no good,
Oh, I'm so cocky but I never knew they would,
Cause everywhere I go my life was a party,
I have so many worries, the sun keeps on burning on me,
Look how it's burning on me, (Oh),
You can't tell me nothing, look out cause I'm coming,
The street is my hellway and everyone's looking at me,
All of their eyes are on me, (All of their eyes are on me)
And I....
I feel so pitiful, (I'm gree-dy),
Can't no one tell me no (Shamefully),
My life's a circus show (Embarrassing),
No matter where I go (I'm not guilt-free),
I'm not guilt-free
Dee, dee, dee, dee,
Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee,
Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee,
Feels just like I'm on a falling star,
Failed my wish to be a super star,
Yes I'm wrong and dreams don't come true,
I'll just make today what I want to.
Have your say, you just broke my high,
No one joins me on my carpet ride,
Let's pray, what you say,
Say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
It's so easy,
See that's my problem right there,
I'm too cool, (no, no)
I thought I'll have fun, now I worry so much,
Just don't follow me.
Cause I feel so pitiful,
Can't no one tell me no,
My life's a circus show,
No matter where I go,
I'm not guilt free.

God says "sorry" to Kong ~ 25 Oct 2015



Hilarious: Kong Hee's greatest wish comes true in amazing technicolour ~ 11 Aug 2015





Why I left City Harvest Church ~ 17 Sep 2014

Ex-CHC member: ‘Celebrity culture’ in CHC does not fit into biblical principles ~ 30 Jun 2012

Ex-CHC member: I donated more than $10,000 to the church in last five years ~ “At the end of every sermon, a bag will be passed around for donations and Kong Hee would remind us that he did not want to hear ‘jingles’ (coins). This is on top of the monthly tithe which amounts of 10 percent of our pay.” ~ 27 Jun 2012

Kong Hee; Give until your heart is broken... ~ 4 Jun 2010



Kong Hee and City Harvest Church: How a music 'ministry' led to a megachurch pastor's downfall

Rev Mark Woods
21 Oct 2015

How are the mighty fallen!

We don't usually think of pastors as mighty, though we know they fall. But the height from which Kong Hee fell is very considerable, and his conviction with five other staff members of Singapore's City Harvest Church for embezzlement has stunned his 20,000-strong congregation.

The case follows the guilty verdict in the case of South Korean pastor David Yonggi Cho, founder of the world's largest church, who was found guilty of tax evasion and embezzlement last year and jailed. The Kong Hee case appears to epitomise most of what can go wrong with megachurch ministries.

Kong, his deputy pastor Tan Ye Peng, finance manager Sharon Tan and former finance manager Serina Wee, were accused with former board members John Lam and Chew Eng Han of misusing $17 million from the church's building fund to further the music career of Kong's wife Ho Yeow Sun, known as Sun Ho. A further $18.5 million was used to cover up the scheme through a complicated system of bond issues and 'round-tripping' transactions in which the church used its own money to pay debt owed to it.

Kong had steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout the trial, which lasted for 140 days and has been brewing since the six were indicted in 2012. He has won the support of many Christian leaders who believe that the case was founded on a misunderstanding. The funds were used to support Sun Ho's career through CHC's 'Crossover Project', aimed at promoting a Christian voice in the secular music industry – a mission tactic familiar in the West but far less so in the East.

However, the judge appears to have taken this into account and focused on the paper trail the defendants left behind them. Judge See said: "The weight of the evidence suggests they knew that they were acting dishonestly. They chose to participate in a conspiracy to misuse CHC funds."

He accepted that some of the accused were acting on the instructions of their spiritual leaders and intended no "permanent loss" to the church, but said that the "purity of their motives" did not exonerate them.

He referred to a "mindset of presumptuousness, demonstrating that the accused were overconfident that the funds could be replaced before suspicions were aroused". There was a "pervasive mindset of short term expediency" in their actions, even as they chose to "defraud auditors with falsified accounts".

The defendants may face up to 20 years in prison.

Sun Ho – recently ordained as a pastor and CHC's executive director – posted a statement saying: "This protracted season has been extremely difficult, not just for the six, but also for all their families and friends, as well as for our congregation." Aside from that, it urges loyalty to the church under its new management, saying: "Therefore, let's stay the course with CHC 2.0. God is making us stronger, purer and more mature as a congregation."

Reaction to the verdict and the statement has been mixed. One of Kong's supporters, Phil Pringle of the global C3 Church movement, said he was praying for "Kong, Sun and the team". He had earlier released a lengthier statement and a video describing Kong as "an honest, true and faithful minister of Christ" and "one of the most devoted, dedicated, rugged soldiers of Christ I know". He said that the case was an example of the devil attacking the Church and compared it to the crucifixion of Christ.

Many responses to Sun Ho's Facebook statement were favourable. Jeanette Chan comented: "Be strong.... we are praying for CHC ." Alona Rivera Anuran commented: "GOD BLESS YOU ALL... PASTOR Kong Hee and Sun, and all the leaders... be strong always... "

Others called for her and Kong to step down from their positions, expressing disillusionment with the behaviour of the accused. Jessie Padmanthan posted: "Sun Ho should not hv got the church involved for her music career. She should do it independently on her own resources. This is abuse of church money."

City Harvest Church itself expects to weather the storm, with many expressing loyalty to it in spite of the verdict. However, others expressed incredulity that could command a following.

The case has done serious damage not only to City Harvest Church but more widely to the image of the Protestant megachurches often held up as an example of gospel success. But the themes that emerge from it are not uncommon and have parallels in other ministry collapses.

1. Arrogance: Kong Hee and his supporters believed that normal rules of financial rectitude did not apply to them. They have not profited from their schemes and do not appear to have intended to do so. However, they seem have thought that their behaviour was not wrong because it was for reasons they believed were right.

2. Denial: Their supporters continue to regard them as unjustly convicted, the victims of a Satanic system opposed to Christ and his Church. Personal magnetism and a record of evangelistic success carry a great deal of weight.

3. Institutional wagon-circling: The statement by Sun Ho (who was not charged) encourages CHC members to continue to support it and says that she and Kong are "humbled by the tremendous outpouring of love and support shown to us during this time". This use of spiritual language might be seen as a refusal to engage with the issue of guilt.

4. Power: CHC's auditorium services focus all the attention of thousands of people on one man. To avoid being corrupted by this adulation requires great reserves of spiritual maturity and humility. The death of Herod in Acts 12:23 is ascribed to his arrogance: "They shouted, 'This is the voice of a god, not of a man.' Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down."

5. Money: The sums involved in the case are vast, but they derive ultimately from the small donations of hundreds of thousands of supporters, many of whom have given sacrificially for the cause. The leaders of the City Harvest Church were able to move in a world that seems to have little connection with the lives of their followers, and this became normal to them.

6. Unaccountability: There was no one strong enough to tell them to stop.

‘I have done nothing wrong’ ~ Sun Ho, 30 Jan 2003

Crossing over from gospel to vanity ~ 29 Jun 2012

$13m used to promote Sun Ho's music career "completely honest" - 23 May 2013

City Harvest trial: All 6 accused found guilty of criminal breach of trust ~ 21 Oct 2015

Despite being found guilty of misusing funds, Kong maintains innocence ~ 22 Oct 2015

What lessons can we learn from CHC court trial? ~ 23 Oct 2015

Poon's allegations on funds misuse in 2003 was vindicated on 21 Oct 2015



Sun Ho ordained as City Harvest Church pastor amid controversy ~ 29 Oct 2015