Ahhh blogging….the outlet of many armchair critics. Those of us who sit behind our screen of choice, watching our particular flavor of drama unfold in the webosphere, love to toss our two cents into the ring. That’s where I come in on our topic of the day – Matt Chandler, Matt Tonne & tweets that don’t age well.
I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of Matt Chandler. After the whole Karen Hinkley debacle in 2015 (read about it here), I lost a tremendous amount of respect for him and The Village Church. I also gained a lot of knowledge and insight concerning membership covenants (don’t sign one). Those suckers are legally binding (who knew?) and if you find yourself in a situation where you are at odds with church leadership, they pretty much call all of the shots. No thanks.
Matt Tonne
Matt Tonne was on staff as an associate childrens minister at The Village Church until June 2018. According to his wife Kristen’s FB account, they attended TVC for 15 years and Matt was on staff for 11 of those years. In the summer of 2012, it is alleged that Tonne assaulted an 11 yr old female camper at Mt. Lebanon Baptist Encampment in Cedar Hill, TX. The victim of this assault came forward and told her mother in February of 2018. The details of what happened next are outlined in a NY Times article that dropped a couple of days ago, which is what led me to blog on this topic today.
I followed this story from the moment Matt Tonne’s arrest was made public in January 2019, and his affiliation with The Village Church was made known. I knew, as did many other abuse survivor advocates and bloggers, that there was way more to the story than TVC was telling. Social media screenshots are forever, so I knew that a little investigative work would pay off later.
Notice the date on Kristen Tonne’s FB post to the right – July 14, 2018. This was a little over a month after her husband was let go from TVC. She alludes to some life altering events occurring in the ‘last few months’, one of which is the firing of her husband. She doesn’t go into specific reasons for his firing, but invites any inquiries concerning his departure from TVC. It’s a puzzling post for sure, because it’s hard to tell if Kristen Tonne knows at this point that her husband is an alleged pedophile.
Frightening...
What’s unnerving about Matt Tonne is that in December of 2017, he announced on Facebook that he would begin seeing patients (including children) at the UNT Counseling & Human Development Center.
Think about this: a children’s minister who (allegedly) sexually assaulted an 11 yr girl may have been counseling children.
what we knew then
When the news broke in January 2019 of Tonne’s arrest, the first questions that were asked were – what did The Village Church know, when did they know it and did they notify the congregation? The timeline got murky, real fast.
What we did know was that Chandler had informed his congregation in September 2018 that a student camper had come forward in early 2018 alleging to have been sexually assaulted at Mt. Lebanon camp in 2012. According to Chandler, the police were promptly called, TVC were fully cooperating with law enforcement and the leadership were ministering to the victim and family. “We want to clearly state that there are no persons of interest in this investigation that have access to children at The Village Church.” Chandler stated. While this was technically true (Tonne was fired in June 2018) what Chandler failed to disclose was that it was a STAFF MEMBER who was under investigation, and not just any staff member – it was a children’s minister who attended that camp in 2012, who had access to thousands of children for many many years. At this point Chandler had a fiduciary responsibility to alert every member or person that ever attended TVC who might have sent their kids to a camp, attended a children’s ministry event or participated in any facet of children’s ministry, that a staff member was under investigation. He also had a duty to appeal to any other potential victims, to encourage them to come forward and report to law enforcement. This was where TVC failed. Nobody knew that former-TVC staff member might be a pedophile, working directly with their children for 11 years. Chandler later clarified that they had a one on one meeting with the families (that they could locate) whose children attended that 2012 summer camp prior to the church-wide announcement in September 2018. Did they name Tonne during that meeting? He never says.
I was contacted by a former-TVC attender when the news of Tonne’s arrest went public. She was in one of the services when the 2012 Kids Camp Investigation letter was read to the congregation and corroborated what we already knew – no mention was made that a TVC staff member was being investigated for the assault. She no longer attends TVC because she feels it is not safe for her children, due to how TVC handled this situation.
Kristen Tonne, Facebook & Valley Creek Church
Kristen Tonne’s FB account reads like an open book to the devastation that was evident in the Tonne family. Several of her posts reveal that she was receiving intense psychiatric treatment (inpatient and outpatient). What’s confusing about this is that supposedly MATT had the problem and it was reportedly alcohol-related. Why wasn’t HE in therapy?
I’m being completely speculative here, but we can make some assumptions based on the timeline provided by the victim’s family in the NY Times article. When the victim came forward in February 2018, her mother immediately contacted The Village Church. At that time, Matt Tonne was currently on staff as an Associate Elementary Children’s Minister. We can probably assume that when the church was notified in February 2018 of the assault that occurred at their 2012 KIDS camp, one of the first departments to be informed would be the CHILDREN’S MINISTRY – where Matt Tonne was on staff.
It must be noted that according to the NY Times article, when the victim & her family raised the possibility that it might have been a TVC staff member who was the perpetrator, they were assured that could not be be possible, because TVC staff & leaders “followed the church’s moral code, enshrined in the membership covenant“. Those membership covenants have magical powers or something, right?
According to Kristen Tonne’s FB post from July 2018 (top screenshot above), she references the difficulties their family had dealt with in the previous months. Could this be related to the fact that Matt Tonne realized the walls were closing in on him and that he might soon be identified as the perpetrator in the 2012 sexual assault? Had he indeed developed an alcohol problem to deal with this impending revelation, which led to a suicide attempt in May 2018? (see FB screenshot below)
What we may never know is if Matt Tonne was, in fact dismissed from TVC for alcohol-related problems. TVC could have used this as a convenient reason to dismiss him in light of the sexual assault allegations. What we DO know, however, is that TVC was notified by early June 2018 (around the same time Tonne was dismissed) that Tonne was named as the perpetrator in the 2012 sexual assault. Did TVC choose to use a cover story to fire Tonne? Probably.
What’s most troubling is the fact that the Tonne family quickly landed at a new church nearby – Valley Creek Church in Lewisville. I tagged the church in a few tweets some months ago, asking if they knew that Tonne was under investigation for sexual assault of a child, and if so, what precautions were in place for the children at their church? No response. According to Kristen Tonne’s FB post below, Matt was present at a Valley Creek Church ministry event where children were more than likely present AND they hosted a sleepover with some children from their new church!
Also, he was at their children’s elementary school.
The former-TVC attender who had contacted me not long after Tonne’s arrest reached out to me again in March concerning Valley Creek Church’s strategy for dealing with Tonne’s attendance at their church – they had security cameras and said that Tonne was not allowed in the children’s ministry area, but did not alert anyone in the congregation about the investigation. They didn’t want to upset or alarm anyone. Once again, I tagged Valley Creek Church in some tweets with this new information. Not long after I posted those tweets, I received a DM from someone at Valley Creek church, wanting to speak directly to me about their policies. I politely declined, stating that any discussion they wanted to have could be done openly on Twitter. It felt quite intimidating actually, and is a good example of the tactics churches will use to keep things ‘in house’ and not be transparent.
here's what we know so far
- June 2012 – Alleged Assault Takes Place
- February 2018 – Victim comes forward; police & TVC leadership are notified
- May 2018 – Matt Tonne is put on leave of absence; According to Kristen Tonne’s FB, Tonne attempts suicide
- Early June 2018 – TVC is notified that Matt Tonne is the perpetrator in alleged assault
- June 2018 – Matt Tonne is fired from TVC – reason given is ‘alcohol problems’
- September 2018 – Meeting is arranged w/families whose children attended 2012 camp (met w/Det. Hernandez); Chandler makes announcement to TVC congregation regarding investigation (does not name Tonne or mention that it is a staff member)
- November 2018 – Tonne’s attending Valley Creek Church in Lewisville
- January 2019 – Tonne is arrested; Chandler gives 2nd update to TVC concerning Mt. Lebanon camp; names Tonne as the perpetrator.
- June 2019 – NY Times article is published revealing lawsuit filed by victim; Tonne’s criminal case is still active & pending
tweets that don't age well
This tweet certainly didn't age well
or these tweets from Matt Chandler, from #sbc2018
These tweets from Chandler are from June 2018, the same month TVC was notified that Tonne was the staff member who the victim identified as the perpetrator of her assault., and coincidentally when Tonne was fired from TVC.
Things That Stood out in the interview
Yesterday’s ‘panel’ where Chandler attempted to defend himself and The Village Church in light of the NY Times article was a bit painful to watch. He lays out the facts that we already know, but somehow tries to garner some sympathy for the perilous situation TVC found themselves in, as if the church is somehow a victim as well. Here are some things that stood out to me:
- He says in the interview, “We were even in conversations with the family last week…“, then clarifies that statement by saying it was the elders (not him) who were in contact with the family. HEY MATT – it was YOUR RESPONSIBILITY as the lead pastor of The Village Church to minister directly to the victim and her family. This was one of YOUR STAFF MEMBERS that assaulted a young girl! Whatever was on your calendar should have been cleared and you should have been on the phone with and then at the front door of their home, apologizing and walking with them personally for the duration of this process. You not being present made the victim and her family feel minimized. That is a betrayal in and of itself.
- Chandler works hard to portray himself as a weak, lowly sinner (like the rest of us), lest we forget, however, that he has willingly chosen to serve as a minister to a multi-site megachurch, and with that comes great responsibility. No Matt, you aren’t like the rest of us. You are to be held to a higher standard, and that is exactly what the victim, her family, the NY Times and those of us that are abuse advocates are doing – holding you and TVC to account.
- About five minutes into the interview he turns into a comedian (poor taste) and then starts sermonizing on seizing the day concerning protecting the most vulnerable. What? Moments later he’s talking about how fragile he is & how he’s supposed to be on sabbatical. When asked if he had met with the family? Flubbering & flabbergasted he admits that he hasn’t. So there’s that.
- He goes on to say how unprepared he was to handle the situation, which is astounding to me because in the beginning of the clip he states that sexual abuse has been present in his family AND as the pastor of a multi-site megachurch, wouldn’t you and your organization be the MOST prepared for this? Wouldn’t The Village Church have access to and funding for resources to educate yourself (Chandler) and your staff on how to handle allegations of sexual abuse within the church? I’m not buying this ‘woe is us’ story. This ‘oh we were just blindsided and didn’t know how to handle it‘ rhetoric is complete and utter bullhocky. If TVC is truly not prepared to handle spousal abuse and sexual abuse allegations, then you have way more problems than I can imagine. How is TVC safe if they aren’t prepared to handle these issues? How can they shepherd you or discipline you (according to their membership covenants) if they are so woefully unprepared to do so?
- Chandler states that Tonne was a ‘beloved’ staff member, then chokes up when recalling how he once spoke with his daughter concerning her faith. I never once saw Chandler get emotional about the victim or what she suffered at the hands of Matt Tonne.
- Chandler states that he notified the congregation “as soon as Tonne was indicted and an arrest warrant was issued“…but we know, according to the victim’s mother, that TVC was notified Tonne was the perpetrator months earlier. Chandler has been quoted as saying that the reason they HAD to name Tonne was because he was named in Dallas County public records and they could no longer keep it a secret. So which is it Matt?
- When asked if he had spoken to the NY Times, Chandler tries to play coy as if he is terrible at engaging with the media. Really Matt? You expect us to buy this too? I worked for a megachurch for many years and I know how this process works. There is a communication department (like he said) and they do run point for all media communications. He most definitely passed those interview requests to the communications department or those requests were intercepted by his support staff and he was completely hands off from that point on. That is exactly how it works. Trust me.
- Matt makes a lot of ‘I’ and ‘We’ statements. He has made this situation about him somehow, and not about the victim and what she’s suffered. He talks about being in a period of introspection. He tries to minimize his response to the family by stating they are 25 min away (that is not a huge distance in the DFW area BTW). He completely exaggerates this point to make himself look better. It doesn’t matter what campus she attended. Matt Chandler you are the ‘perceived’ lead pastor of The Village Church and your staff member sexually assaulted a young girl. It was your singular responsibility to reach out to her and her family and minister to them in any way possible. It is NOT, however, your luxury to be ‘introspective’. How nauseating.
**special thanks to Julia Dahl (@jdahlmd) for providing me the video clip to yesterday’s panel discussion.
Is it a lie or are the dates 'fuzzy'
One final glaring contradiction (or lie) that doesn’t add up. Was Matt Tonne fired BEFORE or AFTER The Village Church knew he was a suspect in the 2012 sexual assault of an 11 yr old female who attended a TVC Kids Camp in 2012?
A June 15, 2018 email to TVC members states he was fired in early June, following a leave of absence in May. An email was sent yesterday to TVC members in response to the NY Times article which went into more details regarding Tonne’s LOA and dismissal. This is where it gets fuzzy. TVC states they waited to terminate him because he was hospitalized for his own safety (we now know from his wife’s FB post that it was a suicide attempt), but what we don’t know is if TVC used the ‘alcoholism’ as a cover to fire him. They did know he was named as a suspect by early June. Again, we will probably never know ‘who knew what and when‘, but I suspect Chandler and some other staff knew what was really going on for some time, which might explain his lack of ‘care’ towards the victim. Chandler was fond of Tonne, as evidenced in the panel discussion from yesterday. Again, I’m being speculative, but it sort of adds up, in my opinion.
a reputation speaks for itself
A friend of Christi Bragg (the victim’s mother) posted this thread on Twitter, giving some insight into what the family has suffered at The Village Church since they went to leadership with the abuse allegations. I think what she said speaks for the character of the Bragg family.
Innocent until proven guilty? Not here
This article didn’t age well.
The author needs to amend or take down. All charges have been dropped due to lack of evidence therefore this article will do much more harm than good.
You are part of the problem
I went to college with Matt. He is a narcissist who isn’t interested in pastoring and walking with people, he is interested in being famous. He always has been. He was a mediocre student at best who only studied what he wanted and lacked any interest in having a deep understanding of his subject matter. His goal is to shame people enough that they won’t question him because they have no confidence in themselves. If G-d created us, why would he/she/they create garbage. His message has been consistent since he started preaching at Grace, yes I went to that too… Read more »
I suppose it would be poor publicity if the author updated that Matt Tonne was cleared of charges and did NOT assault anyone, much less a child. Articles like this ruining a good man’s name and preventing him from pursuing his passion (not to mention the damage this false accusation caused his own children) only serve to make it more difficult for real sexual assault survivors to come forward. The church handled the entire situation incredibly poorly, but Matt Tonne was not at fault. Please update the article.
So you just don’t believe the young girl or what? Or are you brainwashed or paid to write this?
What many do not know– but might know soon– is that Matt Chandler was accused of inappropriate behavior by this SAME person. TVC will soon have criminal and civil charges brought on them.
When will this info become public?
https://religionnews.com/2020/09/01/charges-dropped-village-church-former-childrens-minister-matt-tonne/
I have been around pastors all my life and I have been around the church all my life…the issue when a young twenty something out of bible college with no world experience decides to start a mega church — bad things happen. God raises up preachers of His Word, not the other way around. Matt Chandler is not a theologian, his construction of the Gospel is suspect, his beliefs though sincere are not based on the Holy Bible and his formal education as a pastor is incomplete — he is distracted, a great builder but a poor Shepard of the… Read more »
100% true. As someone who went to college with Matt, he is not a student. He had a bunch of other while men around him, telling him he was great and school was a waste of time. He need to seize the opportunity to be famous. Unfortunately, many innocent children and adults will be hurt.
Hi. Thank you for putting this together. I am a current member at TVC and have been a member since 2004. I think you bring up a lot of issues we need to address as a church, but I do have a question. You say:” Chandler states that he notified the congregation “as soon as Tonne was indicted and an arrest warrant was issued“…but we know, according to the victim’s mother, that TVC was notified Tonne was the perpetrator months earlier. Chandler has been quoted as saying that the reason they HAD to name Tonne was because he was named… Read more »
Bo – Thank you for your comment. I am in the process of trying to verify that information. I have received other information that TVC may have made that decision at their own discretion.
Have you attempted to simply ask Detective Hernandez himself? This would be the obvious solution if you don’t trust the statement. I understand it to be common to withhold naming a suspect until the investigation is complete. So this didn’t seem strange to me at all.
I have left a message for Det. Hernandez. I have also spoken to a detective with another police department who informed me that it is not standard practice to ask an organization to withhold the name of a suspected sexual abuser – that they leave it to the discretion of the organization.
My daughter attended the 2012 camp with TVC and was in the same cabin as Chandlers daughter. We stopped attending not long after the Hinkley episode and allowed our membership to expire. It should be noted that we were never notified about the meeting regarding the investigation even though our contact information is still the same. I doubt we are the only ones that were not notified.
HI, I’m an ex-wife of a churchgoing pedophile. (My ex-husband was molesting kids in a different state 30 years ago. He is completely unconnected to this situation.) I want to express my grief to the Bragg family for the multiple betrayals you’ve endured. First the molestation, then the lack of care, and the complete failure to treat you with respect and to alert the rest of the families in the church. It is so sad. I’m glad you told your story publicly. I’m sure it was hard and it took a lot of courage. (None of my ex-husband’s victims were… Read more »
Hopefully your ex husband is in jail, as just leaving him isn’t enough. He should be reported to the police. Based on the comment that your kids have a great relationship with him, it doesn’t sound like it, though.
Christina, My father abused my brother and received an 8 month jail sentence. He served that time, and obeys all requirements of being a registered sex offender. That said, while I wouldn’t say he and I are close, we do have a good relationship. Your implication that, in this context, it’s inappropriate for a father to have a relationship with his adult children (who also have a decision in the relationship) is beyond absurd. Not only is it none of your business, but people have the capacity to forgive (not forget) and move forward with life, despite the complications this… Read more »