Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel movement–which faced a day of reckoning and uncertain future in 2007 over concerns about lax moral standards among its leaders–is making headlines once again.
It's not often that a father will sue his own son. But Bob Grenier, pastor of Visalia Calvary Chapel, says he is tired of his estranged son Alex Grenier's "cyberbullying campaign" against his parents and their church–so the elder Grenier is pressing charges to make his son stop.
In a lawsuit filed in October, Bob Grenier alleges that Alex Grenier launched a website and "posted accusations that his father committed felony child abuse against him and his three brothers while pretending to be an upstanding preacher and police chaplain," the Fresno Bee reports.
Besides libel and slander, the lawsuit also alleges that Alex Grenier and another Visalia church member, Tim Taylor, "engaged in intentional infliction of emotional distress of the pastor and his wife."
The scandal broke about two years ago, when Alex Grenier first launched his site.
In addition to reporting the Calvary Chapel movement's "day of reckoning", CT previously reported when New Mexico megachurch pastor Skip Heitzig became embroiled in accusations of leadership accountability. He initially resigned from his position, but then returned to lead the church seven months later.
