The Story

A Christ-like response to allegations of wrongdoing requires a full understanding of the facts.

A longtime doorholder shared the evidence of staff’s widespread ghosting problem, and the details of his conversation with Pastor Ben Stuart, in two letters to the Passion City Church DC community dated January 29 and February 13.

Read the January 29 Letter

Read the February 13 Letter

The January 29 letter detailed numerous instances in which Passion DC staff ghosted members and visitors for weeks or months, despite repeated follow-ups, and never apologized. The stories are heartbreaking. For example, after Passion DC urged new Christians who had just accepted Christ to text and connect with the church, their messages went completely unanswered, no matter how many follow-ups were sent. This lack of response, coming immediately after their decision of a lifetime, likely felt like rejection from the very church they hoped to join. Other documented stories involved staff members ignoring messages for as long as six months, despite persistent follow-ups. The letter noted that many people felt deeply disrespected and many eventually left Passion because of this treatment. The concerned member recounted how he’d repeatedly raised this issue privately with staff over multiple years, and how staff had suggested that he leave Passion if the ghosting issues bothered him.

After sending the January 29 letter, the concerned member received dozens of messages revealing that staff’s rudeness was even more widespread than previously known. Members shared experiences of being stood up for coffee without even an acknowledgement, of trying six times to reach staff with no response, of being ignored for months on end. Dozens of members affirmed the concerned member’s decision to send the January 29 letter, expressing gratitude for his concern and courage.

Pastor Ben Stuart, as the February 13 letter recounts, responded in a February 6 meeting by removing the concerned member from the doorholder roster and saying that he should either “repent” for sending the January 29 letter or find another church. When the concerned member responded that he needed time to process, Pastor Ben replied that if he did not immediately know whether he should repent, he should leave Passion. When the concerned member emphasized that his motivation was love for those affected and concern for the church’s witness, Pastor Ben responded with sarcasm: “Totally.” Pastor Ben further asserted that, based solely on the January 29 letter, the concerned member was “troubled” and should seek mental-health counseling. When the concerned member asked if he understood correctly that Pastor Ben did not want to seek reconciliation, Pastor Ben replied: “Yes.”

Aftermath

Passion DC leadership has not spoken to the concerned member since the February 6 meeting. Staff has told other members, remarkably, that Pastor Ben was only giving advice when he told the concerned member to “repent” of the January 29 letter or find another church. But staff has never communicated that to the concerned member himself. Pastor Ben has not apologized to the concerned member for his sarcasm, his counseling suggestion, or creating the impression that the concerned member is unwelcome if he does not retract the January 29 letter. When a doorholder asked Pastor Ben in late February if he’d consider the concerned member’s proposal to pursue reconciliation with a neutral third person, Pastor Ben reiterated his refusal. 

Leadership has discouraged public dialogue and has tightly controlled the narrative. Leadership addresses these issues publicly only when it can control the microphone, ensuring that only its own voice is heard. There have been no opportunities for communal discussion, no town hall, no open Q&A, and no independent investigation into leadership’s actions.

To our knowledge, there have been no apologies whatsoever. Passion DC has not attempted to determine the scope of the ghosting problem. One member reported that when he told Passion DC staff in March that many people have left or are considering leaving, “they didn’t seem to care.”

Here’s what a different member reported about his own conversation with Passion DC staff member Jacob Harkey:

“Jacob did not adequately express sadness for people’s hearts that have been hurt by lack of responsiveness. He failed also to reflect on why many went to [the concerned member] with their concerns. Jacob took little to no responsibility for the issues presented in [the concerned member’s] letter. The responsibility, he insisted, is on the congregation.”

In April, Pastor Ben gave a speech to doorholders titled “Growing Pains” in which he compared staff’s rudeness to the challenges that young humans invariably face when growing physically. This framing cast the pain staff has caused as normal and inevitable rather than harmful and unacceptable.

Possible Retaliation Against Sibling

Just days after staff received the concerned member’s February 13 letter, staff removed his sister from the doorholder roster without notifying her or anyone else. Staff has said that the timing was coincidental, but the circumstances raise concerns that this was retaliatory.

Unilateral Exclusion

Earlier this year, Passion DC leadership banned a homeless man from attending services. The man had been regularly attending services for months. During one service, likely due to a mental handicap, he placed food in an attendee’s hair. While this behavior obviously needed to be addressed, we believe that there were compassionate ways to handle it short of excluding him entirely from the church community. 

Perhaps most troubling is that almost no one even knows this happened. We know only because one member encountered the man appearing distraught on the sidewalk outside the church entrance on a Sunday morning, and he told her that he was sad that he couldn’t enter. Passion leadership never even notified church members that they’d banned someone.

Financial Secrecy

Passion DC’s secrecy extends to its finances. Here’s one doorholder: “If Passion DC has ever misused funds, there would be no way of knowing. Passion DC discloses virtually nothing; I know this because I’ve asked.” Here’s another doorholder: “They are only as transparent as legally required. I asked for more info and was told no by [the church’s director of operations]. All we have is their total income and expenses annually.” Staff once informed doorholders that Passion DC spends approximately $30,000 on each Sunday service, around $1.5 million annually, but no one knows where those funds originate.

False Teaching

In the concerned member’s January 29 letter, he cited Matthew 18 and explained that he had attempted to follow its principles by first addressing the matter privately and then bringing the matter to the church community when that failed. In a February 5 meeting with doorholder team leaders, Pastor Ben taught that Matthew 18:17’s directive to “tell it to the church” means telling church leaders, not the congregation, of wrongdoing. Pastor Ben did not inform the team leaders that most (if not all) scholars disagree with him; he instead asserted his view as if it were uncontroversial.

Pastor Ben’s teaching, which would conveniently shield leadership from public accountability, is clearly false. The Greek word translated as “the church” in Matthew 18:17 is ekklesia, which means the assembly or community, the body. There is no disagreement about this. Every major English translation, accordingly, translates the Greek as “tell it to the church,” not “church leadership.” Other words like presbyteros or episkopos were available to refer to church leaders, but the word used in Matthew 18:17 is ekklesia. Pastor Ben appears to be substituting his preferred instruction for what the Bible actually instructs. Sometimes a verse’s meaning or application can be reasonably debated, but when a pastor misleads congregants about an unambiguous verse to advance an agenda, the Bible calls that false teaching and condemns it in the strongest terms.

The Future

But we hope this story doesn’t end with these disturbing facts. Our prayer is that one day the Passion DC congregation will move beyond the false unity of suppressed pain and reach the true unity of healing and reconciliation. We hope that open discussion will break the cycle of silence, bring hidden truths into the light, and lead to genuine repentance, restoration, and renewed spiritual health.