The Awkward Saints Archive is dedicated to storing archived pages and providing links to archived versions of websites on archive.org. It focuses on selected individuals, churches, and organizations. Given the frequent changes in these entities’ websites, tracking these changes over time is a significant challenge. The Archive ensures that users can access historical versions of these sites, preserving crucial information that might otherwise be lost.
Compendium
The Awkward Saints Compendium functions as the site’s ‘wiki.’ This section is a comprehensive repository where detailed information about various entities is stored. Users can find information on church name changes, historical controversies, staff changes, and more. The Compendium serves as a central hub for those seeking to understand the history and evolution of these entities, offering a structured and accessible way to track and explore these changes over time.
Opinion
The Opinion section is a space for contributors to share their personal thoughts on different aspects of the project. It is also the platform for announcing news and discussing new controversies as they arise. This section provides a more dynamic and subjective perspective, allowing for the expression of opinions and insights that complement the factual and historical information found in the Archive and Compendium.
The Case for Accountability: Why Tracking Clergy with International and Inter-Denominational Careers is Crucial Church leaders often occupy positions of trust and influence that span across various denominations and countries. However, when allegations of misconduct arise, the systems meant to hold these leaders accountable are often fragmented and inconsistent, allowing harmful behavior to persist unchallenged. The case of Mike Breen, a church leader with a career spanning multiple countries and denominations, illustrates why a centralized platform for tracking clergy is essential.…
Love Without a Plan: The Quiet Revolution of Presence in Ministry In a world obsessed with strategy, metrics, and measurable outcomes, we often overlook the simple, profound power of just being present. Ministry, at its core, isn’t about grand designs or carefully crafted models—it’s about love. It’s about showing up, being there for those who need it, and doing so without an agenda. The quiet revolution of presence may not make headlines, but it changes lives in ways that no strategy ever could.…
Maintaining a comprehensive record of the careers of senior church leaders, including their websites, blogs, and sermons, is essential for ensuring accountability and transparency within religious institutions. As figures of significant influence, these leaders shape the spiritual direction and ethical standards of their communities. A documented history provides a reliable reference that can be used to assess their consistency, integrity, and alignment with the core values of the faith they represent.…
It is difficult to reconcile the timing of Mike Breen’s publishing arm’s recent “summer sale” with the gravity of the situation surrounding its founder. Just months after Breen was exposed for engaging in a sexual affair with a vulnerable member of Apex Church, one might expect a period of reflection. Instead, we are met with cheerful discounts on digital products that presumably offer wisdom on leadership, discipleship, and integrity.
🔥 Limited Time Offer!…
Introduction In his book Launching Missional Communities (co-authored with Alex Absalom), Mike Breen outlines a model for selecting church leaders that raises significant concerns. Notably, this model appears to discourage questioning authority, a stance that has far-reaching implications for the health and integrity of church leadership. A key passage from the chapter titled “Who Can Be an MC Leader” encapsulates this issue:
Are they willing to be accountable? - You can assess this by directly asking your potential leaders, as well as listening to what others say about them.…
An attempted edit from Atlanta, GA Recent activity on the Wikipedia page of Mike Breen has raised significant concerns regarding attempts to obscure critical details about his involvement in a serious ethical breach. Specifically, an editor attempted to remove all references to Breen’s extramarital affair with a vulnerable member of his former congregation—a matter that has been euphemistically labeled as a “controversy” on the page. This attempt to sanitize the record was promptly identified and reversed by Wikipedia’s monitoring system, which tracks edits and their origins.…