Ron Phillips Sr., a pillar of the Chattanooga religious landscape and pastor emeritus of Abba’s House, stepped onto the Sunday morning stage of a church in crisis.
“Venue Church needs to begin to pray for what’s next, not for what’s been,” Phillips told the congregation.
But the sins of the past appear to be undoing the Chattanooga megachurch. A church that years ago was among the fastest-growing houses of worship in the nation now struggles to attract a few dozen people to a service on a given Sunday.
Ushers with flashlights still directed people to available seats, despite two-thirds of the roughly 150 cushioned chairs being unfilled at 9 a.m. in the nearly 47,000-square foot building. A video introducing volunteer opportunities at the church played for nearly 40 seconds without sound. A similar awkward silence filled the auditorium between worship songs.
The Abba’s House pastor filled the preaching void left by Venue’s charismatic lead pastor, Tavner Smith, who remains on sabbatical a month after nearly all staff at his church quit before Christmas over concerns about Smith’s leadership and an alleged affair with a staff member.