In July 2024, Pastor Rodney Finch was forced to resign after Calvary Chapel Cary in Apex, North Carolina, discovered that their building had been listed for sale. Finch apologized for attempting to sell the building secretly. He says he thought the church could only survive if it moved to a cheaper location. Before he resigned, his tenure was marked by a number of scandals.
“This is our last Sunday,” Finch said. “Effective today, I’ll be saying goodbye. I’ll be taking a backseat here at the church… When a pastor with this longevity leaves the ministry… it is statistically factual actually that a percentage of the church leaves as well.” He added, “Our mortgage here at Calvary Chapel is quite a large dollar amount… With my exit, that would greatly impact the ability of the church to meet monthly expenses.”
The pastor admitted he had planned to sell the building as early as January. He conspired with a few elders to accomplish his plan. He intended to sell the building and then tell his church after the deal was done. However, his congregation found the listing before the sale was completed. Finch says he returned early from sabbatical to “set their plan in motion” and “begin to congeal as a group.”
Critics have questioned Calvary Chapel Cary’s financials for years. The pastor refused to share budget information, and sources allege that he and his wife abused church credit cards. This controversy came to a head with the Nehemiah Project. This program, which was pitched as a way to fund a new building, received a large number of donations. However, a church building was never built.
“In 2017, after I came on staff, we were told to tell anyone who asked about the Nehemiah project that the funds had been used to make repairs and improvements on the current buildings and as a reserve for future building repairs,” said one former member “This was never announced to the general congregation.” A former assistant pastor reported that Finch failed to provide receipts for his spending, paid his family members lavish salaries and would “consistently book first-class travel accommodations.”
“Pastor Rodney told me that he had his church bi-laws written in such a way that his church council was advisory only,” the former assistant pastor explained. “He could not be forced to take a sabbatical or step down temporarily due to inappropriate behavior unless he consented. He had complete control of who was on the council as well. This is not accountability”
Many critics also worried about Fitche’s long-term drug addiction. “He was able to be addicted to drugs for decades, make the church pay for an expensive rehab program which he did not complete, and walk right back into the pulpit as if nothing happened,” one source said. While he did not address many of these complaints, he Fitch did issue an apology.
“Please forgive me on behalf of the board. Forgive me. That was not the right thing to do. It was the wrong thing to do,” Finch apologized “We should have immediately, once we made the decision that we were going to need to relocate the church, we should have come to you.” Church leadership has announced that they will pursue a new leadership structure and greater transparency.