C. J. Mahaney

American Christian minister

Charles Joseph Mahaney, commonly known as C. J., is an American Christian minister. He is the senior pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, and was formerly president of Sovereign Grace Ministries, now known as Sovereign Grace Churches (formerly People of Destiny International or PDI, co founded with Larry Tomczak), a network formed to establish and support local churches. He was one of the founding pastors and leaders of Covenant Life Church, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Under Mahaney's leadership, Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville is a member of Sovereign Grace Churches and works with the Southern Baptist Convention for training and Christian mission work. Mahaney resigned from the presidency of Sovereign Grace Ministries in 2013 in order to plant Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. A 2012 class action suit was filed against Sovereign Grace Ministries and listed Mahaney as a defendant. The lawsuit was dismissed due to the statute of limitations; Mahaney released a public statement explicitly denying all claims in the suit.

Mahaney was born in Maryland into a Roman Catholic household, the middle child of five. He was the son of a metalworker in Takoma Park, Maryland. As a child, he was more interested in sports than God.

In June 2011 Mahaney voluntarily took a leave of absence for self examination after charges were leveled against him by a former Sovereign Grace pastor. His leave occurred in the wake of accusations from a former top Sovereign Grace pastor who distributed hundreds of e mails and internal church documents that portrayed Mahaney as focusing on the sins of others below him in the church hierarchy. After Mahaney's departure, the Sovereign Grace board gave a strong vote of confidence to him, saying that he is "a qualified minister of the gospel and this board approves his pastoral and teaching ministry." After an extensive outside review by Ambassadors of Reconciliation of the charges brought against him and affirmation of the Sovereign Grace board, Mahaney continued to serve as president of Sovereign Grace Ministries. Covenant Life Church, the church Mahaney co founded and pastored for 27 years left Sovereign Grace Ministries.

In 2012, a class action lawsuit was filed against Sovereign Grace Ministries alleging that leaders including Mahaney covered up child sexual abuse. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice in May 2013. The Maryland Court of Appeals also dismissed the case after finding that the Plaintiff's lawyer had filed the appeal too early. Mahaney co hosted the Together for the Gospel conference with Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan and Albert Mohler. It was announced that he was pulling out of the 2014 T4G due to ongoing lawsuits against Sovereign Grace Ministries. He returned in 2016 but withdrew again in 2018. In February 2016, Mahaney was the subject of a Washingtonian magazine article, titled The Sex Scandal That Devastated a Suburban Megachurch Inside the Rise and Fall of Sovereign Grace.

Mahaney is the senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, a church he planted in the fall of 2012 with Bob Kauflin, Brian Chesemore, Jeff Purswell, and Gary Ricucci. He resigned from the presidency of Sovereign Grace Ministries in April 2013 while planting the church.