Bob Coy

Photo of Bob Coy (circa, 2013)

**Robert J. "Bob" Coy** (born November 27, 1955) is the founder and former Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

On April 3, 2014, Coy resigned as Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, after admitting to committing adultery and having an addiction to pornography. In 2017, he was accused of sexually abusing a four-year-old girl. His media ministry, which includes radio, television, and digital media, was subsequently terminated.

## Biography

Coy was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, on November 27, 1955.

At 21 years old, Coy got a job at Capitol Records in Detroit. "*I was living the life of sex, drugs, and rock n roll, literally,"* he said. Coy abused drugs and alcohol, and after multiple traffic tickets (some for driving under the influence), he lost his license. Soon after, at 24 years old, a band manager reported Coy offered drugs to a band member. Feeling his music industry career was ruined, Coy moved to Las Vegas and got a job in property management. He later became an entertainment director at a casino with an "All-Girl Revue." This, according to Coy, "*is another way of saying I ran a strip club*." Until 1981, Coy continued to live a life of sex and drugs. On the day after Christmas, his brother Jim (who had recently married and "got religion") let him crash in his living room after a wild party.

Jim gave Bob a pillow, blanket, and Bible. Bob threw the Bible at Jim and said "*Will you shut up with your Jesus stuff?*" The Bible still on the floor, Jim and his wife went to bed. Bob says he couldn't sleep because the Bible was "*calling out to him.*" He opened it to the Gospel of John and began reading; when he got to verse 3:16, he began to weep uncontrollably.

Jim and his wife entered the room and Jim announced: "God just woke me up and told me I'm supposed to pray for you." After that day at his brother's home, Coy says he hasn't been the same.
In the following days, Coy quit his job at the casino and began working as an associate pastor at Calvary Chapel Las Vegas. In 1985, Coy and his wife Diane moved to South Florida, founding Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, where he became well known for his unique style of teaching and preaching.

## Resignation and scandals

In April 2014, Bob Coy resigned as the Senior Pastor and President of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale because of an admitted struggle with adultery and an addiction to pornography. Coy spent a year in Chattanooga, TN in that city's Calvary Chapel to undergo a "restoration process", while the church board appointed Doug Sauder to take Coy's position as Senior Pastor. The Coys later divorced.

In November 2017, Coy was accused of molesting a child for many years, beginning when she was four years old. He has not been found guilty and no charges have been pressed against him.

## Presence in Freddit Freebuild

Bob Coy was introduced to Freddit on the 30th of September by Devin in one of his many messages promoting his church Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale. Devin said Bob was addicted to pornography and had multiple affairs which led to his resignation. Despite this, he seemed to have a good friendship with Bob's son and in turn didn't see Bob in a negative light at the time. The continued promotion of Bob Coy led to his likeness being used in many memes even after the accusations in September.

It wasn't until early 2018 that the scandals became more widely known to the entire server. This promptly led to the deletion of the Bob Coy emoji and ended usage of his likeness. Devin was also put under fire for promoting the pastor and lying about his innocence. However, while initially Devin did not believe the allegations were true, he later leaned on them most likely being true due to "gaining more insight on it" and being 'misinformed.'

## Charity work

Due to a great need for increased services to keep children from entering foster care, in 1997 under the direction of Coy, 4Kids of South Florida was founded to care for orphans and children in the foster-care system in South Florida.

However, Bob Coy's direct involvement with 4Kids cannot be substantiated through Florida's Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) web site, nor other references.

## Publications

* Template:Cite book
* Template:Cite book
* Template:Cite book
* Template:Cite book
* Template:Cite book
* Template:Cite book
* Template:Cite book
* Template:Cite book

## References

1. ↑ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2002-01-19/lifestyle/0201180538\_1\_favorite-spot-billy-graham-groundhog-day
2. ↑ http://www.outreachmagazine.com/2013-outreach-100-largest-churches-america.html
3. ↑ https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article184564528.html
4. ↑ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-04-29/news/fl-bob-coy-adultery-20140429\_1\_former-pastor-calvary-chapel-adultery
5. ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/floridas-notsocoy-pastor-is-just-the-latest-in-a-plague-of-fallen-preachers-9256667.html
6. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140410201803/http://www.calvaryftl.org/calvary-blog/statement-regarding-bob-coy/\_\_blogtitlelink\_\_/
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 https://vimeo.com/68538221
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 http://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/march-2008/something-more/
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/1998-12-31/news/channeling-jesus/full/
10. ↑ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-04-29/news/fl-bob-coy-adultery-20140429\_1\_former-pastor-calvary-chapel-adultery
11. ↑ https://discordapp.com/channels/225751744175407115/310916574733271040/363482737048551425
12. ↑ https://discordapp.com/channels/225751744175407115/310916574733271040/363910281128312834
13. ↑ https://discordapp.com/channels/225751744175407115/407261292957532161/411676144832741388
14. ↑ https://discordapp.com/channels/225751744175407115/535576288451231764/551360500647329802
15. ↑ https://discordapp.com/channels/225751744175407115/407261292957532161/411675667621740544
16. ↑ http://www.focusonthefamily.com/media/daily-broadcast/ending-the-wait-for-foster-care-kids
17. ↑ http://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/SearchResultDetail?inquirytype=EntityName&directionType=ForwardList&searchNameOrder=4KIDSSOUTHFLORIDA%20N020000012321&aggregateId=domnp-n02000001232-e2f9623d-6319-4714-85f5-6d7aefd0c440&searchTerm=4kids&listNameOrder=4KIDSSAKE%20N100000069210
18. ↑ http://www.4kidsofsfl.org/4KIDSteam
19. ↑ http://www.4kidsofsfl.org/4KIDSboard