Pastor Matt Chandler, senior pastor of Village Church in Flower Mound, TX, posted to social media requesting prayers for his ailing wife, Lauren. After stating his wife had been in the hospital for three days, Chandler described her illness. “Super high fever and other symptoms. Still can’t quite figure out what’s causing it all. She has been poked, prodded and scanned up and down and the fever persists. Prayers appreciated. Thank you to all our family and friends who have filled in the gaps,” wrote Chandler. He stated that all the test results had come back negative but that doctors believed her illness to be viral. Chandler stated doctors were hopeful she would turn the corner soon as the virus ran its course. A more recent update announced that Lauren had turned a corner, despite her illness remaining unidentified. “They still haven’t identified the virus but have ruled out most of the scary autoimmune diseases. Doctor said if she can go 48 hours without fever and fever reduction meds we can go home. That will be 8 days in the hospital which is crazy to me,” wrote Chandler. He thanked his followers for their prayers.

The Chandlers have been married for 25 years and share three children. Lauren leads worship at Village Church, where the pair have served for over 20 years. In addition to being a worship leader, Lauren is also an author and speaker. During their marriage, the two have also faced Matt’s own health battle when he was diagnosed with a grade 3 oligodendroglioma, a malignant brain tumor, in 2009. In September 2010 after receiving radiation and treatment, Matt was declared cancer-free.

The couple faced another battle after Matt took a temporary leave of absence from Village Church in 2022 after it was determined he’d had an inappropriate online relationship with an unnamed female member of the church. Reports have said the messages were not romantic in nature and that both Lauren and the wife’s husband knew about the messages. However, he agreed that the messages were “unguarded and unwise” and stepped down for three months before returning to his pastoral duties.