Florida Pastor Shot By Church Member On His Way to Bible Study

Florida Pastor Shot By Church Member On His Way to Bible Study

 

Pastor Laddie Pierce was shot by a church member in the parking lot.   Thank God he is going to be okay, but ladies in gentlemen, just think if this shooting could have caused him to die.  

It seems like every week now, we are presenting articles to you, involving tragic incidents of preachers either being found dead or shot, in stable or critical condition.  Saints of God, when is today's church going to make a wise decision...Read full article, here.

Read More

Pastor Henry Lyons Filed Bankruptcy This Summer to Avoid Church Foreclosure

Pastor Henry Lyons Filed Bankruptcy This Summer to Avoid Church Foreclosure

The scandalized Rev. Henry Lyons, who rocked a national African-American Baptist organization in the late 1990s, is now facing the possibility of losing his Tampa church.

New Salem Missionary Baptist Church of Tampa filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July to try and fend off foreclosure by Fifth Third Bank. The bank says it loaned the church $1.1 million in 2007 but that New Salem missed payments and has defaulted.

The bankruptcy filing appears to have stopped the bank from taking back any properties for now.

Lyons had run the National Baptist Convention USA for five years in the 1990s but was forced out in disgrace amid ugly allegations that he had stolen from the convention and had a marital affair. He wrongly spent church money to finance a lavish lifestyle that included a $700,000 waterfront home and a Rolls-Royce.

He eventually spent nearly five years in prison and was released in 2003.

What caused the issue to be exasperated was when the church took out a $1.1 million loan from Fifth Third Bank five years ago, at least in part to help it purchase land for a new church on Sligh Avenue near Interstate 4.

New Salem began missing payments and defaulted on the loan in 2009 and the bank filed a foreclosure lawsuit in August 2010 against the church.

In bankruptcy documents, Fifth Third Bank claims the church shuffled the ownership of some of the mortgaged properties. It appears the church no longer owns several of the properties it took out the mortgage upon, the bank says.

Source

Read More

Bishop Long Scandal: Wife Vanessa Long Speaks Out to Women about Ordeal

Bishop Long Scandal: Wife Vanessa Long Speaks Out to Women about Ordeal

During the women's ministry at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Vanessa Long spoke on the struggles she endured during husband Eddie Long's sexual misconduct allegations in 2010 and her subsequent filing for divorce in 2011, a petition which she ultimately chose to close and dismiss.

"I was in the middle of a storm, and I got off the ship," Long metaphorically explained of her marriage struggles to the hundreds of women attending the Heart to Heart women's ministry on Aug. 21, which is coordinated by New Birth Baptist Church and serves as a speaking forum for Christian women.

Take a listen to this:

Long, an elder at New Birth, told those in attendance that while she struggled with the decision to divorce Bishop Eddie Long after he was faced with multiple accusations of sexual misconduct with male minors in Sept. 2010, she ultimately chose to return to her marriage and to the New Birth family so she could share her experience and offer guidance for others.

Read and see the video of this phenomenal speech HERE

Read More

Des Moines Pastor Arrested with First Degree Theft Charges

Des Moines Pastor Arrested with First Degree Theft Charges

Des Moines Police Department says a pastor who became a volunteer assistant chaplain was arrested Friday for felony theft.

A 70 year old Sherman Brown was charged with first-degree theft and dependent adult abuse by financial exploitation.

It is unknown how much money Brown is accused of taking, but for that charge, it had to be a minimum of $10,000, said Sgt. Chris Scott with the police department.

Brown was held as power of attorney for a dependent adult man in a care facility. The Des Moines police department was notified of suspicious activity with the dependent man’s finances by the Iowa Department of Human Services.

An investigation began in late July, at which time Brown voluntarily resigned as a volunteer chaplain, and he cooperated with the investigation, Scott said.

Pastor Sherman Brown is also the minister of  Mount Calvary Ministries of Hope Baptist Church in Des Moines.

Source

Read More

Philly Priest Rev. Charles Engelhardt Trial Postponed

Philly Priest Rev. Charles Engelhardt Trial Postponed

The Philadelphia rape trial of a Roman Catholic priest and a former Catholic school teacher has been postponed after a lawyer in the case had a death in the family.

The Rev. Charles Engelhardt and Bernard Shero are due back in court Friday to get a new trial date.

Their case has been severed from the high-profile trial earlier this year of a church official charged over his handling of abuse complaints. The Rev. William Lynn is appealing his landmark child-endangerment conviction while starting a three- to six-year prison term.

The Rev. Charles Engelhardt, who was a priest at St. Jerome Parish in northeast Philadelphia, and Bernard Shero, a teacher at the parish's school, have been charged with rape, indecent sexual assault and other criminal charges in the alleged assaults that occurred more than a decade ago.

Engelhardt and Shero have pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a former altar boy at a northeast Philadelphia parish in the 1990s.

Their accuser, a troubled 24-year-old policeman's son, is expected to be the key trial witness.

Source The Associated Press.

Read More

Indian Priest Arrested and Accused of Molesting His Own Daughter

Indian Priest Arrested and Accused of Molesting His Own Daughter

The Amboli police on Saturday arrested a father who had allegedly been sexually abusing his 17-year-old daughter for the past few months.

The arrested accused has been identified as Shantaram Gaikwad, 48, a resident of Amboli and a priest at a temple in Andheri (W).

According to the police, the victim, in her complaint, stated that her father had been touching her inappropriately over the past few months. Initially, she did not tell anyone as her Gaikwad had asked her to keep mum about it, threatening her with dire consequences.

“Then, around ten days ago, the mother walked in on them and saw what was going on. The girl then told her mother everything, after which the two of them came to the police station to lodge a complaint against Gaikwad. Gaikwad, however, pleaded with his wife and daughter and said that he would not do such a thing again,” said a police officer.

The police registered complaint a under section 504 of the IPC (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) against Gaikawad and let him off with a warning. “But, after reaching home, Gaikwad allegedly beat his daughter and wife up,” the officer added.

The duo then left the house and moved into a relative’s place. They then approached an NGO and a few members of a local political party, with the help of whom a case was registered against Gaikwad at Amboli police station under section 354 of the IPC (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty).

“We arrested the accused on Saturday, following the complaint registered by the victim,” said a police officer of the Amboli police station.

Source

Read More

Pastor Arrested and Charged with Child Porn Uploaded on His Home Computer

Pastor Arrested and Charged with Child Porn Uploaded on His Home Computer

Pastor Jim Napier was the director of New Beginnings Christian Mission in downtown Biddeford and was very known for his work with the homeless in town.

State Police say Rev. Napier had more than 100 images of child porn on his home computer. None of the photographs appear to have been taken locally though the children do appear to be under the age of 12.

Police say the investigation started when they received a tip about Napier last Friday. He was arrested Saturday.

Pastor Barry Judd, the President of New Beginning's board, said Napier called him to say what happened Saturday night. Judd would not say what Napier told him, only that Napier resigned his post and has lost his ordination with the Mission's non-denominational church.

Judd said Napier did not run any children's programming with the mission, and that the Mission has a policy that no child should be left alone with a single adult.

He said the overwhelming feeling from those served by the mission is sadness. "A great deal of sadness," Judd said. "Our group will be grieving this whole situation. Nothing good comes from this and we know that."

Napier is scheduled to make his first court appearance on October 23rd. He is currently out on bail and is not allowed to have contact with anyone under the age of 18.

Source

Read More