He's been embroiled in at least eight lawsuits, was investigated by Congress and he lives a lavish lifestyle that has drawn admiration and criticism. Still, in the past few months Long's financial empire has shown signs of weakness. Now with his megachurch showing financial strain and his wife filing for divorce, Long's finances are under the microscope.
Channel 2's Jodie Fleischer started looking into Long's assets more than six months ago. She found very little paperwork because the church and its dozens of affiliated companies file very few public documents. Long drives a Bentley, lives in a million-dollar home and has owned Gulfstream jets.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley led a congressional investigation into lavish lifestyles at six ministries, including Long's. He looked into congregation members giving cash "love offerings" to the bishop on top of their tithes.
Fleischer also reached out to a half-dozen church members and staff, and none said they had ever seen an audit. The photos raised many eyebrows. He claimed a vegan diet, though public opinion leaned toward illness.
After his death, a press release from the church stated he had an aggressive form of cancer. His life sheds light on the enduring cracks in one of our most essential supports for the African American community: the Black church. There are the Baptists with the big hats. The Methodists offering a sprinkle for baptism, leaving you and your new hairdo saved. The Pentecostal who shake the walls with the spirit. The church of Christ members singing a capella and many more. Each denomination and church has its own values and structure.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news. The enduring intolerance of our churches to those who are gay has to be addressed. But to limit Long's impact to the black church understates his influence. He spoke before Congress, visited President Clinton in the White House and became a popular figure in white Pentecostal circles.
His church hosted Coretta Scott King's funeral service in Though Long dressed like a middle-aged hip-hop star, he once said the figure who led him to his greatest religious awakening was Jimmy Swaggart, the charismatic white pastor.
But it was Long's ministry to young men that first marked his rise. At a time when the traditional church had trouble attracting young men, Long called himself a "spiritual daddy" to wayward teenagers. He played basketball and lifted weights with his male ministers.
Long's relationship with his own father, though, was far from ideal. His father, Floyd Long, was a stern Baptist minister who was known as "the cussing preacher" because of his pugnaciousness.
Long said in one interview that his father was distant and didn't attend his football games or even his high school and seminary graduation.
Bishop Eddie Long's fall from grace It was Long's relationship to men, though, that virtually destroyed his ministry. In , he and his church reached an out-of-court settlement in a lawsuit filed by four young men who accused him of pressuring them into sexual relationships while they were members of his congregation. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Long, who preached passionately against homosexuality for years, denied the allegations. In , Vanessa Long filed for divorce.
Shortly afterward, Long told his followers he was taking some time off to work on his marriage.
0コメント