Tales of financial flaws follow pastor to W. Palm megachurch

[DoYouEverWonder]

August 13, 2006

WEST PALM BEACH — The new head pastor of the nearly 10,000-member First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach left a Georgia church in near financial ruin eight years ago, interviews and court records show.

Beloved as a dynamic man and powerful preacher, the Rev. Steven Flockhart repaid Macedonia Baptist Church in Dawnville last year a debt that had ballooned to $162,779, former parishioners said.

But, they insisted, even though Flockhart's action threatened the church's survival, there are no hard feelings.

"Other than a little flaw, he's incredible," said Bruce Phillips, chairman of the council of elders at the 170-year-old church just outside Dalton. "People at the church still love him. He's the best preacher I've ever heard."

The "little flaw" left the church deeply in debt, created difficulties for it to do business in the small northeast Georgia town and soured some longtime members on religion, said the Rev. Barry Crocker, who was hired after Flockhart left in 1998.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/content/local_news/epaper/2006/08/13/m1a_PASTOR_0813.html


Ah, another sleezebag for Jesus. Jesus loves you, now give me all your money.

[acmejack]

1. These tales are not that uncommon.

Either the ministers living in high style or worse yet, embezzling the Churches funds. There have been a number of stories lately where these men of the cloth have been nabbed doing the work not of God, but of a somewhat lower calling.

[smaug]

2. Rapturists are vile excuses for human beings

In my opinion, this has to do with greed and the concept of the Rapture. These human vermin masquerading as ministers are obsessed with money, possessions, and political power (which is to say, temporal power rather than spiritual power). Since the Rapture is comin' we don't need to pay our bills. Happens every time one of the Rapturists (NOTE: I will not pollute Christianity with their vile pseudo-philosophy) gets a wild hair about 'signs' (I once in grad school tried to collect all the 'rapture' threads throughout western history, and stopped, appalled, before I got to 1000 CE), they collect a following and lead people to economic and (sometimes) literal temporal doom. The Rapture, being part of the book of Revelations (a diseased collection of horror stories) is part and parcel of the need for a 'scriptural' control mechanism for priests (in the generic sense of the term).

This scumbag should be exiled to working at one of the 'Dirty Jobs' on Discovery Channel, and have his power of speech forcibly removed. People who are afraid are easy for these vile, despicable vermin to control . . . 'oh, oh, you'll go to Hell!' - well, if that's so, this offal will beat all of us there :D.

[LostinVA]

3. The Rapture isn't in REvelation -- it isn't Biblical

It's a 19th-c religious "fad" that started in Scotland, and moved here. The LDS are just one of the churches to arise from this.

The ironic thing is that it's usually so-called Fundamentalists who are Rapturists...

[Lars39]

4. Sounds like one of his faithful church members stole the promissory note.

I'm glad the little church is going after the money owed.
I know of a church whose new preacher bought his house in the church's name without them knowing about it until the preacher had been gone for a month. There was never a mention of prosecution.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. The 21st Century snake and oil men: Right-wing preachers.