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Politics & The Nation
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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2010 Sex allegations roil black church community
Long is expected to address his congregation today
BY NIA-MALIKAHENDERSON AND KRISSAH THOMPSON
Bishop Eddie L. Long built a
religious empire just outside At- lanta by preaching a blend of the Gospel mixing faith, politics and finance—wrapped up in a flashy style — that propelled him to the pinnacleof themovementof large, independent African American mega-churches across thenation. Now, after hewas slappedwith
four lawsuits lastweek alleginghe used his position to coerce young malemembersofhis flockintosex acts, Long’s future as a towering figure in the one of the country’s mostaccomplishedblackcommu- nities and beyond is in question. On Sunday, Long is expected to take to the pulpit of his sprawling Lithonia church and address his 25,000-member congregation. Many thousands more will be
listening,andsomeareevenflying to witness the event. The allega- tions have been a hot topic on black radio and Web sites since they came to light Tuesday, and black preachers across the coun- trywill continue the conversation fromtheirpulpits Sunday. It is, parishioners and observ- ers say, a moment of undeniable
Bishop Eddie Long speaks during a 2009 funeral service atNewBirthMissionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.
crisis inthe black church. “The onlypersoninthepanthe-
onofblackchurcheswho isbigger than this is T.D. Jakes,” said AntheaButler,areligionprofessor at the University of Pennsylvania whowasamongthose flyingdown to Georgia. “And Atlanta is the
epicenter of black church life. . . . It’s going to rock everything at the church,andpeoplewillreallystart to questiontheseministers.” While there has been specula-
tionthatLongwill stepdownfrom the pulpit of New Birth, where he began ministering in 1987 with
300 members, his attorney, Craig Gillen, saidinaninterviewthathe did not expect that to happen. Instead, he said, he thinks Long will offer a vigorous defense against the accusations, which Long addressed in a statement posted Thursday to his church’s
Web site. “Iamanxioustoresponddirect-
ly to these false allegations and I will do so. However, my lawyers have counseled patience at this time,” Long said. “But let me be clear; the charges againstme and NewBirtharefalse. Ihavedevoted
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my life tohelpingothers andthese false allegations hurt me deeply. But my faith is strong and the truthwill emerge.” Long, 57, has been a national
figureinAfricanAmericanchurch circles since the mid-1990s. He came to national prominence in 2006 when his New Missionary Baptist Church hosted four U.S. presidents for thefuneralofCoret- ta ScottKing. The church sits on a 240-acre campus, has satellite churches in other cities and is one of the largest venues inGeorgia. According to suits filed in De-
kalb County, Long enticed the young men into homosexual acts withjewelry, cars, trips andaccess to celebrities. B.J. Bernstein, the attorney for the four plaintiffs, declined to comment on the case or whether more young men would come forward with similar allegations. Last week she re- leased pictures Long allegedly sent to his accusers from his cell- phone of himself in bathrooms in tight-fittingmuscle shirts. In their lawsuits, the young
JOHN BAZEMORE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
men, all over 16 at the time of the alleged incidents, say that Long instructed themto call him“Dad- dy” andmoved to block their rela- tionships with girls by “increased contact and spiritual talk as to the covenant between the Spiritual Sonandhimself.” The lawsuits, which name
Long,NewBirthandLongFellows YouthAcademyasdefendants, say people inLong’s circleknewabout his conduct but did nothing to warn the defendants. They allege thathe “hasapatternandpractice of singling out a select group of youngmale churchmembers and using his authority as Bishop over them to ultimately bring them to the point of engaging in a sexual relationship.” For years, Long has been either
belovedorbemoanedforhisglitzy lifestyle and politically connected mega-church. It has TV minis- tries, a fitness center, a school and a program for the homeless and addicted. According to its Web site, it has also heldweekly “out of the wilderness” counseling ses- sions for the “discipleship ofmen and women struggling with ho- mosexuality.” In 2004, Long and Bernice
King, the daughter of Martin Lu- therKing Jr., ledamarchinAtlan- ta calling for a “return to family values in the African American community” and opposing same- sex relationships, while demand- ing health-care and education re- form.WhentheKingfamilydecid- ed to hold Coretta Scott King’s funeral at the church, thedecision wasmet with protest in some cir- cles because ofhis anti-gay views. Longwas a supporter of Presi-
dentGeorgeW.Bush’s faith-based initiatives.Alsoknownforhisgen- erosity, he has paid off members’ mortgages, given out cars and pushedhomeownership as part of God’splanfor believers. His church prospered along
with its surroundings. Dekalb County is one of the wealthiest predominantly black communi- ties in the country, and Long and his church are major players there. It is popular among young professionals and college stu- dents, andthe churchruns shuttle buses toandfromthe campusesof Spelman, Morehouse and other historically black colleges. Long felt he, too, should be
prosperous. In 2005, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published tax records fromthe churchshow- ing that, from1997 to 2000, Long had accepted $3million in salary, housing and other perks from a charityhe controlled. He told the newspaper: “We’re
not justachurch,we’reaninterna- tional corporation. We’re not just a bumbling bunch of preachers who can’t talk and all we’re doing is baptizing babies. I dealwith the WhiteHouse. . . . I pastor amulti- million-dollar congregation.” ThosewhostudyAfricanAmer-
ican churches say the scandal fac- ing Long will force the black church community to have the same conversationaroundsexual- ity and faith that has been taking place in other Christian faith tra- ditions for years. Those discussions have often
begun around scandals, such as the cases of child sexual abuse by priests intheCatholicChurchand the revelations that Ted Haggard, the former leader of the National Evangelical Association, allegedly engaged in sex acts with a male prostitute. These issues have got- ten fewer headlines and less na- tional attentioninblackchurches. The question of sexuality in
black churches is “an incredibly vexed” issue, said Eddie Glaude, a professor of theology and African American studies at Princeton. “Wehave touse thismomentasan occasion to talk about the rela- tionship between our commit- ment toChrist and the reality that we are sexual beings.”
hendersonn@washpost.com
Staff researcher AliceCrites contributed to this report.
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