Earl Paulk
Encyclopedia
Earl Pearly Paulk, Jr. was the American founder of the Cathedral at Chapel Hill, a charismatic
/Pentecostal megachurch
in Decatur, Georgia
; a suburb of Atlanta. Noted as "one of the country’s first great independent megachurches", it gained an international reputation for combining liturgical arts, such as dance
and drama
, with cutting-edge social ministry." He was also known for his lifelong crusade against racism
.
Paulk's reputation was severely tarnished in his later years by allegations of sexual misconduct, including several illicit relationships and accusations that he had molested children.
; near Savannah
, to Earl Pearly Paulk, Sr. and Addie Mae Tomberlin Paulk. His father was a minister in the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
, eventually rising to assistant general overseer of the denomination. At 17, Paulk said he received a call from God to enter ministry.
Paulk graduated from Furman University
in Greenville, South Carolina
in the 1940s, and earned his divinity degree from Emory University
's Candler School of Theology
, becoming the first Pentecostal to attend the historically Methodist
seminary
. While at Candler, he married Norma Davis, a girl who had attended his father's church.
; north of Atlanta. It was during this time that he began preaching against racism. Years later, he said that he was influenced by seeing his uncle shoot a black friend in the back for cutting corners while plowing cotton
. Paulk's stance was not typical for his time; it had long been common for white Southern preachers to use the Bible to justify support for racial bars.
In 1952, Paulk was named pastor of Hemphill Avenue Church of God (now Mount Paran Church of God) in Atlanta just as the civil rights movement
was getting underway. He was one of the few white pastors who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr.
Not long after taking over at Hemphill, Paulk became a member of "Concerned Clergy," an interracial group of Atlanta pastors who opposed racial segregation
. The group was led by King's father, Martin Luther King, Sr.
, and met in the basement of the elder King's church, Ebenezer Baptist Church. During this time, he served on a committee that observed Georgia's then-segregated schools, and determined that "separate but equal
" was a fiction.
Earl Paulk said that he signed The Atlanta Manifesto, a statement prepared in the fall of 1957 by a group of clergymen in Georgia
, relating specifically to the violence in Little Rock, Arkansas
, and in general to issues of racial integration
from the point of view of Christian
social responsibility
., but examination of that document does not include Earl Paulk's signature.
Paulk resigned from Hemphill in 1960. Officially, it was due to differences of opinion with Church of God leaders regarding his stance on racial integration, as well as the fact he allowed women in his church to wear jewelry (at the time, the Church of God, like many Pentecostal denominations, strongly admonished women against wearing makeup or jewelry). However, it later emerged that he'd had an extramarital affair with a woman in his church.
section of Atlanta. It later moved to its own building in nearby Inman Park
.
From the first day, Paulk was committed to opening the doors of his church to all people, regardless of racial or economic background. Not surprisingly given his opposition to segregation, he was one of the first white pastors to open the doors of his church to blacks. This stance wasn't popular even with some members of his own church; when the first blacks set foot in the church in the early 1960s, several whites walked out in protest. In response, one of the whites who remained, Ida Williams, gave a 15-minute sermon in which she said, "It is not the will of God that we should have prejudice." To this day, the church has a fairly large black membership for a church led by a white pastor.
Paulk remained active in the civil rights movement during this time. For instance, at a meeting of Concerned Clergy, he was one of the pastors who blessed the first civil rights march
in Selma, Alabama
. Later, he and his brother picketed a produce market which sold food to blacks at inflated prices. The resulting public outcry caused the store's closure.
In 1972, the church moved to the southern part of DeKalb County
and became known as Chapel Hill Harvester Church. While there, the church experienced massive growth, enlarging the building several times, having services in a tent, then moving its services into a building known as the "K-Center." In 1989, the church broke ground on a large, Gothic
-like building off Interstate 285
in Decatur. Dedicated in 1991, this building is known as the "Cathedral of the Holy Spirit," and eventually the church changed its name to "the Cathedral at Chapel Hill."
The church was famed for combining visual arts (particularly with the dance team) with a liturgical
style. Under his sister Clariece, who headed the church's arts ministry for many years, it became known for its music ministry as well. Paulk, who had previous television and radio ministry experience, later expanded his media ministry and for many years his show aired on TBN
. He also was a semi-regular guest on TBN's "Praise the Lord."
In 1982, Paulk was ordained as a bishop in the International Communion of Charismatic Churches. His public housing ministry was named one of a "thousand points of light
" by President George H. W. Bush
He ultimately gave up the senior pastor's title to his brother Don, but was still acknowledged as the real power.
In later years, he became one of the few mainstream Pentecostal/charismatic leaders to welcome openly gay and lesbian members.
Paulk's church population numbers exploded during the 1990s; at its height it had 12,000 members. Recent scandals (see below) have significantly diminished its numbers; as of 2007 it had 1,500 members.
In August 2009, with the church property facing foreclosure, the campus was sold to another local growing church; who then allowed Chapel Hill to use their old sanctuary; which continues to date as of August 2010.
Paulk's autobiography. The story received considerable national coverage. Earl Paulk denied the allegations, claiming Weeks was either mentally unstable or under evil influences. However, he admitted the adulterous affair which forced him out of Hemphill Church of God 32 years earlier.
Hall chose not to become involved in the Brewers' lawsuit in part because of the length of time since her relationship with Paulk. Hall also claims that at Paulk’s request, she denied having sex with him, lying under oath at her deposition for the Battle case.
. She was a Sunday School teacher who married Bobby Brewer, a minister at the church, in 1987. She was also featured regularly as a soloist on Paulk's television program. Brewer claimed that on September 11, 1989; Paulk felt "'impressed of the Lord' to get to know her better". She stopped by his office the next day, becoming a regular visitor. She alleged that a church official stated that there had been a "word of knowledge
" claiming that she was about to enter a new relationship that would benefit her. That relationship became an extramarital affair that lasted 14 years.
She didn't break the relationship off until September 2003, years later, and didn't tell anyone until hearing about Cindy Hall. She then told her husband, who bided his time until the refinancing of the church was finished. In March 2004, Bobby Brewer angrily confronted Earl and Don Paulk at the Brewers' house, at one point hitting them both.
The Brewers eventually sued Paulk and his church on August 31, 2005, claiming Paulk misused his position to manipulate her into a sexual relationship for fourteen years and claiming Paulk owed US$400,000 for a loan Brewer issued to settle the Jessica Battle suit.
Paulk denied the allegations from Brewers but his attorney acknowledged a sexual relationship between the bishop and Mona Brewer. Paulk claimed that the relationship was brief and that she was the initiator.
On Monday, March 5, 2007, at a pretrial hearing, the Brewers' lawyer wrote out a request for dismissal of the case by hand and handed it to lawyers for Paulk and the church. This was just as a ruling was about to come on a motion by Paulk's lawyers to dismiss the allegations. By dropping the case before the ruling, the Brewers left open the possibility of filing another suit with the same allegations. "We were having difficulty even at this point getting witnesses to speak out against the acts of Bishop Paulk and the church," Levenson said. "Sometimes you just have to do this."
The Brewers did, in fact, refile the suit with another judge. However, in February 2008, DeKalb County Judge Mark Anthony Scott threw the case into limbo when he ruled that she was "of sound mind" when she and Paulk began their relationship. Scott ordered the Brewers to reimburse Paulk for $1 million in legal expenses for filing a frivolous suit. Under Georgia law, the second suit they filed couldn't continue until the attorneys' fees were paid. However, in February 2009, the Georgia Court of Appeals
reversed Scott's decision, citing numerous instances where Paulk himself stated under oath that he was Mona Brewer's "spiritual adviser, minister, pastor and reverend."
Although Paulk's death removed him from the suit, Mona Brewer said she fully intended to continue her suit against the church.
D.E. Paulk had been raised as the son of Don Paulk, Earl Paulk's brother. However, the test confirmed that he was the product of an illicit relationship between Earl Paulk and his sister-in-law, Clariece Paulk, who was married to Don. During the Brewer case, Earl Paulk had denied sleeping with anyone other than Mona Brewer. However, prosecutors and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation
suspected he was lying, and triggered an investigation that led to a court-ordered paternity test on Donnie Earl Paulk. As a result, Paulk was charged with perjury
on January 14, 2008. Two days later, Paulk pleaded guilty to the charges, for which he was sentenced to ten years probation and a thousand-dollar fine.
Don Paulk later said that he has forgiven his brother, and said D.E.'s paternity "made no difference in my love for my brother or my son."
in Atlanta on December 11, 2007 and apologized on behalf of her family for her father's misdeeds. She claimed to have confronted him as far back as the 1980s about his immorality. According to her, he had confessed and promised to reform, but reneged on his promise. Revelations that D.E. Paulk was her half-brother rather than her cousin had come as no surprise to her, she said.http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=E1B2CBD42EC4E8FB89D94E6F21D1CA9A?contentId=5187652&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1
Interviewed on the same station the next day, Bonner's daughter, Penny White (née Penielle Brooke Bonner) went public with allegations, previously made only in court papers, that her grandfather Earl Paulk had sexually abused her as a child. Earl Paulk issued a statement through his lawyer denying the charge. http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=7502AEC046B019719695F7D03814B719?contentId=5198774&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1
and Word of Faith
teaching. Before opening his doors to the gay and lesbian community, he had close ties to the Reconstructionist
movement.
after a long battle with cancer.
Charismatic movement
The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
/Pentecostal megachurch
Megachurch
A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...
in Decatur, Georgia
Decatur, Georgia
Decatur is a city in, and county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. With a population of 19,335 in the 2010 census, the city is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple zip codes in unincorporated DeKalb County bear the Decatur name...
; a suburb of Atlanta. Noted as "one of the country’s first great independent megachurches", it gained an international reputation for combining liturgical arts, such as dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
and drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, with cutting-edge social ministry." He was also known for his lifelong crusade against racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
.
Paulk's reputation was severely tarnished in his later years by allegations of sexual misconduct, including several illicit relationships and accusations that he had molested children.
Early life and training
Paulk was born on May 30, 1927 in Appling County, GeorgiaAppling County, Georgia
Appling County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population is 17,419. The 2007 Census Estimate placed the population at 17,946...
; near Savannah
Savannah
Savannah or savanna is a type of grassland.It can also mean:-People:* Savannah King, a Canadian freestyle swimmer* Savannah Outen, a singer who gained popularity on You Tube...
, to Earl Pearly Paulk, Sr. and Addie Mae Tomberlin Paulk. His father was a minister in the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
The Church of God, with headquarters in Cleveland, Tennessee, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination. With over seven million members in over 170 countries, it is one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in the world...
, eventually rising to assistant general overseer of the denomination. At 17, Paulk said he received a call from God to enter ministry.
Paulk graduated from Furman University
Furman University
Furman University is a selective, private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Furman is one of the oldest, and more selective private institutions in South Carolina...
in Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
in the 1940s, and earned his divinity degree from Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
's Candler School of Theology
Candler School of Theology
Candler School of Theology, Emory University, is one of 13 seminaries of the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1914, the school was named after Warren Akin Candler, a former President and Chancellor of Emory University and a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South...
, becoming the first Pentecostal to attend the historically Methodist
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
. While at Candler, he married Norma Davis, a girl who had attended his father's church.
Civil rights work
While attending Furman, Paulk served as an associate pastor at his father's church in Greenville. While at Candler, he was called to his first pulpit, a Church of God in Buford, GeorgiaBuford, Georgia
As of 2010 Buford had a population of 12,225. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 65.8% white, 13.8% black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 2.9% Asian, 14.7% reporting some other race and 2.5% reproting two or more races...
; north of Atlanta. It was during this time that he began preaching against racism. Years later, he said that he was influenced by seeing his uncle shoot a black friend in the back for cutting corners while plowing cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
. Paulk's stance was not typical for his time; it had long been common for white Southern preachers to use the Bible to justify support for racial bars.
In 1952, Paulk was named pastor of Hemphill Avenue Church of God (now Mount Paran Church of God) in Atlanta just as the civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
was getting underway. He was one of the few white pastors who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
Not long after taking over at Hemphill, Paulk became a member of "Concerned Clergy," an interracial group of Atlanta pastors who opposed racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
. The group was led by King's father, Martin Luther King, Sr.
Martin Luther King, Sr.
Martin Luther King, Sr., born Michael King was a Baptist missionary, an advocate for equal justice and an early civil rights leader. He was also the father of Martin Luther King, Jr.King, Sr...
, and met in the basement of the elder King's church, Ebenezer Baptist Church. During this time, he served on a committee that observed Georgia's then-segregated schools, and determined that "separate but equal
Separate but equal
Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law that justified systems of segregation. Under this doctrine, services, facilities and public accommodations were allowed to be separated by race, on the condition that the quality of each group's public facilities was to...
" was a fiction.
Earl Paulk said that he signed The Atlanta Manifesto, a statement prepared in the fall of 1957 by a group of clergymen in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, relating specifically to the violence in Little Rock, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, and in general to issues of racial integration
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
from the point of view of Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
social responsibility
Social responsibility
Social responsibility is an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual or organization has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the...
., but examination of that document does not include Earl Paulk's signature.
Paulk resigned from Hemphill in 1960. Officially, it was due to differences of opinion with Church of God leaders regarding his stance on racial integration, as well as the fact he allowed women in his church to wear jewelry (at the time, the Church of God, like many Pentecostal denominations, strongly admonished women against wearing makeup or jewelry). However, it later emerged that he'd had an extramarital affair with a woman in his church.
Church & Ministry
In 1960, Paulk founded the Gospel Harvesters Evangelistic Association with his wife, his brother Don (also a former Church of God pastor), and his sister-in-law Clariece. During its early years, the church held services at St. John's Lutheran Church in the Little Five PointsLittle Five Points
Little Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 2½ miles east of downtown. It was established in the early 1900s as the commercial district for the adjacent Inman Park and Candler Park neighborhoods to the west and east...
section of Atlanta. It later moved to its own building in nearby Inman Park
Inman Park
Inman Park was planned in the late 1880s by Joel Hurt, a civil engineer and real-estate developer who intended to create a rural oasis connected to the city by the first of Atlanta's electric streetcar lines. The East Atlanta Land Company acquired and developed more than 130 acres east of the city...
.
From the first day, Paulk was committed to opening the doors of his church to all people, regardless of racial or economic background. Not surprisingly given his opposition to segregation, he was one of the first white pastors to open the doors of his church to blacks. This stance wasn't popular even with some members of his own church; when the first blacks set foot in the church in the early 1960s, several whites walked out in protest. In response, one of the whites who remained, Ida Williams, gave a 15-minute sermon in which she said, "It is not the will of God that we should have prejudice." To this day, the church has a fairly large black membership for a church led by a white pastor.
Paulk remained active in the civil rights movement during this time. For instance, at a meeting of Concerned Clergy, he was one of the pastors who blessed the first civil rights march
Selma to Montgomery marches
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. They grew out of the voting rights movement in Selma, Alabama, launched by local African-Americans who formed the Dallas County Voters League...
in Selma, Alabama
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
. Later, he and his brother picketed a produce market which sold food to blacks at inflated prices. The resulting public outcry caused the store's closure.
In 1972, the church moved to the southern part of DeKalb County
DeKalb County, Georgia
DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population of the county was 691,893 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is the city of Decatur. It is bordered to the west by Fulton County and contains roughly 10% of the city of Atlanta...
and became known as Chapel Hill Harvester Church. While there, the church experienced massive growth, enlarging the building several times, having services in a tent, then moving its services into a building known as the "K-Center." In 1989, the church broke ground on a large, Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
-like building off Interstate 285
Interstate 285
Interstate 285 is an Interstate Highway loop encircling Atlanta, Georgia, for . I-285 is also known as unsigned State Route 407 and is colloquially referred to as the Perimeter. Suburban sprawl has made it one of the most heavily traveled roadways in the United States, and portions of the highway...
in Decatur. Dedicated in 1991, this building is known as the "Cathedral of the Holy Spirit," and eventually the church changed its name to "the Cathedral at Chapel Hill."
The church was famed for combining visual arts (particularly with the dance team) with a liturgical
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
style. Under his sister Clariece, who headed the church's arts ministry for many years, it became known for its music ministry as well. Paulk, who had previous television and radio ministry experience, later expanded his media ministry and for many years his show aired on TBN
Trinity Broadcasting Network
The Trinity Broadcasting Network is a major American Christian television network. TBN is based in Costa Mesa, California, with auxiliary studio facilities in Irving, Texas; Hendersonville, Tennessee; Gadsden, Alabama; Decatur, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Orlando, Florida; and New...
. He also was a semi-regular guest on TBN's "Praise the Lord."
In 1982, Paulk was ordained as a bishop in the International Communion of Charismatic Churches. His public housing ministry was named one of a "thousand points of light
Thousand points of light
The Thousand points of light was a recurring phrase in speeches given by George H. W. Bush. The term was coined by speechwriter Peggy Noonan. In his inaugural address on January 20, 1989, Bush said:...
" by President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
He ultimately gave up the senior pastor's title to his brother Don, but was still acknowledged as the real power.
In later years, he became one of the few mainstream Pentecostal/charismatic leaders to welcome openly gay and lesbian members.
Paulk's church population numbers exploded during the 1990s; at its height it had 12,000 members. Recent scandals (see below) have significantly diminished its numbers; as of 2007 it had 1,500 members.
In August 2009, with the church property facing foreclosure, the campus was sold to another local growing church; who then allowed Chapel Hill to use their old sanctuary; which continues to date as of August 2010.
Tricia Weeks and others
In 1992, six women accused Earl Paulk, Don Paulk and two other nephews who were ministers at the church, of sexual manipulation. One of them was Tricia Weeks, who had ghostwrittenGhostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
Paulk's autobiography. The story received considerable national coverage. Earl Paulk denied the allegations, claiming Weeks was either mentally unstable or under evil influences. However, he admitted the adulterous affair which forced him out of Hemphill Church of God 32 years earlier.
Jessica Battle
In 2001, Jessica Battle, a college student who had been part of the church’s arts ministry dance group, sued Paulk, accusing him of molesting her between the ages of 7 and 11, and later of forcing himself on her when she was 17. The suit was settled out of court in 2003 for $400,000, allegedly using money from Mona and Bobby Brewer.Cindy Hall
Cindy Hall was born in 1960 and was one of the first children born into Chapel Hill Harvester. In 2003, she claimed that Paulk had convinced her into a lengthy affair that also included her having sex with Paulk's brother, Don. Hall alleges that the affair began in 1983 (in a manner very similar to Mona Brewer's a few years later) when Paulk prayed for her, then kissed her. He then would say he intended to "make love" to her. At one point, Paulk supposedly would tell her that they had a "special gift of love outside holy matrimony". The relationship became a weekly occurrence. She left the church in 2003 after being convinced that Jessica Battle was telling the truth about being molested by Paulk.Hall chose not to become involved in the Brewers' lawsuit in part because of the length of time since her relationship with Paulk. Hall also claims that at Paulk’s request, she denied having sex with him, lying under oath at her deposition for the Battle case.
Mona Brewer
Mona Manning Brewer came to the church at the age of 19, four years after her conversion to ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. She was a Sunday School teacher who married Bobby Brewer, a minister at the church, in 1987. She was also featured regularly as a soloist on Paulk's television program. Brewer claimed that on September 11, 1989; Paulk felt "'impressed of the Lord' to get to know her better". She stopped by his office the next day, becoming a regular visitor. She alleged that a church official stated that there had been a "word of knowledge
Word of Knowledge
In Christianity, the word of knowledge is a spiritual gift listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8. Among Pentecostal and charismatic Christians, it is regarded as a supernatural revelation of knowledge through the power of the Holy Spirit...
" claiming that she was about to enter a new relationship that would benefit her. That relationship became an extramarital affair that lasted 14 years.
She didn't break the relationship off until September 2003, years later, and didn't tell anyone until hearing about Cindy Hall. She then told her husband, who bided his time until the refinancing of the church was finished. In March 2004, Bobby Brewer angrily confronted Earl and Don Paulk at the Brewers' house, at one point hitting them both.
The Brewers eventually sued Paulk and his church on August 31, 2005, claiming Paulk misused his position to manipulate her into a sexual relationship for fourteen years and claiming Paulk owed US$400,000 for a loan Brewer issued to settle the Jessica Battle suit.
Paulk denied the allegations from Brewers but his attorney acknowledged a sexual relationship between the bishop and Mona Brewer. Paulk claimed that the relationship was brief and that she was the initiator.
On Monday, March 5, 2007, at a pretrial hearing, the Brewers' lawyer wrote out a request for dismissal of the case by hand and handed it to lawyers for Paulk and the church. This was just as a ruling was about to come on a motion by Paulk's lawyers to dismiss the allegations. By dropping the case before the ruling, the Brewers left open the possibility of filing another suit with the same allegations. "We were having difficulty even at this point getting witnesses to speak out against the acts of Bishop Paulk and the church," Levenson said. "Sometimes you just have to do this."
The Brewers did, in fact, refile the suit with another judge. However, in February 2008, DeKalb County Judge Mark Anthony Scott threw the case into limbo when he ruled that she was "of sound mind" when she and Paulk began their relationship. Scott ordered the Brewers to reimburse Paulk for $1 million in legal expenses for filing a frivolous suit. Under Georgia law, the second suit they filed couldn't continue until the attorneys' fees were paid. However, in February 2009, the Georgia Court of Appeals
Georgia Court of Appeals
The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia.-Founding of the court:The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, suggesting that the Georgia State Legislature create a new intermediate appellate...
reversed Scott's decision, citing numerous instances where Paulk himself stated under oath that he was Mona Brewer's "spiritual adviser, minister, pastor and reverend."
Although Paulk's death removed him from the suit, Mona Brewer said she fully intended to continue her suit against the church.
Donnie Earl Paulk
On October 14, 2007, Donnie Earl (D.E.) Paulk, who had become senior pastor of the church a few months earlier, informed a shocked congregation that a DNA test had revealed he was Earl Paulk's son, and not his nephew as he had believed for all his life.D.E. Paulk had been raised as the son of Don Paulk, Earl Paulk's brother. However, the test confirmed that he was the product of an illicit relationship between Earl Paulk and his sister-in-law, Clariece Paulk, who was married to Don. During the Brewer case, Earl Paulk had denied sleeping with anyone other than Mona Brewer. However, prosecutors and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation or GBI is an independent, U.S. state of Georgia agency that provides assistance to the state's criminal justice system in the areas of criminal investigations, forensic laboratory services and computerized criminal justice information.-Organization:The agency is...
suspected he was lying, and triggered an investigation that led to a court-ordered paternity test on Donnie Earl Paulk. As a result, Paulk was charged with perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
on January 14, 2008. Two days later, Paulk pleaded guilty to the charges, for which he was sentenced to ten years probation and a thousand-dollar fine.
Don Paulk later said that he has forgiven his brother, and said D.E.'s paternity "made no difference in my love for my brother or my son."
Allegations by daughter and granddaughter
Paulk's daughter, Beth Bonner, appeared on WAGAWAGA (TV)
WAGA-TV, virtual channel 5.1 is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Television Network and based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...
in Atlanta on December 11, 2007 and apologized on behalf of her family for her father's misdeeds. She claimed to have confronted him as far back as the 1980s about his immorality. According to her, he had confessed and promised to reform, but reneged on his promise. Revelations that D.E. Paulk was her half-brother rather than her cousin had come as no surprise to her, she said.http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=E1B2CBD42EC4E8FB89D94E6F21D1CA9A?contentId=5187652&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1
Interviewed on the same station the next day, Bonner's daughter, Penny White (née Penielle Brooke Bonner) went public with allegations, previously made only in court papers, that her grandfather Earl Paulk had sexually abused her as a child. Earl Paulk issued a statement through his lawyer denying the charge. http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=7502AEC046B019719695F7D03814B719?contentId=5198774&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1
Theological concerns
In addition to the sex scandals, Paulk also found his theology criticized concerning accusations of promoting DominionismDominionism
Dominionism is a term used to describe politically active conservative Christians that are believed to conspire and seek influence or control over secular civil government through political action, especially in the United States, with the goal of either a nation governed by Christians, or a nation...
and Word of Faith
Word of Faith
Word of Faith is a family of Christian churches as well as a label applied by some observers to a teaching movement kindred to many Pentecostal and charismatic churches and individuals worldwide. The basic doctrine preached is that of salvation through Jesus Christ and what that salvation entails...
teaching. Before opening his doors to the gay and lesbian community, he had close ties to the Reconstructionist
Christian Reconstructionism
Christian Reconstructionism is a religious and theological movement within Evangelical Christianity that calls for Christians to put their faith into action in all areas of life, within the private sphere of life and the public and political sphere as well...
movement.
Death
Paulk died early on the morning of March 29, 2009 at Atlanta Medical CenterAtlanta Medical Center
Atlanta Medical Center is a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia operated by Tenet Healthcare. It has 460 beds and over 700 physicians, a Level I trauma center, a Level III neonatal unit, and supports air ambulance service via heliport. It was formerly known as Georgia Baptist Hospital.-History:On...
after a long battle with cancer.
External links
- http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=92354D9145FA89635901436F66438333?contentId=5883944&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1*
- CathedralOnlineTV biography of Bishop Earl Paulk
- Fox 5 TV Atlanta TV news report on multiple sex allegations of Paulk. Accessed December 12, 2007.
- Penielle Brooke White Penielle Brooke White's web site, with photo. Accessed January 10, 2008.
- http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/dissertation.html Scott Thumma's dissertation The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: Megachurches In Modern American Society, Emory Univ. 1996