Check out this holy hypocrite.
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Sex Scandal Hits Atlanta-Area Megachurch
Nov 19, 11:06 PM (ET)
By DORIE TURNER
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) - The 80-year-old leader of a suburban Atlanta
megachurch is at the center of a sex scandal of biblical dimensions: He
slept with his brother's wife and fathered a child by her.
Members of Archbishop Earl Paulk's family stood at the pulpit of the
Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church a few
Sundays ago and revealed the secret exposed by a recent court-ordered
paternity test.
In truth, this is not the first - or even the second - sex scandal to
engulf Paulk and the independent, charismatic church. But this time, he
could be in trouble with the law for lying under oath about the affair.
The living proof of that lie is 34-year-old D.E. Paulk, who for years
was known publicly as Earl Paulk's nephew.
"I am so very sorry for the collateral damage it's caused our family and
the families hurt by the removing of the veil that hid our humanity and
our sinfulness," said D.E. Paulk, who received the mantle of head pastor
a year and a half ago.
D.E. Paulk said he did not learn the secret of his parentage until the
paternity test. "I was disappointed, and I was surprised," he said.
Earl Paulk, his brother, Don, and his sister-in-law, Clariece, did not
return calls for comment.
A judge ordered the test at the request of the Cobb County district
attorney's office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which are
investigating Earl Paulk for possible perjury and false-swearing charges
stemming from a lawsuit.
The archbishop, his brother and the church are being sued by former
church employee Mona Brewer, who says Earl Paulk manipulated her into an
affair from 1989 to 2003 by telling her it was her only path to
salvation. Earl Paulk admitted to the affair in front of the church last
January.
In a 2006 deposition stemming from the lawsuit, the archbishop said
under oath that the only woman he had ever had sex with outside of his
marriage was Brewer. But the paternity test said otherwise.
So far no charges have been filed against Earl Paulk. District Attorney
Pat Head and GBI spokesman John Bankhead would not comment.
The shocking results of the paternity test are speeding up a
transformation already under way in the church after more than a decade
of sex scandals and lawsuits involving the Paulks, D.E. Paulk said.
"It was a necessary evil to bring us back to a God-consciousness," said
the younger Paulk, explaining that the church had become too
personality-driven and prone to pastor worship.
The flashy megachurch began in 1960 with just a few dozen members in the
Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta. Now, it is in the suburbs on
a 100-acre expanse, a collection of buildings surrounding a neo-Gothic
cathedral.
For years the church was at the forefront of many social movements -
admitting black members in the 1960s, ordaining women and opening its
doors to gays.
At its peak in the early 1990s, it claimed about 10,000 members and 24
pastors and was a media powerhouse. By soliciting tithes of 10 percent
from each member's income, the church was able to build a Bible college,
two schools, a worldwide TV ministry and a $12 million sanctuary the
size of a fortress.
Today, though, membership is down to about 1,500, the church has 18
pastors, most of them volunteers, and the Bible college and TV ministry
have shuttered - a downturn blamed largely on complaints about the
alleged sexual transgressions of the elder Paulks.
In 1992, a church member claimed she was pressured into a sexual
relationship with Don Paulk. Other women also claimed they had been
coerced into sex with Earl Paulk and other members of the church's
administration.
The church countered with a $24 million libel suit against seven former
church members. The lawsuit was later dropped.
Jan Royston, who left the church in 1992, started an online support
group for former members to discuss their crushed faith and hurt
feelings.
"This is a cult. And you escape from a cult," she said. "We all escaped."
These days, Earl Paulk has a much-reduced role at the cathedral, giving
10-minute lectures as part of Sunday morning worship each week.
"My uncle is 100 percent guilty, but his accusers are guilty as well,"
D.E. Paulk said, declining to talk further about the lawsuits.
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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071120/D8T15RCG1.html
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John #1782
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