Retired Pastors Who Sued Woke Denomination After $90M Went Missing From Pension Fund Reach Settlement
Nearly 5000 African Methodist Episcopal (AME) retired pastors and employees have reached a settlement against their denomination, which they sued after discovering $90 million dollars from their pension fund embezzled, squandered away, and mishandled.
Following a leadership transition in June 2021, the African Methodist Episcopal Denomination discovered financial irregularities in the denomination’s pastoral pension fund. The scope of these irregularities came to light in 2022 after three separate lawsuits were filed against the denomination and its former head of retirement services, Jerome V. Harris, on behalf of pastoral retirees in three different state jurisdictions. According to court documents, the fund, which purported to contain $126 million in assets at the time of the leadership transition, contained less than $36 million.
Documents indicate that Jerome V. Harris (who died of a heart attack in May) performed his financial management duties with little or no oversight from denomination leadership. This resulted in an investment strategy that invested money in a variety of sketchy investments, including Florida land, a solar farm, and a venture capital outlet that no longer exists.
The total settlement is $20 million, pending approval from a judge. In a press release, the AME offered in a statement:
Despite the emotional and financial strain on both sides, the Church and the Plaintiffs have come together to reach a settlement that provides immediate restoration of some funds and creates a pathway for the Church and Plaintiffs to restore the balance of the lost retirement funds. The Church has committed to seeking full restoration for all plan participants and sees this contingent settlement as a big step toward that result.
The AME is one of the wokest denominations in the United States, producing large numbers of “Liberationists” like James Cone the father of Black Liberation Theology, a heretical bastardization of the true Gospel. No matter the result of the lawsuits and investigations, one thing is certain, if you follow the typical logic of Black Liberation Theology; the whole retirement system of the AME must have failed not because of Jerome Harris, or his investments, but rather because it is rooted in a system of financial white supremacy that is designed to oppress the clergy of the AME.
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