Ohio pastor Lonnie Snell has been fired from his 2800-member megachurch for sexual misconduct, according to a recent post published on social media.
Snell, who pastors the non-denominational New Life Chapel in West Chester Township, Ohio, with his wife, was removed due to “sexual misconduct with a subordinate.” The woman in question was a church employee and has also been terminated.
The New Life Chapel board made the statement. According to the Roy’s Report, “The independent church has no elders. The three board members who have authority over the founding pastor are all pastors at their own churches and do not regularly attend New Life, nor do they have much direct contact with the congregation.”
The church’s own website lists no other pastoral staff, which is unusual for a church of that size. An archived version of the leadership page reads:
The Board told church members during the morning service that they hope and intend to “restore” Snell, though did not give further specifics.
Notably, the church hasn’t been told any details of the incident, and the statement includes a request from the board not to talk about or speculate about it.
As we conduct all necessary next steps from the investigation and work towards the next chapter for New Life Chapel, we ask that you would not use this statement as liberty to conduct your own speculation or investigation. But instead, use it as a time to come together in unity to pray for our church, our leadership and our Pastors. We believe that God is not done with New Life Chapel.
The termination comes at a bad time for the growing church, which has been actively planning and raising funds for a massive multi-million dollar expansion.
