Tag: stovall weems

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Judge Dismisses Megachurch Pastor’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Former Church

A judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by megachurch pastors Stovall and Kerri Weems against their former church, after the church which they founded and led for decades suspended them for being bad pastors and then published a report describing the Weemses in less-than-glowing terms:

The single word used most frequently to describe Stovall Weems was ‘narcissist.’ Nearly every witness we interviewed used that specific word….the Weemses…leadership is inconsistent and unbiblical (and) marked by rampant spiritual and emotional abuse, including manipulation, a profound sense of self-importance and selfishness, superiority and entitlement, overbearing and unreasonable demands on employees’ time, a lack of accountability or humility, and demands of absolute loyalty….Spiritually, the Weemses have acted with arrogance, pride, deception, manipulation, selfishness, dishonesty, greed, entitlement, conceit, and unrepentance. In short, the antithesis of biblical leadership as described in scripture. REPORT OF INVESTIGATION to CELEBRATION CHURCH OF JACKSONVILLE, INC. April 24, 2022

This prompted a lawsuit against Celebration Church:

In response, the defendants alleged that the court lacked the subject matter jurisdiction to consider the Plaintiffs claims because “such consideration would violate the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, which
prohibits the secular courts from adjudicating religious disputes.”

The Judge ultimately agreed, concluding:

The Plaintiffs allege the Defendants sought to “prevent [the Plaintiffs] from continuing their
ministry anywhere else,” “destroy any opportunity for Pastor Weems to lead a ministry in the
future,” and have “unjustifiably ruined Plaintiffs’ ability to work in their chosen profession.”

…The consideration of these issues would require: this Court to impermissibly entangle itself within matters of church governance and pastor qualifications.

Because the Plaintiffs’ claims on their face as currently written require this Court’s involvement in ecclesiastical, doctrinal matters, neutral principles of law cannot be used to consider the issues at hand. As such, this Court DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE the Plaintiffs’ complaint.

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Disgraced Megachurch Pastor Launches New Church Months After Being Kicked Out of His Own

Four months after being disqualified and suspended by his church, while currently embroiled in litigation with that church in three separate lawsuits, ‘Pastor’ Stovall Weems has announced that he’s back in business, and will be launching a new church called “Awakening Ecclesia.” There is no set date for when it will have its first service.

Earlier in the year, Weems resigned from the Jacksonville megachurch he founded nearly 25 years ago, leaving his position of Senior Pastor, CEO, and chair and member of the board of trustees, the result of an ongoing lawsuit with the 12,000-member multisite Celebration church that he’s been embroiled in and publicly feuding with. 

The church suspended Weems over what they viewed as financial irregularities AND debilitating personality flaws. They claim he’s misappropriated over a million dollars and that he and his wife  acted like divas, outlining their insane staff demands.

In a report that was commissioned by the church and prepared by the law firm Nelson Mullins, which specializes in internal ecclesiastical investigations, they summarize.

“The Weemses…leadership is inconsistent and unbiblical (and) marked by rampant spiritual and emotional abuse, including manipulation, a profound sense of self-importance and selfishness, superiority and entitlement, overbearing and unreasonable demands on employees’ time, a lack of accountability or humility, and demands of absolute loyalty….Spiritually, the Weemses have acted with arrogance, pride, deception, manipulation, selfishness, dishonesty, greed, entitlement, conceit, and unrepentance. In short, the antithesis of biblical leadership as described in scripture. REPORT OF INVESTIGATION to CELEBRATION CHURCH OF JACKSONVILLE, INC. April 24, 2022

In a video posted to YouTube titled “Are you ready for a comeback?” Weems reveals that “comebacks” are a major theme of the bible, that Moses, Job, and Joseph all had comebacks, and that like them, he was poised for his own. It’s awful theology, and it tracks with Weems’s narcissism.

His former church has not issued a statement.

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Megachurch Pastor Acted Like a Diva! New Report Details Insane Staff Demands

“The Weemses…leadership is inconsistent and unbiblical (and) marked by rampant spiritual and emotional abuse, including manipulation, a profound sense of self-importance and selfishness, superiority and entitlement, overbearing and unreasonable demands on employees’ time, a lack of accountability or humility, and demands of absolute loyalty….Spiritually, the Weemses have acted with arrogance, pride, deception, manipulation, selfishness, dishonesty, greed, entitlement, conceit, and unrepentance. In short, the antithesis of biblical leadership as described in scripture. REPORT OF INVESTIGATION to CELEBRATION CHURCH OF JACKSONVILLE, INC. April 24, 2022

Last week, pastor Stovall Weems resigned from the Jacksonville megachurch he founded nearly 25 years ago, leaving his position of Senior Pastor, CEO, and chair and member of the board of trustees, the result of an ongoing lawsuit with the 12,000-member multisite Celebration church that he’s been embroiled in and publicly feuding with. The church suspended Weems over what they viewed as financial irregularities, claiming he’s been misusing over a million dollars.

Yesterday, the church released a report that was prepared by the law firm Nelson Mullins, which specializes in these sorts of internal investigations. According to the report, attorneys poured through thousands of pages of documents and interviewed nearly two dozen former and current senior leadership members, pastors, advisors, staff and other consultants. We won’t cover the financial stuff here, but wanted to report on other matters. One is that almost every single witness described Weems as a “narcissist.”

Many witnesses explained that the first rule to survive at the Church was “We don’t say no to Pastor.” In this way, he was able to impose his will on others to force their compliance with his demands. “

The report continues:

The Weemses’ demands blurred the line between employees’ personal and professional lives to such an extent there was no apparent difference between them. Total responsibility to serve the Weemses in all ways at all times was required to appease them. Witnesses described many examples of overbearing demands.

One witness reported that she had to beg for one hour per day in which she was not required to immediately respond to text messages.

Another reported that Weems instructed an employee to drive to a liquor store late at night and deliver a bottle of bourbon to his house because he did not want to be seen purchasing liquor.

Another recounted that an employee was instructed to purchase a car for Weems and deliver it to his house. After the employee delivered the car as demanded, Weems told him to find his own ride home.

Many witnesses described intense personal anguish and pain caused by working for the Weemses

They report that he could come up with big ideas, and then call anyone who brought up issues with the plan “dream killers.” He was described by multiple witnesses as overbearing and condescending.

The Weems also like to live large, using church money to charter private flights to exotic locations, bringing along several personal assistants to tend to their every need and acting like divas. They had three mansions and each location kept a full house staff to maintain the location, with the report explaining:

In 2018, Weems says he had a personal encounter with Jesus that impacted him greatly. “He (allegedly) had seen Jesus on the stage and been transported to the Last Supper the night before Jesus’ crucifixion. Weems claims that he was physically with Jesus Christ and that Jesus spoke with him, directing his attention to the future and what Christ wanted for the Weemses to accomplish on Earth.”

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Megachurch Pastor Resigns After Suing Former Church Who Accused Him of Squandering $$$ on Crypto, Real Estate

Pastor Stovall Weems has resigned from the Jacksonville megachurch he founded nearly 25 years ago, leaving his position of Senior Pastor, CEO, and chair and member of the board of trustees, the result of an ongoing lawsuit with the 12,000-member multisite Celebration church that he’s been embroiled in and publicly feuding with. The seeker-sensitive church has over 300 employees, locations in multiple states, and is known by discernment ministries on account of Weems being a terrible bible exegete, as documented by Fighting For The Faith.

Earlier in the year, the church suspended Weems over what they viewed as financial irregularities, claiming he’s been misusing over a million dollars in turn, Weems sued the church for being wrongfully suspended, asking the courts to give him an injunction so he could remain the senior pastor and be restored to his former role, receive back pay, and roll back changes made to the church bylaws that made it easier to dispatch him.

Seeing no path forward, he wrote on Instagram:

“I have spent much time in prayer and received counsel from other pastors here in the city, the region, and around the world. The Trustees’ actions leave me and my family with no choice but to legally separate from CCJ and continue our ministry elsewhere, placing ourselves under the proper accountability and oversight of a council of apostolic pastors and elders in our city, nation, and world that understand and model biblical governance.”

“I shall not and cannot be legally connected to any church in which the leadership abandons the clear biblical principles and scriptural qualifications for spiritual covering, spiritual authority, and ecclesiastical governance and oversight.

At the heart of this action is money and the love of it. Stacey Readout of News4Jax offers a great summary of the issues of contention:

“Celebration Church responded to the injunction, saying this is the “latest chapter in a campaign of deception, manipulation, distraction, and abuse of power by Stovall and Kerri Weems against Celebration.” Celebration’s motion also alleges the couple improperly used over $1,000,000 in PPP loan proceeds to fund an entity they managed and to purchase TurnCoin, a digital security.

The church’s motion said the Weemses over time came to act like “they owned the church and could do with it what they wanted without the management and oversight required by Florida law and the church’s governing documents.”

Celebration Church said the Weemses have “sought desperately” to avoid accountability and transparency.

The trustees analyzed the church’s “weakening financial position” in December 2021 and discovered the Weemses made several large financial transactions earlier in 2021 without notice to or authorization from the board, according to the church’s motion. These included:

-Multiple large transfers to new for-profit entities that the Weemses intended to manage going forward

-Church’s purchase of a parsonage (in which Stovall and Kerri Weems were to live rent-free) for $1,286,863.30 that a company solely owned by Stovall Weems had bought four months earlier for $855,000. (Editor’s Note. Accordingg to FCN, the median sales price for a Jacksonville-area single-family home is to $330,000.)

-Advancement of nine months’ salary to Kerri Weems and seven months’ salary to Stovall Weems in violation of Florida statute and the church’s own internal policies, despite neither Stovall nor Kerri Weems performing the duties of the offices that purportedly justified those salaries

-Improper use of over $1,000,000 in PPP loan proceeds to fund the Weems-managed entity Honey Lake Farms, LLC and to purchase TurnCoin, an illiquid, speculative digital currency

Celebration Church said none of those financial transactions were disclosed to or authorized by the board, as required by church bylaws.”

Weems for his part denies any wrongdoing, and although he is no longer part of Celebration, is still continuing with legal action against the church. He says he’s intending to stay in the area and all indication is that he will start a new church.