Spending God’s Money: Johnny Hunt Lawsuit is Just a Chicken Coming Home to Roost
If you’re reporting on (or learning about) Johnny Hunt’s lawsuit against the SBC Executive Board, you need to do your research and understand this corruption goes back much further than you might think.
It might seem offensive that megachurch millionaire ex-pastor Johnny Hunt went through a secret ‘restoration’ process that was hidden from both his church and the Southern Baptist Convention. Does it seem offensive that Johnny Hunt is suing the SBC Executive Committee for firing him when his extramarital, panty-pulling (but no penetration, he’ll have you know) affair was discovered? Does it seem offensive that discovery related to that lawsuit demonstrates that he was making more than a million dollars a year, and at least a sizable chunk of that income was derived from Southern Baptist tithes given to the Cooperative Program?
This is offensive, of course, but none of this is shocking if you’re vaguely familiar with NAMB’s long, long history of cover-up, corrupt pay-offs, and financial mismanagement. In fact, all of the sordid tales of financial greed and fiscal mismanagement were foreshadowed in 2007 – including the central character of one Johnny Hunt – in the book Spending God’s Money.
In Spending God’s Money, the author chronicles the Southern Baptist Convention’s cover-up of the financial mismanagement of former NAMB President Bob Reccord. His misdeeds – which included spending through million-dollar “slush funds” annually (yes, annually) in which no receipts were required, jet-setting to Europe to attend red carpet movie premiers on the Cooperative Program dime, buying ice sculptures for NAMB parties, and paying for NAMB staff retreats to the Bahamas and cruises to Alaska – led to his reluctant ouster in 2006.
Salacious as it was at the time Mary Kinney Branson published her book in 2007, the SBC provided “no comment” when asked about what was reported with excruciating whistle-blowing detail by the highest-ranking woman in NAMB history. She spent 16 years at NAMB as Editing Director and Director of Marketing. And, like Megan Basham, Branson “kept the receipts.” Not only did Branson detail the extremely frivolous nature by which NAMB spent money through Reccord, but she also highlighted what amounted to charitable money laundering taking place in the Southern Baptist Convention on behalf of Southern Baptist leaders, and money was shuffled through various shell charities to entities belonging to Reccord and his friends.
Just as it is today, Branson described the SBC as “35 kings with 35 million worker bees,” Branson provided rock-solid evidence that Reccord was using his position to line the pockets of his friends. These organizations include the 316 Network, InOva One, Total Life Impact, and others. The scam was simple. His friends would create non-profit organizations, and Reccord would then use his position at NAMB to give them lucrative, no-bid contracts.
Documented evidence demonstrates that one of those friends was Johnny Hunt, who received 92k from NAMB through Bob Reccord for “undisclosed reasons.”
At the end of Reccord’s tenure, more insult was added to Southern Baptist injury. Forty-two pastors signed a letter in full support of Reccord, vouching for his character. One of these was, unsurprisingly, Johnny Hunt and several others who also received money from the Cooperative Program laundered through Reccord.
Gifts – especially financial gifts – are always returned with favor. NAMB let Reccord go with a half-million dollar severance package, an additional 12 thousand dollars designated for public relations, and an employment agency dedicated to getting him another job.
As the scandal continued, NAMB promised to become a scandal-free institution still worthy of your tithe dollars. Time and history have given us witness, however, that placing Johnny Hunt as Senior Vice President of NAMB was hardly a demonstration of a commitment to financial stewardship and corrupt cronyism at the highest level of the SBC.
If you’re interested in learning more about NAMB’s long history of corruption – and why Hunt’s appointment to NAMB was anything but ill-advised – you should read Spending God’s Money. When Polemics Report received a cryptic email from Branson denying a request to be interviewed on that program, it led JD Hall to believe that perhaps the book went out of publishing due to an agreement between Branson and NAMB (admittedly, this was just conjecture), Pulpit & Pen proceeded to buy up all remaining copies of the book before it could be put down the proverbial Memory Hole. You can still get the e-book here, however.
NAMB continues to demonstrate the same propensity to waste God’s money on sweetheart deals that financially benefit its directors, board members, and appointees. And it’s just as scandal-ridden as ever. Discovery from Hunt’s lawsuit demonstrates an unbelievable amount of money surrounding him, with most of it coming through SBC pipelines. Continuing to support the Cooperative Program or contributing to the Annie Armstrong Easter offering is bad stewardship because our shepherds are fleecing the flock.
About Author
In an earlier post, a week or so ago, I said that the SBC was still holding on by a thread. Since then, after giving it more thought, I’m compelled to issue a correction …
It’s already gone …