A California megachurch that serves as the founding congregation of a global Pentecostal denomination may have lost $2 million due to investing in a musical that flopped last winter.

The Foursquare Church of Echo Park, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, has been rumored to have lost the sum when it invested in a musical about its founder, Aimee Semple McPherson.

According to David Ng and Mike Boehm of the Los Angeles Times, two anonymous sources within Foursquare confirmed the financial loss for the church's Foursquare Foundation charitable arm. more >>

Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia is being accused of having had an abusive gay relationship with a teen in a new book published earlier this week.

The accuser, Centino Kemp, was one of the five young men who settled out of court with Long over the alleged sexual relationships. Long has denied the accusations and tried to move on, but the newly published book, titled First Lady, co-written by Kemp and T. Benson Glover, has already surged to the No. 8 spot on Amazon's non-fiction Kindle section.

The "tell-all" biography of Kemp shares of a violent encounter between him and Long in 2006 in Miami at Keiser University, where the bishop allegedly physically assaulted the teenager. The account also includes a reference to a sexual relationship between the two, hidden from Long's wife and family. more >>

A 40-day prayer challenge began Wednesday night with a simulcast event featuring teachings on prayer from megachurch pastor Mark Batterson.

The Circle Maker 40 Day Prayer Challenge Simulcast was broadcast live from Batterson's church, National Community Church in Washington, D.C., which is just a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol Building.

"I love leadership. I love discipleship. I love to preach. But it's prayer that is central. When we change the way that we pray, everything changes," said Batterson. more >>

The son and daughter-in-law of Victory Christian Center Senior Pastor Sharon Daugherty, accused of failing to report on time a rape crime they were made aware of last year, are heading to jury trial as they attempt to clear their name in the scandal surrounding the Tulsa, Okla., megachurch.

The other three staff members also accused of delaying their report on the rape attack have waived their right to a jury and will directly face the judge's decision, Tulsa World revealed. The case is regarding the sexual attack on an unnamed 13-year-old girl in August 2012, who was assaulted inside a building owned by the church.

John and Charica Daugherty, who serve as youth pastors at Victory Christian, are defending themselves by arguing that that they reported the crime to Human Services, and are not responsible for the fact that police did not get the details until two weeks later. The other three defendants in the case are staff members Paul Howard Willemstein, an associate youth pastor; Anna Alisa George, the high school outreach program director; and Harold Frank Sullivan, the former human resources director. more >>

Greg Boyd, a Christian theologian and author, is reportedly in the process of deciding how his Minnesota-based megachurch, Woodland Hills Church, will be affiliated with Anabaptism, a decision which has been in the works since May 2012.

Boyd, who is the author of The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church, is currently consulting with his pastoral team on becoming affiliated with the Mennonite Church USA or the Brethren in Christ.

"We've really been kind of growing in this direction since the church started, without knowing what Anabaptism was," Boyd, who co-founded his 2,500-person church in St. Paul, Minn., in 1992, told the Mennonite World Review. more >>

Pastor Ed Young of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, is set to host his annual international leadership conference known as C3 beginning Wednesday.

"I've been to conferences that talk about philosophy and theory of leadership. C3 dives in and answers the real and the raw of church leadership," said Young. "We're going to address the real life issues that leaders everywhere deal with. And we're going to equip and empower this generation of leaders and the next to leave a lasting impact on their communities."

The leadership event is aimed at helping thousands of church leaders from around the world improve their leadership skills in a series of seminars. It has been recognized as one of the most prominent church leadership conferences in the world, and tackles a number of difficult topics facing pastors and priests today. The general seminar will be combined with sessions focusing on children's ministry, assimilation programs, worship leadership, women's ministry and other areas. more >>