Leonardo Blair
Leonardo Blair is an award-winning investigative reporter and feature writer whose career spanned secular media in the Caribbean and New York City prior to joining The Christian Post in 2013. His early work with CP focusing on crime and Christian society quickly attracted international attention when he exposed a campaign by Creflo Dollar Ministries in 2015 to raise money from supporters to purchase a $65 million luxury jet. He continues to report extensively on church crimes, spiritual abuse, mental health, the black church and major events impacting Christian culture.
He is a 2007 alumnus of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he was an inaugural member of the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism. He lives with his wife and two sons in New York City.
Latest
Mired in debt, majority of young adults financially dependent on parents: Pew
Despite being better educated, working more, and earning higher incomes than their counterparts from three decades ago, more than half of young adults between the ages of 18 to 34 are financially dependent on their parents, with many still living at home, unmarried, childless and mired in debt, a new study from the Pew Research Center shows.
Teen pleads guilty to murder of Pastor Autura Eason-Williams, widower vows to never forgive him
A 16-year-old with just an eighth-grade education has pleaded guilty to the daylight murder of prominent United Methodist Church pastor, the Rev. Autura Eason-Williams, and her widower vowed in court on Thursday that he will never forgive him for the crime.
Mike Bickle confesses to ‘consensual sexual contact’ with 2nd woman in IHOPKC investigation report
International House of Prayer Kansas City founder Mike Bickle has confessed to engaging in “consensual sexual contact” with a woman connected to the 24/7 prayer ministry in addition to a previously confessed relationship, an investigation report released Wednesday finds.
Pastor mauled to death by pit bulls after saving wife in attack
An Indiana pastor’s wife is remembering her husband of nearly 50 years as “a hero” after he died protecting her from two stray pit bulls that mauled him to death when he tried to chase them off their property on Tuesday.
Texas father sues Assemblies of God, accuses Chi Alpha leaders of sexually abusing teenage son
Some seven months after Daniel Savala, an itinerant minister and convicted sex offender with ties to the Chi Alpha Campus Ministries sponsored by the Assemblies of God, was arrested for sexually abusing two boys, a Texas father has filed a lawsuit accusing the nation’s largest Pentecostal denomination of negligence that allowed his 13-year-old son to be abused by multiple men.
Evangelist Hans Schmidt returns to church months after being shot in head while preaching
Hans Schmidt, the 26-year-old military veteran and outreach director of Victory Chapel First Phoenix in Arizona, who was shot in the head while street preaching last November and wasn't initially expected to recover, has returned to his church, his wife announced Sunday, saying, "he walks, he talks, [and] he even plays the drums."
Maine town grieves after official dies saving 4-year-old son from icy pond
Kevin Howell, the town manager of Carmel, Maine, which boasts a population of fewer than 3,000 people, died a hero last Friday after local police say he managed to save his 4-year-old son, Sawyer, after they both fell into an icy pond near their home. He was 51.
Investigative report on Mike Bickle to be released ‘very soon’ IHOPKC reveals
After months of unsuccessful negotiations with a group of former leaders known as the advocate group over a third-party investigation of abuse allegations against founder Mike Bickle, International House of Prayer Kansas City's Interim Executive Director Gen. Kurt Fuller said a report from an independent investigator hired by the ministry will be available to the public “very soon.”
Influential group of black churches push for cease-fire in Gaza as Pelosi calls it ‘Putin’s message’
An influential group of more than 1,000 black pastors with thousands of congregants are calling on President Joe Biden and his administration to push for a cease-fire in Gaza as the war between Israel and Hamas deepens, but former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the call for a ceasefire is the message of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
IHOPKC debacle an ‘international crisis’ causing people to lose faith, Michael Brown says
Theologian and media personality Michael Brown says that both sides have made mistakes in the International House of Prayer Kansas City's ongoing dispute surrounding allegations of abuse against founder Mike Bickle. After more fallout this week, he warns that the dispute has been corrupted by the devil, causing people to lose their faith.