Leonardo Blair

Latest

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  Mar 28, 2023

  Churchome employee allegedly sold home to meet church’s compulsory tithing policy: lawsuit

  Churchome, the Washington state megachurch led by Judah Smith and his wife Chelsea, has been slapped with a class action lawsuit for imposing a tithing policy on employees, in violation of state law, that requires them to give back no less than 10% of their gross earnings to the church or face disciplinary action including termination.

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  Mar 27, 2023

  Estranged daughter of adulterous Hope City founder Jeremy Foster says he is unrepentant

  Jeremy Foster, the founder of Hope City Church in Houston, Texas, remains unrepentant after having an extramarital affair and marrying his "affair partner," his estranged oldest daughter claims. 

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  Mar 24, 2023

  Docs show churches paid up to $100K to be part of Hillsong Family, an alleged honorarium scheme

  Nearly 40 churches around the world paid up to $100,000 or 3% of their tithes and offerings to Hillsong Church annually to be a part of the Hillsong Family network, which a whistleblower has alleged offers access to a global honorarium scheme meant to funnel additional income into the pockets of celebrity pastors through sophisticated means.

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  Mar 23, 2023

  ‘I thought I died': Abigail Zwerner, teacher shot by first grader

  Two weeks after Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn announced that a troubled 6-year-old boy who shot a teacher in the chest as she taught a first-grade class would not face criminal charges, his victim, 25-year-old Abigail Zwerner, says she will never forget the look on his face when he shot her.

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  Mar 22, 2023

  Ex-Denton Bible Church pastor who abused 14 girls released after 25 months for good behavior

  Robert Shiflet, a former youth pastor at Denton Bible Church in Texas who was sentenced to just 33 months due to a sentencing miscalculation after he was accused of sexually abusing 14 young girls placed under his care, is now free after his sentence was reduced to 25 months for good behavior.

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  Mar 21, 2023

  Jeremy Foster, Hope City Church founder who resigned over affair, breaks silence

  Jeremy Foster, the founder of Hope City Church in Houston, Texas, who resigned as the church's senior pastor just over a year ago after confessing to adultery, announced Sunday that he is now "at peace," has remarried and wants to help people with the gifts God has given him.

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  Mar 21, 2023

  ‘God please help us:’ Family loses 5 children in fiery crash after teen slams car into tree

  A grieving mother desperately begged God for help just hours after five children, including two of her own, died Sunday after the car they were traveling in with a 16-year-old driver crashed and burst into flames along the Hutchinson River Parkway near the Mamaroneck Road exit in Scarsdale, New York.

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  Mar 20, 2023

  Ex-SBC Pres. Johnny Hunt confesses to ‘only kissing and some awkward fondling’ in defamation suit

  Former Southern Baptist Convention president Johnny Hunt has admitted to "only kissing and some awkward fondling" between himself and the wife of a younger minister who accused him of sexual assault while on a beach vacation with his family 12 years ago.

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  Mar 20, 2023

  Marvin Winans’ Perfecting Church spent $200K on real estate project Detroit wants to take back

  Grammy-winning gospel singer Marvin Winans says his Perfecting Church in Detroit, Michigan, spent $200,000 last year to restart a stalled church building project on a prime piece of real estate city officials have branded “a massive example of blight and misuse of land” and are jockeying to take back.

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  Mar 19, 2023

  Christian psychiatrist reveals 3 things faith leaders can do to protect their mental health

  Driven in part by the suicide of her church leader uncle in 2021, Dr. Ayana Jordan, a Christian addiction psychiatrist recommended several things faith leaders can put into practice to ensure they're “functioning optimally” as they work to serve their communities.