Long takes the short road
Bishop Long
Bishop Eddie Long of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church reached a settlement with his four accusers in the sexual coercion lawsuits filed against him. It was reported that Long agreed to pay $24.8 million to his four accusers to make the matter go away.
When the allegations broke, the embattled Bishop vowed to fight to the end. “I feel like David against Goliath, but I’ve got five rocks and I haven’t thrown one yet,” Long told his congregation last year. However, Long ended up taking the short road and not throwing one, single rock. He entered into mediation, and paid off his accusers instead of going to trial.
I’ve written many posts on the benefits of alternative dispute resolution especially in cases such as this one. Not only did Long avoid a trial where the salacious details of travel and gifts in exchange for sex with young men would have created a feeding frenzy for the media, but he also avoided facing a judge or jury who may have returned a formal verdict of ‘guilty’ against him.
Art Franklin, a Long spokesman, said that the pastor settled because it is the most reasonable road for everyone to travel. “This decision was made to bring closure to this matter and to allow us to move forward with the plans God has for this ministry,” Franklin said in a statement.
If Long’s lawyers believed he had a reasonable chance of winning the lawsuit, they would have gone to trial. Going to trial and being vindicated would have been less expensive than the $26.8 million Long agreed to pay to avoid the trial. “When you settle outside of court, it implies that there’s some guilt involved,” said Shayne Lee, professor at Tulane University in Louisiana.
Many hope that the ministry at New Birth will continue – but without Long. They believe that if the church is to survive, Long must resign because he will continue to be a liability. Bishop Long engaged in conduct which cost the church millions of dollars. It was revealed that during the pendency of the action, the church had been paying the young men $40,000 a year. It was also reported that because of Long’s refusal to admit guilt publically, the settlement figure for each plaintiff rose from $2 million to $5.5 million. Team-Long clearly had nothing to leverage in the negotiations.
Also, there may be more accusers willing to go public now that they are aware that the church has deep pockets. There are also the intangible damages. Churches are called to serve as beacons of light in a world where there is so much darkness. Pastors and Bishops enter into ministry in order to spread the good Word and preach messages which encourage believers to depart from sin and do good. But the case of the fallen Bishop only served to inflame critics who call him a hypocrite because he wasn’t living what he preached.
If Long continues on the pulpit, his ministry will be marred by speculation and questions. He will not be taken seriously and membership will decline. If he looks at the situation carefully, he would see that he needs to take time from the ministry in order to be ministered to. Faults must be acknowledged and treatment must begin. His work at New Birth is complete. It’s time to move on. With guidance, Bishop Long can find for himself the redemption and forgiveness he preached about for many years. But who will pastor the pastor?
Related post: Bishop Long’s game plan
The Bishop should definitely step down and let someon more suitable take his position. What I want to know if why wasn’t criminal charges placed against Long for his sexual abuse?
He is a wolf in sheeps clothing and he needs to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. He is hiding behind that church and they are footing the bill. If I was the members I would not give him another dime to pay for his sexual mishaps and his legal matters. He is a coward and he did not represent himself or his church well by settling. Here is what I want to know, where is his wife? Is she just sitting back acting as if she doesn’t know her husband is a homesexual or bisexual at the least.
I am tired of these mega churches and the nonsense they represent. They ain’t saving nobody! Its all about money and the people need to now wake up! and see that justice is being handed down in the house first.
Creflo you have some nerve telling people to stay at New Birth and not to come to your church. You don’t care about those people you only care about saving the impression of the mega church.. the thing is people are free to go to church and worship where and how they please.. you sound very ridiculous saying that to fellow Christians who are obviously scorned, hurt and in need of some proper guidance.
I really think these black ministers who running around worried about themselves, you need a reality check from your congregation.
Wake up People… The time is at hand…
1As I sit here reading these comments. All I can do is pray. We have humans who say they can lead us to salvation but are they saved and who are they really working for. In the bible Jesus tells us to be careful because you will encounter those who say they come and my name and they know me not. So, here is a prime example of that. Long, has a mulitude of people following him and all along he was working for the DEVIL, so look how many people are too working for the devil.
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