Earl Paulk

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Earl Paulk
Born May 30, 1927 (1927-05-30) (age 81)
Nationality American
Education Attended Candler School of Theology
Occupation preacher
Known for Founding the Chapel Hill Harvester Church
Religious beliefs Pentecostal Christianity
Spouse Norma Davis
Parents Earl Pearly Paulk Sr. and Addie Mae Tomberlin Paulk

Earl Pearly Paulk, Jr. (1927-) is the American founder of Chapel Hill Harvester Church. Noted as "one of the country’s first great independent megachurches, it gained an international reputation for combining liturgical arts, such as dance and drama, with cutting-edge social ministry."[1] The church is in Decatur, Georgia; a suburb of Atlanta. Mr. Paulk has been the focus of sexual misconduct accusations, one case was settled out of court, another case was dropped by the accusers and a third case was judged as frivolous with Judge Mark Anthony Scott ordering the accusers attorney to pay more than $1 million in attorneys fees to Mr. Paulk’s attorneys. Additionally, the court’s ruling stated, “This court found that there remains a genuine issue of material fact as to whether statements made by the plaintiffs in a television interview, are true or false and malicious”. [1]


Contents

[edit] Early life and training

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Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (December 2007)

Paulk was born 30 May 1927 to Dr. Earl Pearly Paulk, Sr. (former Assistant General Overseer of the Church of God) and Addie Mae Tomberlin Paulk. At 17, Paulk said he received a call from God to enter ministry and spread the word of God, traveling and preaching on the weekends while attending college. He later married Norma Davis. Paulk attended the Candler School of Theology, becoming the first Pentecostal to attend the seminary, which was predominantly Methodist.

[edit] Civil rights work

Paulk's pastoral ministry began at Hemphill Avenue Church of God in Atlanta just as the civil rights movement was getting underway. He claims to have been one of the few white pastors who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. but there is as yet no evidence of this.[citation needed] Paulk alleges that he signed The Atlanta Manifesto, a statement prepared in the fall of 1957 by a group of clergymen in Georgia, relating specifically to the violence in Little Rock, Arkansas, and in general to issues of racial integration from the point of view of Christian social responsibility.[2] However, a list of the original signers did not include his name.[citation needed] Paulk was somewhat more liberal than most Church of God pastors of the time. For instance, he allowed women at his church to wear jewelry.

[edit] Church & Ministry

In 1960, Paulk founded "the Harvester Ministry" with his wife, his brother Don, and his sister-in-law Clariece in an area of Atlanta called Little Five Points. In 1972, the church moved to the southern part of DeKalb County and became known as Chapel Hill Harvester Church. While there, the church experienced massive growth, enlarging the building several times, having services in a tent, then building the K-Center, and ultimately settling into a large, almost Gothic building off Interstate 285 in Decatur; thus the church's unofficial name as the "Cathedral at Chapel Hill". The church was famed for combining visual arts (particularly with the dance team) with a liturgical style. Paulk, who had previous television and radio ministry experience, later expanded his media ministry and for many years his show aired on TBN. He also was a semi-regular guest on TBN's "Praise the Lord."

In 1982, Paulk was ordained as a bishop in the International Communion of Charismatic Churches. His public housing ministry was named one of a "thousand points of light" by President George H. W. Bush[citation needed] The church has long been known for being one of the few truly integrated churches in the South.[citation needed]

[edit] Controversies

Paulk has been involved with many sex scandals spanning several years.[1]

[edit] Jessica Battle

In 2001, Jessica Battle, a college student who had been part of the dance company, sued Paulk, accusing him of molesting her between the ages of 7 and 11, and later of forcing himself on her when she was 17.[1] The suit was settled out of court in 2003 for $400,000, alleged using money from Mona Brewer and her husband, Bobby Brewer.[1]

[edit] Cindy Hall

Cindy Hall was born in 1960 and was one of the first children born into Chapel Hill Harvester.[1] In 2003, she claimed that Paulk had convinced her into a lengthy affair that also included her having sex with Paulk's brother, Don.[1] Hall alleges that the affair began in 1983[1] (in a manner very similar to Mona Brewer's a few years later) when Paulk prayed for her, then kissed her. He then would say he intended to "make love" to her.[1] At one point, Paulk supposedly would tell her that they had a "special gift of love outside holy matrimony".[1] The relationship became a weekly occurrence.[1]

Hall chose not to become involved in the Brewers' lawsuit in part because of the length of time since her relationship with Paulk. Hall also claims that at Paulk’s request, she denied having sex with him, lying under oath at her deposition for the Battle case.[1]

[edit] Mona Brewer

Mona Manning Brewer came to the church at the age of 19, four years after her conversion to Christianity. She was a Sunday School teacher who married Bobby Brewer in 1987. She was also featured regularly as a soloist on the television program.[clarify] Brewer claimed that in 1989, Paulk felt "'impressed of the Lord' to get to know her better".[1] She then stopped by his office the next day. Soon she made regular appearances. She alleged that a church official stated that there had been a "word of knowledge" claiming that she was about to enter a new relationship that would benefit her.[1]

As it turned out, the "relationship" in question became a sexual one with Paulk on September 12, 1989.[1] Paulk preached the following Sunday that "when you are in despair, God will send you a resurrection", later claiming that Brewer was his resurrection.[citation needed] She didn't break the relationship off until September 2003.[1] The Brewers eventually sued Paulk and his church on August 31, 2005, claiming Paulk misused his position to manipulate her into a sexual relationship, and claiming Paulk owed US$400,000 for a loan Brewer issued to settle the Jessica Battle suit, which he denies.[1]

Paulk denied the allegations from Brewers but his attorney did acknowledge a sexual relationship between the bishop and Mona Brewer.[1] Paulk claimed that the relationship was brief and that she was the initiator.[3]

On Monday, March 5, 2007, at a pretrial hearing, the Brewers' lawyer wrote out a request for dismissal of the case by hand and handed it to lawyers for Paulk and the church. This was just as a ruling was about to come on a motion by Paulk's lawyers to dismiss the allegations. By dropping the case before the ruling, the Brewers left open the possibility of filing another suit with the same allegations. "We were having difficulty even at this point getting witnesses to speak out against the acts of Bishop Paulk and the church," Levenson said. "Sometimes you just have to do this."[3]

[edit] Donnie Earl Paulk

On October 14, 2007, Donnie Earl (D.E.) Paulk, who had succeeded Earl Paulk as Senior Pastor of the Cathedral at Chapel Hill informed a shocked congregation that a court-ordered DNA test had proven that he was actually the son of Earl Paulk and not his nephew, as he had been told all his life. [4] The test confirmed that he was the product of an incestuous relationship between Earl Paulk and Clariece Paulk, who was married to his brother Don. [2] Perjury charges were laid on 14 January 2008, as both Earl and Clariece Paulk had denied under oath that there had ever been a sexual relationship between them. On 15 January, Paulk pleaded guilty to the charges, for which he was sentenced to ten years probation and a thousand-dollar fine. [3] [4]

[edit] Allegations by daughter and granddaughter

Paulk's daughter Beth Bonner appeared on WAGA in Atlanta on 11 December 2007. Offering an apology on behalf of the Paulk family for her father's alleged misdeeds, she claimed to have confronted him as far back as the 1980s about his immorality. According to her, he had confessed and promised to reform, but reneged on his promise. Revelations that D.E. Paulk was Earl Paulk's son and not his nephew had come as no surprise to her, she said.[5]

Interviewed on the same station the next day, Bonner's daughter, Penny White (nee Penielle Brooke Bonner) went public with allegations, previously made only in court papers, that her grandfather Earl Paulk had sexually abused her as a child. Earl Paulk issued a statement through his lawyer denying the charge. [6]

[edit] Theological Concerns

In addition to the sex scandals, Paulk has also found his theology criticized concerning accusations of promoting Dominionism and Word of Faith teaching.[5] He preaches a post-millennial theology, believing that Jesus will not come back until the entire world has heard about him.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Gayle White (2006). Sex charges cast pall on Bishop Paulk (English). The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,. Retrieved on August 31, 2007.
  2. ^ Copy available through Theology Today, published by Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey.
  3. ^ a b Gayle White - Atlanta Journal Constitution (2007). Couple Drops Suit against Paulk (English). BishopAccountability.org. Retrieved on August 31, 2007.
  4. ^ Dorie Turner (2007). The Sex scandal hits Atlanta-area megachurch (English). Associated Press. Retrieved on November 19, 2007.
  5. ^ Robert M. Bowman, Jr. (1994). The Gospel According to Paulk: A Critique of "Kingdom Theology" (English). Christian Research Institute Journal. Retrieved on August 31, 2007.

[edit] External links