By JAMES MICHAELS
Bishop Eddie L. Long of his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church resigned from the pulpit last Sunday to try to save his marriage just days after his wife Vanessa filed for divorce. They had been married for 21 years and have four children. Long, said that he would remain as head pastor of the church but needed the time to attempt to save his marriage, and that he needed time to take care of “some family business.”
Bishop Long has a long history of anti-gay sermons and activities. Long has ministered “homosexual cure” programs to recruit gays and lesbians for what he called “Sexual Reorientation” conferences and his church offered an ongoing “Out of the Wilderness” ministry to help convert homosexuals into heterosexuals.
In 2004, Long led a march with Bernice King to the grave of her father, Martin Luther King, Jr. The march was a protest against same-sex marriage and in support of a national constitutional amendment to limit marriage rights to couples comprising “one man and one woman.”
A 2007 article in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s magazine called him “one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement.”
However, in September 2010, several civil complaints were filed against Long by men that stated he used his position as the church leader to entice or coerce the men into consensual sexual relationships in exchange for money, travel and goods. Long denied the allegations through his attorneys and spokesman. In a prepared statement, Long said that he had devoted his life to helping others and these false allegations hurt him deeply. However he said that his faith was strong and the truth will emerge. At that time, he asked his congregation for their patience and that he categorically denies all the charges against him.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in May 27, 2011, that the lawsuits were settled out-of-court but the terms were not disclosed. Later reports indicated that although not a plaintiff, there was a potential fifth accuser who participated in the settlement discussions.
As it turns out, these allegations were the most current controversy Long had been involved.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in August 2005 that between 1997 to 2000, Long received more than $3.07 million worth of compensation and benefits from his eponymous non-profit charity, Bishop Eddie Long Ministries Inc.
Long contended that the charity did not solicit donations from members but instead gained its income from royalties, speaking fees and several large donations. In 2007, Senator Chuck Grassley announced an investigation into the tax-exempt status of six ministries including that under the leadership Long by the United States Senate Committee on Finance.
After being fired by the Ford Motor Company for alleged financial irregularities, Long moved to Atlanta to study theology and became the pastor of a small Jonesboro, GA church. In 1987, he became the pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, which at the time had around 300 members. Under his charismatic leadership, membership grew to 25,000. Long also reached millions more through the church’s web site and television ministry.
Long was consecrated a bishop in 1994 by the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, a relatively new movement within African-American Baptist churches that embraces Pentecostal beliefs. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Long’s title of “Bishop” comes from a break-away Baptist organization founded by self-appointed “bishops.”
In 2006, Long was chosen by the family of Martin Luther King, Jr. to host and officiate the funeral for Mrs. Coretta Scott King, wife of the late civil rights pioneer. The event was attended by four Presidents (George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter).
Long was a prominent supporter of George W. Bush’s faith-based initiatives. His ministry received a $1 million
grant from the U.S. Administration of Children and Families.
Support for Long has shrunk dramatically over this past year since his sexual coercion settlement was announced and Rev. Bernice King, the youngest daughter of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has left the church. Another Baptist minister in the area estimated that attendance in church has dropped to between 4,000 and 8,000 people. However, a large number of Long’s followers
have vowed to remain faithful to the church and Long and will remain active in the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.