LITHONIA, Ga. — Over the past two decades, Bishop Eddie Long has built a religious and financial empire from scratch, transforming a small, faltering church into a modern cathedral with one of the largest and most influential congregations in the country.
Today, Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church includes a multimillion-dollar network of charities and businesses, a private school and the Samson’s Health and Fitness Center, where he holds court and pumps iron with young people.
His message that God wants people to prosper has attracted celebrities, professional athletes and socialites, swelling the membership to 25,000. The church hosted four U.S. presidents for the funeral of Coretta Scott King in 2006.
The rapid expansion of the church - often called “Club New Birth” because it attracts so many young black singles - has also made Long a political player, especially in DeKalb County, home to one of the wealthiest black communities in the country. The church has become a mandatory stop for many politicians - local, state and national - and Long supports candidates of both parties.
But Long’s reputation and sprawling enterprises now stand threatened by a sex scandal.
Four former members of a youth group that he runs have accused him of repeatedly coercing them into homosexual sex acts and of abusing his moral authority over them while plying them with cash, new cars, lodging and lavish trips.
Long has denied the accusations in a letter sent to a local radio station and has promised to address them from the pulpit today. He declined, through his lawyer, to comment for this article.
The accusations are all the more explosive because Long styles himself a social conservative, rails against homosexuality and calls for a ban on same-sex marriage. His church holds seminars promising to “cure” homosexuals.
“When this comes out, it gives at least the perception of hypocrisy - it’s like red meat to a lion, everyone’s pouncing on this story,” said the Rev. Timothy McDonald III, a friend of Long who heads the First Iconium Baptist Church. “This is the issue: How can you be against homosexuality, and you are allegedly participating in it? That is the epitome of hypocrisy.”
The accusations center on the LongFellows Youth Academy, an exclusive group of teenage boys handpicked by Long for spiritual mentoring.
The boys went through a bonding ritual, known as a “covenant ceremony,” in which Long gave them jewelry and exchanged vows with them while quoting from Scripture as ceremonial candles burned, according to court complaints filed against the pastor. Reciting Bible verses, the pastor promised to protect them from harm and called them “spiritual sons.”
But four former members of the group now say the real purpose of the academy was to provide Long with young men whom he could lure into sex. The men say they were past the legal age of consent when Long initiated the relationships. Still, the charges have shaken Atlanta’s church-going society, spurring painful conversations from kitchen tables to talk radio.
Long cuts a flashy figure in Lithonia, the Atlanta suburb where he lives and has built his church. He is often seen in a Bentley attended by bodyguards. He tends to wear clothes that show off his muscular physique. He favors Gucci sunglasses, goldnecklaces, diamond bracelets and Rolex watches. He lives in a 5,000-square-foot house with five bedrooms, which he bought for $1.1 million in 2005.
His display of wealth is in keeping with his theology. In his sermons, he often tells his congregation members that God wants them to be wealthy and asserts that Jesus was not a poor man.
In 2005, for instance, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published tax records showing that from 1997 to 2000 Long had accepted $3 million in salary, housing, a car and other perks from a charity he controlled.
“We’re not just a church; we’re an international corporation,” he told the newspaper in justifying his compensation. “We’re not just a bumbling bunch of preachers who can’t talk and all we’re doing is baptizing babies. I deal with the White House. I deal with Tony Blair. I deal with presidents around this world. I pastor a multimillion-dollar congregation.”
Long’s critics and his defenders are waiting for an explanation of the accusations against him. Some members of the church believe he is the victim of a smear campaign by people in favor of homosexual rights, though they offer no proof.
“It’s propaganda, man,” said Anthony M. Harris, 30, a businessman who says Long has served as his role model. “It’s retaliation for the 2004 march, the anti-gay-marriage march.”
The four complaints filed in court describe how Long arranged for the church to provide cars to the young men and put them on the church payroll. Two of them also said they received free lodging in church-owned houses, where, they said, Long visited them for sexual trysts. He also took them on trips to other cities and abroad, sharing rooms with them, with the knowledge of several church officials, the complaints say.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 09/26/2010