Another one in the never ending line of evangelical power and money seekers that has (and will) left hurt, traumatized, abused people in the wake. The couple want to allow for a full and thorough investigation of any and all wrongdoing involving the churchs board of trustees, present and former officers, employees, and other parties and organizations that contributed to the dispute, said a suit filed last month by the Weemses attorney, Christopher J. Greene. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. King said the church will feature a 1,000-seat sanctuary, a preschool and childrens wing for kindergarten through fifth grade, a large youth space and classrooms. Now they've finally tied the knot, Soccer's Orlando Pride ditches players' white shorts over period concerns, Rooftop bar and music venue planned for Bay Street, NASA made history by knocking an asteroid off course. List of the largest Protestant churches in the USA, "Association of Related Churches - Find an ARC Church", "Church Breaks Ground on Future Home - Jacksonville News Story - WJXT Jacksonville", https://www.ecfa.org/MemberProfile.aspx?ID=45133, Celebration Church Online, an internet extension of Celebration Church, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Celebration_Church&oldid=1115781155, This page was last edited on 13 October 2022, at 05:08. We remain focused on advancing the kingdom of God. --Wayland Wiseman, Executive Pastor, Celebration Church. Wells without water clouds without rain, they are the foam of the ocean washed up upon the shores ! News4JAX reached out to a spokesperson for the Weemses who said they would not comment on these allegations. Tim and Jen Timberlake serve as the Senior Pastors of Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Perfectly said. This can be a good thing but it takes away their accountability. No PPP funds went to Honey Lake Farms, LLC. When a ministry encounters failureor even worse, scandalits difficulties can almost always be traced to a breakdown in governance, ECFA says in explaining Standard Two. Other pastors dont spend much time looking after other pastors; it is the board and leadership that witnesses this every week. We offer a wide variety of mens, womens, bible/book study, dinner parties, activity-based groups, and more! Celebration Church is preparing to open an Arlington campus at the Regency Park Shopping Center in the former Hobby Lobby space. Get new articles and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Celebration is praying for a resolution for all parties involved, and is confident in Gods plan for the church and that ultimately the truth will prevail. Tim Timberlake was named Weems successor to lead the nearly 12,000-member church. Pastors Tim and Jen have a heart for God's people and equipping them with the tools to transform their lives from the inside out. Weems has filed suit against the church claiming he was illegally removed from leadership, but Timberlake has assured the church that he will continue to lead with integrity, godly character, love, honor, and excellence.. We have always wanted to have a Celebration Church campus in the Regency/Arlington area of Jacksonville but havent found the perfect location until now, King said by email. personally benefited from unauthorized financial transactions and managed the church poorly. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gardening, and coaching high school extemporaneous speaking and debate. However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. Your IP: Their initial lawsuit in March forced into the public what was intended to be an internal investigation by the Board of Trustees. [1] and is led by Senior Pastors Tim and Jen Timberlake. Pastor Drew King, chief business officer of Celebration Church, said the church will open in the summer. Celebrations board of trusteesrecently suspended Pastor Stovall Weems pending aninvestigationinto certain decisions made by him in early 2021 that were not in the best interest of the church and were not approved by the board. So you can expect the bank to try to recoup collateral that may have been put up. Celebration Churchcontinues to stand by the validity and authenticity of the board investigation, he said. $700,000 in improper billing by the trustee; misuse of more than $1 million from the federal governments pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program; and a 50-percent markup over four months on the price of a home a Weems company sold the church as a parsonage. 8, 8A and 9. Even then, $5 million is still not enough to adequately maintain the campus, he said. When Is A Bible Translation Not A Bible Translation? Founders of the 12,000-member Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, Stovall Weems and his wife, Kerri, have filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction that would force the megachurch to recognize Weems as their chief executive officer and settle dueling claims of financial fraud involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. Nichols says cases like these usually are resolved before they end up going to trial. The former pastors of Celebration Church owe more than $716,000, according to a lawsuit filed by First Citizens Bank. 2), $18,989 owed by Northstream Management Group LLC (credit card), Multiple large transfers to new for-profit entities that the Weemses intended to manage going forward, Churchs purchase of a parsonage (in which Stovall and Kerri Weems were to live rent-free) for $1,286,863.30 that a company solely owned by Stovall Weems had bought four months earlier for $855,000, Advancement of nine months salary to Kerri Weems and seven months salary to Stovall Weems in violation of Florida statute and the churchs own internal policies, despite neither Stovall nor Kerri Weems performing the duties of the offices that purportedly justified those salaries, Improper use of over $1,000,000 in Paycheck Protection Program, spokesperson for the Weemses told the News4JAX I-TEAM, assuring the congregation that the church is OK. In 2021, Stovall Weems transitioned out of the Senior Pastor role and into a Founding Pastor role. Create an account or sign in to your My Celebration Account to sign up! None of the questionable transactions were approved by the trustees, Wedekind wrote, although the Weemses lawsuit said the parsonage was approved by the churchs compensation committee, which included trustees. . Stovall and Kerri Weems founded Celebration Church in 1998 in Jacksonville, Florida, and grew it to some 12,000 members across several campuses. He told his church that on Friday, Jesus Christ appeared to him at a church service. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Connection and life change may take time and can be found in open, honest conversations. To see which groups meet online, look for the MEETS ONLINE tag at the top of the group photo or simply search meets online in the group search bar. One part of the investigation concerns financial transactions made between January and June 2021, when there were no board meetings conducted, Wedekind said. [2] The first services in the new "Celebration Arena" was held November 11, 2012.[3]. Honestly? Its motion to dismiss states the Constitution doesnt give a secular court the authority to tell a church how to run its affairs. We believe true life change happens in the context of community and we welcome everyone to experience this together, no matter what church you call your home! The church included emails between Stovall Weems and trustees that it said backed up its version of events. Oddly enough, I can certify that Celebration was listed as an ARC-affiliated church as little as one week before this was published. The filing lists the Weemses, Honey Lake Farms Inc., Weems Group LLC and Northstream Management LLC as defendants. The Weems-managed entity, Honey Lake Farms LLC, appears to be part of a web of similarly named organizations surrounding a behavioral health clinic in Madison County created through Celebration five years ago. Siebeling is a senior pastor at The Life Church, an ARC-affiliated Tennessee megachurch, and Volk runs his own nonprofit Together For Israel. But Wedekind estimated more than 50 people worked at Celebrations multiple Jacksonville locations. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Celebration Church of Jacksonville released a report on Sunday about the investigation into the questionable financial practices of former pastor and founder Stovall. Celebration Church is no longer listed as a member of ARC, either. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A spokesperson for the founding pastors of Celebration Church, one of the largest churches in the Jacksonville area, says the couple did not misuse government Paycheck. A generation ago, Ted Koppel of Nightline used these words to describe the PTL scandal: a decidedly unchurchly rhubarb (I had to look it up and learn rhubarb also meant a noisy dispute. $645,281 owed by Honey Lake Farms Inc. and guarantor Stovall Weems (loan and credit card accounts, plus interest, late charges and attorneys fees), $50,867 owed by Weems Group LLC (credit card No. The founders of Celebration Church, one of the largest churches in the Jacksonville area, are in a legal dispute with the church that involves allegations of financial misconduct and fraud. I just want a humble and hungry people to be around. Therefore, the Church purchased the home from The Weems Group at the $1.3 million price. Stovall Weems was seeking restoration of his salary and backpay. SEU JACKSONVILLE. The 71-page filing said Stovall and Kerri Weems and . The Roys Report reached out to ARC, asking when the Weemses and Celebration Church were removed and why, but did not immediately hear back. We believe that true life change happens in the context of community. Find more information on upcoming services, workshops, and ministry events. Its always been about the money, down to the precise timing of the services to get as many people in and out. I have first hand knowledge of the spiritual abuse within this organization. Then the trustees suspended him. Celebration Church hired a law firm to conduct an internal investigation, and it released the findings in late April. Honey Lake Clinic advertises offering a Christ-centered program that practically heals past wounds and equips people with Godly decision-making skills to transform their lives. Its a nonprofit that operates alongside Honey Lake Farms, founded in 2017 as the nonprofit Celebration Care Ministries Inc. and still partially funded by the church. We have nothing to hide. The second phase of the project will include a 1,000-seat youth facility, church offices, adult classrooms and a wedding chapel. Stovall Weems was suspended from Celebration Church in January, according to the Weemses suit against the church. The church paid just under $1.3 million for the home on Black Hammock Island in June 2021, about 50 percent more than Weems company paid for the home in February 2021, according to property records. The spokeswoman said the Weemses never intended to get any money for themselves from that retirement fund. The founders of Jacksonvilles Celebration Church are suing the church, its trustees and a lawyer for defamation as fallout spreads from a legal fight sparked by Stovall Weemssuspension from his leadership post. Like many ARC churches, Celebration Churchs bylaws require overseers, who must be ordained pastors at other churches. Celebration Arena [ edit] Celebration Church responded saying this is the latest chapter in a campaign of deception, manipulation, distraction, and abuse of power by Stovall and Kerri Weems against Celebration. Celebrations motion also alleges the couple improperly used over $1,000,000 in PPP loan proceeds to fund an entity they managed and to purchase TurnCoin, a digital security. In February, after Stovall Weems was suspended, the Weemses filed suit against Celebration Church, alleging the church retaliated against them for reporting financial misconduct. The Weemses spokesperson released this statement to News4JAX on Thursday about the purchase of that property: Pastor Stovalls parsonage allowance as approved by the Board of Trustees, was approximately $1.3 million which included the price of the property and expected improvements. 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