Megachurch fired pastor Victor Couzens after bank said his moral failures were no good for business
More than a year after pastor Victor S. Couzens of Inspirational Bible Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, was confirmed to have engaged in multiple extra-marital relationships, the church finally took action to remove him earlier this year just weeks after its lender, Union Bank &Trust in Lincoln, Nebraska, insisted on his firing because his leadership was affecting the church’s ability to repay their $4.7 million mortgage.
The revelation was made in a lawsuit reviewed by The Christian Post that was filed by the church last week in the Hamilton County Municipal Court seeking a temporary restraining order against Couzens and two church elders, Ronald Todd and Glenda Nix, who church leaders allege have been helping Couzens to unlawfully maintain his presence on church property.
In the lawsuit, Inspirational Bible Church’s attorney William D. Bell Sr., shared communication between Charity Kuehn, vice president of church lending at Union Bank &Trust and church officials, in which she insisted that Couzens be removed in order to continue a working relationship with the congregation also known as Inspirational Baptist Church.
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“I am writing to you to address some concerns UBT has as we move forward in the coming months. The interest payments the last two months have been tardy, which is a violation of the forbearance agreement that was put in place back in September but is also a concern that the church is struggling to improve the financial situation,” Kuehn wrote in an email to Elder Tracy M. Lee on Dec. 10, 2019.
“Over the last two years, as ICB (sic) has experienced some very difficult times, I have expressed my concern regarding the leadership of the church in regards to cost as well as the incidents that have occurred which have cause[d] the church to be damaged publicly. It is UBT’s current position that in order to continue to work with ICB in the coming months, a leadership change must occur prior to any consideration of a future lending relationship going forward,” Kuehn continued.
She further stated that: “This email does not waive any of UBT’s rights and remedies under the loan documents and is not approval of any terms change or future lending but simply making the consideration contingent on the retirement of Bishop Victor Couzens, including the discontinuation of any salary or benefits payments.”
The lawsuit noted that just weeks later on Jan. 3, 95% of the congregation voted by secret ballot to remove Couzens from his position in line with the church’s constitution and bylaws. He was then officially asked to leave the church on Jan. 27.
“While we are grateful for your tenure serving as our pastor for the last 19 years; it is with profound sadness that we issue this formal notice but do so with hopes that we as a church cam move forward with the mandate and mission that God has established IBC to accomplish. We love you and wish you and your family all the best as you move forward in life and walk in the destiny God has for you,” the leadership, staff and partners of the church noted without explicitly stating the reason behind their decision.
Couzens refused to accept his termination, forcing the church to deliver another letter to his home on Feb. 6 in which they were more explicit about why he needed to leave.
According to elders, Martin Jones, Alandes Powell and other church partners, during the 4th quarter of 2018 and early 2019, Couzens’ “personal behavior caused a public scandal which resulted in 90% decline in membership and a 65% decrease in revenue.”
As a result, the church was unable to meet their financial obligations or pay staff. They noted that despite keeping him on as pastor, Couzens was unable to “re-engage the church nor increase the membership.”
They revealed that Union Bank expressed a lack of confidence in his leadership abilities “and therefore no longer wanted to work with you in developing a feasible solution to repay our mortgage, which is now in foreclosure.”
In September 2019, CP reported that the church, located at 11450 Sebring Drive in Cincinnati, Ohio, was listed for sale for $8 million on the commercial real estate platform LoopNet.com. The listing remains.
In their second termination letter delivered to Couzens’ home, the church also revealed that Couzens had told his congregation that he would forgo his $3,200 bi-weekly salary in 2019 but asked the church to give to him personally.
Unknown to the church at the time, Couzens was still being paid $10,000 monthly for housing expenses along with $2,600 in child support.
Days later, however, police had to be called to the church to remove Couzens.
“On or about February 9, 2020, the defendant Couzens was escorted out of the Church by police officers of the city of Forest Park, Ohio. Shortly before that date, the locks of the church were changed to make certain the Defendant Couzens would not return to the property,” the lawsuit notes.
Couzens fired back on Feb. 10 and the church alleged that he “had the locks changed and unlawfully gained entrance” to the building.
“He has refused to abide by the directives of the plaintiff and its membership that he is no longer employed by the plaintiff. His comment was that he had the Forest Park Police Department Chief, ‘in his pocket,’ so he could do whatever wanted,” the church added in their lawsuit.
The church is seeking the temporary restraining order to prohibit Couzens and the offending elders from removing any personal property or property belonging to the church, spend or solicit funds on their behalf and from “entering upon the real estate property of the plaintiff or coming within … 5,280 feet or 1 mile of its real estate property lines.”
Inspirational Bible church did not immediately respond to calls for comment from CP on Thursday.
Bishop Paul S. Morton, founding presiding bishop of The Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International, which encompasses some 5,000 churches and 1 million members, confirmed in November 2018 that Couzens, whom he described as his "spiritual son," had engaged in "multiple" sexual relationships while he ran his then 5,000-member church.
Morton apologized after Andrea Garrison, a 31-year-old New York City model, went public about a long-term sexual relationship she had with Couzens after she discovered he was also seeing other women and lied to her about it.
Another unidentified woman, who is an educator, shared a story similar to Garrison's experience and alleged that Couzens paid for her education with "church checks" and took her on trips to places like Paris, France, during their time together.
Couzens later apologized to his congregation for the affairs, but insisted to members who had stopped giving to the ministry as a result of the scandal that he did not use their donations to fund his lifestyle.
“Any check you have seen belongs to me, it does not belong to the church. Your tithe and your offering goes in the church’s bank account. I don’t have access to that account. I’m not a signer on that account. My understanding is that some have not been giving because they were concerned about where the money is going. If you need an excuse not to give, any excuse will do,” the embattled pastor said.
