Pastor Voted Out of Church by Members Refuses to Leave Because 'God Placed Me Here'
The pastor of a church in East Knoxville, Tennessee, and some members of his congregation are at odds after a majority of members voted him out of his position, in accordance with the church's bylaws, but he insists on staying put because it was God who gave him the job.
"God placed me here as their pastor, and I'm going to serve them," said Rev. Valentino McNeal of Mount Olive Baptist Church in an ABC 6 report.
Mount Olive Baptist Church is one of the largest African-American churches in Knoxville, according to the church's website.
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The Christian Post reached out to the church for an update on the situation on Tuesday evening but didn't receive a response by press time.
Disgruntled church members told ABC 6, however, that McNeal, whom they say is dictatorial, was voted out of his position in May but the man of God insists the vote wasn't official. The church, according to the report, only requires 12 signatures to call a meeting to discontinue the service of the pastor.
Theotis Robinson, a 23 year church veteran, said church members voted 86 to five to boot McNeal, but he refuses to leave and local police are now called regularly during Sunday services because of the ongoing dispute.
"He's dictatorial. On his own he decided to remove four members of the deacon board because he didn't feel they were loyal enough to him," said Robinson. "He's removed people from the trustee board and fired employees without cause."
The veteran church member also claimed that there was a big problem with the management of church finances.
McNeal, however, disputes the allegations.
"There's not one person in this church that we had to dismiss from a particular role that adhered to those leadership requirements," said McNeal who officially assumed the pastorate of the church on Aug. 1, 2011.
He said he was shocked by the mutiny in his congregation and insists that certain church members want to run the organization like "a country club."
"They've made church a country club. They think because they put a dollar in the plate they can do everything they want to in the church without discipline," he said. "Our religion becomes radicalized when it gets to this magnitude where we have no respect for God."
According to the Mount Olive Baptist Church's website: "The Lord has anointed McNeal with the ministry gifts of preaching, teaching, evangelizing, empowering and counseling. With an intentional and purposeful focus on love, he has committed these gifts for the purpose stated in Ephesians 4:12 ('for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ')."
"McNeal's motto for ministry is: 'To give the least of these, the most of me.' Empowered by the Holy Spirit, he is leading God's people on a path that produces hope-givers, kingdom-builders, disciples, leaders and mature, fruit-bearing Christians."
McNeal said he was working to get things under control and the Knoxville Police Department said they are monitoring the situation. A court case to determine property rights of the church is also pending.
