It said Weems directed the funds be spent on the following: The report said in total, $500,000 of PPP loan proceeds were used to purchase TurnCoin with no notice or authorization by the Board of Trustees. The Weemses compensation, staff, travel and expense accounts comprised approximately 10% of the Churchs total revenue, the report claims. We remain focused on advancing the kingdom of God. --Wayland Wiseman, Executive Pastor, Celebration Church. Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines. At Celebration Church, we prioritize Jesus mission to spread the gospel.We are a global house comprised of many rooms around the world, with headquarters residing in Jacksonville, Florida. It was rejected. Help keep The Christian Post free for everyone by making a one-time donation today. How can they claim they conducted an investigation into improper financial transactions without a financial audit? Celebration Church, founder Stovall Weems embroiled in legal dispute, Celebration Church founder Stovall Weems quits; vows to 'continue our ministry elsewhere'. This is how Jesus was when He was on the earth. READ: Injunction filed by Stovall and Kerri Weems. 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 PPP loan proceeds to fund the Weems-managed entity Honey Lake Farms, LLC and to purchase TurnCoin, an illiquid, speculative digital currency, (Copyright 2022 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved. He is captivating teaching, educating, edifying, and leading this church. talks faith in Jesus, the problem with Black Lives Matter, being a victim of 'cancel culture', New Yorker satire headline mocks those who 'search the Bible' for Gods views, Barry Black: America's first black Senate chaplain says this Bible verse saved him from a life of crime, Heaven will be diverse. Celebration Church We believe in Christ first, in excellence in all things, that people are a big deal, that everyone will grow, and that we are all family. The report said Weems filed a financial statement wrongly listing a $1.4 million loan from the church as a debt that was owed to Honey Lake Farms, and that when a bank loan officer talked to the church about it, Weems told church accountants to simply write off the money the church was owed. Honey Lake Clinic is also a non-profit that was founded and initially funded by Celebration Church, according to the injunction. The fraudulent manipulation of financial statements and unauthorized debt forgiveness in connection with a loan application violates Florida and federal law, the report said. I can sense His mood. The internal investigation also outlined what it calls spiritual and emotional abuse of staff. Best Churches in Jacksonville, FL - Celebration Church, The Church of Eleven22, Impact Church, Journey Church, Southpoint Community Church, Grace Church Of Avondale, Excel Church, First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, The Well Jax, Faith Community Church JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Celebration Church, one of the biggest churches in the Jacksonville area, on Monday released findings from an internal investigation into its founding pastor, Stovall Weems. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. . Join thousands of others to get the FREEDOM POST newsletter for free, sent twice a week from The Christian Post. Weems said he spent more than $458,000 to make repairs and improvements. Pastor Stovall Weems Resigns From Celebration Church Amid Legal Battle . The 12,000-member Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, continued its legal sparring with founding Pastor Stovall Weems and his wife, Kerri, in a new lawsuit earlier this month demanding that the couple vacate a million dollar waterfront home owned by the church after Weems completely resigned from all work with the church in April. Weems never had a grasp of where the money went and would oscillate between negligent attention to financial details and aggressive demands for voluminous information, said the report. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. To enjoy our website, you'll need to enable JavaScript in your web browser. 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. In February 2021, Weems Group, managed by Stovall, purchased a home for $855,000. Between October 2020 and March or April last year, the churchs cash balance fell from $9 million to $2 million, the report said. $856,033.33 transferred to Honey Lake Farms First Citizens Missions Account. The report said Weems began making strange comments about sweeping changes he intended for the churchs ministry. The founding pastor of Celebration Church, one of the largest churches in Jacksonville, announced Monday he's resigned from his positions amid a legal battle with the church's trustees. These included: Celebration Church said none of those financial transactions were disclosed to or authorized by the board, as required by church bylaws. Nelson Mullins reported that the single word used most frequently to describe Stovall Weems was 'narcissist'. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The founder and former pastor of Celebration Church is firing back against accusations of fraud and misconduct. Tim and Jen Timberlake serve as the Senior Pastors of Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Stovall Weems wrote in an Instagram post that they are grateful for the overwhelming support theyve received and look forward to being welcomed back to the church they founded. The investigation included an analysis of thousands of pages of documents and over 20 interviews with current and former church members, referred to as witnesses in the report. Jacksonville's Celebration Church has gone to court to evict estranged founders Stovall and Kerri Weems from the high-end home they occupied as the church parsonage. Weems did that without talking to anyone on his board, the report said. This was done without authorization from the board, the report states. We are a global house comprised of many rooms around the world, with headquarters residing in Jacksonville, Florida. Lego 41027 - Der TOP-Favorit unserer Produkttester. In an eviction notice dated April 26, an attorney for Celebration Church also said the Weemses have been storing taxidermy and other personal items at the churchs Regency location and those items needed to be removed by the end of May. Stovall and Kerri were suspended from the church and later Stovall resigned. The investigation determined that as the church became more successful, the lavishness of the Weemses lifestyle also increased. It said there were private charter flights to exotic locations, a full house staff to assist in maintaining their mansions, and personal assistants required to attend to the Weemses every demand. Despite my numerous requests for the usual independent financial audit for 2021, as reflected in the board minutes, they have not done so, choosing instead to conduct their own misinformed investigation over months without input from those most informed. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis never made a sequel to their 1994 action, comedy movie "True Lies," directed by James Cameron, but CBS has a new TV series with the same title inspired by the film. I heard His voice the cadence of His voice. These instructions -- similar to over-the-top green room riders required by celebrities -- reflected the Weemses immense entitlement and self-importance, the report reads. The investigation said the second PPP loan the church received was not used for permitted expenditures. A VISIT from the Bishop of Salisbury coincided with a day of celebration for a church community. The board approved all of them: The News4JAX I-TEAM received a statement from Weems following the release of the investigative report: This report is completely concocted by the Trustees and their lawyer as a character assassination without real basis. The investigation said the COVID-19 pandemic led to a complete disruption of the churchs operations. If you need help with WJXTs or WCWJ's FCC public inspection file, call (904) 393-9801. That has not changed. I couldn't sleep. Return to homepage. PPP loans are forgivable when theyre used on authorized expenses, but the report said church financial records indicate none of the loan money was spent on authorized uses. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The founder and former pastor of Celebration Church is firing back against accusations of fraud and misconduct. "It's symbolic. When it says "your local church" what it means is "the parish of the Church of Denmark that governs your area." Denmark still has a State religion. Updated: 4:29 PM EDT March 20, 2022. None of these decisions were permitted expenditures, the report confirmed. . 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The report said Weems made a series of financial decisions without talking to his board at the same time that the churchs finances suffered. Celebration Church founder Stovall Weems violated the law by committing fraud, [and] unjustly enriching himself at the expense of the church, Celebrations lawyers charged in a report released Monday. We will add his response to this story as soon as we get it. Action News reached out to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office for comment and requested their information on racial profiling. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. He had brown hair," Weems said. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. For more. Stovall Weems, senior pastor of the 12,000-member Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, told his congregation Sunday that he met Jesus . After the church received a $1.1 million loan through the federal Paycheck Protection Program last year, the report said, Weems directed the purchase of $500,000 worth of a digital security called TurnCoin. It was approved for $2,153,702 on April 6, 2020. Celebration Church is a member of the Association of Related Churchesand aims to lead people to experience a God-First life. The investigation said the Weemses attempted to justify keeping the profit because the money was needed for improvements. The report said the Jacksonville minister, who was suspended by the megachurch's trustees in January, "brought Celebration to the brink of insolvency" while coloring his leadership with. An email sent by the attorney that closed the sale of the Shellcracker Road property indicated that the Weems Group kept the $430,000 profit it made on the sale. The report states that the Weemses compensation, staff, travel and expense accounts comprised approximately 10% of the churchs total revenue. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. That CFO ended up leaving her position in January 2021 and transitioned to solely working for Honey Lake Clinic, which offers behavioral health treatment services and is located two miles from Honey Lake Farms. Celebration Arena [ edit] The Weemses have until June 12 to provide a written response to the court. The churchs motion said the Weemses over time came to act like they owned the church and could do with it what they wanted without the management and oversight required by Florida law and the churchs governing documents., READ: Celebration Churchs motion to dismiss, The church said when the current board of trustees discovered the Weemses engaged in a series of questionable financial transactions without board knowledge or authorization, they requested an investigation.. The report argued that Weems received a financial benefit from the digital security buys. Wed love to connect with you online or at a location near you! 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