TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) -
A local church voted to oust
their pastor because they said he lied about his criminal background and abused
his power.
Lemuel Quinn has been reverend
at the Southern Missionary Baptist Church since 2010. Members of the church
said they started to notice a change in his character about six months after he
arrived.
Church members and deacons
said Quinn was vindictive, intimidating, and abused his power as pastor by
placing people on the deacon board and removing others based on his personal
agenda.
"The pastor is tearing down
our legacy that our former pastor, Pastor Wormely, built," said Elmore
Sturdivant, a former deacon. "This man is in the pulpit, lying every Sunday,
and he's not spiritual."
Reverend Quinn told the
church of a manslaughter charge he had received in 1972, but neglected to
inform them of other charges on his criminal record, including theft and drug
charges.
Monday night, about 70
church members and deacons voted to remove Quinn as their reverend, by majority
vote. The next step will be to write letters informing him of his removal, and
have them delivered to him by the police.
"It grieves my heart to see
this," said Quinn's sister Johnnie Feagins. "I never, out of my 69 years,
thought this would happen."
The church members also hope
to have Quinn's license to preach removed.
Quinn himself was unable to
be reached for a comment.
Copyright 2013 Toledo News Now.
All rights reserved.
A local church voted to oust their pastor Monday night.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WFXG, a Raycom Media Station.
