The Evening Standard reports:
A former cleric dubbed the “Bonking Bishop of Brentwood” has been quizzed by detectives on suspicion of rape.
Michael Reid, 66, set up the Peniel Church, but was forced out after his wife discovered he had been having an eight-year affair with a woman in the congregation.
…A spokesman for Essex Police said: “A 66-year-old man from Brentwood was arrested on 27 August on suspicion of historical rape. He has been bailed until November.”
I last blogged on Reid – the former head of the Christian Congress for Traditional Values – here. His ordination as a Bishop was through the International Communion of Charismatic Churches, headed by the late Bishop Earl Paulk of the Chapel Hill Harvester Church in Atlanta, although at some point after 1998 Reid withdrew from this grouping. He also has links with Richard Roberts, son of Oral Roberts.
Paulk died in March engulfed in sex scandals; according to CNN:
One allegation ended in a civil suit that was settled out of court in 2003. The accuser said Paulk molested her when she was a child.
A second woman claimed the bishop forced her into a 14-year affair.
…During a deposition in the case, the bishop said under oath the woman was the only one he slept with outside of marriage. But a court-ordered paternity test showed that he also fathered a child with his sister-in-law.
Roberts, meanwhile, has been embroiled in allegations of financial mismanagement (as Max Blumenthal puts it in a Nation article based on his new book, he “allegedly looted university coffers to pay for his daughter’s junkets to the Bahamas and bankroll his wife’s shopping sprees”).
Back in 2001, the Peniel Church was accused of engaging in an attempted take-over over a local Conservative Party branch; this led to Martin Bell standing unsuccessfully against the local MP, Eric Pickles.
(Note to commentators: please be sensible when leaving comments. A police investigation is a serious matter, and I will not allow any comments making assertions or speculations about it.)
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any idea if the church is still involved in politics?
Reid setup the CCTV organisation to campaign politically for Christian family values.
Appeared on tv and radio, involved ministers from other churches, campaigned outside parliament with many of the church members, etc
But then he was exposed as having had a long-term affair with a church member .
The hypocrisy of this revelation whilst he was in the public eye campaigning for moral standards and Christian family values was enough to destroy the organisation, embarrass the associated ministers, and make him a laughing stock!
That should now be the end of his attempts to get into politics!
PAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH your so fat
Interesting metadata on this one: “norma stits (IP: 81.168.114.54 , mail.trinityschool.ac)” – that’s Trinity School in Brentwood, formerly Reid’s Peniel Academy.
A cautionary tale……
So it seems the Rev Michael Read Pentecostal Charismatic ‘Bishop’ .. was no one special after all, yet he and his ministry had a massive blind following…as a wise man once said..set yourself on a self righteous pedestal and prepare to fall.
It’s a lesson to all of us….
Why do so many Christians put their faith in the big preachers and not go directly to God?….here is a story of yet another Charismatic leader who has been caught with his pants down. I learnt along time ago not to follow any man or woman in this world (either in the church or outside the church) or for that matter any particular denomination, sect, new truth/revelation, new blessings or any other group or individual who claims to be a spiritual giant(s)amongst us normal Christians with normal faults and lives.
In my view it is only weak minded people who need to look up to some kind of Christian leader in awe for their personal faith and direction. It never surprises me that when a big spiritual man/woman falls as often they do, that they take many of their blind followers with them. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and no one else is the lesson. And find out for yourself the truths in the Bible; if you can read! Leave the rest to the Holy Spirit to reveal His truth to you. Don’t depend on any ‘go-betweens’, priest, fathers, ministers, self appointed apostles or prophets, confessors, elders, deacons or counsellors etc.. If you submit to such people you are leaving yourself open for a tumble, if and when they are found wanting. They are no better than you, nor closer to God than you. So why look up to them or depend on them for your faith? ( I look down to no one nor judge anyone one either). God’s grace has given us direct access to God though prayer. And at the end of the day we are all sinners and in need of God’s mercy and grace.
This is an all to often familiar tale in the Church and one all Christians should take note of…..
‘But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ” Expel the wicked man from among you”. 1 Corinthians Chap 5 v 11 -13 NIV
Website dedicated to Michael Reid Miseries is one of several websites set up by people who have had first hand experience of this man and want to warn others…
it starts ‘Christian ministry that brings misery to people’.. this website has lots of detailed information and is worth checking-out:
http://www.michaelreidmiseries.org
[…] other than the late Earl Paulk, who died mired in multiple sexual abuse scandals (I blogged him here). Sarah gives us an extract from her own book, God’s Profits: Through the 1980s and 1990s […]