Former lover’s lawsuit against Georgia megachurch leader tossed; judge orders her to pay $1M

Former lover’s lawsuit against Georgia megachurch leader tossed; judge orders her to pay $1M

By DORIE TURNER

Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — A judge tossed out a lawsuit against the leader of a suburban Atlanta megachurch, saying claims that the preacher had coerced a former employee into a 14-year relationship were not believable.

The judge ruled that Mona Brewer was of “sound mind” when she engaged in the relationship with Archbishop Earl Paulk of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church.

The court ordered Brewer to pay more than $1 million in attorney’s fees to three law firms representing Paulk, his brother, Don, and the church.

Brewer’s attorney, Louis Levenson, did not immediately return a message left Wednesday seeking comment.

Matthew Wilkins, one of Paulk’s attorneys, said his firm is reviewing the order. He declined further comment.

Church officials declined comment on the judge’s order.

Brewer’s lawsuit sparked a chain of events that ended in Paulk pleading guilty last month to a charge he lied under oath.

In a 2006 deposition for the lawsuit, the archbishop testified that the only woman he had ever had sex with outside of his marriage was Brewer.

But the results of a court-ordered paternity test revealed in October that Paulk is the biological father of his brother’s son, D.E. Paulk, who is now head pastor at the church. As part of Brewer’s lawsuit, eight women have given sworn depositions that they were coerced into sexual relationships with Earl Paulk.

Paulk was sentenced to 10 years probation and a $1,000 fine for the charge.

On Friday, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Mark Anthony Scott ruled that claims by Brewer and her husband, Bobby, in the lawsuit “could not be reasonably believed,” according to court documents.

Brewer has a similar lawsuit against Paulk pending in the DeKalb County State Court, but that lawsuit likely cannot proceed until the attorney’s fees for the Superior Court case are paid, court officials said.

At its peak in the 1990s, the Cathedral at Chapel Hill, which Paulk and his brother founded in 1960, claimed about 10,000 members and 24 pastors and was able to build a Bible college, two schools, a worldwide TV ministry and a $12 million sanctuary.

Membership is down to about 1,500, the church has 18 pastors, most of them volunteers, and the Bible college and TV ministry have shuttered — a downturn blamed largely on complaints about the sexual scandals.

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On the Net:

Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church: http://www.mycathedral.org/