The hits stay coming for the Tennessee megachurch pastor accused of having an affair with a church employee.
As The Daily Beast reported earlier this week, Venue Church in Chattanooga is due to move up for auction at the finish of the month, after defaulting on its $2.8 million mortgage. Now, embattled Pastor Tavner Smith is facing a lawsuit from his ex-wife, who claims the church ignored its payments to her, too.
Smith and his spouse, Danielle Smith, divorced remaining yr as rumors swirled that the pastor used to be secretly snoozing with his female worship leader. Danielle, who co-founded the church together with her husband and served as co-lead pastor and director of the women’s ministry, signed an go out agreement with Venue around the same time, consistent with a civil complaint filed in Hamilton County court on July 25.
According to the submitting, the church agreed to make an preliminary cost to Danielle through Jan. 1 of this yr and would proceed to make monthly bills to her for “a specified period of time.” It additionally allegedly agreed to switch the title of her car to her identify simplest.
The go well with claims the church didn't pay Smith the preliminary fee, in addition to the monthly bills for May, June, and July. It additionally claims Smith sent Venue a demand letter on July 1 and a request for mediation on July 11, and that the church responded to neither.
A attorney for Danielle Smith declined to remark. Venue Church did not reply to an e-mail looking for remark.
The church has been underneath fire since a minimum of December, when rumors of Pastor Smith’s alleged affair caused 8 employees to leave the church. (The church’s entire board of directors had in the past stepped down over the drama.)
The pastor took a short-lived sabbatical that did little for the church’s fortunes: Earlier this month, First Citizens National Bank announced it was foreclosing at the church construction. Former members, who advised The Daily Beast they believed the church owned the development outright, were shocked.
Smith promised congregants in a sermon on Sunday that the church would now not depart its building, and that its prison crew had “a couple of choices they are offering for us to stick right here and make it thru.”
As of ultimate Friday, alternatively, a lawyer for the financial institution instructed The Daily Beast it planned to continue with the foreclosure.
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