The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – November 21, 2007
Running into the fire.
That is how the Rev. D.E. Paulk describes returning 15 months ago to take the helm of his family-run, scandal-plagued Cathedral at Chapel Hill in Decatur.
He knew the rumor was floating around that he was born of an adulterous liaison between his mother and her brother-in-law, Bishop Earl Paulk.
“I never really thought that it really could be true,” he said Tuesday.
But it was, proved this fall by a paternity test ordered by a court because of a lawsuit.
The suit is over an affair Bishop Paulk is accused of having with a former church member. Plaintiff Mona Brewer declined comment.
There is a long list of women who made similar claims of affairs.
Financial problems were eating away at the church because more than 9,000 members left what was once a nationally known powerhouse among independent charismatic churches. Now, it is known for a long string of embarrassing revelations.
And the bishop, whom D.E. still calls his uncle, and the Rev. Don Paulk, the man D.E. knows as his father, are still involved in the church. Don Paulk helped build the church and had an adultery problem of his own more than 15 years ago. Both men remain married.
D.E. Paulk told his congregation the results of the test last month. He expects the revelation of his paternity will cause more damage to the church, and some former members agree.
Johnny Enlow, who once led a singles ministry at the cathedral, said, “At first, there is the crisis and emergency and a rallying factor. But after it settles in, there is a trickle effect of people leaving.”
Bob Ditzler said under the old leadership, it was difficult to leave.
Ditzler, a 20-year member of the church who left four years ago, said fellow church members would point to members who left the church because of its leadership and later got cancer or had drug problems.
“It’s like you have left the will of God and you are going to hell if you leave,” said Ditz-ler. “And you have to get past that. You have fear for your family, and it took a lot for us to leave.”
Ditzler, who now attends North Point Community Church’s Alpharetta site, said he has friends who remain members of Paulk’s church, but they avoid talking about the cathedral and its problems.
D.E. Paulk took the other course, returning to his troubled home church, leaving behind a healthy church of 300 in Stone Mountain, and talking openly about the problems.
You do it for the congregation, he said. You do it for God. And you do it for the sake of your own messed up, sinful family.
As for the current trials, “The fire is necessary to burn the religious ropes that bind us,” he said.
Those ropes include the personality-driven faith that the bishop used to build the church that has dwindled to about 1,500 members.
“If your faith is in a man . . . that is a form of idolatry,” D.E. Paulk said.
Neither of the two elder Paulk pastors will grant interviews, said Brandi Paulk, D.E.’s wife and an associate minister.
Bishop Paulk still gives brief homilies of 10 minutes or so on Sundays.
D.E. Paulk has refused to shove the bishop aside, despite his failings.
“Biblically, we are taught to restore,” he said.
“Actually, I think [sinners] gain more value, when you walk through the fire, when you’ve made mistakes, you really have a reservoir of wealth to share with people.”
And the bishop is reaping the harvest he sowed over the years, the younger man said.
He lost his good name. He lost money and respect and damaged family relationships. He has suffered from cancer, having his bladder removed because of the disease.
“I don’t have to make sure he is punished. The universe got him,” D.E. Paulk said.
“He is a shell of a man.”
And the lawsuit remains to be tried. Bobby and Mona Brewer allege Bishop Paulk seduced Mona, resulting in an affair of several years. They withdrew a suit early this year, but both refiled separate suits in June and September.
Louis Levenson, their attorney, said they filed separate suits for strategic reasons. They are still together.
Levenson said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation also requested documents from him for a criminal investigation of Paulk, but wouldn’t elaborate.
A spokesman for the GBI declined to comment.
Copyright 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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posted November 21, 2007 at 3:29 pm
OK, I get that the Bishop is busted. The guy failed his family and his church. But haven’t we gotten the concept that sin and disease are not connected, at least not in the way they are doing it? D.E. is showing some class and style in all of this. But I hope he learns that some of what he was taught (and has been teaching) needs to be upgraded. There is a creative imbalance between religion and research that allows us to continue advancing morally and scientifically.
posted November 21, 2007 at 7:07 pm
This is certainly a messed-up situation, and I’m glad Rev. D.E. is trying to resolve everything, but he is obviously in a very difficult position—how to address the issues while at the same time being respectful of his family and his own privacy.
God bless.
posted November 21, 2007 at 7:24 pm
This is confusing, but what I read from another source a day or so ago, I think I understand it. Two brothers were married, and one of the women had a love-affair with her brother-in-law. It took 38 yrs for the little baby, now grown-up, to hear the truth of what happened. What I don’t understand is why he had to know at all, after 38 yrs. And why do we all have to know??? The people who left the church need to learn how to forgive, and pay attention to their own sins, or are they all perfect? Do people go to church to learn how to judge or how to love and forgive?
posted November 21, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Just goes to prove the saying,”Truth is stranger than fiction.” That church is a soap opera in the making…or even better.
posted November 21, 2007 at 10:02 pm
This is sad. If anyone knew about this before it went into a lawsuit, why did not those who knew have a meeting with another church member present and discuss the sins? There should be no gossip! God is watching everything that all people do, say, think, etc. This should be handled out of court and settled between the church members. God always forgive our sins when we plea sincerely for His forgiveness.
posted November 22, 2007 at 11:36 am
Great story about sin, I can appreciate D.E.
posted November 25, 2007 at 11:18 pm
I wonder if these folks will also fall under the scrutiny of the IRS’ watchful eye. It seems they are especially atuned to any of the mega-churches that are enduring scandals.
posted November 27, 2007 at 11:11 am
I am familiar with the teaching that sin leads to disease. This is supported by Old Testament scripture.
However, what is perhaps more relevant is that modern science has proven that depression, loss, and worry have a negative affect on the body’s defense system, and indeed can lead to disease. The kind of problems these people caused in this church made them vulnerable to all these conditions.
(This is certainly not to say that everyone who is sick has sinned. Disease has many causes.)
posted November 27, 2007 at 12:43 pm
The study of sin and its generational effects is fascinating and also supported by the Bible. Can one be affected by a sin they did not commit but their forefathers did commited? Sin is a spiritual component that much like other elements in the universe may not cease to exist once it’s created; and it may travel from generation to generation, much like pollution, or light through the universe. When we may think good deeds would cover sin the Bible contradicts that theory. It is thought that we can never really clean up an oil spill and reverse its effect. Then if it is true as the old song claims “nothing but the Blood,” then I can see why we are where we are.