Members of the Southern Acres Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky were not allowed to enter the church for service last weekend. This event follows a legal battle that was filed in November of last year, due to the church's lead pastor, Cameron McDonald, and his wife, allegedly misappropriating church funds.
As reported by WKYT, a man named Charles Stanley stated that he was stopped from entering the church by a police officer. Although the police officer treated Stanley respectfully, he stated that Stanley was simply "not welcome" to enter the church. On top of that, the police officer issued a warning to Stanley that if he stepped foot in the church, he would be charged with trespassing and would be grounds for arrest.
This kind of hostility did not sit well with Stanley and the other members of the Southern Acres Christian Church, all of who just wanted to worship last Sunday, Jan. 21. However, there was a reason as to why people were turned away from attending service.
According to the Southern Acres Christian Church lawyer Austin Wilkerson, they had reason to believe that there would be some form of "disruption" last Sunday, which is why people were not permitted to attend. Wilkerson understands that the people have lost faith in the church, especially after the lawsuit was filed against McDonald for allegedly mismanaging $100,000 of the church's money for personal gain.
Wilkerson also stated that McDonald's finances are being looked into, and that he is very optimistic that the numbers will prove that McDonald is completely innocent of the charges that he is facing.
The lawsuit was filed by James Keogh and Chad Martin, both of whom are members of the Souther Acres Christian Church -- and they have reason to believe that McDonald and his wife Erica used some of the money to make "real estate transfers." Additionally, they also claim that McDonald had another employee to help him keep the matter under wraps, and is also a member of the church.
