A pastor who faces accusations of pocketing funds from his church in Alabama has decided to lock out his congregation in retaliation.
Members of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Birmingham found themselves unable to enter the church on Sunday after Pastor Willie Jackson locked the door.
Church member Varrie Kendall said she knew something was wrong when she started having to pay for church bills, according to AL.com.
She said the church money goes directly to Jackson.
"He wrote bad checks all the time... All I could do was make sure the lights weren't cut off," Kendall said. "The church money just goes into his pockets," Kendall said.
Their friendship soured and the pastor barred Kendall from the church on Nov. 15 last year.
Kendall revealed to other church members about her private conversations with the pastor when he admitted to taking money from tithes.
"He said, 'What's the difference? They're all dumb anyway,''" she said.
In a petition, the church members said Jackson did not respect them and often called them "n*****s."
The pastor is also accused of replacing church employees with family members.
"Open sin and conduct unbecoming of a Pastor and a Christian... Does not meet requirement of a Pastor according to 1 Peter 5:3," the petition reads.
The petition was presented to Jackson on Feb. 7 where he was given seven days to leave the church, but he refused.
Jackson allegedly threatened to sue the petitioners and told them that Antioch was "his church."
"I've been here since '82 and you're going to tell us to leave? It feels like you're stepping on us, and it doesn't feel good," said Jonathan Floyd who continues to go to church. "I'm not going to let him steal the church."
Worshippers lamented that there is no transparency between the pastor and congregation.
"The church is regressing in the membership. We have no financial reports. The church has no voice, in other words. We've just lost everything. We feel like we're in a dictatorship," said Ann Zellander, according to WVTM 13.
