The Alabama minister who has admitted having sex with members of his congregation on church premises and taking drugs was in court yesterday fighting to keep his job.
Juan McFarland, 47, was minister of Shiloh Missonary Baptist Church in Montgomery before a judge's order temporarily banned him from the church. He had made various admissions in a sermon in September, including the fact that he had been HIV positive since 2003. As well as his sexual misconduct, he admitted to using illegal drugs, including on Sundays.
McFarland was originally banned from the church by circuit judge Charles Price after refusing to step down despite having been ousted by his church's board. The judge is expected to rule within a week whether the order banning him will become permanent.
McFarland's attorney, Dwayne Brown, said that he was now terminally ill with AIDS. Under questioning by a lawyer for the church's trustees and deacons, McFarland declined to go into details about the "sins against God" he had committed. However, the chair of the church's board of trustees, Lee Sanford, said that McFarland had continued to confess his sins to the church after the initial sermon, admitting that he had used cocaine and marijuana, and that he had sometimes pocketed money that he was given to go to conferences.
McFarland argues that under the church's constitution, since a 2013 revision which he instigated, he could not legally be fired. The church deacons believe that under a 2003 constitution they could dismiss him by a vote of the congregation.
The case drew headlines around the world in October when it became public. According to former chairman of the board of deacons, Nathan Williams Jr, McFarland, who led the church in Montgomery for more than 20 years, changed the locks to the church building and fired an assistant pastor and worship leader.
A lawyer for the deacons, Julian McPhillips, told AL.com that McFarland is "trying to exercise dictatorial powers. He's living in a dream world."
He added: "He's lost any and all semblance of moral leadership. He is a bit of a strong-willed guy. He's refusing to face the reality of what the congregation has voted."
