Woman sues pastor, says she lent him $200,000

Legal woes are escalating for the Rev. Clint Brown, the flamboyant Orlando preacher and nationally known Christian recording artist.

Already embroiled in messy divorce proceedings that reveal a lavish lifestyle — paid for mostly by church funds — Brown, 41, is also the target of a lawsuit charging that he and his church, Faith World Center, have failed to repay a $200,000 loan made by a widowed member of the congregation.

Mark Matthew O’Mara, a lawyer who represents Faith World, denied that the $200,000 was a loan from Deborah Mitchell.

“It was a contribution from day one,” O’Mara said Thursday.

Attempts to reach Clint Brown and his wife, Angela Brown, and their attorneys were unsuccessful.

According to her complaint, Mitchell in 1999 donated $64,428 to Clint Brown’s ministry, then located in Apopka. She also lent him the $200,000 to buy land or build a new facility. Mitchell’s suit charges that the ministry reneged on an oral promise to repay the money, which she received as part of an insurance settlement.

In 1999, Brown purchased a 25-acre complex on Forest City Road from televangelist Benny Hinn by assuming the property’s $5.8 million debt.

Under the singer-songwriter’s leadership, the racially diverse congregation regularly draws more than 2,000 worshippers to Sunday services, which feature gospel, hip-hop, rock and contemporary Christian music. At one point several years ago, Brown declared “spiritual war” against evil and asked congregants to wear combat fatigues to church.

Brown and his wife, both from Louisiana, married in 1984 and separated on Feb. 5, 2003. They have two children: a daughter, 15, and a son, 12.

Several times, Clint Brown’s attorney petitioned unsuccessfully to seal the divorce filing.

Among the concerns cited in Clint Brown’s motions to seal the documents are possible “allegations of actions involving third parties” and other charges that could damage Clint Brown’s standing with his 6,000-member congregation and Christian media.

Such charges could damage the couple’s reputation as “highly religious individuals admired for their commitment to strong family values,” according to the documents.

In her suit, Angela Brown said that in one year, her husband charged more than $70,000 in women’s clothes on the family’s American Express card, which was paid for by the congregation, and that neither she nor her daughter received any of the clothing.

Angela Brown, 38, also said in her suit that she was fired from her jobs at the church in the weeks before the couple’s separation. Her attorney has requested the credit-card records of a church bookkeeper.

O’Mara said the church is reviewing the issues raised by the divorce case, but he defended the minister.

“For the past 11 years, Pastor Brown has created a great church that services his congregation well, and people that he touches nationwide through his ministry,” he said.

According to the divorce file, Clint Brown’s income — largely from the church and church-related recordings and performances — has grown from $224,342 in 2001 to $522,416 in 2003, the latest year for which data is included in the filing. About half of that came directly from Faith World, with the remainder from his music career.

The divorce documents reveal a lavish lifestyle.

Until the minister moved out, the couple lived in a $1.4 million home in Alaqua Lakes, a gated community in Longwood, with a $7,000 monthly mortgage paid by Faith World as a “parsonage allowance.” The home furnishings are worth $250,000, not including a $50,000 home theater and $5,000 pool table. The couple also own a condo in Miami. Other assets include $300,000 in jewelry, and their net worth is more than $1 million.

Among their vehicles are three top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz models, a Porsche Carrera, a 2003 Hummer, a Ford F-150, a Volkswagen Beetle, two Harley-Davidson motorcycles and several WaveRunner water scooters. Several of the cars list Faith World as the owner of record.

In recent years, the Browns’ annual American Express expenditures topped $200,000. They also held cards with Visa, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s.

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