The megachurch founded by Terry Hornbuckle, who was convicted in 2006 of raping three women, is emerging from bankruptcy less than a year after filing for reorganization, the church’s attorney said.
Agape Christian Fellowship, faced with lawsuits and owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to creditors and women who sued the church and its pastor for sexual misconduct, could satisfy its creditors by selling land for $1 million.
With the help of God and gas wells, church officials believe they will soon be on the right path. They have started rebuilding their membership. They expect the turnaround to continue with the naming of the founder’s wife, Renee Hornbuckle, as senior pastor and a tentative $1 million deal to sell land and mineral rights to a gas drilling company.
The church is facing seven civil lawsuits, said Davor Rukavina, a Dallas bankruptcy attorney hired by the church.
A former church employee who testified against Terry Hornbuckle during his sexual assault trial filed a federal job discrimination lawsuit against Agape Christian Fellowship on Friday. In the suit, Lisa Fuller alleges she was sexually harassed by Hornbuckle, the pastor, and wrongfully terminated.
Agape Christian Fellowship’s board has fired the church’s founder and pastor, Terry Hornbuckle, because of his sexual assault convictions, according to a statement released Tuesday. His wife, Renee Hornbuckle of Colleyville, will take over as senior pastor for at least four months. A group of pastors and bishops from around the country will evaluate her based on “her readiness and capacity to serve as senior pastor on an indefinite basis,” the statement read. Renee Hornbuckle had been assistant pastor at the southeast Arlington church. Board Chairman Charles Richardson declined to say who is in the advisory group. The statement also
Last Sunday, Pastor Renee Hornbuckle urged Agape Christian Fellowship’s congregation to keep its focus on God, not the scandal that had swirled for more than a year. “God is not man,” she preached. “He won’t let you down.” With founder and Rev. Terry Hornbuckle sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting three women, church leaders say Agape will move forward and rebuild. That may prove difficult, experts on church scandals and growth warn. The criminal proceedings have ended, but the church still faces civil lawsuits filed on behalf of some of Hornbuckle’s victims. The church claimed 2,500 members
ARLINGTON — Prosecutors spent most of Wednesday trying to persuade a jury to send the Rev. Terry Hornbuckle away to prison. But at night, congregants at Agape Christian Fellowship heard that this is not the time to abandon their church. The Rev. Johnny Green, pastor at Mount Nebo Church in Harlem, New York, said that Agape was a pretty church and that the devil wanted it for himself. “I’m so sick and tired of fair-weather Christians,” Green said. “People talking about they can’t go down there because the preacher ain’t right. You ain’t right.” The crowd of more than 200