Anyone want to read about a famous televangelist falling fast from his pulpit?

[titaniumsalute]

I'm from Akron, OH...home of the infamous toupee wearing televangelist Ernest Angley. His empire is huge. He even owns his own Boeing 747. But this week the Akron Beacon Journal is providing a daily in-depth article about years of extremely disturbing mental, emotional, and sexual abuse within the church.

The Articles are called Falling from Grace and can be found here at www.Ohio.com

Here's a small piece from the first article:

Former members of Grace Cathedral say televangelist Ernest Angley has turned a blind eye to sexual abuse they reported to him.
Shane McCabe is among those who told the Beacon Journal they were molested in the Cuyahoga Falls church.
“I was sexually abused there,” said McCabe, who has since moved to Florida with his wife for a new start.
McCabe said the abuse began at age 15 at the hands of a close Angley associate who was frequently in and out of town. It happened several times over the course of a year, he said.

[liberal N proud]

1. This is the guy that had a phone line run to his wifes grave

And still people didn't see that he was nuts.

[marble falls]

6. The wife, Angel, lies in a solid silver casket in front of his origional church. They also had a ...

"million dollar room" to simulate a room in heaven. Actually been to one of his services in '73. It was like a scene from "Day of the Locusts".

[Whiskeytide]

12. Seriously? His wife was named Angel Angley??? N/T.

[marble falls]

18. Yeppers.......

http://www.ohio.com/polopoly_fs/1.531078.1413109745!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_500/day1-esther1.jpg

http://www.ohio.com/polopoly_fs/1.531077.1413111449!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_500/day1-esther2.jpg

These are from '66.

http://www.ohio.com/polopoly_fs/1.531084.1413109774!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_500/day1-8esther.jpg

[Whiskeytide]

19. Wow. HOW did I miss that back in the early 80s??? Thanks. n/t

[marble falls]

21. He's been in Akron since the mid sixties, and he took over Rex Humbard's ministry.

[Whiskeytide]

25. Oh, I knew him fairly well ...

... I just never knew the wife's name. Or at least didn't remember it. As I said in another reply, we watched him every Sunday evening when we had a poker game in the early 80s. It turned into a drinking game based on his antics. Just hearing his name after all these years brought back great memories.

[marble falls]

35. Trust me, the one "service" I went to was more than anything you saw TV. When I was leaving I...

saw what I knew in '73 was a service guy and his wife maybe not even 21 holding their Downs Syndrome child waiting in line for their miracle. The entire service from the River Jordan baptismal pool to the full tilt weirdness when I left was quite an experience. The part where he auctioned off miracles was where I really got the sniff of unmitigated greed and unbridled evil. Watching the ushers drag someone down when the good Rev whammed them with the spirit was good for some comedy relief.

My thought always was if he was able to cure his own liver cancer why couldn't whatever spirit was leading him help him find a good toupee.

[TlalocW]

2. I remember reading about him in James Randi's, "The Faithhealers"

Randi didn't spend as much time on him as others, but it was obvious that he - like all of them - are scumbags. I have to say though that the whole vasectomy/abortion thing is strange to me just because there are proven better ways to insure the money keeps rolling in. Rhema Bible College in Broken Arrown, OK, (suburb of Tulsa), for instance encourages their students to start up bible studies which then become basement churches which then become storefront churches which then become regular churches. That creates ties in the community and combined with nearly bankrupting their students ($85 for a required 20 page book written by the college's founder for example), means the student-turned-minister won't be going anywhere meaning one more church that encourages its flock to donate and send their kids to Rhema.

Angley's vision was pretty short-sighted.

TlalocW

[titaniumsalute]

5. Yeah true but he's 93 years old and still owns a 747

He never had kids so he doesn't give two shits about the next generation...

[Bluenorthwest]

8. Many people who do not have children of their own care deeply about the next generation

nt

[titaniumsalute]

11. Yeah...normal people

Nut as you can read Ernest isn't in the category of normal.

[Skittles]

20. many of us seem to care way more than do people WITH children

yup

[merrily]

28. 93 and no kids? How did he manage that without abortion or contraception?

93 years of abstinence, including during his marriage to his beloved Angel? Not buying it.

[titaniumsalute]

32. If you read the article he was forcing abortions on his flock

In addition, it has been rumored for years he is gay.

[merrily]

33. Kind of my point (whether or not you read the article).

[Bluenorthwest]

3. It is far faster to review the list of evangelists who are not clouded in scandal

Are there any?

[merrily]

29. Sure. Scandal tends to haunt the more rich, powerful and famous in any field.

Or, at least we assume so, when another story hits the press. We forget about the many thousands we never hear a story or a rumor about.

[edhopper]

40. Are we talking about televangelists

or preachers in general?

Because if it's the former, they are all scam artists in one way or another.

[merrily]

42. The poster used the word evangelist, not televangelist.

The poster is intelligent and I did not question that he or she said what s/he meant. If you are not sure whether the poster really meant televangelist, I am not the one to ask.

[edhopper]

43. I was more curious about your response

which you explained, thanks.

[edhopper]

44. All evangilists

or televangelists?

[titaniumsalute]

4. Here's both the real Ernest and a funny bit called Oral Versus Ernest

Bit of Oral versus Ernest:

The Real Ernest: (Puke) https://www.ernestangley.org/miracles

[Whiskeytide]

7. In college, we had a drinking game...

For the Earnest Angley Hour. Everytime he said "be heeeaaald", you had to kill your beer. Man, I got really ripped on Sunday evenings.

[Tom Ripley]

9. "Heeeeeaaaaalllll!"

[hfojvt]

10. Who?

sic transit gloria mundi

[hifiguy]

13. His own 747??

More proof that Barnum was right, and that there is absolutely no easier way to fleece people senseless than idiot jebus-talk.

[titaniumsalute]

14. Ya mon

It sits at the Akron-Canton airport. Mostly smaller regional flights and private planes...then this HUGE 747 is parked out on the Tarmac.

[hifiguy]

15. The "Transparent Lying Sack of Shit Fraud" racket

is a lot more lucrative than even I thought, but in the gawd-biz I guess you never, ever run out of suckers to shear to the skin. Pfft, Led Zeppelin only had a leased 727 back in the 1970s and I thought they were rich.

[titaniumsalute]

17. I think it was donated to the (cough cough) church

But still even to operate a 747 for a flight from point x to point Y is probably hundreds of thousands of dollars. Four jet engines = a LOT of fuel. Insurance, at least 3 pilots to fly it and if international double the crew. A few people at least to staff the plane. Maintenance. Parking fees. Sheesh.

[marble falls]

36. At the Cathedral of Tomorrow, which Angley bought from Rex Humbard, there is a HUGE....

tower that was to hold a revolving studio and restaurant. When Rex got shutdown by the SEC for selling unsecured securities (he also owned most of Mackinac Island with its bra factory and bible college and the fudge factory) the construction was stopped and left a $1,000/hr crane on top of what what became known as "Rex's big erection" and the "big dick in the sky". The crane was left up there for over 10 years. It had to be demo'ed to get it down. Now the big dick making money as the biggest cell tower on the one of the highest points in Summit County.

In the seventies when they outgrew their tractor trailor TV broad cast rigs for remote broadcasts, ABC Wide Wprld of Sports bought it. Angley bought a double set of rigs. Akron has a lot of these "evangelists" and their stories would make a fun book.

[titaniumsalute]

38. I remember the crane...scary looking up there.

Here's a little Akron tidbit...

When Stan Hywet Hall was built there were three "vistas" that were created from the manor house. The house, of course, sits at a very high elevation and to the west and north are the valleys. They had one vista looking due west, one looking northwest towards the Coliseum, and one was due north. The north vista has that stupid-assed Rex's erection right in the middle of it. So when you look down birch alley to the north you get almost a telescope look at that structure.

[marble falls]

39. The Coliseum has been taken down almost ten years. Thing have changed in Akron. I'm moving....

back north but to Tiffin Ohio this time.

[titaniumsalute]

45. Do you know it's actually been gone 15 years...amazing. 1999. NT

[merrily]

30. People like to think someone omniscient loves them unconditionally and will spare them from

death, after a moment, whereupon they will be blissfully reunited with their deceased loved ones (only even better than before). Also that someone omniscient and omnipotent is in charge of seemingly senseless stuff like tsunamis, even if we mortals cannot discern the divine plan and explanations from fools like Pat Robertson don't seem quite right, either. Oh, and God will take care of them in this life if they have faith and donate.

Not surprising.

[spanone]

16. he never had a shred of 'grace'. con man. flim-flam man. predator. sick fuck.

[eridani]

22. And here I thought you were talking about Mark Driscoll

Embattled Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll resigns

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/10/mars-hill-pastor-mark-driscoll-resigns/

Controversial Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll has resigned, according to the church’s website.

In a Tuesday letter written by Driscoll and printed on Religion News Service Wednesday, the controversial pastor said:

“By God’s grace I have pastored Mars Hill Church for 18 years. Today, also by God’s grace, and with the full support of my wife Grace, I resign my position as pastor and elder of Mars Hill. I do so with profound sadness, but also with complete peace.”

Driscoll took a leave of absence on Aug. 24 while elders conducted a formal review of charges made against him.

Driscoll had stepped aside in August so church leaders could investigate whether he was fit to lead, following accusations that he bullied members, threatened opponents, lied and oversaw mismanagement of church funds.

The church noted that Driscoll was not asked to resign.

Mars Hill grew to 15 branches in five states with 13,000 visitors on Sundays. Driscoll appeared on Nightline, preached at Seahawks stadium, threw out the first pitch at a Mariners game, and founded a network of evangelical leaders who started hundreds of other churches.

But after 18 years of stunning growth, an escalating string of bad news finally started driving churchgoers away. Mars Hill leaders recently said attendance and giving had plummeted so fast that it would have to close several Seattle branches and cut its staff 30 to 40 percent

[titaniumsalute]

23. No...sorry. Another asshole. NT

[eridani]

24. Well, two down and several thousand to go n/t

[ProdigalJunkMail]

26. to suggest Angley ever had anything to do with 'grace'

sullies the word. he was a grifter and an abuser... scum of the earth with a special place reserved in hell (if you believe in such things)

sP

[madokie]

27. For ones mental health

stay as far away from a preacher as you can get. Stay far enough to be out of earshot for sure, touch, damn sure

[jen63]

31. Earnest was the original crackpot of my youth. n/t

[Initech]

34. I tell you anyone that far to the right is hiding a deep, dark secret.

[Monk06]

37. You're Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel Duh !!! God did it. Yes he did.

[wyldwolf]

41. Ernest Angley is still alive??

My dad and I watched him when I was a kid (to make fun of him) - HEEEEEEEEEAL!