(RNS) — When the Rev. Jerry Beeson discovered financial irregularities in his new church’s bank accounts, he tried to do the right thing.
In October 2024, Beeson had moved up from Texas to become pastor of Living Waters Tabernacle Church in Meeker, Oklahoma, after his predecessor, the Rev. Michael Hall, had been made a bishop in the Pentecostal Church of God. As Beeson looked at the bank accounts, he now alleges, he found that Hall and his wife had misused church funds.
Following church protocol, and not wanting to cause a public scandal for the church, Beeson, a former newspaperman turned preacher, reported what he had found to denominational officials. He is still paying for his actions.
Instead of looking into the matter, Beeson says, denominational leaders took over Living Waters in May, changed the locks, seized the bank accounts and kicked out its leaders. Beeson was fired.
But until Thursday (Oct. 30), when the bishop and his wife were arrested and charged with embezzlement, Hall kept his job, with disciplinary power over all pastors in the Oklahoma District of the Pentecostal Church of God.
According to a local news report, county prosecutors now allege that Michael and Vickie Hall used more than $170,000 in church funds to pay for improvements on their home, to make purchases at Walmart and Hobby Lobby, and to buy a vehicle for their kids.
An attorney for the Oklahoma District said Hall has been suspended pending the outcome of the legal case. “Similarly, Bishop Hall’s credentials and position as Bishop with the District have also been suspended,” Philip Haney, legal counsel for the district, told Religion News Service in an email.
“I will only say this,” said Ed Lindsey, who represents Bishop Hall, in an email, “the Halls are innocent of any wrongdoing and are going to be vindicated in court.”
The Halls’ arrests are the latest development in a conflict that began a year ago, not long after Beeson was hired at Living Waters. Beeson thought he’d landed the perfect job. Living Waters, a congregation of about 100, was doing well. Hall still lived nearby, meaning Beeson would have a close colleague who knew the church well.
“We thought we had a great setup when we got here,” said Beeson, referring to himself and his wife, Sheri. “You know, Bishop lives down the street. If I need something, I can lean on him.”
But after noticing something amiss in the church finances, Beeson talked with lay leaders at Living Waters, then contacted the national Pentecostal Church’s General Council. He was following denominational bylaws that state that any accusation against a minister (except child abuse, which must be reported to legal authorities) has to go through a detailed denominational process. That process includes finding more than one witness, signing an official form accusing a minister of wrongdoing and keeping any accusations confidential.
Anyone making a false accusation can be punished. “If the district board determines that the charges are unsubstantiated, the accusers shall be required to meet the district board for full accountability of their actions,” the bylaws say. “The false accusers shall be required to submit to the same process of discipline.”
Beeson said a committee soon cleared Hall of wrongdoing. Then, he alleges, came the retaliation.
In May, he said, church leaders, including Hall, took over Living Water, using an emergency clause of the bylaws, which is designed to be used against a “pastor, official, member or any other person or persons of any congregation or church should be found to be conspiring, plotting or planning in any manner against the welfare of the Pentecostal Church of God.”
Beeson was suspended and lost his credentials to preach. An interim pastor was put in his place, with district officials serving as Living Waters’ board of directors. Those officials called on the congregation to vote on whether Beeson should remain as pastor, even though the vote had no legal bearing on his future, said Beeson.
Just before being removed as pastor, Beeson preached a fiery sermon, warning about the dangers of false prophets, saying that they were “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” quoting from the New Testament’s Gospel of Matthew. Beeson told the congregation it was at a pivotal point in its history. “You have a decision to make. Will this be a house of refuge or a house of division?” he said. “Choose this day whom you will serve.”
Beeson, who lost his ministerial credentials, said his fight was both for the church and his own reputation. “I knew from the minute we started the investigation, my credentials were on the line,” he said. “We chose to stand for what was right. It should have never gotten to this point.”
A few members of the church already created a rival Facebook page to counter the official page of the church, which was being administered by the interim pastor and district leaders. In September, a message appeared on the new Facebook page saying the members behind it could not support “the divisive measures that have been used to fracture our congregation, undermine our leadership, and silence our collective voice.”
“Living Waters Tabernacle has always been a body of God-fearing believers — spirit-led and united in discerning what is good and right for the health of our church family,” they wrote. “Yet the Oklahoma District has made it clear they do not trust us to make Godly decisions on our own accord. That is not oversight. That is overreach.”
Amanda Berry, 38, whose parents, she said, pastored the church for years and who considered it her home, was saddened to hear that the Halls had been arrested, but said she is angry at denominational officials. “I feel like they didn’t protect our church at all, and the congregation,” she said.
Before her mom died, Berry said, Hall had come to visit. She said her mother’s last request was that he take care of the church. “She’s on her deathbed, begging this man, please take care of the church and protect it,” said Berry, breaking into tears. “It’s a promise broken.”
Living Waters is not the only congregation that has had conflict with officials of the Pentecostal Church of God. Members of a congregation in Texas known as Faith Chapel are currently suing the Southwest Texas District of the denomination, claiming church officials illegally took over the congregation.
Haney, the attorney for the Oklahoma District, said church leaders have followed the denomination’s bylaws in dealing with Living Waters and that the church remains under the supervision of district leaders.
“Suffice it to say that the District has consistently provided for the best interests of Living Waters Tabernacle, and done so in full compliance with the covering relationship between the local church and the District,” he wrote in his email. “The District is confident that the existing membership of the church recognizes the effort of the District, and has agreed to the measures and actions taken to date.”
Beeson said that the whole situation at Living Waters has left him saddened and disappointed — and no longer a pastor.
“The arrest of The Bishop and his wife is a sad day for any Christian,” Beeson told RNS in an email. “There’s no glory or feeling of satisfaction in any of this and I hate it for everyone involved.”
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