What is the deadline for making all annuitants in the Legacy (Initial) Plan whole? What funds are being used to pay for the current AME Department of Annuities, Investments, and Insurance office and employees? Where is the report of all death benefit insurance payouts by the AME Church for the past seven years?
As our church convenes its 52nd General Conference in Columbus, Ohio, questions continue to loom about the status of the alleged $95 million that was found missing from the church’s retirement funds. The questions were sent by the AMEs for Justice and Accountability, an organization of lay and clergy formed shortly after the scandal.
“In all too many instances, there seems to be no sensitivity to the struggles that pastors and local lay church leaders face in meeting an evolutionary and ever-increasing demand for more and more money, in the absence of any concerted connectional plan to grow the denominational footprint,” reads the letter, which was sent to the Council of Bishops initially Aug. 8.
“Two hundred and eight years after the incorporation of the AME Church, the same oppression that took place in slavery is now taking place in the AME church,” said the Rev. J. Edgar Boyd, former pastor of First AME in Los Angeles, a former member of the General Board and one of the signers of the letter.
It was discovered in 2021 that the former, and now deceased, General Officer Dr. Jerome Harris engaged in a sophisticated scheme to embezzle funds and defraud the AMEC’s Ministerial Retirement Annuity Plan. Since then, lawsuits have been filed by law and clergy against the denomination. The AME Church filed a lawsuit itself in 2022 against Dr. Harris and several other parties. This July the complaint was amended to include the Estate of Jerome Harris after his death and his wife Sandra Harris as a named party due to her role in signing accounts.
More information on AMEs for Justice and Accountability and their requests can be found here.
Bishop Frank Madison Reid III confirmed that the council of bishops had received the letter, but he did not offer a response to the group’s requests.
Having these questions answered would give assurance that the church intends to seriously address people’s concerns about the retirement funds at the General Conference, Rev. Boyd said. In addition to its questions, the group also sent a list of demands to the Council of Bishops.
Among them is that the church should not increase the connectional budget until the Legacy Plan is restored. Also, bishops and connectional officers shouldn’t receive retirement funds until pastors and clergy receive them, which was stolen.
Sources have said that a settlement from a lawsuit involving retirement funds has been rumored to be announced at the General Conference. But nothing has been confirmed.
“I haven’t seen anything in writing,” said Boyd, who pointed out that the rumored amount of settlement money would be just half of the alleged $95 million plus that is missing.
In any other entity if 90+M dollars were missing the board of directors would have resigned, been removed, or been voted out. Travel budgets, meeting expenses, office expenses, etc. would have been reduced. What’s the Plan?
Accountability, even in the church is necessary because that is a big part of why people are not coming to church.
Each person involved in this should be removed from positions and never able to serve in ministerial positions ever again in the AME Church.
People are sick and tired of the shenanigans of stuff that goes on in churches today.
We are supposed to be about God’s business as written in his word.
The question must be ask on the floor of the conference has any Bishop, Elder or Officer of the church received a Target letter from the US department of Justice or any other state or local law enforcement agency.
We must have transparency now!