A woman filed a lawsuit claiming the pastor of Orlando Baptist Church paid her to keep quiet about their affair.
Arlene
Miranda says in the lawsuit that senior pastor David Janney, who is
already married, approached her beginning in September 2015.
After
the affair, Miranda says she sought pastoral counsel with associate
pastors, but "Once he learned that the person in this affair was David
Janney, Pastor Don told Plaintiff that she had a religious duty to
protect Defendant, the church, and the Orlando Baptist Church community
by keeping the affair quiet and silently repenting and praying."
The
lawsuit then states Janney and OBC officers offered to pay Miranda $375
a week beginning in December if she didn't talk about the affair.
Miranda says she never received the payments, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Janney resigned on Feb. 7.
"Pastor
Dave Janney resigned as the Senior Pastor effective Sunday, February 7,
2016, not because the allegations against him are true, but because he
felt his resignation was in the best interest of the Church," according
to a church statement.
"Orlando
Baptist Church is saddened by the resignation of Pastor Dave Janney. He
leaves with our love and support. As a church we desire to extend grace
and love to all, in all that we do," the statement continues. "The
church will be forming a pulpit committee that will lead in the process
of selecting a new pastor. Ultimately our church members will be able to
ask questions of, and vote for, any new pastor."
The church's lawyers told the Sentinel the church disputes the vast majority of the allegations.
The
document signed by Miranda wasn't a non-disclosure agreement and was
actually the church's attempt "to provide aid, support and counseling,"
the Sentinel reports.
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