via CNN
Bishop Eddie Long, head of one of the nation’s largest mega churches, announced Sunday he will take “time off” from the pulpit to work on his family.
The announcement came three days after his wife Vanessa filed for divorce.
Although her husband’s church issued a statement Friday, attributed to Vanessa Long, saying she was withdrawing the divorce petition, her attorney said she was proceeding with it.
Last spring, Long, head of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, settled a lawsuit filed by four young men who accused him of pressuring them into sexual relationships while they were teenagers and members of the congregation.
He denied the allegations against him.
“I’m going to take a little time off to work with my family,” Long said Sunday to a packed house at the televised service.
“I do want you to know that this is, for me and my family, especially with me, one of the most difficult times and things I’ve had to face, and only because my strength, other than God, is in Miss Vanessa,” he said to huge applause.
“And I want you to rest assured that I love her and she loves me. … In all the things that I’ve ever had to deal with and being pastor, my rock has been to be able to come home to a virtuous woman who always had peace in my house,” he said.
“We’re going (to) work it out,” he said.
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Article courtesy cnn.com
