An insider's perspective on "The Church Business"

Recently, I've been posting heavily on Senator Charles Grassley's (R-Iowa) recent inquiry into several major religious figures across the country.

The latest update is here, which outlines the specific points that Grassley will focus on in his investigation:

“Ken Behr, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, told Church Executive, a business magazine for larger and mega churches, that Senator Chuck Grassley is likely to probe into concerns over excessive compensation, income unrelated to the business purpose of the ministries, and perks or what is known as ‘excessive benefit transactions.’”

And now, as a Pasty Quail exclusive, a friend of Greg's has had some personal experience with one of the pastors in question, Bishop Eddie Long from Lithonia, Ga. (pictured here)


Following is Matt Tripp's account of Long's persona, which, after reading the story, you'll agree is literally larger than life:

"Your commentary regarding the business of church reminded me of my personal experiences with "Bishop" Eddie Long. Short version: The dude is a crook, flat out. Before law school, I worked at Preferred Jet Center at McCollum Field in Kennesaw. Long's salary, house and cars made the news. What the AJC didn't tell you about was Long's airplane. He has a Gulfstream II hangared at PJC. What does a pastor need a jet capable of flying internationally for? Well, he purportedly has a "ministry" in the Bahamas. Conversations with the flight crew, however, revealed these were more vacations than "mission trips." I've attached a picture of his airplane...note the New Birth logo on the tail.


A couple of oddities about Long:

1. Long requires his flight crews to be completely African-American. Now, one can hire whomever one wants as an employee, that's fine. But his aircraft is managed by a charter company, who provides the flight crews. As a result, they have to juggle their crew schedule to make sure his plane always has black pilots when he's using it.

2. In addition to my fueling and towing responsibilities as a lineman, part of my duties at Preferred were to load luggage, valet cars, etc. Not in the case of Long. We were the "invisible help" when he was around. We were not to touch anything belonging to Long such as his luggage and his personal vehicles. Nor were we to approach Long or speak to him. He is the only client I have ever had who a rule forbidding us to talk to him. I've spoken to Steve Spurrier, Sylvester Croom, Tommy Tuberville, numerous CEOs, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Burt Reynolds, Toby Keith, Alan Jackson, and even Mariah Carey. All were more approachable than this supposed man of God. He even has a security detail. Really, the only other person that ever came into PJC with a similar level of security was Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

3. Speaking of the car, I never saw the Bentley. Whenever he came to the airport, he always arrived in a DUB Chrysler 300C Hemi. Long required that his vehicle be kept in the hanger and not in the long-term parking lot. PJC's insurance forbids vehicles inside the hangar (in order to prevent damage to aircraft). Yet Long's vehicle was always accommodated (only one specific employee of the charter company was permitted to drive it...this proved to be a bit problematic when we had to move it to rearrange aircraft and this employee wasn't at work). The kicker is, Long is the only person who ever requested hangar space for his vehicle. PJC's long-term parking lot routinely had Range Rovers, Maseratis, Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs and Mercedes stored in it...but his POS Chrysler had to be kept inside. Go figure."

Pretty intense stuff. Many, many thanks to Matt for his readership and his willingness to disclose this important information with regards to this story.