05/25/2026
Time for reform and financial transparency, oversight and accountability---publish the substance of Form 990 without the identities of the church donors, the full audited financial statements, listing of all related party transactions and compensation of the five highest paid pastors or officers and related persons
Below this listing of six church financial scandals is a listing of the church mergers with Fellowship Church Grapevine---Edjr
Recent high-profile megachurch scandals are dominated by massive financial fraud, the misuse of millions in tithes, and severe governance failures. The most prominent cases include: [1, 2, 3]
1. Gateway Church (Southlake, TX)
The Scandal: A federal lawsuit filed against one of the largest U.S. megachurches alleges that leadership engaged in financial fraud by misleading congregants regarding where their tithes were going. Plaintiffs claim the church diverted funds originally promised for international missionary work.
The Governance: Founding pastor Robert Morris resigned amid sexual abuse allegations. The church subsequently faced a massive drop in donations and was forced into widespread staff layoffs. For more details on the ongoing fallout, read local reporting from KERA News. [1, 2, 3, 4]
2. Fount NYC (New York, NY)
The Scandal: An independent audit flagged nearly \(\$1.4\) million in personal spending by church founders Josh and Georgie Kelsey. Auditors reported that funds were spent on luxury items, entertainment, and health treatments on the church's American Express card without proper documentation.
The Governance: Auditors alleged a lack of proper board oversight and inadequate financial controls, though Pastor Josh Kelsey has disputed the context of the audit results. [1]
3. Kingdom of God Global Church (Detroit, MI / National)
The Scandal: Church leaders David Taylor and Michelle Brannon were arrested in multi-state federal raids. They were indicted on federal charges of money laundering and forced labor.
The Governance: Authorities allege the church operated as a criminal enterprise that forced victims to work psychological abuse-heavy call centers. The collected funds were then funneled into a massive tax evasion and human trafficking scheme. [1, 2]
4. House of Prayer Christian Churches (National)
The Scandal: A federal grand jury indicted eight leaders in a massive conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The church was accused of using a fraudulent religious exemption to illegally drain over \(\$27\) million in military educational benefits.
The Governance: Court documents revealed internal corruption where leadership coerced funds directly from vulnerable students and veterans, rather than routing funds into community or charity missions. [1]
5. Harvest Christian Fellowship (Riverside, CA)
The Scandal: A federal lawsuit was filed against the megachurch and celebrity pastor Greg Laurie. The complaint alleges the church utilized internal surveillance, financial payoffs, and purged records to conceal decades of child sexual abuse and pay hush money.
The Governance: The allegations detail severe cover-ups surrounding the church's international operations, which you can review via legal reporting on MCO Law. [1]
6. Second Baptist Church (Houston, TX)
The Scandal: A lawsuit accused leadership of using pastoral succession and family dynasties to maintain wide-ranging control over church finances, keeping congregation members in the dark regarding church assets and spending
7, Fellowship Grapevine
The latest headline involving Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, and its founder, Pastor Ed Young, centers on a free-speech incident. In October 2024, a documentary filmmaker was arrested and charged with criminal trespass at the megachurch while attempting to ask questions about Pastor Young's salary and housing allowance. [1, 2]
A breakdown of the details and recent controversies:
Filmmaker Arrest (October 2024): Filmmaker Nathan Apffel was arrested and spent a night in the Grapevine Detention Center after entering the church property to inquire about church finances and leadership accountability.
Corporate Governance Concerns: Fellowship Church has drawn scrutiny over its governance model. Critics and investigative journalists point out that the church shifted from congregational oversight to a self-perpetuating board. Critics note this structure consolidates power and limits financial transparency.
Past Financial Scandal: These controversies follow a previous 2021 embezzlement scandal where the church's former bookkeeper was convicted of stealing over $1.3 million from church accounts.
Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas (led by Pastor Ed Young Jr.) shifted from traditional congregational governance to a board-led model in 2001. Church members voted to replace their governing documents, eliminating their own voting rights and centralizing all decision-making power under a "Ministry Leadership Team" (a board of directors). [1, 2, 3]
How the Governance Shift Occurred
1. Elimination of Member Voting Rights (2001)
Originally incorporated in 1990 as a traditional church, members were allowed to vote on church affairs and business. However, in 2001, church members voted to approve restated articles of incorporation. This crucial vote officially stripped the congregation of its voting power and transferred total oversight to a select board. [1, 2]
2. Creation of the Ministry Leadership Team
The new governing documents vested "plenary power to manage and govern the affairs of the Corporation" in a board of directors. This board is known within the church as the Ministry Leadership Team. [1, 2]
3. Centralization Under the Senior Pastor
Under these updated bylaws, the Senior Pastor (Ed Young Jr.) was made the "chief executive officer" of the corporation. The Ministry Leadership Team is comprised of the Senior Pastor and individuals appointed by him, giving the lead pastor unilateral control over church operations, finances, and leadership changes. [1, 2, 3]
4. Severing of Denominational Ties
Alongside the shift to board-led governance, the 2001 restructuring also eliminated the church's denominational ties to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), freeing the leadership from external oversight. [1]
Ed Youngโs Toxic Church Business Practices and Mergers Infect Second Baptist Houston and Other Churches
May 26, 2025 Pete Evans
Image
(Screenshot: Pastor Ed Young Jr. uses a glass mug of beer as a prop during a March sermon at Fellowship Church.)
Edwin Barry Young (a/k/a โEd Young Jr.โ) has a Midas Touch with his own personal property but apparently the opposite โtainted touchโ when it comes to church mergers.
A recent Houston lawsuit filed by the Jeremiah Counsel Corporation against Second Baptist Houstonโs current leadership, acknowledges the church operates like a family business by describing the leadership as the โYoung Groupโ and expresses serious concerns about a drastic change in church government. It also describes a worrisome relationship between Young Group family members and the oldest brother of Pastor Ben YoungโEd Young, Jr.
Jeremiah Counsel consists of members and past members of Second Baptist Houston and if history is any indication, these members have good reason to be worried about the fate of their church.
Ed Young Jr.โs long series of mansions and lavish, or โMidasโ touchโ lifestyle is well documented. Perhaps it is Ed Young Jr.โs flamboyant style that eventually turns people off; but whatever the reason, at least five churches that were merged with Fellowship Church have collapsed and no longer exist.
A comparison of governance changes:
The 90,000+ members-led Second Baptist Church in Houston lost their right to vote on any church-related matters at a sparsely attended church business meeting in May 2023, when attendees rubber-stamped what they thought was a simple update to their bylaws about maintaining family values.
On the contrary, the actual bylaws turned out to be a complete takeover and conversion from a member led church with an elected representative board of trustees to a pastorโs-private-group led church, called a Ministry Leadership Team/MLT of three Young relatives (Ben Young, Cliff Young, and Mac Richardโcousin-in-law), attorney Dennis Brewer, Jr. (a close ally of a fourth relative Ed Young Jr.) and a church employee, Lee Maxcy. In other words, now there are few, if any truly independent board/MLT members.
The church has also failed to update its corporation records with the Texas Secretary of State to include the new board changes. Instead, the State website provides an outdated list of church trustees from 2012.
Notably, the same thing happened to Ed Young Jr.โs Fellowship Church years ago, and notably, Ed Young Jr. and Dennis Brewer Jr. were both instrumental in the same type of autocratic takeover back then.
Fellowship Church, headquartered in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, forever eliminated its membersโ right to vote on any church-related matters at โa properly noticed meetingโ when they approved their amended articles of incorporation on Wednesday evening, March 7th, 2001.
At that point, Fellowship Churchโs amended articles of incorporation no longer included any mention of a board of trustees, but rather gave absolute power to a Ministry Leadership Team (MLT) consisting of Ed Young Jr., Atty. Dennis Brewer Jr. and two others. Note the same โMinistry Leadership Team/MLTโ terminology was revived for the MLT/board members in the replacement bylaws for Second Baptist Church Houston.
Another huge question: Will the new Second Baptist โMLTโ merge that church with Fellowship Church Grapevine?
Mergers:
Trinity Foundation has discovered five church mergers between Fellowship Church and other churches. We believe there are more. Here are the names and approximate dates with links to four of the merger documents:
ยท First Baptist Church of South Miami (2006)
ยท Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana Inc. (Florida, Aug. 2012)
ยท Friend Church (South Carolina, Oct. 2012)
ยท Fellowship Church South Biscayne Inc. (Florida, 2018)
ยท Journey Covenant Church Norman (Oklahoma) / Fellowship Church.
To the best of our knowledge, none of these mergers worked out and according to informants, Fellowship Church Grapevine ended up receiving the proceeds from the sale of several of their buildings. However, according to an informant, Fellowship Church discontinued payments, defaulting on at least one of the church buildings, the one in Norman OK.
The attendees or (non-MLT/board members) of Fellowship Church were not allowed to vote to approve these mergers, since all that was required by Fellowship Church 2001 governance change was approval by the board.
Article 2.02 of the merger with the now defunct Friendship Church of South Carolina states, โFellowship Church has no members entitled to vote on the plan of merger. The Plan of Merger was adopted by the Board of Directors of Fellowship Church effective as of October 3 by all voting directors.โ (emphasis ours)
However, the confusing wording leads us to ask why the members of the MLT/board, including Ed Young Jr. and Dennis Brewer Jr. did not consider themselves members of their own Fellowship Church?
Losing a Church Home
Church takeovers and mergers and their demise can have a devastating effect on congregation members who often feel like theyโve lost a family home.
In the interest of brevity here are a few examples of disenfranchised churches and church members:
Fellowship Church, Norman, OK
An article from โThe Norman Transcriptโ newspaper regarding the Journey Covenant Church Norman merger with Fellowship Church reveals initial deception and a complete lack of transparency to those who lost their jobs.
โAccording to former staff members, they initially believed they were going to be incorporated into the new Fellowship Norman staff. But after two days of cleaning the church following the Sunday announcement, most staff were given their last paycheck. โฆ They fired them one-by-one, except for a handful of people,โ the spouse of a former staff member said. โThe transition left everyone out to dry.โ
โIt was insinuated they didnโt need the position or have the financial ability to keep everyone on staff,โ another former staffer said. โThere were no interviews, no process, no severance. Everything up to that point had been very positive. There was a lot of โweโ type language. From the staff perspective, it felt like a corporate takeover.โ (emphasis ours at Trinity Foundation).
Fellowship Church Miami
During a Sunday service sermon in March 2021, members learned that church service would be their last. Unbeknownst to them, the building had already been sold to another megachurch wanting that building.
Pastor Scott Wilson, spokesman for the main Fellowship Church, told The Roys Report that the congregation and staff at the Miami location didnโt know that the church was up for sale until the announcement on Sunday morning. Steven Anderson, a former worship leader at the church, told the Roys Report, โIt all sprung up on us at the last second,โ and, โA lot of people were, and still are, upset about it.โ
A photo obtained by TRR shows that the congregation was urged to donate just a few months before the sale. Little did the congregation know that the Vous Church would be moving into their building later that day. One former member Fellowship Church member, Tammy Mercado, speaking of the Vous Church transition stated, โToday, as my heart is broken to lose my church, it makes my heart happy that you guys gained a location.โ
South Carolina Fellowship Church, formerly Friend Church
An informant told Trinity Foundation that this church building was sold, and the congregation found out it was closing on the very last weekend it was open.
Other affiliated or merged churches that no longer exist:
Fellowship Church had a campus in London for a short time. For whatever reason, financial or otherwise, it did not work out for them, and they closed it around 2014.
Additionally, there was also a Lake Highlands campus in Dallas that was meeting in a movie theater. An informant told Trinity Foundation investigators they were supposed to open a permanent location for this particular congregation, but that never happened.
Fellowship Church South Miami no longer exists, Fellowship Church South Biscayne no longer exists, and Fellowship Church Keller no longer exists. Fellowship Church Plano is now in Frisco.
Questions Sent To Ed Young Jr. / Fellowship Church
Trinity Foundation sent him questions related to this article late Wednesday and as of today neither Pastor Young nor the church has responded. Here are the questions we sent:
Trinity Foundation is preparing an article about Fellowship Church mergers and we are seeking answers and comments by Ed Young Jr.
Members of Fellowship Church Miami Florida were shocked when they learned at the last minute that their building had been sold to another megachurch. Why did you not give them longer notice?
What have you learned from church mergers and closures?
Is Fellowship Church planning to merge with any churches in the near future?
