1921: Born in Gastonia, N.C.

1943: Marries Esther Lee, “Angel,” whom he met while attending Lee College in Cleveland, Tenn.

1944-1954: Travels the U.S. conducting revival meetings in tents, auditoriums and various churches.

1954: Faith-healing ministry arrives in Akron under the name Temple of Healing Stripes. Services are conducted in the summer in a huge tent in the Ellet area. Meetings are so successful that on Labor Day weekend he moves into the old Liberty Theater on West Market Street in Akron.

1955: Beginning in June, meetings are held in a one-story, wood-frame structure built through offerings and volunteer work on 20 acres of land south of Ellet Memorial Cemetery. Planning begins for a new structure in front of the auditorium at 1055 Canton Road.

1957: New three-story Temple of Healing Stripes is dedicated.

1958: Name is changed to Grace Cathedral. Followers number more than 3,000. [Today church officials decline to reveal the number of members.]

1959: Dedicates $15,000 “Fountain of Blood,” which flows over an 18-foot illuminated cross and then cascades across a 6-foot-wide Bible before spilling into a 32-foot pool.

1970: Angel Angley dies at 49. She was Grace Cathedral’s choir director, organist, bookkeeper and manager.

1972: First television broadcast.

1978: A 65-year-old heart patient dies after participating in an Angley rally in North Carolina. A fire inspector reports that the woman lay on the floor for 15 minutes before an ambulance was called because an usher said, “Leave her alone. She’s in the spirit.”

Angley is sued for $4 million by a Charlotte couple who say he lured their 22-year-old daughter from home and alienated her from them.

1979: A Chicago man traveling to Akron seeking Angley’s help to recover his sight and hearing gets mugged and is hospitalized. The Cathedral refuses to help. After the story appears in the Beacon Journal, a stream of pro and con letters appears, including one from Angley himself who expresses displeasure about the “attacks” on him and his ministry.

1984: Angley buys the State Road office and television complex owned by the Humbard Foundation.

In Munich, Germany, while conducting a crusade, Angley is arrested, charged with practicing medicine without a license and suspicion of fraud. After spending a day in jail, he is released after paying a $14,000 bond. The next day, Munich is struck by the largest hailstorm in its history. Angley claims the storm was sent by God as punishment.

1985: WBNX (Channel 55), a Cuyahoga Falls TV station run by Angley, starts broadcasting in November.

1986: Buys the Cathedral Buffet restaurant, formally part of Rex Humbard’s Cathedral of Tomorrow complex.

1994: Buys Humbard’s Cathedral of Tomorrow and relocates his congregation from Springfield Township to 2700 State Road in Cuyahoga Falls.

1999: After a 15-year-old volunteer is stabbed to death at Angley’s Cathedral Buffet by another volunteer worker, the U.S. Department of Labor investigates. The church agrees to stop using volunteer labor in its for-profit restaurant.

Ernest Angley Ministries begins to operate a website, ernestangley.org, in hopes of reaching people across the globe.

2005: Begins $2 million renovation on the original Grace Cathedral in Springfield Township to house Grace Bible College.

2006: Health officials in Guyana criticize a series of advertisements by Angley that suggest people can be cured of HIV/AIDS and other illnesses by attending his services there.

2011: Angley turns 90 with no thoughts of retirement.

These stories about Grace Cathedral in Cuyahoga Falls are the result of a two-month investigation by Beacon Journal reporter Bob Dyer.

Internationally known television evangelist Ernest Angley has led the nondenominational church since 1957. Former members of the congregation began to contact Dyer during the summer about concerns they had regarding Angley and his ministry.

Dyer talked to 21 former members — often multiple times — in reporting this story. In addition, Dyer had an exclusive, 90-minute interview with Angley, along with Associate Pastor Chris Machamer and usher Mike Kish, to report their side of the story.

This entire project can be found at the Beacon Journal’s website at Ohio.com/ernestangley.

The series:

■ Sunday: World is evil, so don’t have kids

■ Monday: Allegations of sexual abuse are kept quiet

■ Tuesday: Departed associate pastor accused of being a liar, adulterer and drug addict

■ Wednesday: “He divides and conquers families”

■ Saturday: Modest house, big plane (Boeing 747)

■ Sunday, Oct. 19: For-profit Cathedral Buffet using volunteer labor again after feds said to stop

Depending whom you ask, one of two things is happening at the big Cuyahoga Falls church run by legendary television evangelist Ernest Angley:

• The devil himself has infiltrated the church, and Angley, who is a prophet of God, has been working tirelessly to fight him off.

• Angley’s church is a dangerous cult where pregnant women are encouraged to have abortions, childless men are encouraged to have vasectomies and Angley — who preaches vehemently against the “sin” of homosexuality — is himself a gay man who personally examines the genitals of the male parishioners before and after their surgeries. They also say he turns a blind eye to sexual abuse by other members of his church.

During the past few months, a tear has ripped through the 3,000-seat auditorium known as Grace Cathedral. One longtime associate pastor resigned, telling friends and family he felt he had been inappropriately touched by Angley for seven years.

The dispute exploded on July 13, when Angley and two others in his camp addressed the situation in a 2½-hour open service. The service was recorded by one of the attendees and shared with the Beacon Journal.

In response to swirling accusations that he is a homosexual who has abused both his associates and members of the congregation, Angley, 93, had this to say to a large Sunday gathering.

“I’m not a homosexual. God wouldn’t use a homosexual like he uses me. He calls me his prophet, and indeed I am. ...

“They called Jesus a homosexual, did you know that? And still do. Because he was with men. Oh, Mary Magdalene and a few women. But you can’t stop the people’s lies.”

Then he addressed his history of urging the males in his congregation to submit to vasectomies.

“I’ve helped so many of the boys down through the years,” he said in his slow, singsong cadence. “They had their misgivings. Sure, I’d have them uncover themselves, but I did not handle them at all.

“And I would tell them how that would work. And they’d have to watch it. I’d have some of them come back to me that I felt needed to. And I would tell them, I would look at them, their privates — I, so I could tell how they were swelling.

“One young man, he decided to put in a garden [doctors advise against physical exertion after a vasectomy]. And he’d like to died. If he’d just told me — ask me. ...

“Another one was constipated. It was awful. And he was just dying deaths.

“And another one, one of his testicles fell out, absolutely fell out. ‘It’s dangerous, you should have a nurse.’ But I knew they wouldn’t get one.

“And men’s — I was a farm boy. We thought nothing about undressing. We didn’t know about homosexuals. We talked about women.

“And some of these turned against me.”

They certainly did. In droves.

Many speak out

The Beacon Journal spoke individually with 21 former members of the church who insist that Angley has been running a cult, not a church, and say he consistently threatens and intimidates his flock into following his instructions, bullying them into life-changing decisions that often split up families.

These folks say Angley controls virtually every aspect of their lives, from deciding what they read and watch on TV to whom they will marry and when. The sheer amount of time they are urged to spend at the church — three- to five-hour services, multiple times per week, plus a host of other activities — enables him to limit outside interference, they say.

Angley and other top church officials say the wave of members who left the church this summer was part of a conspiracy to take control of the ministry, and that the former members are “lying” about virtually everything.

But a parade of ex-members — some who departed 25 years ago, some who departed only a few months ago — scoff at those assertions.

“This man is a monster,” said Pam Cable of Akron, who left the church in 1988. “He’s a monster. And I can’t understand why all these years have gone by and nobody’s ever really been able to do anything about him.

“The people in Akron, Ohio, have a Jim Jones sitting in their backyard. ... These people in his congregation would drink the Kool-Aid if he told them to. They would.”

Kenny Montgomery, a former usher, also invokes the name of Jones, the religious leader who in 1978 persuaded 909 of his followers to commit suicide by drinking Kool-Aid laced with cyanide.

“That place is a textbook cult,” said Montgomery, whose mother introduced him to the church at age 9. “I’m really scared for my friends and family that still go there.”

Preventing children

He and others say Angley holds so much sway over his members’ lives that he has persuaded them to get abortions and vasectomies even when they didn’t want to.

“None of us have kids because he makes all the men get fixed,” said Becky Roadman, 32, who quit the church last year and now lives in Georgia. “You’re not allowed to have babies there.”

That assertion is seconded by Akron resident Angelia Oborne, who worked in the church’s restaurant, the Cathedral Buffet, for 20 years before quitting the church a year and a half ago.

“My husband and I can’t have children because my husband had a vasectomy,” she said. “We were looking at getting it reversed, but I’m 35 years old and ... may not be able to have children anymore.

“And that breaks my heart, because that choice was made for me, because of the brainwashing, the mind control. We weren’t allowed to have children. If you turned up pregnant, it’s almost as if you had sinned.”

Oborne says Angley once advised a friend to think of her growing fetus as “a tumor.”

“She was four months pregnant and she sat in the [abortion clinic] waiting room and told her baby that she was so sorry that she was doing this,” Oborne said.

“I know another girl — she won’t come forward — but she was forced into having four abortions.”

Reluctant follower

Among those who have been pressured into abortions is Mimi Camp of Munroe Falls.

Camp was 25 and the mother of two boys when she and her husband moved from Florida to Akron and joined the church. When she became pregnant again and revealed what she figured would be the joyous news, her husband was upset, quoting Angley as saying, “It’s against God’s will for anyone to have a child.”

When they went to talk with Angley, Camp said, their pastor declared that abortion was her only option — “and then he went into some sort of vision and said, ‘Thus sayeth the Lord, if you have this child it could take your life or be retarded and you won’t be the mother to your other two children.’ ”

Camp grudgingly, haltingly acceded.

“I actually waited until I was 15 or 16 weeks along,” she said. “I was taking my prenatal vitamins and everything because I just didn’t want to do it.

“I kept getting pressured. The church recommended the abortion clinic. The first one I went to, I got up and walked out. I couldn’t go through with it.

“Then some higher-ups from the church were saying, ‘You know, you’d be doing the right thing. You really need to go through with it.’ And I went ahead and did it.”

She deeply regrets the decision. She experienced early menopause and never had another chance to have the girl she always wanted.

“I thought perhaps it was a girl,” she said. “It was terrible. It was absolutely gut-wrenching.”

Bad time for kids

During a 90-minute interview in his office, Angley said he doesn’t remember Camp’s circumstances, doesn’t push for abortions and only suggests vasectomies.

“I can’t regulate their lives,” he said. “But I can advise them about things if they ask me.”

Why would the head of a church want to limit the size of his future congregation? Usher Mike Kish, who sat in on the interview, said, “I would hate to even bring a child into the world at this point, being a parent, just having common sense. ... If you look at the condition of this world ... it just seems to be going downhill.”

When Angley was asked whether he agrees that this is a bad time to have children, he responded: “It really is. It really is. I wouldn’t want to be brought into this world now.”

Even if you had strong faith?

“No, because the people of strong faith go down. And their children are in danger ... . It wasn’t like that when I was a kid. We could walk up and down the streets, we could play at night and we were not molested at all.”

Angley volunteered a story about a male church employee who, Angley believes, wanted a child too much.

“This girl, she wanted a baby, she’s a second wife,” Angley said. “Those vasectomies can be undone, and he had it undone for her sake.

“I knew he shouldn’t have. We almost lost her, and they had twins and one of them died [at birth]. The little boy [who survived], he is something else. He really loves me. ... The daddy, he’s proud of him. But he knows he did the wrong thing.”

Angley and his late wife, Esther (he called her “Angel”), who died in 1970, never had children. When asked why, Angley said: “We didn’t want children. We wanted to give our lives to the work of God. ... My wife really loved children, but she didn’t feel like that we should have them.”

Ulterior motive

Some former members believe Angley has an ulterior motive in trying to prevent his parishioners from having children. Among them is Greg Mulkey of Barberton.

Mulkey was a prominent figure at Grace Cathedral, a singer in the Hallelujahs, a group featured on Angley’s TV broadcasts, and a key member of the church choir.

“He doesn’t want people to have kids because it would take their time and money away from [the church],” he said.

“He really forced people into abortions through scare tactics, as if he were a medical doctor. It turns my stomach.”

Mulkey says vasectomies were force-fed as well.

“When you tell another man to have a vasectomy, and you’re not a doctor, and you have influence over that person, you’re taking away their humanity.

“[It’s] his way of controlling everyone. It’s very scary stuff.”

Given Angley’s level of control, ex-members say, parishioners are vulnerable to his advances and those of his associates. That subject will be examined in Part Two.

Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31.

CLEVELAND: Cleveland Indians owner Lawrence “Larry” J. Dolan will be honored with the St. Thomas More Award by the Catholic Lawyers Guild of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland on Friday.

The St. Thomas More Award is given out annually to an attorney who contributes to high ethical standards and spiritual growth in the practice of law. It is named in honor of the patron saint of lawyers.

Dolan, a retired attorney, is a graduate of St. Ignatius High School and the University of Notre Dame, where he earned his undergraduate and law degrees. After law school, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a first lieutenant for two years.

He began his career in law as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Geauga County. After going into private practice, he subsequently became president and managing partner of Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan in Chardon. He continues to maintain an office at the firm where his son is now a principal.

Dolan purchased the Cleveland baseball team in 2000. As owner of the team, he served on the Major League Baseball Ownership Committee and Executive Council and as co-chair of the MLB Diversity Committee.

He is an honorary board member for the Catholic Community Foundation and the Catholic Charities Corp. His civic involvement has included working with the Greater Cleveland Growth Association.

He is a former trustee at Oberlin College, past president of the Geauga County Chapter of the American Red Cross and founder and past president of the Geauga County Public Library Foundation.

Dolan and his wife, Eva, also a lawyer, have been married 57 years. They have six children and 17 grandchildren and are parishioners at Holy Angels Parish in Chagrin Falls where they reside.

The award will be presented during a noon luncheon at the Cleveland Convention Center, after the annual Red Mass for the legal community at 10:30 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 1007 Superior Ave., Cleveland.

For information or to make a reservation, call Colleen Rigo at 216-696-6525, ext. 4080.

These stories about Grace Cathedral in Cuyahoga Falls are the result of a two-month investigation by Beacon Journal reporter Bob Dyer.

Internationally known television evangelist Ernest Angley has led the nondenominational church since 1957.

Former members of the congregation began to contact Dyer during the summer about concerns they had regarding Angley and his ministry.

Dyer talked to 21 former members — often multiple times — in reporting this story. In addition, Dyer had an exclusive, 90-minute interview with Angley, along with Associate Pastor Chris Machamer and usher Mike Kish, to report their side of the story.

This entire project can be found at the Beacon Journal’s website at Ohio.com/ernestangley.

The series:

Sunday: World is evil, so don’t have kids

Monday: Allegations of sexual abuse are kept quiet

Tuesday: Departed associate pastor accused of being a liar, adulterer and drug addict

Wednesday: “He divides and conquers families”

Saturday: Modest house, big plane (Boeing 747)

Sunday: For-profit Cathedral Buffet using volunteer labor again after feds said to stop

Former members of Grace Cathedral say televangelist Ernest Angley has turned a blind eye to sexual abuse they reported to him.

Shane McCabe is among those who told the Beacon Journal they were molested in the Cuyahoga Falls church.

“I was sexually abused there,” said McCabe, who has since moved to Florida with his wife for a new start.

McCabe said the abuse began at age 15 at the hands of a close Angley associate who was frequently in and out of town. It happened several times over the course of a year, he said.

When he finally worked up the courage to talk to Angley about it a few years later, McCabe said, “he basically blew me off.”

“He asked if I had told anybody. I said no. He said, ‘Let’s keep it a secret. This is the way we need to handle it because God’s mercy is great.’ ”

McCabe told Angley he feared the man was prowling for more victims because he had shown up at McCabe’s birthday party. But Angley still wouldn’t pursue it, McCabe said.

When asked during an interview in his office to comment on McCabe’s allegations, Angley responded with one sentence: “I don’t think there was anything to that.”

At about the same time, McCabe’s future wife, Kim, says she also was being abused by a different church member. When she finally told her mother she had been the victim of illicit touching and graphic propositions, she said, her mom immediately called Angley, who told her not to tell anyone else — including her husband.

The mother, a devout follower, told no one.

Shane and Kim dated for years before they even told each other. “We didn’t tell anybody,” she said.

After they finally spoke up, a close, older girlfriend of Kim’s confided that she, too, had been abused.

“We knew that the three of us had had the same thing happen by three different men at the same exact time,” Kim said. “And the same thing was done: It was kept quiet.”

When Angley was asked why he counseled people to stay silent about such matters, he said: “They shouldn’t talk about it, but they can do something about it. But they ought not to spread it abroad, you know, because that hurts others.”

But shouldn’t others be warned?

“Well, yeah, if they’re dangerous,” Angley responded. “If it’s somebody that, you know, makes a habit of that. We get ’em out. We get them out. We just let them know they have to go.”

When asked why he didn’t report such issues to authorities, he said, “That isn’t my place.”

The McCabes wed at Grace Cathedral in 2004 (incurring the church’s wrath, they said, because they declined to use the Cathedral Buffet for their reception). By 2010, they had had enough.

During separate interviews, both related what they considered an incredibly odd conversation during their last visit to Angley’s office.

They say he expressed absolutely no interest in her complaints but wanted Shane to recount his in minute detail — marking the fourth time, Shane said, that Angley had him tell the entire story.

The second time Angley asked for details, Shane figured Angley was checking to make sure the stories matched, to determine whether he was telling the truth. But after the third and fourth retellings, Shane was certain that wasn’t the motive, he said.

At their joint meeting, Kim said, Angley “went into very graphic detail with my husband about, ‘What happened to you? Why didn’t you [orgasm]? I’m sure it felt good. That would have been natural.’

“It was ridiculous and not something any professional person would ever ask.”

Still grieving

Another former member of the church, now 29 and living in Iowa, says she was abused throughout her youth by a different church member and was appalled by Angley’s lack of concern when she told him about it.

(Her name and town are being withheld because she says the person who repeatedly sexually penetrated her is still active in the church and is violent, and she fears he will use his connections to have someone harm her.)

When Angley hosted a meeting with the woman and the man she accused, the preacher “gave [the man] a slap on the hand,” she said over the phone, sobbing. “He basically ‘saved’ him again, and had him say another prayer — and started saying it was partly my fault because of my actions. ...

“For a long time, I believed it.”

Years later, she began to have horrible flashbacks, remembering “his hot breath, and him being big, and coming into the room. It was one flashback after another and I couldn’t get it to stop.”

Today she has an entirely new set of friends, none of whom know anything about her days at Grace Cathedral.

“I thought about going back just to make a scene, to yell at him. I was so pissed off at Ernest Angley, and I still am.

“What he did — he took my whole childhood from me. He took all that away from me. You only have one childhood.”

Arranged marriage

One former member says Angley paved the way for her to marry a man he knew was a convicted sex offender.

C Jay Coker says Angley told her the man, a friend of hers, had been falsely imprisoned because of unspecified, trumped-up charges initiated by an angry ex-wife.

Coker and the man had been exchanging letters and, upon his release, they started dating, with Angley’s blessing — although Angley told her to keep the relationship a secret, she said.

“Once we secretly dated for almost a year, Ernest told me to marry him,” she said.

Only after their wedding did she discover that he had been convicted of molesting a 5-year-old girl multiple times. She was so upset that she literally vomited.

After sitting through court-ordered counseling and group-therapy sessions in which she “was forced to hear the disgusting thoughts he had about young girls,” she started to plan her exit.

Coker, once a member of the choir, looks back in horror on Angley’s inordinate influence on her most important decisions. “I’m ashamed of how I let one man ruin my life.”

Next: A departed pastor is blasted from the pulpit during an unusual Sunday service.

Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31.

Mamie Gardner was more than the founder and director of Kandy Kane Christian Day Care Center, Inc.

To the Rev. Dennis “J.R.” Butts Jr., she was a grandmother figure and the woman who foiled his childhood abduction at Rolling Acres Mall.

“I was at the mall with my mother. She was shopping and I was playing on the clothing racks, between the clothes, when some lady grabbed me,” said Butts, 34. “As she was trying to make her way out of the mall with me, Mrs. Gardner saw her with me and knew I didn’t belong to her. She took me and made sure I got back to my mother.”

The late Gardner is credited with rescuing tens of thousands of children who passed through the doors of the day-care center during the last 40 years.

The center, which became an icon in the West Akron neighborhood where it is based at 1010 S. Hawkins Ave., closed its doors on Sept. 19 because of low enrollment. Its executive director, Linda Isaiah, is working to empty the building, selling off some of the items left behind, including three vans, playground equipment, furniture, storage sheds and carport covers.

Although she expects to be out of the building by Nov. 21, the one thing she will likely leave behind is the red-lettered Kandy Kane sign on the front lawn.

“I will probably leave it for the next owner of the building to take down. This has been a really emotional time for me, going through the building to prepare it for closing, knowing how much it has meant to the families whose children found a safe haven here,” Isaiah said. “It’s bittersweet. I hate to see this season end with the closing, but it’s a blessing to be able to give … the furniture and equipment to other day care centers. It’s like an extension of Mrs. Gardner, who had a passion for helping others, especially single mothers.”

Patricia Dillworth, who was employed by Kandy Kane for 39 years as a teacher and deputy director before her retirement last year, agreed. She was able to purchase cribs, rugs and tables for the reopening of the day care center at her church, Second Baptist in Akron.

“It was a blessing to be able to touch so many children’s lives,” Dillworth said. “I was there long enough to see some of the kids that we started with bring their children back for us to care for. That was a testament that people in the community trusted us.”

Gardner, who passed away in September 2013, founded Kandy Kane in 1974. Its name came out of her hope that, like candy, it would be a delight for children. The center was initially housed at Centenary United Methodist Church and grew to become the largest day-care service for Summit County (with a $2 million budget) in the late 1990s.

During its heyday, the center employed more than 100 people and had seven sites in low-income neighborhoods in West Akron. Programming included before- and after-school programs in seven elementary schools in Akron and a summer program for children up to age 13.

The Summit County Department of Human Services also contracted with Kandy Kane to provide care for the children of mothers on public assistance who were working or attending school. For years, the center sponsored graduation ceremonies for children going to kindergarten and for alumni upon completion of high school (which included the presentation of scholarships).

Butts, who is now married with two children, was employed by the center while in high school. He went on to earn his undergraduate degree in international business at the University of Akron and his MBA at Case Western University. He now serves at The House of the Lord in West Akron and works as a director for health-care strategy with a Chicago-based consulting firm.

“It saddens me that Kandy Kane is coming to an end, but I appreciate the great foundation to move toward excellence that it provided for me and other children growing up in West Akron,” Butts said. “Kandy Kane was much more than a day care center. It was an incubator of hope for children at a young age to have something positive poured into them. It was an epicenter where our community and our kids were loved.”

For more information about items available for sale at the center, call 330-864-6642.

Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.

These stories about Grace Cathedral in Cuyahoga Falls are the result of a two-month investigation by Beacon Journal reporter Bob Dyer.

Internationally known television evangelist Ernest Angley has led the nondenominational church since 1957.

Former members of the congregation began to contact Dyer during the summer about concerns they had regarding Angley and his ministry.

Dyer talked to 21 former members — often multiple times — in reporting this story. In addition, Dyer had an exclusive, 90-minute interview with Angley, along with Associate Pastor Chris Machamer and usher Mike Kish, to report their side of the story.

This entire project can be found at the Beacon Journal’s website at Ohio.com/ernestangley.

The series:

Sunday: World is evil, so don’t have kids

Monday: Allegations of sexual abuse are kept quiet

Tuesday: Departed associate pastor accused of being a liar, adulterer and drug addict

Wednesday: “He divides and conquers families”

Saturday: Modest house, big plane (Boeing 747)

Sunday: For-profit Cathedral Buffet using volunteer labor again after feds said to stop

Former members of Ernest Angley’s congregation say people who leave the church are not only shunned, but also often criticized by name during services.

Perhaps no one has been subjected to more venom than former Associate Pastor Brock Miller, who stepped down July 4.

Miller told friends and family that he left because he had been “violated” by Angley for seven years and could no longer take it.

Angley “had him undress and touched him all over,” said a family member who did not want to be identified because many members of the large family are still devout followers. “I don’t believe he touched him on his part, but it doesn’t matter. That doesn’t belong in the church. It doesn’t belong anywhere, but it [certainly] doesn’t belong in the church.”

When asked whether Angley explained the reason for the touching, the person replied, “[Miller] was receiving ‘a special anointing.’ ”

Miller’s departure sparked so much conversation that church leaders addressed the situation during a Sunday service on July 13. A recording of the service was shared with the Beacon Journal.

The Rev. Chris Machamer, an associate pastor, did most of the talking. He declared, among other things, that Miller is “a proven liar.”

He read an email allegedly written by the former pastor at 2:59 a.m. to an unnamed, married “young lady,” thanking her for sharing her Percocet with him.

Machamer claimed Miller is a drug addict whose motivation for the “lies” was obvious: “Brock simply wanted to take control of the church after Rev. Angley dies,” he told the gathering.

Angley himself weighed in next, calling Miller’s allegations “dirty lies [from] someone who committed adultery.”

The 93-year-old preacher added, “Brock has been ... getting drunk. He was like a zombie. I gave him four hours [in a meeting], but it didn’t do any good. There was not enough to work with.”

Usher Mike Kish joined the parade, telling the congregation, “You’re not fighting flesh and blood. You’re fighting the devil himself, straight from the pits of hell.”

Kish said Miller’s goal was to persuade both Machamer and Angley to step down so Miller could take over.

Added Kish: “Brock Miller’s claims to being homosexually molested — they sound like some kind of horror-flick gay porno thing. The stories are just unbelievable.”

But more than a dozen former members of Grace Cathedral believe those stories. They say the July 13 assault on Brock Miller’s character was an unjustified smear campaign against someone who simply could no longer submit to Angley’s perversion.

‘Nothing to gain’

Miller, 29, did not initiate this series of stories. In fact, he declined repeated requests for interviews. A family member says he is “pretty devastated right now, and humiliated and embarrassed.”

The family member asked to emphasize that Miller did not accuse Angley of being a “homosexual,” but rather of “violating” him.

Miller grew up idolizing Angley. His mother was a close friend and associate of Angley’s who worked at the Cuyahoga Falls church for 30 years. Brock Miller had absolutely no incentive to fabricate the story, the relative says; in fact, he had plenty of incentive not to.

Speaking about Miller and his wife of 10 years, Candace, the family member said: “They had nothing to gain. They had to move out of their house, which was owned by the church. They were home-schooled and have no further education. They have no jobs. They had to move in with another family member. They have nothing to gain by coming forward with this.”

Angley said during an interview in his office that the problem began when he went on an extended overseas mission trip and left Miller in charge of the regular church services, which were well-received.

“The people — you know how people are — [were] bragging on him. And I was dictating the messages to him. They didn’t know it. And I think he got the big head. ... He stopped praying and seeking God and lost his anointing.”

A reporter, noting that Miller was called “a liar, a drug addict, an alcoholic and an adulterer” during the service, asked, “Wouldn’t it have been better just to say, ‘He had personal problems and we’re praying he will be able to straighten himself out?’ ”

“We had to do it,” Angley responded. “They were really fighting. ... It was awful stuff. They wanted money. We had to do it.”

Angley produced a short, typed statement signed by Sarah Coger, a church employee, that says one of Miller’s close family members told her she planned to demand $100,000 in hush money.

The letter also said Coger was told that Miller wasn’t claiming Angley touched his genitals.

“Now we have the lowdown that clears me of any touching of his privates,” Angley said.

When asked whether he regularly told Miller to undress and touched him all over, calling it a “special anointing,” Angley replied, “Oh, just tell anything. Just tell anything. They are the biggest liars.”

Some of the former church members who talked with the Beacon Journal said a similar wave of defections took place in the mid-1990s. They said about 200 members departed after word circulated that an assistant pastor had resigned because he found out about sex acts between Angley and a parishioner.

(Church officials declined to provide the current size of the congregation.)

Sounds familiar

Some male ex-churchgoers say they weren’t surprised by Miller’s allegations, because Angley took an inordinate amount of interest in their own genitalia.

As was reported in the first installment of this series, Angley routinely brings men into his office to examine them before and after vasectomies, which he allegedly urges all of his male churchgoers to undergo.

“You’re not a medical doctor,” a reporter said during the interview. “Why would you examine men’s genitals before and after vasectomies?”

“The swelling,” Angley responded. “Some of them would swell awful. I didn’t touch them, I just prayed for them. And then, I’d get success for most of them. And if they didn’t go down, I would insist they go to the doctor. And guys don’t like to go to doctors, I’ll tell you. ...

“One of them, one of his testicles fell out. And he didn’t know what to do.”

Reporter: “Actually ‘fell out’? Wouldn’t he be screaming in agony and calling 9-1-1?”

Angley: “Well, that wasn’t for me to do. You see, I wanted him to get to the doctor.”

Reporter: “I can’t believe he could even function.”

Angley: “He did. He was frightened enough to go. And the doctor appreciates me sending — looking after them.”

Pattern emerges

According to former church members, Angley’s interest in male body parts was not limited to pre- and post-op inspections.

Kenny Montgomery, 43, who owns a mobile dog-grooming business in Akron, said a counseling session with Angley took a shocking turn.

“My wife and I were having problems because we were working all week and in church all weekend,” he said. “We started to go our separate ways and weren’t having sex anymore.

“I [talked] to Ernest about that, because you’re not allowed to see an outside counselor, because an outside counselor has a ‘Doctorate of Devils,’ as he calls it.

“He asked me, ‘Do you do oral sex on her?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but I don’t know what that has to do with it.’ And then he puts his hands over his mouth and starts stroking his chin and licking his lips. This is creepy.

“And he goes, ‘So, are you large?’ And I go, ‘What do you mean?’ And he says, ‘Your penis — is it really large?’ And I got kind of pissed. I go, ‘You know, I never sat around and compared it with another man’s.’

“He backed right off when I said that. He says, ‘Well, you just need to pray to God and seek God more and all this will be better’ — and pretty much shoved me out of his office.”

Another former member of the congregation, a 30-year-old male who did not want his identity revealed because his brother is still highly involved in the church, said Angley had a similar conversation with him.

“I was in his office 9, 10 months ago, discussing an issue with my girlfriend,” he said. “He was asking me, in a nutshell, why I was so frisky all the time. He said, ‘Is it because you have a big penis?’ ”

Former churchgoer Becky Roadman, who left last year after 13 years of membership, said, “Angley had my husband in his office and sat right next to him on the couch asking him details about his penis.”

Said Angley: “It’s all kinds of tales. But if I traced down every lie, I wouldn’t get nothing else done. Jesus didn’t, and I try to be just as much like him as I can.”

Conflicting stories

Greg Mulkey of Barberton, whose parents first took him to Grace Cathedral when he was 1½, was a star at the church during his late teens and early 20s. He was a singer in the Hallelujahs, a group featured on Angley’s TV broadcasts, and was a prominent member of the church choir.

“Because of my position in the spotlight,” he said, “I had a lot of people confide in me.” Among them: his lifelong friend Chris Machamer, the current associate pastor.

“They were getting ready to do a play,” Mulkey recalled. “Chris was playing the part of Jesus, hanging on the cross or whatever, and he had to wear a loincloth. He [told] me, ‘Ernest had me come in his office and he wanted to make sure that the loincloth looked just right and everything.’ And I said, ‘Oh, OK. Did it look right?’ He said, ‘Yeah. But you know what? He had me pull it down.’

“I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘Yeah, he wanted to make sure I was shaved and everything so no hair would show.

“And I go, ‘Hmmmm.’ I just filed that one back because that one didn’t sound right.”

When asked about Mulkey’s report, Machamer said, “No, that never happened. We had plays. I did play the part of Jesus.”

When asked why someone would fabricate a story like that, Machamer said: “That’s a good question. That’s a good question.”

Angley said, “I never heard of that.”

NEXT: Former members say Angley’s influence and vindictiveness have ripped families asunder.

Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31.

Alarmed by the broad expansion of same-sex marriage set in motion by the U.S. Supreme Court, religious conservatives are moving their fight to state legislatures — seeking exemptions that would allow some groups, companies and people with religious objections to refuse benefits or service for gay spouses.

But winning sweeping carve-outs for faith-affiliated adoption agencies or individual wedding vendors will be an uphill battle. Public attitudes against exceptions have hardened, and efforts by faith groups in states where courts, not lawmakers, recognized same-sex unions have had little success.

“When the judiciary does it they don’t do the kind of balancing that legislatures tend to do,” said Tim Schultz, president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, which has organized legislative caucuses focused on religious liberty in 20 states.

Every state legislative debate over gay marriage has addressed the question of whether religious objectors could be exempt in any way from recognizing same-sex unions. But in states where same-sex marriage became law through the courts, only one, Connecticut, followed up by enacting significant new exemptions. Massachusetts, Iowa and New Jersey have provided no opt-outs for gay marriage opponents.

Until recently, gay rights groups accepted some exceptions to pick up badly needed votes from conservative lawmakers. But that political pressure has dropped as acceptance of same-sex unions has grown. Gay advocates say broad carve-outs perpetuate the very discrimination they had been working to end.

That argument gained currency after the Hobby Lobby ruling last June. The high court decided the arts-and-crafts chain and other closely held private businesses with religious objections could opt out of providing employees the free contraceptive coverage required by the Affordable Care Act. While conservatives rejoiced, liberal groups were outraged, and many vowed to aggressively oppose exceptions for faith groups. Soon after, prominent gay rights and civil rights groups withdrew their support from the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, because of the wide reach of its exemption.

“I think there’s a broad consensus that the rules should apply to everyone, which is why we withdrew our support from ENDA,” said Jennifer Pizer, senior counsel at the national gay rights group Lambda Legal. “If you have different standards, then it communicates a message that some kinds of discrimination are not as serious as others.”

The religious exemption fight isn’t about happens inside the sanctuary. First Amendment protections for worship and clergy are clear. The concern instead is for religious organizations with some business in the public arena. That category includes faith-affiliated associations that rent their properties to the public for wedding receptions; religious charities that provide adoption and other social services, often with government funding; and individual religious objectors such as justices of the peace, government clerks or business owners.

The exemptions approved so far have generally been much narrower than faith leaders sought, although opponents did win some meaningful concessions. About a half-dozen states allowed religious associations, such as the Knights of Columbus, or some faith-based nonprofits to deny specific benefits for gay couples — such as insurance for spouses — or refuse to serve them. A few states allowed privately funded adoption agencies to refuse to place children with gay couples. Religiously affiliated marriage support programs, such as Christian couples’ retreats, were exempted in several states. But many of the states only reiterated First Amendment protections for worship.

Still, the high court decision last week to turn away appeals by states trying to protect their same-sex marriage bans moves the debate over exemptions into territory that is more conservative, politically and religiously. Utah, Nevada and Idaho are heavily Mormon. South Carolina, where the attorney general is fighting to uphold the state’s gay marriage ban despite the court ruling, is largely evangelical Protestant.

“Some of the states are so red — think South Carolina — that the legislature can likely lock down all kinds of religious liberty protections, even those we have not yet seen adopted anywhere, like protection for the small mom-and-pop wedding professionals, simply because they have the votes of like-minded colleagues,” said Robin Fretwell Wilson, a family law specialist at the University of Illinois, Champaign, who tracks exemptions in state laws.

State Rep. Jacob Anderegg, a Utah Republican, said he plans to reintroduce a religious exemptions bill he had temporarily shelved amid the federal court cases on gay marriage in the last two years. His bill would allow anyone authorized by the state to solemnize marriages — including clergy and justices of the peace — to refuse on religious grounds to preside at same-sex marriages.

“The bill reasserts and re-establishes fundamental principles: I have a religious objection. You can’t force me or compel me to do it,” Anderegg said. He expects a few other exemptions to be proposed in the next legislative session.

Eric Hawkins, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, would not comment on any plans by the church to seek exceptions.

Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative advocacy group, said her organization was still analyzing the impact of the court decision and hadn’t yet decided on strategy. But she said, “the priority is to assure religious liberty is protected.” She said the public can be moved to support religious exemptions through the cases of wedding cake bakers or photographers who have faced discrimination complaints for refusing to serve same-sex couples.

“Our challenge is to get those stories out,” Herrod said.

But a controversy in Arizona last February over exemptions showed the limits on the public acceptance of broad opt-outs, even in conservative-leaning states. When state lawmakers expanded protections in the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the national backlash from business leaders, gay rights groups and others was so intense that Republican Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed the measure.

Advocates for the bill said critics massively overreacted. Proponents argued the bill would have given objectors only the chance to bring a religious liberty claim before a court. But critics argued the legislation would have effectively allowed businesses to refuse service to gays and lesbians without penalty, especially given that Arizona has no statewide nondiscrimination policy that covers sexual orientation.

“There will be a temptation to enact broad exemptions in states that otherwise would oppose same-sex marriage,” said John Green, a religion and politics expert at the University of Akron’s Bliss Institute for Applied Politics. “However, overly broad exemptions can backfire as well: They can be perceived as intolerant and discriminatory.”

VATICAN CITY: A fight for the soul of the Catholic Church has broken out, and the first battlefield is a document on family values that pits increasingly alarmed conservatives against more progressive bishops emboldened by Pope Francis’ vision of a church that is more merciful than moralistic.

On Tuesday, conservative bishops distanced themselves from the document’s unprecedented opening toward gays and divorced Catholics, calling it an “unacceptable” deviation from church teaching that doesn’t reflect their views and vowing to make changes to the final version.

The report, released midway through a Vatican meeting on such hot-button family issues as marriage, divorce, homosexuality and birth control, signaled a radical shift in tone about welcoming gays, divorced Catholics and unmarried couples into the church.

Its message was one of almost-revolutionary acceptance and understanding rather than condemnation. Gays, it said, had gifts to offer the church, and their partnerships, while morally problematic, provided gay couples with “precious” support. The church, it added, must welcome divorced people and recognize the “positive” aspects of civil marriages and even Catholics who live together without being married.

The leaders of the bishops’ meeting, or synod, that produced it stressed Tuesday that it was merely a working paper and was never intended to be a statement of church doctrine, but rather a reflection of views that will be debated and amended before a final version is released on Saturday.

Still, its dramatic shift in tone thrilled progressives and gay rights groups, and dismayed conservatives already deeply uncomfortable with Francis’ aim to make the church a “field hospital” for wounded souls.

Several conservatives who participated in the synod immediately distanced themselves from the report. The head of the Polish bishops’ conference, Cardinal Stanislaw Gadecki, called it “unacceptable” and a deviation from church teaching.

South African Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier said the report didn’t reflect the opinion of the synod in its entirety.

Hard-line American Cardinal Raymond Burke, the head of the Vatican’s supreme court, told Catholic World Report that the document contained positions “which many synod Fathers do not accept and, I would say, as faithful shepherds of the flock cannot accept.”

He accused the Vatican press operation of releasing “manipulated” information about the synod debate that didn’t reflect the “consistent number of bishops” who opposed such a tone.

Jerry Schrop heard a call for blood donors more than 35 years ago, after several teens were involved in a car accident.

“I think it was in Lodi. I know there were some kids injured and there was a real emergency for A-negative type blood,” said Schrop, 75, of Akron. “I had the Rh factor, so I went to donate blood because I wanted to help save a life.”

Since then, Schrop has been a regular blood donor. On Saturday, he will be recognized for reaching a 25-gallon milestone during the bimonthly blood drive (which he helps organize) at his church, North Springfield Presbyterian Church, located at 671 Canton Road in Akron’s Ellet neighborhood.

The blood drive, which runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., represents a 60-year partnership between the 205-year-old church and the American Red Cross. North Springfield Presbyterian is believed to be the first church in Akron to host a blood drive in November 1954.

“Groups like churches are the perfect sponsors because they care about their communities. This is a way for their members to put their faith into action and help save lives through blood donations,” said Natalie Sarles of the American Red Cross. “Our strength lies in the active involvement of people who host blood drives and donate blood. Without the donors and sponsors, there would be no American Red Cross. ”

Sarles, an account manager for the Northern Ohio Blood Services Region, said one pint of donated blood can help to sustain or save up to three patients. The local Red Cross blood services division supplies 900 pints of blood each day to 57 local hospitals. The blood goes to a variety of patients, including premature babies, trauma and accident victims and people with cancer and blood disorders.

Schrop said he typically encourages others to give blood by explaining that it is all about saving lives.

“It doesn’t cost you anything to give, but it can make all the difference in someone else’s life. The other side to that is you never know when you might need blood and be on the receiving end,” said Schrop, who will collect his 25th Red Cross pin on Saturday.

He will add the pin to the American Red Cross cap (already adorned with all the others) that he wears proudly with the Red Cross T-shirt that his daughter gave him as a gift. Each pin represents one gallon of blood donated.

The black T-shirt, designed on front and back with a circle containing a cross, reads “A Blood Donor Saved My Life.” The cross on the back contains a biblical quote from Matthew 26:28: “ ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’ — Jesus.”

“At one time, I said I would stop donating blood when I reached 10 gallons, but I kept giving because I can. I’m blessed with good health and I want to make a difference,” Schrop said.

Saturday’s celebration will include a chance to win a $5,000 gift card, courtesy of Suburban Propane.

To find out more about donation requirements, where to make donations or to make an appointment to donate blood, call 800-448-3543 or visit www.redcrossblood.org.

Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.

Televangelist Ernest Angley has torn apart families by advising his parishioners to turn their backs on those who have departed, according to a number of former members.

Becky Roadman, who quit the Cuyahoga Falls church last year after 13 years as a member, said Angley routinely blasts people who have soured on his church.

“When they leave there, they shun you and say you’re devil-possessed,” Roadman says. “[Members] have shunned even their own wives, husbands and children.

“What kind of pastor does that?”

Angelia Oborne, who left not long ago after 20 years, said of Angley, “He divides and conquers families.”

Mimi Camp of Munroe Falls said her desire to leave the church, pitted against her husband’s desire to stay, led directly to their divorce.

Kenny Montgomery, who said he divorced his first wife because he wanted to leave the church and she didn’t, said his parents wanted nothing to do with his second marriage.

“I invited my mom and dad to the wedding and they refused to come because it wasn’t ‘of God’ and it wasn’t ordained by Ernest, and they couldn’t be a part of it,” he said.

“I got mad and severed communication with them for seven years.”

Pam Cable also blames Angley for her divorce.

Cable attended the church for nearly three decades before she ran out of patience with Angley’s psychological dominance and told her husband she wanted to quit the church. He didn’t. End of marriage.

“[Angley] ruled my life, day in and day out,” said the 60-year-old Akron resident. “He took my husband from me. He took my youth from me. To have any kind of a pastor rule over you like that is wrong. It’s just wrong.

“God is the creator of the family, not the destroyer of the family. I’ve seen too many families destroyed sitting in that man’s ministry.”

Wed as a teen to another young member of the congregation, Cable said Angley’s lust for complete control led directly to her divorce after 17 years of marriage.

She said the light bulb went on during a mission trip she took with her husband to Hawaii. The trip coincided with their 10th wedding anniversary. But she said, she was not allowed to stay in the same hotel as her husband.

“I began to question why and was told I was demon-possessed and I shouldn’t be asking questions, that I should do as I’m told.

“It took me six years after that to finally just say, ‘I’ve had enough. I just can’t do this anymore.’

“Basically, I had ahold of one arm of my husband and Ernest had ahold of the other, and Ernest won.

“It’s one thing to fight against alcoholism or drug addiction or even another woman. But I was fighting against the concept of God. And there’s no winning in that situation.”

Public scorn

Cable is among those who say Angley actively tries to put distance between his flock and those who depart. “What he does to people when they leave his church, it’s horrendous. [He] stands up there and slings this mud about people, and names them from the platform.”

She said that after she left he told the entire congregation she was “a dark angel.”

During an interview in his office last month, Angley was asked why he is so adamant that people who stay behind not have any dealings with the people who left.

“Well,” he replied, “they don’t need to hear all that stuff [negativity about the church]. I’ve got to protect them. I’m their little shepherd under the Lord.”

Among the members whose departures caused deep family divisions is Kim McCabe, who now lives in Florida with her husband, Shane, whom she met and married at Grace Cathedral.

When she was inappropriately touched and propositioned by a member of the church, she told her mother, who then told Angley. After the meeting, “he pulled my whole family into his office and told them I was telling lies about the church and they should refrain from talking to me any longer. Each family member was pulled into a group meeting and then into an individual meeting.”

McCabe said Angley convinced her family that “I was dangerous. My sister hasn’t spoken to me in, like, five years. My mom still does, but it’s very strained.”

One of the primary reasons the McCabes left was because they were appalled by some of the things their young, adopted children were being told at Sunday school.

Horror stories

One day, Kim McCabe recalled, “the teacher said, ‘If you’re 7 or older, raise your hand!’ My son had just turned 7 that weekend and was waving his hand. So I stuck around to listen, and she went on to tell them that she did not see them going down to the altar and praying, and, ‘If you don’t do that, you’re going to miss the Rapture. You’re going to be left, and what if you wake up one day and your parents are gone and you’re still here?

“ ‘How will you take care of yourself? How are you going to feed yourself? You are going to starve to death — blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.’ At 7 years old!”

In a separate interview, her husband remembered the same scene — “My kid is freaking out. He can’t even tie his shoes.” — and said the scare tactics started even earlier with a younger child.

“My 3-year-old was coming home asking me, ‘Why is God going to destroy the world?’ ”

Although the McCabes left, Kim’s mother has remained an adamant believer in Angley, which has caused a major rift, Kim says.

Afraid to leave

Tale after tale has emerged of families torn apart by disagreements over Angley. The stories are so commonplace, said Pam Cable, that they prevent some unhappy members from leaving.

“I think there are a lot of people within that church [who] would like to leave but can’t because their families are tied into it and, if they leave that church, he will separate them from their families.

“And that’s been proven over and over and over again. You are definitely shunned if you leave that church.”

A member of one large family said differing opinions about the circumstances of the departure of an associate pastor have “destroyed our family.”

“I still have family members there, and they refuse to have anything to do with us.”

A woman who doesn’t want to be identified because she teaches in a local public school said her father was in Angley’s inner circle for 17 years, and she frequently witnessed the impact Angley’s shunning can have on a teenager.

When someone leaves, she said, those who are left behind “are told, ‘You don’t even look at them.’ And all your friends — you have closer relationships with them than you do your family — and all of a sudden they do not talk to you. They see you in a parking lot and they turn the other way.

“They’re told not to even look at you because if they look at you, the demons that are in you, because you left, can jump onto them. And they believe it!”

Demons abound

A woman who now lives in Iowa (she does not want to be identified because she fears for her safety) said that when she went to Angley to tell him her stepdad was severely beating her mother, she was told her mother was at fault.

“He said there was a huge demon hovering over my mom and penetrated its claws into her brain,” said the 29-year-old. “So I grew up in fear of my mom for a long time.

“I was told that if I went near my mom, the demon would jump off her and attach to me.”

Camp, the woman who said Angley caused her divorce, reported that she, too, was warned about demons, as well as leeches.

“He told you if you had any thoughts about questioning his teachings, there were leeches in your mind and spirits that were changing your thought pattern.

“He told us not to watch TV because people on the news are devil-possessed and that the demons in them would come through the TV and possess our soul.”

Some say those who stay behind do so mainly because they have been brainwashed into believing Angley is on par with God.

A woman who was raised in the church but left just before her 22nd birthday said, “Father, Son, Holy Spirit and Ernest Angley. They don’t worship a trinity. It’s a quartet. And nobody questions anything.”

NEXT: A man who regrets giving $80,000 to Ernest Angley is among many who wonder why the preacher needs to own a Boeing 747 that costs more than $2 million a year to operate.

Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31.

The North Hill neighborhood surrounding Trinity United Church of Christ is embarking on a transformation from an urban food desert to oasis, where there is better access to healthy choices.

The construction of a seasonal high tunnel Thursday at the church, 915 N. Main St., signaled the commitment of the Eastern Ohio Association Council and three congregations — one urban, Trinity; one suburban, First Congregational of Hudson; and one rural, Edinburg United Church of Christ, in Portage County’s Edinburg Township — to sponsor a 1,344-square-foot community garden to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to neighbors.

“We are always looking for ways to benefit the general community. Because of our involvement in a health initiative and the fact that the immediate area around the church is classified as a food desert — a place where access to grocery stores and fresh foods is limited — a community garden seemed like a good way to get people in the neighborhood involved in gardening and taking care of the earth and putting healthy food on their tables at the same time,” said the Rev. Carl Wallace, pastor at Trinity.

A four-man crew from Pinehill Masonry of Dundee (just south of Wooster) spent most of the day Thursday constructing the steel-framed, unheated greenhouse on the north side of the church building. The purpose of the structure is to protect plants and extend the growing season.

The first crop planted in the local community garden is rye wheat. The cover crop will help improve soil quality.

Funding for the project comes through a U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation program.

“The funding is available to socially disadvantaged, beginning and limited-resource farmers,” said Alphonso Norwood, a USDA urban conservationist. “Urban gardens can be used to help educate community members about food quality and give them access to fresh food closer to home. The longer food stays out, the more it loses its nutritional value, so this garden will be very beneficial to people living in the neighborhood.”

Norwood, a representative from the International Institute in Akron and a representative from U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge’s office joined Wallace and the Rev. Peter Wiley, pastor at First Congregational Church Hudson, at the construction site at mid-morning to celebrate the accomplishment.

Fudge, D-Warrensville Heights, was instrumental in securing funds.

“Anything we can do to help others in the broader community, we are happy to do because that is part of our calling” as Christians, Wiley said. “We have an ongoing relationship with Pastor Wallace and Trinity that has helped us develop roots in the broader community. The community garden is another part of the vision for the neighborhood around Trinity.”

Wallace said that in addition to providing access to healthy foods for community members, the garden will provide learning opportunities for students at Findley elementary, a school that the partner churches have adopted.

“This is already working out much better than we planned — and we haven’t even planted the first vegetables,” Wallace said. “People from our partner churches came in and helped clear the land, which included the removal of a big, old stump. Edinburg is supplying us with farmers who really know what they’re doing. We’re pulling in the International Institute to help us reach the Asian refugee population in the neighborhood and we have a way to engage children.”

Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.

The following is a listing of events and special services at Akron-area churches and places of worship.

Events

Basilica of St. John the Baptist — 627 McKinley Ave. NW, Canton. 2 p.m. Sunday. Wedding Anniversary Celebration to honor couples who are observing their 25th, 40th, 50th or other anniversaries in 2014. The celebration will include Mass with Bishop George V. Murry, renewal of marriage vows, a personalized certificate for each couple and a reception for the couples and their families.

Calvary Baptist Church — 820 White Pond Drive, Akron. 7 p.m. Wednesday-Friday. Fall Revival — Fire in the Fall with guest speakers, Dr. R. B. Ouellette from Michigan and Brother Bruce Musselman from Cleveland. For more information, call 330-836-4701.

Canton Baptist Temple — 515 Whipple Ave. NW, Canton. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 25. Annual CBTreating Halloween Alternative. Free candy will be given to those who come through the hallways of the church. Children are encouraged to dress in festive costume. For more information, call 330-477-6267.

Celebration Church — 688 Dan St., Akron. 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 31. Celebration of Life. Free candy, games, hayrides, Bible costume contest and more for kids of all ages. Activities for the entire family.

The Chapel — 135 Fir Hill, Akron. 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Women’s Conference And Life Comes Back. Keynote speaker Tricia Lott Williford and worship leader Sara Groves. $35 in advance, $40 at door. For more information, go to www.the-chapel.org/adults/womens.

Christ is the Answer Ministries — 379 E. South St., Akron. Sunday. Youth Day. 10:30 a.m. speaker is Elder Michael L. Jackson of Love Center Church of Cleveland; 4 p.m. speaker is Overseer Renee Collins of Kingdom Grace Fellowship Church of Mansfield.

Dominican Sisters of Peace — Our Lady of the Elms, 1230 W. Market St., Akron. 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Associates Fall Festival Fundraiser Soup, Salad and Silent Auction. 330-835-5690.

Dominion Family Church — 90 W. Thornton St., Akron. Celebrates 30 years of ministry and 24th pastoral anniversary with special speakers throughout the week: 10:30 a.m. Sunday, minister Marrissa Neal; 5 p.m. Sunday, Bishop Kenneth Paramore; and 10:30 a.m. Oct. 26, Pastor Sherry Travis. For more information, call 330-252-2277.

First Congregational Church — 292 E. Market St., Akron. 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 29. Annual Fall Forum Forgiveness & Reconciliation after Mass Violence. Dr. James Tyner, professor of geography, Kent State University, will lead the forum. Free.

First United Methodist Church of Akron — 263 E. Mill St., Akron. 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday. Fish fry. Menu includes baked or fried fish, baked chicken, or shrimp (available for extra charge), french fries, baked potato, or macaroni and cheese, hush puppies, coleslaw, beverage and dessert. Tickets are $8 adult and $5 ages 5 to 12. Also 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 25. Make a Difference Day Blood Drive. Walk in or call the American Red Cross at 800-733-2767 to schedule an appointment.

Grace UCC of Loyal Oak — 3285 Cleveland-Massillon Road, Norton. 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25. Swiss steak dinner. Served restaurant style, includes salad/dessert buffet. Adults: $8.50 in advance, $9 at the door; kids $4 in advance, $4.50 at the door. For tickets, call 330-825-3259.

Grace United Methodist Church — 1720 Schneider St. NW, North Canton. 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday. Trunk or Treat. There will be pumpkin painting, cookie decorating, a costume contest, food and trunk or treating from car-to-car in the parking lot. 330-499-2330.

Green Valley United Methodist Church — 620 E. Turkeyfoot Lake Road, Green. 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday. Pumpkin Fest, featuring pumpkin decorating, Halloween costume parade, family games, bonfire and a movie. Event is free, but donations of nonperishable food and coats will be given to local needy families. For more information, call 330-896-4357.

Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church — 1225 Vernon Odom Blvd. Akron. 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday. 47th Men’s Day. 10 a.m. speaker is the Rev. Richard Goodrum of Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church; 4 p.m. speaker is Pastor Melvin Duane Brown of the Gospel Temple Baptist Church of Warren.

Lakemore United Methodist Church — 1536 Flickinger Road, Akron. 4 to 6:40 p.m. Saturday. Swiss steak dinner. Menu includes Swiss steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, coleslaw, applesauce, bread, dessert and beverage. $7 adults, $3.50 ages 3 to 12. For more information, call 330-733-6531.

Malone University — Johnson Center for Worship and the Fine Arts, 2600 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton. 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Malone University Center for Theology and Ministry will host Axix (apathy for action) with a presentation on The Problem of Evil. The event is free. Also, Oct. 25, Equip Ministry Conference. Keynote speaker is Bishop Joey Johnson of House of the Lord. The conference is designed for people in leadership positions within church or para-church organizations, but is open to all. Cost is $40 and includes a boxed lunch and all conference materials. To register or for more information, contact Doug Gregory at 330-471-8643.

Manchester United Methodist Church — 5625 Manchester Road, Akron. 7:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday. Boy Scout Troop 118’s semiannual “All-You-Can-Eat” breakfast buffet. Breakfast includes pancakes, eggs, sausage, hash browns, sausage gravy and biscuits, coffee and juice. $6.50 for adults and $6 for seniors and children under 12.

Mogadore Christian Church — 106 S. Cleveland Ave., Mogadore. 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday. Swiss steak dinner. Menu includes Swiss steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, coleslaw and applesauce, rolls, beverage and dessert. $7 adults, $4 ages 5 to 12.

Mount Calvary Baptist Church — 442 Bell St., Akron. 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. FirstMerit Bank Free Mortgage Seminar. Free credit counseling; refreshments will be served; child care is available. Pre-registration is required, call 330-253-3711.

Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church — 180 Edward Ave., Akron. 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. Annual Esther Circle Prayer Breakfast. The speaker will be Celina Flunoy, director of Love INC of Greater Akron. Musical selections by Mijoi Rogers of Akron’s National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM School. $7 donation.

New Mission Missionary Baptist Church — 150 Wayne Ave., Akron. 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Sixth annual Women’s Conference: Christian Women Living in the Beauty of Holiness. Guest speaker is Cynthia Taylor, Faith & Prayer Outreach Ministries. $10 donation. Also, 4 p.m. Oct. 26. 35th annual Men’s Day with guest speaker the Rev. Evans of the Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, Akron.

North Springfield Presbyterian Church — 671 Canton Road, Akron. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. 60th Anniversary Blood Drive. The American Red Cross will help North Springfield Presbyterian Church celebrate 60 years with a blood drive, special recognition will be made to Jerry Schrop for reaching his 25-gallon milestone and for his 35 years of service to the Red Cross. To schedule an appointment to donate blood, call 800-448-3543 or go to www.redcrossblood.org.

Our Lady of the Cedars — 507 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road, Fairlawn. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday. Flea market. 330-666-3598.

Queen of Heaven Church — 4:30 to 7 p.m. Oct. 25. Cabbage roll dinner. Menu includes two cabbage rolls with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, bread and a beverage. $8. $6 kids meals and hot dogs served as well. Proceeds benefit BSA Troop 334. 330-899-0442.

Second Baptist Church — 451 Bronson St., Medina. 4 to 9 p.m. Friday. Fourth annual Clam and Steak Bake. The bake includes a dozen clams or a grilled strip steak, half a chicken, a garden salad, corn on the cob, New England clam chowder, your choice of potato, clam broth, and a dinner roll. Tickets are $27 in advance and $30 at the door. Children’s tickets, ages 12 and under, at $17. For tickets, call 330-421-7160 or go to www.sbcmedina.org/mod/store.

St. Anthony Church — 83 Mosser Place, Akron. 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday. Spaghetti dinner. $7 adults, $5 children 12 and younger. Carryout available, 330-805-0631.

St. John C.M.E. Church — 1233 S. Hawkins Ave., Akron. noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 25. Annual Trunk or Treat. Children are invited to wear costumes. All activities will take place in the church parking lot. For more information, call 330-864-3060.

St. Mark’s Lutheran Church — 158 North Ave., Tallmadge. 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 26. Trunks or Treats Halloween Event. Decorate your car, wear a costume, and bring bags of treats to distribute from your trunk. There will be a tent and games for the children. Free. For more information, call June at 330-945-7455.

St. Matthew Rectory — 2603 Benton St., Akron. 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday. A Cancer Spirituality Group for those on the cancer journey, those who are facing the diagnosis of cancer or have faced the diagnosis in the past or are interested in exploring and talking about the cancer experience in the context of spirituality. 330-628-5725.

St. Stephen Martyr Lutheran Church — 4600 Fulton Drive NW, Canton. 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Fall Family Fun Night. Come dressed in your favorite (non-scary) costumes and share fellowship as the children trick-or-treat from room to room. Hot dogs, mac and cheese and other snacks will be served. There will be Trunk-or-Treat in the parking lot, a fall movie showing in the Family Life Center, a photo area, a tattoo station (for kids), and crafts and games. Free. Please bring nonperishable food to donate to a local food bank. For more information, call 330-492-4591.

Suffield United Church of Christ — 1115 state Route 43, Suffield. 7:30 a.m. Sunday. Stewardship Sunday Men’s Fellowship Breakfast.

Wedgewood United Methodist Church — 2350 Wedgewood Drive, Akron. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Annual Holiday Craft Show and Vendor Bazaar. There will be a variety of crafts, food and vendor merchandise for sale.

Westminster Presbyterian Church — 1250 W. Exchange St., Akron. 5 p.m. Sunday. Third Sunday Dinner. A free community dinner, that encourages food and fellowship with church members and the local community. 330-836-2226.

Wintergreen Ledges Church of God — 1889 Vernon Odom Blvd., Akron. 6 p.m. Oct. 25. LOOP (Loved Ones of Prisoners) Soup and salad dinner. Dennis Shawhan from Broken Chains will be the guest speaker. For more information, call Linda Davis at 330-212-6661.

Performances

Brecksville United Church of Christ — 23 Public Square, Brecksville. 4 p.m. Sunday. Case Concert Choir will present A Life in Music. The program follows our life journey from birth through adulthood, and features works by several contemporary composers, as well as two traditional songs from Africa. A free-will offering will be received and a light meal will be served following the concert.

Cornerstone Church — 578 Killian Road, Akron. 7 p.m. Oct. 25. Crowns 4 Christ — The Unbroken Tour 2014. Presented by amazing speakers on fire for Christ, along with music, videos and fun. $16 in advance, $18 at the door. For ticket information, call 330-703-1183 or email info@TheDaneFoundation.org.

Fairlawn Lutheran Church — 3415 W. Market St., Akron. 4 p.m. Sunday. Singers Companye in concert. The program will include Magnificat by Francesco Durante, Jubilate Deo by Leo Hassler, Heilig by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Abendlied, Op. 69, No. 3 by Josef Rheinberger, Der 43 Psalm: Richte mich, Gott Felix, by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, From The Sunrise Mass by Ola Gjeilo, Ave verum corpus (14th century text) by Colin Mawby, and A Little Jazz Mass by Bob Chilcott.

Fairmount Presbyterian Church — 2757 Fairmount Blvd., Cleveland Heights. 4 p.m. Oct. 26. Organ Recital by Scott Montgomery, concert organist. Free-will offering will be accepted. 216-321-5800.

First United Methodist Church — 245 Portage Trail, Cuyahoga Falls. 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Ian Ross Project: Jazz and Beyond. The concert will feature original compositions blending elements of jazz, rock, blues, pop and country as well as music by modern jazz greats.

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church — 50 N. Prospect St., Akron. 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Arts at Holy Trinity presents The Ohio State University Women’s Glee Club. For information, call 330-376-5154.

Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church — 180 Edward Ave., Akron. 4 p.m. Sunday. Annual All Choir Anniversary. Many groups from in and out of the city will be in attendance. For more information, call 330-328-8229.

Shoreline Community Church — 790 Carnegie Ave., Akron. 7 p.m. Sunday. Donnie Sumner in concert. Free. For more information, go to www.shorelinechurchakron.com.

Springfield Baptist Church — 1920 Krumroy Road, Akron. 7 p.m. Sunday. Christian Concert featuring Down Home Gospel Quartet. A love offering will be taken.

Trinity United Church of Christ — 215 High St., Wadsworth. 4 p.m. Oct. 26. Trinity Concert Series presents The Men of Wadsworth.

Speakers

St. Joseph Parish in Mantua — 11045 St. Joseph Blvd., Mantua. 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Speaker Series: Discover God: Turn on the Light; Adult Men’s Spirituality Night: Father Robert Kraig Up and Down the Ladder of Life. Also, 7 to 8 p.m. Oct. 29; Adult Women’s Spirituality Night: Sister Melannie Svoboda, Finding God in Every Nook and Cranny. For more information, call 330-274-2253 or go to www.stjosephmantua.com.

Walsh University — Barrette Business and Community Center, 2020 E. Maple St., North Canton. 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday. A free lecture by Paul Wright, MD, author of Mother Teresa’s Prescription: Finding Happiness and Peace in Service. Free and open to the public. For information, call 330-490-7296 or email amccaffrey@walsh.edu.

The deadline for Religion Notes is noon Tuesday. Items must be in writing. Please fax information to 330-996-3033, email it to religion@thebeaconjournal.com or send it to Religion, Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron OH 44309.

These stories about Grace Cathedral in Cuyahoga Falls are the result of a two-month investigation by Beacon Journal reporter Bob Dyer.

Internationally known television evangelist Ernest Angley has led the nondenominational church since 1957.

Former members of the congregation began to contact Dyer during the summer about concerns they had regarding Angley and his ministry.

Dyer talked to 21 former members — often multiple times — in reporting this story. In addition, Dyer had an exclusive, 90-minute interview with Angley, along with Associate Pastor Chris Machamer and usher Mike Kish, to report their side of the story.

This entire project can be found at the Beacon Journal’s website at Ohio.com/ernestangley.

The series:

Sunday (Oct. 12): World is evil, so don’t have kids

Monday: Allegations of sexual abuse are kept quiet

Tuesday: Departed associate pastor accused of being a liar, adulterer and drug addict

Wednesday: “He divides and conquers families”

Saturday: Modest house, big plane (Boeing 747)

Sunday: For-profit Cathedral Buffet using volunteer labor again after feds said to stop

On a pleasant Wednesday afternoon, Ernest Angley, dressed in an immaculate white suit with a purple shirt, stylish striped tie and neat pocket square, welcomes a visitor into his office on the second floor of the big circular Cuyahoga Falls building known as Grace Cathedral.

The structure sits in the shadow of one of Northeast Ohio’s most prominent landmarks, the 494-foot tower erected by another nationally known televangelist, the late Rex Humbard.

Angley, 93, appears to move effortlessly as he takes a seat at a conference table.

Just over his shoulder is custom artwork of the enormous jetliner he bought nearly 10 years ago. It’s a Boeing 747-SP, so large that it literally won’t fit inside any hangar at its home field, Akron-Canton Airport.

Angley is proud of his bird, which he uses a few times each year for distant mission trips. He says the Lord promised it to him long ago, and he is doing the Lord’s work with it, evangelizing across the globe.

But some folks, both inside and outside of his church, question why a man who relies mainly on donations from individuals in his congregation and in the TV audience would own a gigantic, customized airplane that cost a fortune to purchase and costs a smaller fortune to operate.

Personnel at the airport who did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to talk about a private plane said Angley’s jet holds about 48,000 gallons of fuel. Current price of Grade-A jet fuel: $5 per gallon. One fill-up: $240,000.

Although the plane has remarkable range — a whopping 6,500 nautical miles — Angley’s trips frequently require multiple fuel stops in each direction. The country where he spent two weeks earlier this year, South Africa, is 8,400 miles from Akron.

Add in landing fees, maintenance and other related costs and, if Angley takes three trips a year averaging 16,000 miles round trip, the annual operating cost is about $2.16 million.

Angley won’t reveal the original price of the plane — “We don’t tell,” he said with a smile. But a former longtime employee of his, Steve Nelson, estimated the figure at about $26 million.

Nelson, a licensed pilot and flight instructor who now lives in South Carolina, worked as the chief engineer for Angley’s television station, WBNX, for 16 years. He said he left after a friend told him he had been molested by Angley. (The friend declined to talk. Angley denies the allegation.)

Angley himself said the previous owner, the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, spent “20-some million” customizing the inside of the plane, which had previously been owned by two commercial airlines, TransWorld and American.

Registered abroad

The 747 is technically owned by a company called Crestwind Aviation in Aruba. But its former website was registered to the church’s address. When asked about it, Angley said, “That’s us.”

When asked why the plane is registered in Aruba, rather than the U.S., Angley said he was just following orders from God.

He said a local attorney told him he would never get clearance to fly the plane, but “the Lord spoke to me and told me to go to Washington and [told me which lawyer] to get and he said, ‘Why, there’s no reason why that plane won’t fly.’ And so we registered it at the right place. The Lord told me where to register it, and we registered it where God said.

“God directs me. I know it’s hard for people to believe. But he tells me things ahead of time. ...

“I don’t waste God’s money like most churches. We make the money count. That’s the reason people give so good.”

Angley said his mission — saving souls — requires a large war chest.

His financial books are closed. Because Grace Cathedral is a church, the IRS doesn’t even require it to file Form 990 tax returns, as is demanded of most nonprofits. Those returns would show revenue, expenses and the salaries of the highest-paid employees.

Angley said he has “been offered 10 times more than the millions we paid for [the plane].

“Some preachers are about money. They would have sold it. But I’m not a money preacher. I want money, but only to win souls. That’s what I use it for.

“Everything belongs to the foundation and not to me.”

Modest home

You certainly can’t accuse Angley of living in a mansion. He has occupied the same house for more than half a century. Although it is set on four acres amid attractive lakes, the house itself is a relatively modest 2,140-square-foot ranch built in 1951. It is just off Canton Road in Springfield Township, near his original Akron location, which today is used mainly for Saturday youth services, funerals and weddings.

“All the resources go toward spreading the gospel,” said Associate Pastor Chris Machamer.

“I have no bank account,” said Angley.

“He doesn’t live high,” added Machamer. “I don’t live high. Nobody around here lives high.”

Reporter: “Well, somebody around here was living high for a while. A Cuyahoga Falls cop told me that years ago he spotted a Porsche 911 parked in a fire lane behind the church. He ran the plate and the registration came back to Ray Spangler and Grace Cathedral. With so many of your employees making minimum wage, why would your business manager be driving a Porsche 911?”

Machamer’s response: The car was “a number of years used” and “he got a great deal on it.” But Machamer also acknowledged that employees started grumbling. He said Spangler sold the car “because people didn’t understand.”

Added Angley, “He got that over with and now he just drives a regular car. He really takes care of his cars. He’ll have them several years and they’ll look like new. And that’s the truth.”

Asked whether it is typical for employees to register a car in the church’s name, thereby avoiding sales tax, Angley said, “Well, he has so much in the name [of the church], if something would happen to him and his wife ... he lets his son know that it’s in my hands and he better do right or he’s not gonna get [an inheritance].”

Buyer’s remorse

While employees may grumble, donors keep donating, sometimes in very big ways. Today, at least one big donor regrets it.

An Akron man in his early 40s, who doesn’t want to be identified because his wife is in a sensitive position at work, says he gave the church $80,000 over a five-year period. His business was doing well and he decided to tithe (donate 10 percent of his income). But now he says he was “guilted into giving.”

“It was brainwashing,” he said. “I was manipulated.”

The man said Angley’s never-ending pleas for funds, combined with the pastor’s warning about the impending end of the world, fooled him.

“These ‘love offerings’ would be an hour and a half long!” he said. “And he kept talking about the Rapture — ‘You don’t want to be left behind!’ He used it to his financial advantage.”

A former longtime member and usher, Kenny Montgomery, related a story that “really bothered me” about another big donor.

After Angley had concluded an extended plea for offerings, Montgomery said, “Everyone had gone away, and there was this little old lady standing there. No one was paying any attention.

“Ernest walks up and says, ‘Can I help you?’ And she pulls out a credit card and says, ‘God told me to give you $10,000.’

“I thought he’d say, ‘If you don’t have the money, don’t give it.’ But he said, ‘We do take credit cards. If you go right down there, we’ll help you with that.’

“I was appalled over that. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Huge donation

Angelia Oborne lived in Alabama until the age of 14, when her family became so enthralled after attending an Ernest Angley crusade that her father sold his business, sold their house and wound up donating about $1 million to Angley, she said.

They moved to Akron, where Angley personally chose the house where they would live.

Oborne, who worked at the Cathedral Buffet for 20 years, has been so traumatized by her experiences at the church that she is receiving counseling three days a week for what her doctor diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder. She attributes the PTSD to Angley cleaving a chasm between her and her mother, as well as relentless verbal abuse she was subjected to on the job.

Another disgruntled former member, Shane McCabe, said the people in Angley’s church are “being abused physically, spiritually, financially — just about every way.”

When Angley was asked whether this whole parade of people is lying, he responded:

“Most of them are, they really are. Before God they are. And it’s a sight in this world. People, they’ll just lie and lie and lie. Lying spirits take them over.”

NEXT: Are the folks who work for Angley volunteers or slaves?

Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31.

Clerics are known for seeking calm in the midst of fear, confusion and worry.

The local Ebola scare has become another occasion for local religious leaders to assure those who will listen that the health-care professionals — and ultimately, God — are in control of the situation.

People in the local faith community are handling the situation in different ways this weekend, from not changing the way they do things to providing factual information about the disease.

“We’ve got to keep things in perspective and not jump into crisis mode or hysteria. Sure, we all have a level of concern, but that shouldn’t incite panic,” said the Rev. Mark Ford, executive director of Love Akron Inc. “I believe in God’s sovereignty. I don’t think he’s wringing his hands and saying ‘Oh, boy! I didn’t know this was going to happen!’ God is in control.”

Ford said that although it’s difficult not to get wrapped up in the frenzy that came to Northeast Ohio last week, after the second nurse from Dallas to contract the virus visited the Akron-Tallmadge area, it is important to review the facts and pray.

Special prayer is something that many in the faith community have engaged in since Amber Joy Vinson was diagnosed Tuesday with Ebola, a day after flying back to Dallas from Cleveland, following a visit with her mother and stepfather in Tallmadge and making plans for her upcoming wedding.

Vinson is the second health-care worker to be infected after treating Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died from the disease.

“We always pray for our community but on Wednesday, we had a special call to prayer, given the current situation,” said Teresa Hymes, administrator of Tallmadge Kiddie Kollege and FACT Academy (a ministry of First Apostolic Church of Tallmadge). “We have been encouraging people not to panic, but not to under-react either. We have to realize that these are germs and we need to take precautions. But we also need to stop and review the facts, pray and turn it over to God.”

Reviewing the facts is something the Rev. Jeffrey Dennis plans to do this weekend, during worship services at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Akron. He has invited health-care professionals to share information about Ebola and to be available after services to answer questions.

“This is something that is impacting our community and we want to take time to share the facts from the CDC and the local health department. We want people to be able to separate the rumors from the facts in an effort to bring calm,” Dennis said. “We also want to encourage people to pray for the family [of Amber Vinson]. This family represents families everywhere who need prayer. And we want to encourage prayer and advocacy for health-care workers everywhere, who are caring for and providing services for people in various places and in various situations.”

On Monday, a group of pastors from the city of Akron will meet with local civic leaders to draft a statement and response to the local Ebola scare specific to the inner-city community, according to the Rev. Roderick Pounds Sr., co-president of the Akron and Vicinity Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (AVIMA).

Pounds, senior pastor at Second Baptist Church, said he will set aside time this weekend to allow parishioners to “ask questions and air out their anxieties.”

At Our Lady of Victory Church in Tallmadge, the Rev. Michael Matusz has decided to keep the order of Mass intact this weekend, in an effort not to intensify or create panic.

“The worst things out there are the rumors, misinformation and speculation. We need to stick to the facts and trust that the officials, whether health care or civic, are doing everything they can and that everything is under control,” said Matusz. “We certainly are praying for everyone involved, but we are not changing anything. We’ll still have communion and, just like during flu season, people have a choice. Those who want to drink will drink and those who do not, won’t.”

Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.

These stories about Grace Cathedral in Cuyahoga Falls are the result of a two-month investigation by Beacon Journal reporter Bob Dyer.

Internationally known television evangelist Ernest Angley has led the nondenominational church since 1957.

Former members of the congregation began to contact Dyer during the summer about concerns they had regarding Angley and his ministry.

Dyer talked to 21 former members — often multiple times — in reporting this story. In addition, Dyer had an exclusive, 90-minute interview with Angley, along with Associate Pastor Chris Machamer and usher Mike Kish, to report their side of this story.

Additional documents and videos may be found on the Beacon Journal’s website, Ohio.com/ernestangley.

The series:

Sunday: World is evil, so don’t have kids

Monday: Allegations of sexual abuse are kept quiet

Tuesday: Departed associate pastor accused of being a liar, adulterer and drug addict

Wednesday: “He divides and conquers families”

Saturday: Modest house, big plane (Boeing 747)

Sunday: For-profit Cathedral Buffet using volunteer labor again after feds said to stop

Ernest Angley says the people who spend long hours toiling at his church, his restaurant and his television station are doing the work of the Lord.

Some people who have done that work say it more closely resembles slave labor.

Shane McCabe, 34, who left Grace Cathedral in 2010 after 21 years as a devout member, said he learned early on that the church had no intention of following the rules of the employment road.

“The first day I worked at the station [WBNX], they told me to make sure you clock out on time,” he said. “They said if you don’t clock out on time you can get into serious trouble. ...

“I was required to work about 50 hours a week, but my card said I was doing 40.”

Greg Mulkey, 41, was a prominent member of the church two decades ago. After singing with the Akron Symphony and attending the University of Akron on an opera scholarship, he was invited by Angley to star in the Hallelujahs, a group featured on Angley’s TV broadcasts, as well as sing in the choir and give voice lessons to his choir colleagues.

In addition to the music, he eventually worked as a banquet manager in Angley’s restaurant and at the TV station — the equivalent of three full-time jobs, he says.

“I probably worked 16 hours a day Monday through Sunday. There wasn’t really a day off.”

For that he was paid minimum wage — without overtime.

“Pay checks alternated each week, one pay from the buffet — 40 hours at $4.25 per hour — then the next week one pay from the church — 40 hours at $4.25 per hour. I was never issued any pay for any work done at WBNX.”

Mulkey said he would never have put up with the situation had he not been caught in the psychological clutches of Ernest Angley.

“I was still mentally and intellectually a child at 21, because of growing up there with a warped sense of reality. They were able to take advantage of me that way.”

Government rebuke

A window into Angley’s labor practices opened in early 1999 after a volunteer worker at the Cathedral Buffet was stabbed to death by another volunteer worker.

Because the use of volunteers at a for-profit restaurant is prohibited, the U.S. Labor Department investigated. The church agreed that spring to stop the practice.

But the practice has resumed.

Angelia Oborne, 35, has deep, firsthand knowledge of the finances at the buffet, where she was employed for 20 years. She started by busing tables at the restaurant and worked her way up to management.

“There were things that were done that I know were not legal,” she said.

Among them: “Before we were audited, I was instructed to destroy all the timecards and payroll reports for ... other years before that.”

Oborne also echoed what others have said about time-clock fudging.

“They told every person [at WBNX] that they were required to clock out at 5 p.m. whether their work was done or not. And if their work was not done, they were to go back to their desk.”

She said she wasn’t the only one who was told what to do before the audit.

“We were actually coached to answer questions in a way that wasn’t [technically] lying. I mean, there was an actual meeting to coach us.”

After the audit, Angley began to comply with the wage-and-hour laws, Oborne said. But that didn’t last.

“Right before I left [about a year and a half ago], Ernest Angley decided it was OK for him to start using volunteers again at the buffet. So there are people working there that are not getting paid again — same as it was before we were audited by Wage and Hourly.”

When asked about that allegation, Angley responded:

“Yes, we have used some, because even the lady that came out for the [Labor Department], she said, ‘I don’t know why they’re doing this to you, because downtown ... they have things and they don’t pay for everything.’ But she said she had to do it.

“And we couldn’t help that. The girl was killed, that was an awful thing. I had a time getting over that. She was a precious girl.”

(The victim, 15-year-old Cassandra Blondheim, was killed by Shane Partin, then 27, who remains behind bars. He was obsessed with her and wanted to date her, but she didn’t want anything to do with him.)

Reporter: “So, at this point, you are using volunteers at the Cathedral Buffet?”

“Yeah, there’s some,” Angley responded. “It’s good. People like to work for the Lord. See, we make nothing off it, only for missions.”

Failed project

Angley also has raised hackles by pouring resources into a Bible college that failed.

A longtime churchgoer who quit a few months ago said he is “furious” about Angley constructing a dormitory for a Bible college on the site of his original church, on Canton Road in Springfield Township. (The old chapel is now used mainly for Saturday youth services, funerals and weddings.)

The man, who doesn’t want to be identified because many family members still attend the church, said he donated his time and money for 20 years to help build the dorm, which supposedly would house foreign youth who would hop on Angley’s 747 during mission trips and return to the U.S. to train as missionaries.

“They built this dormitory, probably spent $2 million on it — all donations from the people — and it just sits there, dormant,” the man said. “The Bible college is nonexistent.

“The whole congregation accepts that now God is telling him it’s not supposed to be. But that’s bogus.”

Bad move

During an interview in his office, Angley admitted the Bible college was a miscalculation. He said he didn’t anticipate the red tape involved.

“We found out when we went into it that it was such a slow thing that it wasn’t going to pay,” he said. To compensate, he said, he created an online Bible college that “is in many nations now.”

Angley also said the dorm is being used to host people who attend camp meetings.

None of this may matter, however, if you buy into Angley’s view of the near future.

When asked what will happen to his church after he dies, he said, “Well, that’s in the hands of the Lord. I’m planning on the Rapture.

“All the end-times signs are pointing that this is the time. It’s in the Bible. ... So many of the signs are being fulfilled. And I don’t feel like we have long to work.”

How far off do you think it is?

“I’m not one to set dates, but I just know the Lord said we’d know the season, and this is the season. He said, ‘When you see these things, I’ll be at the door.’ And when someone’s at your door, it doesn’t take long for ’em to step over the threshold.

“Armageddon’s on the way.”

Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31.