Another Case Study:  Lying On Your Resume Is the Final Straw

Orginally published on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 at 9:13 AM
by Todd Rhoades

At MMI, we talk about all kinds of ministry-related subjects. Unfortunately, one of the subjects I feel we need to discuss is when one of our churches or pastors has a dramatic fall or split. Such was the case recently at Bellevue Community Church in Nashville; another is the recent resignation/forced leaving of Pastor Steven Flockhart of the huge 10,000 member First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach, FL. Some feel that we should not discuss matters like this at MMI; however I believe that taking these situations as kind of 'case studies' on church leadership has the potential to help far more pastors, leaders, and churches than it hurts. As in the BCC case, the FBWPB (First Baptist West Palm Beach) story, even from an outsider's perspective has some valuable lessons for all of us involved in church leadership; lessons we need to heed, lest we find ourselves (individually or as a church) in the same perdicament...

I’ll try to give as many factual details as I can… Pastor Flockhart’s story starts a few years back, when he was pastor of a church in Georgia.  There, according to newspaper reports and court papers, the pastor ‘misappropriated several hundred thousand dollars’ from the church by using church credit cards for his personal bills and writing checks to himself without permission from church leaders.  He resigned in April 1998 and six months later, he offered to get a bank loan to repay the money with interest, according to the suit. He persuaded church leaders to co-sign a loan for $142,638.  Church leaders said even though Flockhart’s action threatened the church’s survival, there are no hard feelings.

Flockhart then moved to Second Baptist Church in Millington, TN; growing this church from 300 people to 2,300.  He then defaulted on his loan to the first church.  When the bank went after the church, the church then filed suit against Pastor Flockhart for the remainder of the loan amount.

In June of this year, Pastor Flockhart accepted the pastorate at FBWPB on the recommendation of another prominent SBC pastor, Dr. Johnny Hunt.

This is where things begin to unravel.  FBWPB knew nothing about Flockhart’s financial past until someone mailed them a copy of the lawsuit.  Oh, and this same anonymous person also sent a copy of the lawsuit to the Palm Beach Post.

When the Post contacted the church, they were very guarded and closed.  They gave no access to Flockhart; and spoke only through an Executive Pastor.  The result was that the press saw the church and the pastor as hiding something.  So what did they do?  They continued to dig.  Here’s how the story was printed:

The Rev. Kevin Mahoney, executive pastor of the imposing Baptist church along the Intracoastal Waterway just south of downtown West Palm Beach, said he and other church leaders learned of the lawsuit after they offered Flockhart the prestigious position of head pastor, which had been vacant for three years.

Like The Palm Beach Post, the church received a copy of the lawsuit and other court documents from a person who signed a short note only as “A former Crosspointe Member.”

Flockhart, 40, who lives in a 4,500-square-foot house in Royal Palm Beach with his wife and six children, declined requests for interviews. It is church policy for Mahoney alone to respond to press inquiries, the executive pastor said.

After talking with Flockhart and Crosspointe leaders, Mahoney said he is convinced that Flockhart’s financial problems in Georgia were a result of a bad real estate decision, not bad character.

“In his mind, he did an honorable thing when he was put in a difficult financial position,” Mahoney said.

And there is no doubt Flockhart was in bad financial straits even before his former church sued him.

According to Georgia court records, American Express Travel-Related Services Co. slapped a $36,150 judgment against him in April 1996 for failing to pay a $29,540 bill. The judgment, which included interest and attorney fees, was satisfied five months later.

That same year, the Internal Revenue Service filed an $8,617 lien against him for not paying three years of taxes. That lien also was satisfied within months.

When asked about it, Mahoney said, Flockhart denied ever having any problems with the IRS and said he had not had an American Express card for 12 or 15 years. After The Palm Beach Post faxed the Georgia court documents to Mahoney, he talked to Flockhart again.

Roughly a half-hour later, Mahoney called to say Flockhart did remember a dispute over payroll taxes with the IRS. Further, he remembered the dispute with American Express.

Mahoney said he was not troubled that Flockhart’s story changed dramatically in less than two hours.

“It was a long time ago,” he said.

The more the reporter looked, the more she found.  The final blow was the report that Pastor Flockhart had lied on his resume about his education.  The newspaper reported that the résumé Flockhart provided to the church made it appear he held bachelor’s and master’s degrees from two respected institutions. But a background check by The Post found he actually obtained bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees through correspondence courses offered by a Georgia theological school that isn’t accredited by a recognized agency.  Flockhart’s résumé also said he is “currently obtaining a second master’s from Southeastern Theological Seminary.” But officials there said he never obtained a master’s degree from the school in Wake Forest, N.C., and is not now enrolled.

So ends that pastorate (and possibly the career) of a bright young man, who according to everyone, was a rivoting, dynamic preacher.

Real quickly, some things that we can learn from this situation to start our discussion:

Things to Learn as a Church
1.  Never, ever hire a staff member without doing a proper background check.  Even a simple background check on Flockhart would’ve shown court records and education discrepencies.  Quite simply, after three years without a pastor, FBWPB didn’t do their homework and they paid for it.

2.  Never, ever hide from the media.  It could be that if Flockhart would’ve fessed up with a media interview early on, that that would have been the end of it.  But hiding from the media; and getting caught in lies from your designated ‘mouthpiece’ only helps the media smell blood; and they WILL go after you.  Have a plan on how to address the media in case of a scandal.  And, have a better plan than FBWPB’s.

3.  Don’t think that this can’t/won’t ever happen to you.  I see this all the time.  People don’t think this will happen to them (even when it happens to others all around them).  Flockhart was such a great preacher; that his first church kept everything private and said nothing.  They worked out a payment plan and only did what they had to do later on.  Leaders fail.  Even the most dynamic and charismatic leaders fail.  When it happens, you need to be prepared to deal with it; especially when it hits close to home.

4.  Finally, and this should be obvious… keep the pastor’s hands out of the money.  Make sure everyone in the area of finances is accountable; and having the pastor with access to check writing is not an option in most cases.  Sorry.

Things to Learn as a Church Leader
1.  Man, you’ve got to be honest.  Lying on your resume is just not cool.  Someone will find out (although in this case it should’ve been the church search committee rather than the local newspaper reporter).  There seem to be some scriptures on this issue; maybe even a commandment.

2.  Don’t try to hide your past when you go to a new church.  They will find out; from a disgruntled person from your old church; from court papers; or from a local reporter.  Don’t assume that you can leave all your past mistakes at your last church.

3.  Guard your finances.  Keep things above board.  If there are holes in your current system of church government that could get you in trouble, close those holes before you’re tempted or caught.

4.  Don’t think that your dynamic preaching or wonderful leadership skills covers a multitude of sins.  Great leaders sometimes, it seems, think that since they’re so great or successful in one area, that they should receive great grace in other areas.  I’m all for grace; but don’t use it as an excuse to sin or continue in sin.  In leadership, integrity is where it’s at.

OK… I’m finished with my rant.  What do you think?  Really, these seem like some pretty simple and basic leadership ideas that were broken in this instance.  Now three churches and communities have to pick up the pieces in the aftermath; and a pastor and his family are stuck in a situation that is less than fortunate as well.

What can you learn from this case study?

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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.

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