Bishop Eddie Long’s wife decides to divorce
The wife of Bishop Eddie Long, the famed DeKalb County megachurch preacher accused of sexual involvement with young men, has said she will go through with a divorce with her husband.
In a statement obtained by Channel 2 Action News Friday morning Vanessa Long said “After a great deal of deliberation and prayer, I have decided to terminate my marriage to Bishop Eddie L. Long.”
She said she filed for divorce Thursday and hoped it would move along smoothly, but hours later, she issued a statement saying she plans to withdraw her petition from divorce.
“I love my husband. I believe in him and admire his strength and courage. My filing followed years of attacks in the media that frustrated and overwhelmed me” – she said. “I love my family and church family, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Therefore, my husband and I have mutally agreed to find healing from these attacks.”
Then, early Friday evening, Mrs. Long’s attorney sent a new statement saying she was still going through with the divorce petition.
“Consistent with her original statement made this morning, Mrs. Long continues to hope that this matter may be resolved expeditiously, harmoniously and fairly; however, she has determined that dismissal of her divorce petition is not appropriate at this time” – the statement said.
Bishop Eddie Long.
After much-back-and-forth over the issue, Bishop Eddie Long’s wife announced that she will indeed go through with her petition to divorce the megachurch pastor.
In a statement issued late Friday, Vanessa Long’s attorney says “she has determined that dismissal of her divorce petition is not appropriate at this time” – reports Associated Press. Earlier Friday, she said in a statement released through Eddie Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church that she loves her husband and planned to withdraw her petition.
It was just yesterday that she filed for divorce from her husband of 20 years, saying: “After a great deal of deliberation and prayer, I have decided to terminate my marriage to Bishop Eddie L. Long. Accordingly, I authorized my attorneys to file for divorce on Dec. 1, 2011.”
Bishop Long has been involved in a series of highly publicized sexual abuse scandals over the past two years.
This summer, Eddie Long’s church, New Birth Missionary Baptist, dismissed widely circulated rumors that Vanessa had moved out of the couple’s home shortly after Eddie settled a sexual misconduct case with four men for 15 million dollars.
The settlement stemmed from accusations made against the bishop by Anthony Flagg, Spencer LeGrande, Jamal Parris and Maurice Robinson, who all claimed that Long sexually abused them as young men, offering them gifts and money for their participation. Long denies any wrongdoing.
In October of this year, however, the bishop was involved in yet another scandal when 10 parishioners of his church brought a lawsuit against Long alleging that they lost more than a million dollars after being influenced by Long to invest in businessman Ephren Taylor’s company, City Capital.
Eddie Long’s marriage to Vanessa was his second marriage. The two married in 1990 and have three children together: Edward, Jared and Taylor.
Just hours after announcing her decision to divorce her husband Bishop Eddie Long, who was accused of coercing four young men into sexual relationships, Vanessa Long changed her mind and withdrew the divorce.
“Upon prayerful reflection, I have reconsidered and plan to withdraw my petition for divorce from my husband, Bishop Eddie L. Long” – Vanessa told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an emailed statement bearing the logo of her husband’s church.
“I love my husband. I believe in him and admire his strength and courage” – she continued.
She was not as supportive just hours earlier, when she announced that she would be leaving her husband of 11 years.
“After a great deal of deliberation and prayer, I have decided to terminate my marriage to Bishop Eddie L. Long” – Vanessa Long said in a statement Friday morning.
In her afternoon statement, Vanessa cited “years of attacks in the media” as the reason for her initial decision to seek a divorce.
Mr Long rose to fame when he took over the megachurch New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia.
When he joined the church in 1987, the congregation had only about 300 members. The megachurch now boasts 25,000 members.
Mr Long married Vanessa, his second wife, in 1990 and have three children together. Mr Long has another son from his first marriage which ended in divorce. In those court filings, Mr Long accused his first wife Dabara Houston of having a ‘violent and vicious temper’.
Though Vanessa did not give any specific reason for the divorce in her public statement, she did ask for privacy- something that she has not had since Mr Long was accused of inappropriate sexual incidents.
“It is my sincere hope that this matter can be resolved expeditiously, harmoniously, and fairly” – she said.