An Alabama church that tried and failed to fire its pastor after he confessed to having sex with members while infected with AIDS has resorted to legal matters to oust the minister.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Rev. Juan D. McFarland, the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Montgomery is asking for a judge to ban McFarland from the church, NBC News reported.
McFarland recently revealed to his congregation that he had sexual relationships with several church members after he was diagnosed with AIDS in 2008, church leaders say. He also admitted to using drugs and misusing church funds.
All but one of the 80-member congregation voted to dismiss McFarland in early October. But instead of leaving, the pastor of 24 years switched the building's locks and took control of the church bank accounts, the Associated Press reported.
Church deacons have resorted to suing the 47-year-old pastor, claiming he is unfit due to his "debauchery, sinfulness, hedonism, sexual misconduct, thievery and rejection of the Ten Commandments," according to NBC News.
The lawsuit also asks for control of the church grounds, a Mercedes Benz used by the pastor and the church financials.
It is unclear if any of the churchgoers McFarland allegedly had sex with became infected with HIV, which leads to AIDS. He has not been charged with any crime, but it is illegal under Alabama law to knowingly spread an STD, a crime that carries a year jail sentence.
McFarland was still giving sermons at the church last Sunday in a mass which was attended by 50 people, down from a usual attendance of 170, board of deacons chairman Nathan Williams told the AP.
"I will command the pulpit from this day forward," McFarland told the AP in a brief interview. He declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
The rest of the congregation, however, has steered clear of the church because one of McFarland's supporters, Marc Anthony Peacook, has allegedly threatened to shoot them.
"Most of the membership is scared to go to church right now," Kenneth Shinbaum, lawyer for the deacons, told NBC News. "They don't want someone to shoot them."
Peacook told the station the deacons' allegations are false.
