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	Paulk Plaintiffs Want Church Foreclosure Halted By Gayle White Atlanta Journal-Constitution [Atlanta GA] January 12, 2007 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2007/01/11/0112metpaulk.html Lawyers for two former members of Chapel Hill Harvester, a south DeKalb County megachurch also known as the Cathedral at Chapel Hill, asked a judge on Thursday to prevent foreclosure on several pieces of undeveloped property owned by the church. BB&T, the bank that financed $755,000 in loans on the property near the church, advertised the land for sale this month because the church is months behind in interest payments and has paid nothing against the principal. With unpaid interest and fees, the church's debt now totals about $1 million, said BB&T attorney Martin Quirk. Louis Levenson, lawyer for Bobby and Mona Brewer, asked DeKalb Superior Court Judge Mark Anthony Scott to force the church to pay its debt so that the land will be available to help settle any judgment his clients might win. The Brewers, longtime members and employees of the church, ask for unspecified damages in a suit accusing church founder Bishop Earl Paulk of coercing Mona Brewer into a 14-year-long affair. Dennis Brewer (no relation), an attorney for Paulk, has admitted that his client had a brief sexual relationship with Mona Brewer, but said she was the initiator. Instead of honoring its debt to BB&T and holding on to its property, Levenson said, the church spent its money paying defense attorneys. Levenson cited the Texas-based "Chapel War Chest Fund" that came to light in a hearing in March 2006, which held more than a million dollars in money and property to cover legal fees in the case. He then produced a letter dated Jan. 5, 2007, from Dennis Brewer saying "the trust is exhausted." "That money's gone," Levenson said. "The church preferred its attorneys over its creditors." Arguing for the church, Matthew Wilkins said Levenson and his clients have no right to say how the church spends its money. He blamed publicity about the Brewers' lawsuit for a downturn in the church's finances that caused it to default on its loans. "Members left, tithes went down," he said. In its heyday, the church claimed 12,000 members. Stephen Yaklin, another lawyer for the church, said "The church would have preferred not to have been sued." But, he said, "My firm is being paid, and will be paid for its services." Lawyers on both sides asked the judge to leave the door open for possible sale of the property to help settle the debt. Scott said he will rule soon on the church's property. The trial on the Brewer lawsuit is set for April 2. E-mail: gwhite@ajc.com
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