AIDS-infected Alabama church pastor refuses to resign despite abusing church funds and frequent drug-fuelled trysts with members of congregation

Pastor Juan McFarland admitted his sins during sermons in September, shocking members of the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church who voted Oct. 5 to oust the preacher. But McFarland has refused to step down, even changing church locks, church bank accounts and showing up Sunday to give a sermon, the suit claims.

© Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church

Pastor Juan McFarland: sex predator, hard drug user... and preacher. He refuses to step down from his post.

This sinner thinks he's a saint.

An Alabama church board has filed a lawsuit seeking to remove the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church pastor who refuses to leave, despite a vote to oust the man, who confessed to using drugs and having sex with church members while being HIV-positive.

Pastor Juan McFarland gave a sermon at the Montgomery church on divine healing Sunday, two days before the church's board of deacons and board of trustees filed suit alleging McFarland changed the locks at the house of worship and put church bank accounts in his name after "church members discovered his debauchery, sinfulness, hedonism, sexual misconduct, dishonesty, thievery and rejection of the Ten Commandments," the suit, obtained by AL.com, reads.

[embedded content]

The unrest comes after a series of September sermons. From the pulpit, McFarland allegedly admitted to adulterous sex romps with longtime congregates on church-grounds, taking church money for business trips and not bothering to go, abusing illegal drugs while pastor, contracting HIV in 2003 and receiving an AIDS diagnosis in 2008, according to local media.

It is not clear whether McFarland, who has led the church since 1990, told his numerous sex partners about his STD status, but at least one of them plans to take an HIV test, WSFA-TV reported.

On Oct. 5, the church voted 80-1 to toss the truth-telling priest. But one of McFarland's backers, Marc Anthony Peacock, promised to "use 'castle law,' meaning that he would shoot them," if the church's board of deacons ever again tried to attend the church, the suit claims.

McFarland, on the other hand, showed up Sunday and started preaching.

"The majority of the members were shocked. There were only about 50 people there," Julian McPhillips, the attorney for the deacons, told WSFA. "But why show up to a church you have been voted out of? A lot of members are intimidated. He has run that church like a dictator over the years."

It's unclear what's next for the embattled church and its stubborn pastor. McFarland verified the contents of his confessional sermons to WSFA, but has not been charged with any crimes.

The suit seeks to oust the pastor, to change the locks, to change the names on church bank accounts and force McFarland to return his church-owned Mercedes-Benz.

"The vast majority of the members of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church are afraid to go to church for the fear of violence being perpetrated upon them by the Defendants, Juan D. McFarland and Marc Anthony Peacock," the suit reads.

"We want peace. We are not trying to hurt [McFarland]," Deacon Chair Nathan Williams Jr. told WSFA-TV. We want to move forward the right way and start healing."