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Posted on 08/19/2007 11:08:17 AM PDT by Terriergal
By Isadora Vail
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, August 17, 2007
A longtime Round Rock pastor was arrested after telling authorities he embezzled at least $500,000 from his church, according to court records.
Donald "Roddy" Clyde, 48, turned himself in to authorities Wednesday and was charged with felony theft of more than $200,000 from the Fellowship at Forest Creek Church. Clyde's bail was set at $400,000, and he could face 99 years in prison if convicted.
Clyde told police that he used the church's bank account and credit card to buy land, horses, vacations and other property, according to his arrest affidavit.
Lawrence Swicegood, a church spokesman, said a private investigation is under way to determine how long the church has been missing money and how much might have been taken.
Swicegood said a church accountant noticed some strange charges on the church credit card and bank account about three weeks ago. The church's leadership team then began to look at the receipts and charges, he said. Police interviewed Clyde about the charges Monday, and he stepped down that day.
"The church has always been about the people and not about one individual," Swicegood said of the 1,500-member congregation. "We are greatly saddened that our pastor had to resign, but we are pulling together to meet the needs of the community and the church."
Clyde's home in Round Rock's Forest Ridge subdivision is valued at about $350,000, according to the Williamson County appraisal district, and he also owns land in Taylor.
Glenn Hamilton, a church member, said the congregation's feelings about Clyde, who had been at the church since 1992, are divided.
"There are people that, despite what he's admitted to, don't want to go on without him, and then there are those that feel betrayed," Hamilton said.
An Austin fraud specialist said that Clyde could have stolen more than the $500,000 he reportedly admitted to taking.
"If he's saying $500,000, in my experience, I would look for a lot more because when perpetrators do estimate, it's always grossly underestimated," said Jim Ratley, president of Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
ivail@statesman.com; 246-005
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Find this article at: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/17/0817pastor.html |
Ken Silva writes:
Apart from the above alleged church "transition" you should also know that "Senior Teaching Pastor" Clyde also had been working with Church Transitions:
Roddy is a nation-wide transition coach and consultant and frequent conference speaker on topics of transition, leadership, lay ministry development and church planting.
CRN readers might also remember Roddy Clyde from the Wall Street Journal article by Suzanne Sataline concerning Rick Warren called Veneration Gap: A Popular Strategy for Church Growth Splits Congregants, reprinted here at Apprising Ministries where we were informed: Some pastors learn how to make their churches purpose-driven through training workshops. Speakers at Church Transitions Inc., a Waxhaw, N.C., nonprofit that works closely with Mr. Warren’s church, stress that the transition will be rough. At a seminar outside of Austin, Texas, in April, the Revs. Roddy Clyde and Glen Sartain advised 80 audience members to trust very few people with their plans. "All the forces of hell are going to come at you when you wake up that church," said Mr. Sartain, who has taught the material at Mr. Warren’s Saddleback Church.
During a session titled "Dealing with Opposition," Mr. Clyde recommended that the pastor speak to critical members, then help them leave if they don’t stop objecting. Then when those congregants join a new church, Mr. Clyde instructed, pastors should call their new minister and suggest that the congregants be barred from any leadership role.
"There are moments when you’ve got to play hardball," said the Rev. Dan Southerland, Church Transitions’ president, in an interview. "You cannot transition a church…and placate every whiny Christian along the way."
The one redeeming thing about this story is that he turned himself in. But this kind of self-serving attitude is so prevalent in these churches that focus on 'self-fulfillment gospel' or "purpose driven" or other corruptions of the Gospel.
OUR ANNUAL BUDGET INCLUDING PASTORS SALARY IS 75K,THIS YEAR WE HAD A $5.00 DESCREPIONCY IN OUR AUDIT. 5 SOLAS!Nice looking house of worship.
Where is it?
You guys need to dig a little deeper [:^)
***
Oh my, like a bad drug they are hooked and addicted to the crooked, conniving, manipulative and lying man and cannot even let him go after they know what he does.
What page of the bible is that quote in????
****
And this also, like something out of the sopranos (which I don’t watch or any tv for that matter) but sounds mobbish, hotel california-ish - you can check in but you can’t check out - No wonder folks are afraid to come to “church”.
I think that Rowdy Roddy Clyde sure had some purpose in mind.
I think that as the Saddleback-influenced operations are more closely examined, we’re going to find a whole bunch of purpose-driven transactions.
The whole “purpose driven” Willow Creek movement is spiritually bankrupt.
Do you remember during the last couple of election cycles that Rick Warren gave first Clinton, then Gore a platform and softball questions, allowing both to avoid the partial birth abortion issue?
I left a willow creek affiliated church in texas shortly after they spent $$$ beaming via satellite the democratic propaganda from willow creek. Never looked back. When I confronted the pastor about spending $$$ on this nonsense, he defend it saying “95% of the church doesn’t even know we are willow creek affiliated”. This church originally was a Baptist church, has now removed the word “baptist” from the name, and does not require baptism. They have this new thing called “Watchcare” that you can do in exchange for baptism.
Originally CRI (Hank Hannegraph) was against willow creek, until they started advertising and promoting the books....
At any rate, I have watched the # of Willow Creek associated churches drop steadily in the last 8 years in Texas as “the word” has gotten out that all is not right at “Six Flags over Christianity”.
The whole new church movement is full of liars, thieves and homosexuals. Many are now getting ubber political on stuff like Global warming even.... nut cases to the last one of them.
Reminds me of the old joke about a pastor who absconded with $5,000 of the church's funds (that's how old the joke is LOL $5,000 bucks was alot)
Anyhoo, they caught him and when one church member was asked if they got the money back, the church member replied: "No. He spent $3,000 on wine and women, and wasted the other $2,000."
Just as I thought, an all white church!! (;^D
Though, I admit it is not a very loving compassionate way to address the stubborn, manipulative, pig headed, stiff necked people who sometimes run churches like the condo commandos from Florida retirement communities, like personal fiefdoms.
People who in regular life are basically nobodies, but find though the lack of able leadership in churches wind up running things and are the most vocal, nasty people to deal with.
I know from experience.
So when are we going to arrest politicians for stealing from the taxpayers to buy themselves votes and further their Marxist agendas?
Sounds to me like he was more “purchase driven.”
Who set you up to be the judge? There is plenty of evil in this world, but smearing someone with guilt by association doesn’t correct any of it.
Don’t misinterpret me. I just got back from attending Church with my family.
To say that there is a problem with a particular influence on the church is not to indite the church universal.
People who don’t hold church leaders up to scrutiny allow them to continue in what they do - for example the catholic church should clean house of pedophiles - not doing so harms the church and the name of Christ.
Government is another matter entirely. it’s a neccessary evil. And believe me, I advocate cleaning both houses (secular and church) regularly.....do you agree?
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