Court hearing continues for GR pastor

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The court heard testimony into the evening, but there is still no decision on whether or not a Grand Rapids pastor will stand trial for fleecing his flock.
 
Pastor Arthur Pearson is accused of embezzling from the Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church .

The court heard testimony from a church trustee and a deacon who said Pastor Pearson gave himself a an "honorarium" that totalled $45,000 and a $5,000 raise.
 
The defense got witnesses to admit there was nothing in the pastor's contract the prohibited him from giving himself the money and that there were few written rules that he had to follow.

The preliminary hearing will continue on Feb. 13 when the court will hear three more witnesses before deciding whether to set the pastor free or send him to Circuit Court for trial.

Pearson is accused of spending between $50,000 and $100,000 of the church's money on personal items, including car repair and trips to the mall.

The chairman of the church's board of trustees told the court that board members and Pearson suffered from a breakdown in communications about a year after he was made head pastor at the church.

When the two sides finally did talk they learned Pearson had taken control of church's books.

Pastor Pearson didn't help his case with the board when he told them he'd given himself a $5,000 raise. He also admitted to using the church credit cards.

"I asked Pastor Pearson how much did you use? Was it $2,000? Twenty thousand dollars? What was it? Let us know. And he said he didn't know exactly. And he said that he had been paying on them a little bit along," Stephon Blackwell of the church Board of Trustees testified.

A judge has ordered Pearson not have anything to do with the business end of the church.

Church members voted to allow Pearson to continue preaching while the case moves through the system.