Controversy Surrounds Chester County Church

July 19, 2007 (WPVI) -- It's anything but peace and love at a Chester County church. Members say their pastor is threatening to have them arrested and they've done nothing wrong.

A letter spells out the controversy at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. The controversy has pitted lifetime members against a pastor who came to this historic church a year ago.

In the letter 30-year-old pastor Malcom Finkley writes, "This letter serves as an official notice that if you enter the premises or if you are found on church property that the Coatesville police will be called and criminal charges will be filed."

"If the good Lord lets me live, I'm gonna be there. I'm planning to be right there," responded church member Waddell Tucker when asked if he would be at church on Sunday.

87-year-old Tucker is among the disgruntled church members who received the certified letter.

Lavonna Franklin said anyone who challenged the pastor's authority got one.

"He got a credit card. He got a corporate credit card without the church voting on it," said Franklin.

John Bell, a trustee at the church, told Action News, "I had great confidence in him at the very beginning and just to see what he's done in the last year is appalling."

It has been appalling and heartbreaking to 98-year-old Clotell Lyles. She has been a member of this church for 70 years.

"We don't need nothing like that. We're tired of it. He needs to go," said Clotell Lyles.

Action News contacted Pastor Finkley at his Chester Springs home, but he refused to talk about the controversy surrounding his church or the members who received his letter.

Some members of Tabernacle are hoping a lawyer will help settle the dispute. Others are counting on a ruling from a higher authority.

(Copyright 2007 by Action News and 6abc. All Rights Reserved.)

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