On October 17, 2025, televangelist David E. Taylor appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Stafford in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan.

Judge Stafford reviewed the charges and penalties Taylor faces if convicted before asking, “Mr. Taylor, do you understand what you have been charged with in this indictment and the maximum penalties you could face?” Taylor answers, “Yes, your Honor.”

Judge Stafford asks Taylor’s attorney, “Counsel, are you ready to enter a plea?”  Attorney Scott Rosenblum informed the judge that Taylor is pleading not guilty to each count.

During the detainment hearing, held after the arraignment, Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Resnick Cohen argued before the court that due to Taylor being a threat to the community, bond should be denied and Taylor should be detained until the trial is complete.

Continue reading “Hear Televangelist David E. Taylor’s Not Guilty Plea; Judge Approves Detainment of Taylor”

(Photo: Suzanne and Benny Hinn saying their wedding vows for a second time in 2013.)

Last week, Judge Jeffrey M. Rich granted the second divorce of Suzanne Hinn from televangelist Benny Hinn. As a result, the Hillsborough County website reports that the divorce case is closed.

On November 24, the county website was updated to report “FINAL JUDGMENT NON CONTESTED DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE.”

Continue reading “Televangelist Benny Hinn’s Remarriage Ends in Divorce”

(Screenshot: Kevin Adell being interviewed following Novi city council approval to build the Adell Center.)

The federal government’s civil case, filed in April 2023, to seize the $4 million Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, home of The Word Network President Kevin Adell has been postponed for 90 days due to the federal government shutdown. Adell is accused of owing almost $18 million in estate and gift taxes after his father Franklin Adell died in 2006.

Franklin Adell founded The Word Network which was later marketed as “the largest African-American religious network in the world.” However, due to recent programming changes, most of the preachers on The Word Network are now caucasian.

In 2015, the IRS revoked the tax-exemption of The Word Network’s previous parent World Religious Relief which Adell replaced with a new non-profit organization Church of the Word.

Adell also owns 170 acres of real estate in Metamora, Michigan, worth more than $2.6 million, according to real estate website Zillow. Adell’s Naples, Florida, beach house is currently for sale with a list price of $8.9 million (down from $10 million), featuring a large boat dock located near the Naples Yacht Club.

(Photo: Satellite view of Naples Yacht Club and nearby homes.)

Adell’s mountain home in Sundance, Utah, home of the Sundance Film Festival, is worth over $6 million, according to Redfin and Zillow real estate websites.

Adell’s wealth also financed a large car collection. In 2019, Hagerty reported that Adell’s “fleet of 100 or so automobiles” features newer hypercars and automobiles from old TV shows such as the Batmobile from the 1960s TV series and one of the General Lee cars from “The Dukes of Hazzard.”

Recent Court Filings

The Motion to Stay and the Joint Motion to Extend Trial and Related Deadlines were filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division.

The failure by Congress to pass an appropriations bill to fund government operations resulted in the government shutdown, as explained in the Motion to Stay:

“At the end of the day on September 30, 2025, the appropriations act that had been funding the Department of Justice expired and those appropriations to the Department lapsed. The same is true for the majority of other Executive agencies, including the federal Plaintiff. The Department does not know when such funding will be restored by Congress.

“Absent an appropriation, Department of Justice attorneys and employees of the federal Plaintiff are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in very limited circumstances, including “emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.”

The Joint Motion to Extend Trial and Related Deadlines has postponed Adell’s trial until “July 13, 2026, or later.”

Other church and ministry court cases might be postponed by the federal government shutdown, if it persists. We will continue monitoring the federal courts and will post updates as new motions are filed.

(Screenshot: David E. Taylor preaching about Passover in 2021.

A new court filing reveals the FBI and IRS obtained more than 250 subpoenas requiring people to testify or provide documents, and approximately 22 search warrants during their investigation of televangelist David E. Taylor, his assistant Michelle Brannon, and their Kingdom of God Global Church’s alleged use of forced labor and money laundering.

Because of the complexity of the case, the federal government requested the November trial date be postponed. This type of request is called a continuance. When granted, it sets aside the right to a speedy trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment so that the plaintiff and defendants have adequate time in preparing for court.

According to the filing, “The ends of justice require a continuance here, and the ends of justice outweigh the interests of the public and the defendants in a speedy trial. Therefore … the parties request that the Court find that the time between November 18, 2025, and April 14, 2026, be excluded in computing the time within which the trial must commence.”

Continue reading “More than 250 Subpoenas Issued During Investigation of Televangelist David E. Taylor, Defense Strategy Revealed”

A long legal battle shows why the IRS infrequently revokes the tax-exempt status of churches and ministries operating in defiance of the United States tax code.

In December 2018, the IRS secretly revoked the tax-exemption of Community Worship Fellowship, a church Lester Goddard founded in Portland, Oregon, in 1998.

Following the revocation, the IRS failed to disclose the revocation in its weekly news bulletin or in the IRS exempt organizations database.

The IRS claimed the church “failed to operate exclusively for an exempt purpose because it operated for the benefit of individual church members, and because its net earnings inured to the benefit of private individuals.” That quote from an IRS revocation letter was disclosed in the church’s lawsuit filed against the IRS.

In March 2019, Community Worship Fellowship (CWF) sued the IRS to regain its tax-exemption. On October 23, 2025, the United States Court of Federal Claims rejected the church’s legal arguments and upheld the revocation.

The CWF case dragged on for six years because on 18 occasions the parties requested additional time for discovery.

Continue reading “Church Tax-Exemption Revoked in Secret, Disclosed in Long Court Battle”