2 of 3

"God spoke to Gerald Payne, and told him how to do God's work," said attorney Anne Borgette. "God told him to create Greater Ministries. To do God's work, they needed donations, and they got them from people who believed in the Christian way of life. Our evidence will show that at no time did they want anyone in the program who thought they were investing or who wanted a return."

In sharp contrast to the others, Patrick Talbert's attorney, John Kingston, brought a fiery intensity to his initial statement.

"This is the front line in our society," he shouted, pointing dramatically at the floor in front of the jury box. Holding a Bible, he said, "What's happening in this case is that your government is trying to regulate churches, and regulate what people think about this book!"

Holding a copy of the Constitution in his other hand, Kingston said, "The First Amendment gives you the right to believe and express yourselves as you choose, to go to the church you choose, and to give your pastor as much as you please."

Pointing at the prosecutors, Kingston said, "They think Gerald Payne is a nut. They think all the defendants are nuts. They think all the people who went to their church were nuts. But it's not up to them, or to the IRS, to decide their beliefs, and that's what this case is about."

Kingston's conclusion offered an outline of the group's defense. "There is no fraud here," he said. "Instead, there were two types of [givers] who came to this church: The first kind understood they were giving to a church, which means giving to God. And they believed God will bless them as he continues to bless his church. The second kind had property and greed. The evidence will show that—despite being told over and over that it was a gift program, not an investment—they went to church with a get-rich-quick mentality."

Guaranteed high return
It didn't take long for this theory to be tested. The first participant to testify was Stephen Smith, pastor of New Life Community Church in Danville, Virginia. When he heard about the gifting program from relatives and church members, Smith said, he was feeling a sharp financial pinch: His sixth child had just been born, he was planting a new church, and he was facing college expenses for his older children.

"I had no money to 'gift,'" he told the court. "I was a hurting pastor with six kids, and bills to pay."

Smith attended a Greater Ministries meeting in Atlanta on August 31, 1998. While there, Smith testified, he had a long talk with Greater Ministries' financial director, David Whitfield, who assured him that the term "gift" on the program forms was only a legal formality. "The word 'gift' was really in parentheses," Smith said. "Whitfield made it very clear in speaking to me that this term was there only to get across some legal fences."

Smith said he was assured that the returns were guaranteed, and that he could leave the program and get his money back whenever he wished. "I signed the form which said 'gift' with the clear understanding from David Whitfield that it didn't mean that," he said.

Smith gave Whitfield a check for $55,000, the proceeds from a second mortgage on his home. According to the gifting program's terms, he was supposed to receive $2,750 per month almost immediately.

"Did you ever receive any money from Greater Ministries?" Smith was asked.

"No," he replied, adding that he was soon desperate.

After Smith's many frantic phone calls, faxes, and letters to Greater Ministries, Whitfield sent him $1,500 in December 1998, Smith said. He later received several silver coins with the Greater Ministries logo stamped on them. That was all.

next page... |  2 of 3

share this page

March 5 2001, Vol. 45, No. 4