Pastors sue AME Church over missing retirement funds

ORLANDO, Fla. — Pastors have filed at least three federal lawsuits in recent weeks against the African Methodist Episcopal Church along with several subsidiaries and financial firms the church used, alleging tens of millions of dollars from a pension fund were mismanaged and missing.

The retired and current pastors in Florida, Maryland and Virginia filed the lawsuits against the oldest historically Black denomination in the U.S. late last month. They are seeking class-action status on behalf of thousands of other AME pastors and church officials throughout the country who lost money through the pension fund.

The pastors, who were required to participate in the retirement plan, said they have been unable to get access to their money.

The lawsuit filed by the Florida pastor, the Rev. Charles Jackson in Orlando, alleges the church and its related financial institutions were negligent and breached their fiduciary responsibilities. Jackson is seeking a jury trial and punitive damages in the complaint filed in federal court in Tennessee.

“Many Class member — including Plaintiff Reverend Jackson — are retired and have suddenly learned that resources they relied on to support themselves, to depend on in times of bad health, and to simply enjoy during retirement, have been stolen from them by people they trusted,” the lawsuit said.

In their lawsuit filed in Virginia, the Revs. Derrell Wade and Reuben Boyd allege that between $80 million and $90 million was unaccounted for by either 2020 or 2021.

In his lawsuit, the Rev. Cedric Alexander of Bowie Maryland, said the then-chair of the church’s retirement fund invested money in undeveloped land in Florida and a now-defunct capital venture outfit, and gave a promissory note to an installer of solar panels. The lawsuit alleges violations of a federal law protecting employee retirement funds.

The church’s retirement fund chair “invested Plan assets in imprudent, extraordinarily risky investments that ultimately lost nearly $100 million of Plan participants’ retirement savings,” the Maryland lawsuit said.

In a statement Tuesday, the church said it was limited in what it could say because of the litigation but noted that it had resumed some distributions to fund participants starting last month.

“We appreciate our community’s concern and remain grateful for the patience of our clergy, staff and members as we continue to investigate this matter,” the statement said.