Uncategorized

Rev. Hunter Out as Bethel AME Pastor

Published

13 years ago

February 15, 2013

Oakland Post

Bishop T. Larry Kirkland

Denise and Rev. John Hunter

Pastor J Edgar Boydwas

Members of Bethel AME church in San Francisco walked out on their newly assigned pastor, Rev. John J. Hunter at their 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. services on Sunday as he entered the pulpit through the back door after the church rejected him as their pastor.Presiding elder Rev. W. Bartalette Finney Sr. functioned as the pastor until Sunday and notified members that according to the AME discipline, once seated in the pulpit Hunter became the pastor of Bethel AME. Photo by Rudolph Williams.

By Lee
Hubbard
Rev. John Hunter has been removed from his post as head of the Bethel AME Church in San Francisco by Bishop T. Larry Kirkland, presiding prelate of of the Fifth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
In a letter dated Feb. 8, Bishop Kirkland told Rev. Hunter, “I hereby immediately relieve you of the pastoral charge of Bethel AME Church, San Francisco, California. You will have no further contact with the congregation in an official capacity.”
With no pastor at the helm, Presiding Elder Dr. W. Bartalette Finney preached the sermon last Sunday at Bethel.
Kirkland’s letter followed a Jan. 31 Conciliation Committee meeting, held in an attempt to mend relations between Rev. Hunter and members of Bethel. However, as a result of the meeting, attended by Hunter, representatives of Bethel, Presiding Elder Booker T. Guiton and Bishop Kirkland, it was decided that “further efforts will not prove fruitful.”
Bethel AME is now waiting for Bishop Kirkland to assign a new pastor.
Since the beginning of January, members at Bethel AME have been in silent protest against Hunter. Every Sunday, just before he began to preach, almost three fourths of the church walked out and into the adjoining fellowship hall.
News of Hunter’s removal this past Sunday was meet with approval by church members, who described the action as a fitting end to “a bad marriage.”
“There are enough leaders in this congregation to make sure the church will go on,” said Randolph Scott, a Trustee Board member at Bethel.
“The conclusions and action that we took were all within the Book of Discipline of the AME Church. Church members were fully supportive of the actions we took throughout the process,” he said.
Hunter has filed a lawsuit against the Stewards of Bethel and individual members of the church for “assault, battery, and inflic infliction of emotional distress,” which began when he took his assignment as pastor.
Hunters’ appointment to Bethel AME church in October was met with opposition from the beginning due to alleged wrongdoings while he was pastor at First AME church in Los Angeles for eight years.
The allegations against Hunter included misuse of a church credit card, a sexual harassment suit and tax evasion charges that took place while he was at FAME.
On Oct. 28, he was reassigned to Bethel AME church in San Francisco and replaced at FAME in Los Angeles by Bethel AME Pastor J Edgar Boyd.
When Hunter’s appointment to Bethel was announced, a welcoming committee from Bethel that was in Los Angeles sought to meet with him. However, he did not meet with the committee.
The first time Hunter showed up to Bethel to preach, he was met by parishioners who asked him for the “papers” that would certify his assignment to Bethel as its new pastor. He did not have them and left the church.
A few weeks later, he arrived at the church, surprising members when he entered the pulpit. But when he tried to preach, parishioners walked out.
Some members of Bethel raised concerns that Hunter intended to live in Los Angeles and become a commuter pastor, flying to and from San Francisco every weekend to preach, This didn’t sit well with many of Bethel’s members.
Others at Bethel said he was charismatic and liked to tell stories about his upbringing. However, they said, he really did not want to be at Bethel AME and clearly wanted to return to First AME in Los Angeles.
The Judicial Council of the African Methodist Episcopal Church – a nine-member body whose president is Patricia Mayberry, the sister of Rev. Dr. Harold Mayberry of First AME in Oakland – denied Hunter’s petition to return FAME.
Hunter faces a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against him and his wife Denise, filed by FAME and its new pastor for breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, fraud and misrepresentation.infliction of emotional distress,” which began when he took his assignment as pastor.
Hunters’ appointment to Bethel AME church in October was met with opposition from the beginning due to alleged wrongdoings while he was pastor at First AME church in Los Angeles for eight years.
The allegations against Hunter included misuse of a church credit card, a sexual harassment suit and tax evasion charges that took place while he was at FAME.
On Oct. 28, he was reassigned to Bethel AME church in San Francisco and replaced at FAME in Los Angeles by Bethel AME Pastor J Edgar Boyd.
When Hunter’s appointment to Bethel was announced, a welcoming committee from Bethel that was in Los Angeles sought to meet with him. However, he did not meet with the committee.
The first time Hunter showed up to Bethel to preach, he was met by parishioners who asked him for the “papers” that would certify his assignment to Bethel as its new pastor. He did not have them and left the church.
A few weeks later, he arrived at the church, surprising members when he entered the pulpit. But when he tried to preach, parishioners walked out.
Some members of Bethel raised concerns that Hunter intended to live in Los Angeles and become a commuter pastor, flying to and from San Francisco every weekend to preach, This didn’t sit well with many of Bethel’s members.
Others at Bethel said he was charismatic and liked to tell stories about his upbringing. However, they said, he really did not want to be at Bethel AME and clearly wanted to return to First AME in Los Angeles.
The Judicial Council of the African Methodist Episcopal Church – a nine-member body whose president is Patricia Mayberry, the sister of Rev. Dr. Harold Mayberry of First AME in Oakland – denied Hunter’s petition to return FAME.
Hunter faces a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against him and his wife Denise, filed by FAME and its new pastor for breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, fraud and misrepresentation.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Uncategorized

Rest in Peace: A.M.E. Pastor and L.A Civil Rights Icon Cecil “Chip” Murray Passes

The Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, former pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) in Los Angeles, died of natural causes April 6 at his Windsor Hills Home. He was 94. “Today, we lost a giant. Reverend Dr. Cecil Murray dedicated his life to service, community, and putting God first in all things. I had the absolute honor of working with him, worshiping with him, and seeking his counsel,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of the dynamic religious leader whose ministry inspired and attracted millionaires as well as former gang bangers and people dealing with substance use disorder (SUD).

Published

3 months ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, former pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) in Los Angeles, died of natural causes April 6 at his Windsor Hills Home. He was 94.

“Today, we lost a giant. Reverend Dr. Cecil Murray dedicated his life to service, community, and putting God first in all things. I had the absolute honor of working with him, worshiping with him, and seeking his counsel,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of the dynamic religious leader whose ministry inspired and attracted millionaires as well as former gang bangers and people dealing with substance use disorder (SUD).

Murray oversaw the growth of FAME’s congregation from 250 members to 18,000.

“My heart is with the First AME congregation and community today as we reflect on a legacy that changed this city forever,” Bass continued.

Murray served as Senior Minister at FAME, the oldest Black congregation in the city, for 27 years. During that time, various dignitaries visited and he built strong relationships with political and civic leaders in the city and across the state, as well as a number of Hollywood figures. Several national political leaders also visited with Murray and his congregation at FAME, including Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Murray, a Florida native and U.S. Air Force vet, attended Florida A&M University, where he majored in history, worked on the school newspaper and pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He later attended Claremont School of Theology in Los Angeles County, where he earned his doctorate in Divinity.

Murray is survived by his son Drew. His wife Bernadine, who was a committed member of the A.M.E. church and the daughter of his childhood pastor, died in 2013.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Uncategorized

Court Throws Out Law That Allowed Californians to Build Duplexes, Triplexes and RDUs on Their Properties

Charter cities in California won a lawsuit last week against the state that declared Senate Bill (SB) 9, a pro-housing bill, unconstitutional. Passed in 2021, SB 9 is also known as the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency Act (HOME). That law permits up to four residential units — counting individual units of duplexes, triplexes and residential dwelling units (RDUs) – to be built on properties in neighborhoods that were previously zoned for only single-family homes.

Published

3 months ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

Charter cities in California won a lawsuit last week against the state that declared Senate Bill (SB) 9, a pro-housing bill, unconstitutional.

Passed in 2021, SB 9 is also known as the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency Act (HOME). That law permits up to four residential units — counting individual units of duplexes, triplexes and residential dwelling units (RDUs) – to be built on properties in neighborhoods that were previously zoned for only single-family homes.

A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of the cities, pointing out that SB 9 discredited charter cities that were granted jurisdiction to create new governance systems and enact policy reforms. The court ruling affects 121 charter cities that have local constitutions.

Attorney Pam Lee represented five Southern California cities in the lawsuit against the state and Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“This is a monumental victory for all charter cities in California,” Lee said.

However, general law cities are excluded from the court ruling as state housing laws still apply in residential areas.

Attorney General Bonta and his team are working to review the decision and consider all options that will protect SB 9 as a state law. Bonta said the law has helped provide affordable housing for residents in California.

“Our statewide housing shortage and affordability crisis requires collaboration, innovation, and a good faith effort by local governments to increase the housing supply,” Bonta said.

“SB9 is an important tool in this effort, and we’re going to make sure homeowners have the opportunity to utilize it,” he said.

Charter cities remain adamant that the state should refrain from making land-use decisions on their behalf. In the lawsuit, city representatives argued that SB 9 eliminates local authority to create single-family zoning districts and approve housing developments.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Uncategorized

Funds for Down Payments and Credit Repair Given to Black First Time Homebuyers

The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) won a $10,000 fair housing settlement last November against a property management company, CIM Group LP, a global real estate company headquartered in Los Angeles, and property owner, RACR Sora, LLC, for implementing a blanket ban on renting to tenants with criminal histories at Sora Apartments in Inglewood. Three months earlier, the department, which enforces California’s civil rights laws, won another $20,000 civil rights settlement against a Lemon Grove property manager, who had targeted a Black tenant with a series of racist actions and threats of violence.

Published

3 months ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

By McKenzie Jackson, California Black Media

Three months earlier, the department, which enforces California’s civil rights laws, won another $20,000 civil rights settlement against a Lemon Grove property manager, who had targeted a Black tenant with a series of racist actions and threats of violence.

CRD Director Kevin Kish said the department investigates cases of apparent racial bias in housing and sometimes more subtle acts of prejudice like nuisance-free or crime-free housing policies or holding tenants to different standards based on their race.

Kish said, “People will get evicted if they call the police. This can negatively impact victims of domestic violence. We also see these no-crime ordinances, or no-crime policies, used in racially discriminatory ways. If there is some kind of incident, and the police are called and it involves a Black family, then they get evicted, but other folks aren’t necessarily evicted.”

On April 11,1968, a week after Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, President Lydon B. Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, color, religion, and nationality.

Kish noted that William Byron Rumford, the first Black California State Assemblymember, who represented Berkley and Oakland, spearheaded the passing of the Rumford Act in 1963. That law sought to end discriminatory housing practices in the Golden State, five years before the Fair Housing Act became law.
Real estate agent and housing advocate Ashley Garner is the director of the CLTRE Keeper Home Ownership program. That organization gave 25 Black, indigenous, and people of color $17,500 each in down payment and credit repair support to purchase a home in Oak Park, a traditionally Black neighborhood in Sacramento, last fall. CLTRE obtained a $500,000 grant from the city of Sacramento to award the funds to the residents after they completed an eight-week homeownership program.

In 2021, the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) noted that around four in 10 Black California families owned homes, which trails that of White, Asian-American and Latinos.
According to Forbes, the median price for a home in California is over $500,000, which is double the cost of a home in the rest of the country.

Black lawmakers recently introduced their Reparations Priority Bill Package that includes support for Black first-time homebuyers, homeowners’ mortgage assistance and property tax relief for neighborhoods restricted by historic redlining.

California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) spokesperson Eric Johnson said CalHFA helps prospective low-income and moderate-income Californians purchase homes by offering down payment and closing cost aid. “There are lots of people who have steady jobs, good credit scores, constant income, but they haven’t been able to save up the money that traditional banks need or want to see for a down payment,” Johnson stated. “We help those folks out. We give a loan for the down payment to get them over that hurdle.”
CRD and the Department of Real Estate hosted “Fair Housing Protections for People with Criminal Histories” Zoom call on April 10.

On April 25, CRD will also hold Zoom seminars focused on advocating for fair housing for people with disabilities.