Evangelist bruised, battered
2007-08-24 07:12
Atlanta - A televangelist who has won a national following with sermons about women empowerment, was badly bruised in a fight with her estranged husband as they met in an attempt to reconcile, police said.
No charges were filed in connection with the confrontation between Juanita Bynum and preacher Thomas W Weeks III, founder of Global Destiny churches, police said on Thursday.
The fight happened on Wednesday morning in a hotel parking lot near Atlanta's airport, and a hotel bellman pulled Weeks off Bynum, Officer Ronald Campbell said.
"She was bruised up and battered," Campbell told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "She had purple bruising around her neck and upper torso."
Weeks did not return a phone message or an e-mail request for comment on Thursday. A call to Global Destiny was answered only by a recorded message with information about the ministry.
Campbell said on Thursday he was unsure if investigators had spoken with Weeks.
Asked about the fight, a woman who answered the phone at Juanita Bynum Ministries in Waycross said, "We're not at liberty to discuss it at this time." She did not identify herself.
Bynum is a former homemaker, hairdresser and flight attendant who became a Pentecostal evangelist. She got a break when Bishop TD Jakes invited her to speak at one of his conferences several years ago.
Her ministry blossomed after her "No More Sheets" sermon about breaking free of sexual promiscuity at a singles event. She writes books, records inspirational CDs and preaches to millions through televised sermons.
She married Weeks in 2002 in a televised wedding.
- AP