'Sodomite Semen' Pastor's Church Will Be Auctioned for Debts

Pastor James David Manning

Pastor James David Manning of Harlem's ATLAH World Missionary Church is so deep in debt, a court ordered that his church be put up for sale.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

Read Full Bio

Trudy Ring

January 29 2016 2:46 PM EST

trudestress

Sorry to interrupt...
But we wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading. Your support makes original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Help us hold Trump accountable.

One-time Monthly

$19.67 $50 Other

$5 $19.67 $50

In a development that could make a skeptic believe in divine retribution, the infamous "sodomite semen" and "Jesus would stone homos" minister is about to lose his church.

Pastor James David Manning's ATLAH World Missionary Church in New York City's Harlem neighborhood is going to be sold at a public foreclosure auction next month because of unpaid debts totaling $1.02 million, DNAInfo New York reports.

Manning told the site that the debt consists mostly of water and sewer bills that he claims the church isn't obligated to pay because of its tax-exempt status. (The city's Department of Environmental Protection, which handles water and sewer services, wouldn't comment on whether churches are exempt.)

But what he didn't mention, DNAInfo reports, is that there are nine federal tax liens against the church, totaling more than $355,000, and that he also owes thousands of dollars to New York State and other creditors.

After creditors took ATLAH to court, the church was given until last April to pay its debts, but it didn't. In December a state judge ordered a foreclosure sale, which is scheduled to be held February 24. Manning told DNAInfo he would fight the foreclosure order, which he called a "land grab." He also claimed he didn't know there were any legal proceedings against his church, even though the case has been going on since 2009 and his lawyer has filed a response to the creditors' complaint.

Trending stories

He has also posted videos online in which he claims that "upscale sodomites" gather at Starbucks to spread Ebola and other diseases and that the coffee chain flavors its drinks with the "semen of sodomites." And he's said that President Obama has "released homo demons on the black man" and that gay athletes are pedophiles.

All this has led to numerous protests at his church and its addition last year to the progressive Southern Poverty Law Center's list of anti-LGBT hate groups.

There's no word on whether Manning will seek a new venue from which to rant.