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<\/p>\nGay Man Testifies Church Members Beat Him for Hours to Exorcise \u2018Homosexual Demons\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
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Matthew Fenner gave disturbing testimony this past Thursday\u00a0in the North Carolina trial of Brooke Covington, leader of the Word of Faith Fellowship, on how she and church members physically abused him for hours to purge his \u201chomosexual demons.\u201d<\/p>\n
The assault, in which around 20 members participated, came in January 2013 against the then-21-year-old following a service at the Rutherford County church based in Spindale.\u00a0The Washington Post\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n The attacks took place \u201cto break me free of the homosexual demons they so viciously despise,\u201d Fenner, who identifies as gay<\/a>, told television station WSPA a year later. After the episode, he left\u00a0the\u00a0fellowship.<\/p>\n In December 2014, a minister\u00a0and four members of the Rutherford County church were indicted on charges that they kidnapped, beat and strangled Fenner, then 21. They pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n And on Thursday, Fenner was the first person to testify in the trial of Brooke Covington, 58, the\u00a0church minister accused of leading the\u00a0alleged kidnapping and assault\u00a0of Fenner on that day, more than four years ago.\u00a0She is the first of five church members to face trial in the case, the Associated Press reported.\u00a0If convicted, she faces up to two years in prison.<\/p>\n Fenner said he\u00a0thought he was \u201cgoing to die\u201d while the church members beat and choked him. He accused Covington of telling him, \u201cGod said there is something wrong in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n Fenner\u2019s own family members, who still belong to the church, contradicted his testimony before a grand jury<\/a>\u00a0in 2014, which nevertheless resulted in an indictment.<\/p>\n The Word of Faith Fellowship has been accused of mistreatment of its\u00a0LGBTQ members before, but this is the first time charges have stuck<\/a>:<\/p>\n When Fenner brought the allegations three years ago, it was\u00a0not the first time the church had been accused of beating members over their sexual orientation. Two years earlier, former church member Michael Lowry said he was beaten and held against his will at the church as an effort to eliminate his gay<\/a> demons.<\/p>\n Lowry testified before a grand jury, but about a year later, the same month Fenner says he was beaten and strangled, Lowry rejoined Word of Faith and took back\u00a0his allegations. He has since left the church, and later said in a statement that his original claims are true.<\/p>\n It is part of a pattern of legal troubles the church has faced over the years for its harsh doctrinal behavior:<\/p>\n In the four decades since the Word of Faith was founded, it has been entangled in a series of lawsuits, criminal charges and custody fights surrounding its treatment of children.\u00a0More than 15 years ago, the state and Rutherford County Department of Social Services\u00a0launched a series of investigations into allegations\u00a0the church abused children, the Charlotte Observer reported.<\/p>\n Attorneys for the church have claimed that Fenner was never harmed and has previously praised the church publicly.<\/p>\n The post Gay Man Testifies Church Members Beat Him for Hours to Exorcise \u2018Homosexual Demons\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n