Kings, Queens, Pharaohs, Dictators, Emperors, governments and hostile governmental agencies have attacked Christian Churches for two thousand years. Crucifixions, Inquisitions, Jihads and other such methods have been used against Christians and by Christians against other Christians over all these years. Now, the Word of Faith Church in nearby Spindale, NC has been under attack for over 20 years for their so called unconventional practices without success. By all accounts the Word of Faith Church has over 700 local members and over 2,000 members in foreign countries. The Word of Faith Church in Spindale also operates a K-12 Church School.
Now, the attackers have come up with a new way to attack the Word of Faith Church. They called the DSS claiming child abuse by the Church at the Church School. Then they called the Associated Press and apparently the AP called the Shelby Star. This story, totally one sided, has been plastered all over the Star and TV news. The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating and the Rutherford County DSS Director John Carroll (previously from the Cleveland County DSS) says their case is closed. People with grudges against the Word of Faith are coming forward with potential tall tales, and the DSS hides behind confidentiality. The Word of Faith Church either is not talking either or , most likely, the Star and the AP are not reporting what the Church has to say. I smell a rat when I read theses kinds of articles.
So far the fallout of all this salacious news has been two attorneys who were members of the Word of Faith Church and Assistant District Attorneys for the 25th Judicial District which includes Catawba, Caldwell and Burke Counties have been forced to resign, demoted or fired by the High DA David Learner. Church member Lori Cornelius of the Cleveland County DSS has resigned as well, most likely under tons of pressure from Cleveland County DSS Director Karen Ellis.
All this stuff regarding the Catawba County District Attorney’s Office and Cleveland County DSS forcing people to resign, and such, jogged my memory. Both the Catawba County DA’s Office and the Cleveland County DSS are involved with Federal Civil Rights Lawsuits as we speak.
First, the Catawba County DA’s Office and the Cleveland County connection:
Catawba County Civil Rights lawsuit:
Jay Gaither was the previous District Attorney in District 25. Whitney Nicole “Nikkie” Shaffer, daughter of former Cleveland County DA Rick Shaffer, was a lawyer working for Gaither in the 25th District. By law Nikkie Shaffer couldn’t work for pay for her daddy in Cleveland County so she ended up on Gaither’s payroll in Catawba County. Scroll on back to my October 17, 2014 article titled “Dirty Tricks in the District Attorney Race, Democrat Runs Clean Campaign, Not so for the Republicans” for my predictions of a dirty political setup for Nikkie Shaffer to eventually be set up for the Cleveland County DA job.
Anyway, Nikkie Shaffer files a Federal Civil Rights lawsuit against Jay Gaither alleging Gaither had made what Nikkie Shaffer called unwanted sexual advances toward her and then fired her when she wouldn’t come across with the sex she alleged Gaither was after. Gaither fired Nikkie Shaffer alleging Shaffer was having sexual relations with an unnamed married man, a defense attorney on cases Nikkie Shaffer prosecuted within the legal system in Judicial District 25 that was causing problems. Shaffer had allegedly saved a bunch of text messages from Gaither that she used in her lawsuit, but somehow managed to lose all those text messages as well as those messages between Nikkie Shaffer and her “paramour.” Note “paramour” is not my word but is the word Federal Magistrate Judge Max Cogburn used to describe Nikkie Shaffer’s admitted sexual partner-the married man defense lawyer-Gaither alleges he fired her because of.
