by Mel Green | Crossposted at Henkimaa.com and The Mudflats
Court documents in the divorce of Allen Prevo, son of Anchorage Baptist Temple pastor Jerry Prevo, and Holly Jo Prevo raise questions about ABT religious exemption housing. Or, in the judge’s words, “if there was a tax appraiser or a reporter from the Anchorage Daily News, things would not look good… it’s pretty loosey-goosey to me.”
Citing Alaska Statute § 25.20.120, which provides the option of sealing court records in proceedings involving child custody, attorney Wayne Anthony Ross on August 3 filed a motion to seal the records in the case of Allen Prevo v. Holly Jo Prevo (3AN-10-08113CI). The motion was filed on the same day that Anchorage Superior Court Judge Frank A. Pfiffner granted a decree of divorce. Arguing to seal the records, Ross wrote,
The plaintiff’s father (the children’s grandfather) is a high profile individual in the State of Alaska and is a well known, national figure. There are several journalists who would delight in airing any “dirty laundry” attached to the Prevo family. Access to these court records would provide little material that would be of any benefit to the public, and the negative publicity which would result could have a strong negative effect on the children.
Phyllis Shepherd, the defendant’s lawyer, countered on August 16:
It appears that plaintiff’s primary concern is, not so much the protection of his children, but to protect his father “a high profile individual in the state of Alaska and a well known national figure.”
The “high profile individual” is, of course, Jerry Prevo, pastor of the Anchorage Baptist Temple, who has long been a powerful figure in Anchorage and the state. He’s well-known to Anchorage’s LGBT community as a prominent leader in opposition to equal rights under the law for LGBT people, leading the fight against three ordinances which granted those rights in 1975, 1992, and 2009 — all of which passed the Anchorage Assembly, only to be reversed (twice through mayoral veto, once through vote of a successor Assembly). He had close ties with Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, and founded Alaska’s chapter of the Moral Majority in 2000. In 1985, Prevo accompanied Falwell on a widely publicized “Freedom Mission” to South Africa, returning to Anchorage to speak the praises of then-president and apartheid advocate P.W. Botha. Since at least 2003, Prevo has been chair of the board of trustees of Liberty University in Lynchburg, which Falwell founded as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971.
Prevo also has ties with other national Christian figures, including Franklin Graham, and is on the board of directors of Graham’s charity Samaritan Purse. He accompanied former Alaska governor Sarah Palin on a Samaritan Purse mission to western Alaska. Prevo has several times been a member of Alaska’s delegation to the national Republican convention, at least twice serving as the delegation’s chair. At the 2009 convention, according the the Washington Post political blog The Trail, he handed Palin his cell phone for her to accept congratulations from Franklin Graham for her nomination as vice presidential candidate. His power is such that many political candidates feel compelled to take what Amanda Coyne of Alaska Dispatch once termed “the perp walk at Anchorage Baptist Temple” to introduce themselves to his congregation. The funeral of Sen. Ted Stevens was held in his church.
Allen Prevo’s attorney, Wayne Anthony Ross, is also widely known. In Anchorage he’s famous for driving a bright red Hummer bearing vanity plates with his initials, WAR. In 2009 he was Gov. Sarah Palin’s nominee for Alaska attorney general, and distinguished himself by becoming the only cabinet nominee in Alaska state history to fail to be confirmed by the Alaska Legislature. His candidacy had been widely opposed by Alaska Natives, women, and the LGBT community — who weren’t favorably impressed by a 1993 letter he wrote to the Alaska Bar Rag (of the Alaska Bar Association) calling gays and lesbians “degenerates” who practiced “sexual perversion” and were “”immoral in the eyes of anyone with intelligence.” Asked in a confirmation hearing if he could fairly represent LGBT Alaskans, Ross replied,
Let me give you an analogy. I hate lima beans. I’ve never liked lima beans. But if I was hired to represent the United Vegetable Growers, would you ask me if I liked lima beans. No. If I disliked lima beans. No. Because my job is to represent the United Vegetable Growers.
Wayne Anthony Ross is perhaps not correct when he writes — as his motion to seal the court records goes on to say —
The plaintiff respectfully submits to the court that it is in the best interests of the children to have these records shielded from public scrutiny.
In fact, there may in fact be “benefit to the public” — a benefit having nothing to do with the Prevo kids — in leaving the court records open to scrutiny. That’s getting down to the bottom of what’s going on with Jerry Prevo’s son’s housing.
Background
Allen and Holly Jo Prevo married on May 1, 1992 and had three children.
Allen Prevo, 43, is the only child of Jerry and Carol Prevo. He began working for his father’s church, Anchorage Baptist Temple, in 1983 as a lighting director and TV consultant, and currently is ABT’s audiovisual and computer technician in charge of virtually everything having to do with ABT’s television ministry — Sunday broadcasts, commercials, advertising, and lighting for plays. He also is an ordained pastor, though court records mention only a high school education, no college or seminary work. In 1997 while working at ceiling level at ABT, he fell 24 feet from a catwalk, landing on a railing and suffering severe injuries to his ribs and thoracic spine. As a result, he has a chronic pain condition which is managed with the pain medication Oxycontin (oxycodone). Prevo was the plaintiff in the case, with Ross stating on his behalf in the Complaint for Divorce of May 17, 2010,
There exists an incompatibility of temperament between the parties which renders a life together burdensome and intolerable. However, plaintiff does not wish a divorce and believes that if the defendant will involved herself in counseling with him, take the necessary time, and make the necessary effort, then this marriage could be saved. If the defendant refuses, however, to involve herself with plaintiff in counseling, take the necessary time, and make the necessary effort to try and save this marriage, then a divorce may be necessary.
The Plaintiff’s Trial Brief of March 18, 2011 elaborates:
In April 2010 Holly announced to Allen that she wanted a divorce. Allen filed for divorce on 10 June 2010 because he feared Holly was planning to take the children out of the state. Rather than wanting a divorce, Allen hoped to get Holly to agree to involve herself, with him, in marriage counseling. Holly, however, has refused to work toward saving the marriage. Instead, she has advised Allen that she plans to move to California after the divorce.
Holly Jo Prevo nee Jaggers, 39, currently works as a customer service representative for AT&T, though during most of her marriage to Allen Prevo she was out of the workforce, staying in the home as a homemaker and primary caregiver of the couple’s three kids. Previously she had been involved in volunteer activities centered around Anchorage Baptist Temple and the Anchorage Christian School, including directing the children’s choir and coaching cheerleading.
At issue in the divorce was the custody of the three minor children, possible child and spousal support, attorney’s fees, and the equitable division of marital property. The Amended Decree of Divorce of August 3 ultimately granting them joint legal custody of the two younger children, with Allen having primary physical custody of them; and Holly being granted sole legal and primary physical custody of their oldest child. Despite Allen’s initial claim in his Complaint for Divorce that “Defendant is financially capable of paying spousal support to plaintiff,” Judge Pfiffner found Holly’s claim to be the financially disadvantaged party — with an annual income in the area of $60,000 less than Allen’s — to be correct, writing in the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law,
Because of her limited income and assets and smaller earning capability, Holly needs a disproportionate share of the marital estate. Accordingly, the court has divided the estate on a 55/45 basis in favor of Holly.
Holly’s name was also restored to Holly Jo Jaggers.
Some details of the settlement, as well as some of the Finding of Fact incorporated in the decree, are still being argued about between the parties, resulting in further motions in countermotions.
The marital home
But one item in particular remains of public interest: the marital home at 2330 Banbury Drive. A search on the property at the Municipality of Anchorage Real Property Information site confirms that the property is, as discussed in court records, owned by the Anchorage Baptist Temple. Furthermore, it’s got a religious exemption from taxes. From there, the questions begin.
Anchorage news junkies may remember that in April 2004, municipal tax assessors revoked the exemption for four ABT-owned houses that were determined not to qualify for a religious exemption because none of the people living in them was “a bishop, pastor, priest, rabbi, minister or religious order of a recognized religious organization” as specified in state law about property tax exemptions. Three were teachers at the ABT-affliated Anchorage Christian Schools. The fourth was a janitor. Then, a couple of years later, the Municipality discovered that an additional six ABT-owned houses were occupied by teachers.
Anxious to retain its tax exemption on those houses, ABT enlisted the help of assistant pastor Glenn Clary, who also happened to be the treasurer of the Alaska Republican Party, to go down to Juneau and lobby legislators to fix things. The Republican-dominated legislature was quick to respond: in March 2006, Senate President Ben Stevens drafted language which added “an educator in a private religious or parochial school” to the list of people whose residence in a house made the house exempt from property taxes.
Furthermore, the new language defined a “minister” to be someone who is considered one and is “employed to carry out a ministry” of a religious organization. Stevens then asked Sen. Bert Stedman, chairman of the Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee, to introduce the new language into a redraft of an obscure property tax bill that Sen. Con Bunde had introduce the previous year. Public testimony on the bill a few days later was aligned squarely against the bill, but legislators advance it anyway, and it ultimately passed and was signed into law by Gov. Frank Murkowski. The ACLU of Alaska sued, but ultimately a Superior Court judge found the new law constitutional.
It’s not completely clear from the court paperwork, but it’s possible that the religious exemption for the house the Allen and Holly Jo Prevo family lived in came out of this law — the portion of it which permits a religious organization to define for itself what a “minister” who is “employed to carry out a ministry” is. Allen Prevo is, again, an ordained minister — despite no record in the court documents to indicate his education went past high school to college, much less grad school or a seminary. And, Allen Prevo is employed to carry out ABT’s television ministry. Thus: the ABT house he lives in is tax-exempt.
But there’s still plenty of unclarity to be found in the court documents. For example, in paragraph 4 of the Counterclaim contained in the defendant’s (Holly’s) Answer to Complaint for Divorce (filed June 30, 2010), Phyllis Shepherd on Holly’s behalf asserts,
Defendant asserts that she is a disadvantaged spouse and is in need of spousal support to be paid by the Defendant.
Wayne Anthony Ross on behalf of Allen Prevo denied this, writing in the January 26, 2011 Answer to Counterclaim,
The defendant is gainfully employed and is continuing to live in the marital home while the plaintiff continues to pay the mortgage.
But how could Allen have been paying the mortgage when he didn’t own the home? (At this point, also, Ross and Prevo were continuing to insist that Holly, with an annual income perhaps one quarter of Allen’s, should pay him spousal support.)
The details begin to come clear in a significantly unclear way in on the first day of the divorce trial, which took place on April 5, 2011. A summary of the trial is included in the court file. These notes, prepared by court clerks during testimony, generally include the statements made by witnesses, but not (except in rare instances) the questions asked by attorneys — so it’s rather like hearing only one side of a telephone conversation. Occasionally Judge Pfiffner — identified in the record as COURT — also steps in with a few questions, as in this passage, in which Allen Prevo is being examined by Wayne Anthony Ross. Typos and errors here are as in the original; comments or explanation from me are in square brackets.
Direct Exam continues by Mr. Ross
Plaintiff ex. 6 – reference [Plaintiff identifies exhibit 6]
(spreadsheet of property, to be split 50/50)
(fair thing to do, not written agreement between us the church)
(been working for ABT fro 15 years and they will have rent go to equity in the home. If you stay in this home an its paid off its our home, verbal agreements and nothing in writing)plaintiff ex. 3 – ID [Plaintiff identifies exhibit 3]
(verbal agreement we wrote up to be fair on this issue, written up…., not sure of date)
(written up for this litigation, since she decided on this divorce)
(if I were to quit ABT they would get the home, its in their name)
(took what we put toward the home, rent to own, transfer equity from other home to his home and they appliances and new boiler etc.,)
($322,888.50 valued at, yes)
(we picked out refrigerator and the washer and dryer, church put up the money and added to what we owed the church)
(correct)
(the previous house was also owned by ABT)
(got credit for the first ABT home toward the 2nd ABT home)
(yes, made repairs but paid for by ABT, increased what we owed on the home)
(They also paid fire insurance…,)Clerk change back to Holly Fuentes
Exhibit(s) Offered
Court inquires of Allen Prevo
Allen Prevo
(No, the church paid the house off so I don’t know, I guess because we’re paying the church there’s no mortgage
(It’s listed as Anchorage Baptist Temple…if I had my paystub I could show you exactly
(We were paying a bi-weekly payment…toward the equity of the home
(That was…yes sir…$770 monthly, on the second page
(Yes…not sure if it’s fifteen years, started in 2005…started ABT in 1983
(It was a good deal sir
(I’ve stated to Holly, if I keep the kids for the school year I’d purchase the house and get money from the church to pay her half and then I’d owe my dad an arm and a leg
(If I don’t have the kids for the school year I don’t need that big of a house
(We’d default on the mortgage and we’d see…we’d divide it up
(They’d end up paying us fair market value…no sir
[…]
(Holly did all the financing when we were married
(This came from the church, what we have paid since 2005, how much we paid for the house
(Yes {paid by the Baptist Temple}…and added to…yes…correctCOURT:
-Anchorage Baptist Temple, your father, whoever is going to agree to all of this…that’s a stretchRoss
-If he decided to become a Presbyterian…nothing requiring him to pay themCOURT:
-I’m willing to have you explain a lot more but if there was a tax appraiser or a reporter from the Anchorage Daily News, things would not look good
-I’m seeing and hearing all this stuff…I have to deal with it only in the context of this case
-Who owns this, is there equity, how it will be paid out, it’s pretty loosey-goosey to me
On the second day of the trial, April 7, 2011, Ronald Thomas Slepecki, a college professor at Wayland Baptist, was examined as a witness for the defense by Holly’s attorney Phyllis Shepherd. Before going to Wayland, Slepecki had been a staff member at ABT.
(I retired from the Air Force…in 1991-1995…I was over a lot of the children so I had interactions with…mostly those four years I knew of Allen and Holly
(That all changed in…we were family, they’d help sit our kids…both were great
(This is very difficult for me because I love them both, I’m here testifying to the truth, not here to be on one side or the other
(Well, yes…whenever you go up against your old bosses son is the way it could be seen
(I’ve worked for his dad for quite a long time…yes, Pastor Prevo…can be very tough to deal with
(He does wield a lot of power as it relates to that church…our government and the way it’s structured
(A Pastor is a Pastor…he does all the hiring and firing so it’s difficult to be put in a situation
[…]
(Yes, how it works…Ross
-Objection, relevanceCOURT:
-OverruledRonald Thomas Slepecki
(Any church atmosphere…that means the property is owned by the church and an ordained minister lives in that property
(So I met that, I was an ordained minister…therefore, the church does not have to pay taxes on that home because I meet those requirements
(Two would be later on if I move out of the church house…and purchased my own home, the church can designate a certain part of your salary as a housing allowance
(The rental value…then you have to justify that…all the things have to add up to that
(There’s one more than occurs at Anchorage Baptist Temple, there’s a third setup that relates to Allen and Holly’s home, that has been given to folks that are higher up
(I never got that, I asked and was deniedRoss
-Objection, speculationRonald Thomas Slepecki
(The church carries the note so they give you a better interest rate and you work off that and pay the church
Based on Allen’s first-day testimony, apparently the rent which Allen paid went towards equity in the home in some kind of unwritten, purely verbal agreement between him and ABT, or between him and his father. But after it became clear that there would be a divorce, the agreement was finally put down on paper. Which may possibly be what’s being referred to here, from Day 3 of the trial, held July 12, 2011 (though to verify someone would have to listen to the recording and/or examine the exhibit):
Holly Prevo
(His dad gave us that…his fingerprints would be all over that document, he’s fully aware of document…original document has been signed
(Allen signed it and Jerry Prevo…no doubt whatsoeverRebuttal: Cross Examination by Mr. Ross
Holly Prevo
(I heard Jerry Prevo say…unless he’s a liar…yes, I did see it signed
Meanwhile, the rent that Allen paid, which went towards this supposed equity in the home, actually appears to have come out of one of the components of Allen’s compensation as an ABT employee — his housing allowance of $10,029.24. In other words, he was given a housing allowance, which he used to pay rent which went towards his equity.
(His total compensation, per Holly’s Answer to Complaint for Divorce as well as the final Findings of Fact, includes: Salary$58,844; housing allowance $10,029; cell phone $420; utility allowance $3,000; 403(b) contribution $9,500; vacation 4 weeks; for a total of $81,793. Additionally, there was free private school tuition for each child enrolled at Anchorage Christian School, up to about $11,750/year; medical reimbursement for 1/2 family medical expenses not otherwise covered by health insurance; ABT-provided truck insurance; and retirement held in Vanguard mutual funds valued at about $100,000. Holly in the meantime had an annual income in 2010 of $24,931.)
Judge Pfiffner, as he said on Day 1 of the divorce trial, could only do the best he could within the context of the case. As summarized in the Findings of Fact:
ABT has legal title to the residence at 2330 Banbury Drive in Anchorage. (Ex. G). There is no deed of trust on the residence. However, ABT and Allen Prevo had an unrecorded agreement in place whereby Allen owns the equity in the residence. (Ex. 3) The agreement provides Allen Prevo is vested with the equity from prior ABT housing. (Id.) The difference between the prior equity and the purchase prices was the initial paper mortgage amount on the Banbury residence. (Id.) Each pay period, a percentage of Allen Prevo’s annual housing allowance was subtracted from Allen’s paycheck and is applied to reduce the paper mortgage balance on the Banbury residence. (Id.) Essentially, Allen Prevo’s housing allowance is an interest free reduction in Allen Prevo’s paper mortgage. (Id.) The paper equity on the Banbury residence is a marital asset. [emphasis added]
Maybe we need what Judge Pfiffner mentioned in the first day of the trial —
-I’m willing to have you explain a lot more but if there was a tax appraiser or a reporter from the Anchorage Daily News, things would not look good
-I’m seeing and hearing all this stuff…I have to deal with it only in the context of this case
-Who owns this, is there equity, how it will be paid out, it’s pretty loosey-goosey to me
Yep, looks pretty loosey-goosey to me, too, an unschooled renter-for-life like me, who has never owned a house in my life.
Tax assessors, Anchorage Daily News, or any other journalists who just want to get down to the truth — whether or not you “delight in airing any “dirty laundry” attached to the Prevo family” — please have a look at this, will you?
The court file is not yet sealed.
Update 1: I’ve been informed that the court file was sealed at about 1:00 PM on August 29, several hours after this post went live.
Update 2: The file was not actually “sealed”: the order reads “Order Granting Motion in Part ~ Motion for Documents to be Filed Under Protective Seal ~ Before the court is plaintiff’s motion for the files in the above captioned case to be maintained under seal or kept confidential. Plaintiff’s motion is granted in part and denied in part. The court finds that the public interest in disclosure is presently outweighed by a legitimate interest in confidentiality. See Alaska R. Admin. 37.6(b). Specifically, the court finds that confidentiality should be maintained in order to protect the best interests of the minor children. See AS 25.20.120. Accordingly, all transcripts and documents filed in the above captioned case shall be kept confidential within the meaning of Alaska Rule of Administration 37.5(c)(4). Plaintiff’s motion to maintain the file under seal is denied. This order is without prejudice to a motion filed by any member of the public seeking access to the case file in whole or in part.”
Please note that there are other and much more personal aspects of this divorce, which I chose not to discuss in this story, which have bearing on the the judge’s decision on this matter.
Update 3: “Confidential” and “sealed”: under Alaska Rule of Administration 37.5(c)(4) and (c)(5):
(4) “Confidential” means access to the record is restricted to:
(A) the parties to the case;
(B) counsel of record;
(C) individuals with a written order from the court authorizing access; and
(D) court personnel for case processing purposes only.
(5) “Sealed” means access to the record is restricted to the judge and persons authorized by written order of the court.
The judge ordered the records to be kept confidential, but denied the plaintiff’s motion to seal them.
References
Besides the court documents cited within the text, or references which were linked, these references were also used:
- “Co-sponsors flummoxed by hijacking of tax bill – BAPTIST TEMPLE: Exemption from taxes for church’s housing for teachers shoehorned into measure” by Richard Richtmyer (Anchorage Daily News, March 10, 2006).
- “Committee gets earful about property-tax bill – EXEMPTION: No one spoke in its favor, but it advanced anyway” by Matt Volz, Associated Press (Anchorage Daily News, March 12, 2006).
- “Temple’s homes for its teachers are tax exempt – COURT RULING: Alaska ACLU had sued to stop the practice” by Sheila Toomey and Megan Holland (Anchorage Daily News, July 4, 2008).
Related posts:
Well, it’s about damn time! I’ve been posting about Prevo’s corrupt bastards club for awhile now. It gets ignored, because Sarah Palin is so much hotter…
This man’s entire church is HIS personal asset. His home, personal aircraft, are “owned” by the church, too. He’s the ‘Billy Graham’ of Alaska.
And if any Alaska citizen believes that the Municipality of Anchorage is not rolled up in this, think again. They not only KNOW – they FACILITATE.
Talk about corrupt, every single one should be under investigation and the City should be subject to formal independent audit. It’s the Anchorage Mafia.
I never thought of divorce bringing it all out. But I have wondered what would happen if Mrs. Prevo left her husband.
Good work, you.
So the house is ‘paid off’ and Prevo waved the magic Voodoo Stick and made his son an ‘ordained minister’? The Assembly needs to revisit the ABTs exempt properties. Mel (once again) a great piece of work that no one else is doing!
Thank you.
Thank you for this excellent post Mel. Maybe someone should look into Franklin Graham’s operation in Soldotna.
I remember this situation well, having been part of the Bd of Equalization at the time. The city did the right thing in denying the tax exempt status on many of these properties. It was the workings of Glen Clary and the legislature that got them millions of dollars worth of tax exemptions. They got around the city and state tax statutes this way. It is sickening. But what disgusts me more is that Holly lost her two young children. Judge Pfiffner is new to family court and has so far had a bad track record of giving fathers preference in custody issues, including abusive fathers.
I hear that Glen Clary’s son, Andy (Sullivan’s Budget Advisory Committee…recently suggested that the ASD shouldn’t be able to spend the money they got from the state), has recently had similar luck with his marriage. Did these guys miss the biblical adage of “getting one’s own house in order” before trying to tell others how to live?
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”
Matthew 7:3
Andy Clary’s case — dissolution w/out children — granted on July 5. Here’s the case at the Alaska Court System website.
Glenn’s son is not a pastor at ABT and does not go to church at ABT. So what does Matthew 7:3 have to do with him he’s not a marriage coach …like his wife? I think it’s cool you read your Bible . I think you just hate The Prevos and you hate the Church. Because of the GAY stuff.
1Cr 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, [fn] nor sodomites,
1Cr 6:10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
1Cr 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
You may hate the Church and the Prevos …But I KNOW that Jerry Prevo Loves the gays more than anyone I have ever met.
It takes guts to tell someone you love that what they do is wrong and that is the job of a pastor.
AMEN!!! Don’t hate the person…hate the sin!
Exactly! That’s why I don’t hate the Prevos, but I hate the hypocrisy, dishonesty, and corruption that leads them to be tax cheats.
Is this true? What was the final custody determination?
Sorry, my abbreviation must have been confusing. w/out = without — so, no kids involved in the Clary case, no custody determination.
Realized you might have been asking about the original case (Allen & Holly Jo Prevo). The custody determination in that case was: joint legal custody of the two younger children, with Allen having primary physical custody of them; and Holly being granted sole legal and primary physical custody of their oldest child.
Thanks, Mel. Yes, I’m referring to the Prevo divorce. On the surface, without knowing all the details, this seems like an odd custody determination.
My concern, in reading all this, is the power differential. According to the paperwork, Holly Jo was already at a financial disadvantage going into this case. It’s hard to mount a legal case without money.
The judge did explain his reasoning in his Findings of Fact attached to the divorce decree. Touches on more personal matters in the family situation, so I haven’t wanted to discuss them on a public blog.
Thanks for maintaining confidentiality, Mel. That’s important — especially when there are kids involved.
Allen lost his oldest completely. Holly still has visitation with her two younger children. She created this situation.
Having read the court documents filed through August 16, about a week before the judge closed the case records, I can only say that this is at best a very one-sided view of who “created this situation.” But to fully answer that one-sided view would be to air allegations and counter-allegations, many which would be difficult to prove or disprove — a lot of “he said/she said.” All very personal, and much of which could cause further harm to the kids if publicly discussed.
As Bent Alaska editor, I will not approve any further comments which make such claims about private matters.
What Would Jesus Do?
The existence of the “housing allowance” might also have something to do the IRS rules allowing a minister to exclude the ‘parsonage’ from his taxable income.
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc417.html
I heard there is another son of Prevo Sr. and that he lives in Florida in exile.
Self imposed I know not but that he is gay and Prevo does acknowledge. Anyone hear of this?
According to court records, Allan Prevo is the only child of Jerry Prevo. Best I can tell, the rumor appears to be only that — a rumor.
[personal attack on another commenter]
Editor’s note: Lucy, if you have a difference of opinion, fine, but please refrain from personal attacks — namecalling, etc.
Mel: Good job! It’s actual, respectful and wisely restrained. I think ABT is taking unfair advantages of the legal financial rules, but I don’t know what exactly the laws say. Persanally, my sense is they have too much of an advantage or are taking too much advantage for themselves.
Seems there is certainly tax fraud taking place for well over a decaded closer to years.
I wonder if that shrimp mayor of ours has the guts to do what is right and send in the tax auditors with a search warrants and sieze ALL records and computer and documents. Its time to put the creep prevo out of business. Prevo is no christian nor his he a patriot. He is a fraud, and a predator. If Jesus was around he would grab prevo by the throat and seat of his pants and toss his butt out in the street, where us citizens should lock him in the stock for the entire winter. Additionally all the former mayors and theives like Ben Stevens in the Alaska Legislature should have criminal charges brought against them to, incuding those no longer in office. Anchorage citizens WAKE UP and VOTE and raise hell and drive these bastards out of our city and State
Yes, indeed. Though I wonder what it will take for folks in Anchorage to get off their butts, and out of their TV infested houses to stand with their neighbors to do such a sensible thing. All the time I lived there, and intend to move back, I saw a sluggishness, that may have something to do with the long dark winters, but the summers made up for it. People are too far apart from each other for some reason I can’t figure out, maybe it is all the temporary folk who live there and go back to where they came from once their time was up. But then again, the whole of the U.S. is under a certain amount of passivity right now and I hope it is a temporary resting place while the majority of folks here sort out what actions to take to bring things back into a workable balance. What will bring us together is the questions. Most people are not against us, but what is keeping the majority quiet?
Allen Prevo? Holly Prevo? or Jerry Prevo ?
Thanks Mel.
As a newcomer to Anchorage, I am dismayed that a Christian leader would be such a powerful political figure and would work so hard to deny rights to his fellow citizens. First Congregational will be working for equal rights for everyone, period, regardless o sexual orientation. I will continue in my ministry– just down the street from the ABT palace–to welcome GLBT and “straight” people alike to worship God and work for justice together.
Rev. George E. Blair III
So you choose not to preach the truth of the Bible?
After a gay person attends ” your” church.. Are they ever told that the Bible does NOT agree with the gay lifestyle? If you never tell them.. then, it truly is your church and not God’s church.
Sadly, Rev. Blair forgot that Lucy and j kay have the blueprints of the heavens and complete access to God’s mind, and he does not. And God said, “Let their be denial of rights to one’s fellow citizens,” and Lucy and j kay rejoiced.
Wait a minute. Can’t find that verse, either.
I do have a blue print…the Bible . If you are a pastor you are a follower of Jesus Christ, the Bible is the word of Jesus and The Bible says in the New Testament…
1Cr 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, [fn] nor sodomites,
1Cr 6:10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
1Cr 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
This Clergyman is dangerous because he ether does not read the Bible.. or know the Bible…or believe the Bible?
What translation are you using? New King James Version? It doesn’t seem to be very accurate.
The word homosexual was coined in 1868 by the Hungarian writer Karl Maria Kertbeny, who also coined the term heterosexual. The word homosexual used to describe what that word means — same-sex sexual attraction, which Kertbeny understood as innate — never existed in any language during any period during which the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and koine Greek of the Bible were written down. Any Biblical translation which translates any word of the Bible as homosexual is inaccurate and anachronistic.
The language of the letter we now know as 1 Corinthians was written in koine (“common”) Greek in the 1st century by the Apostle Paul. Jesus — whose spoken language was Aramaic — didn’t write any part of the Bible. The word Paul used in 1 Cor. 6:9 that your translation inaccurately renders as homosexuals, was the Greek word malakoi, the masculine/plural of the adjective malakos, which means soft. The only other New Testament use was as malakois (neuter/plural form of malakos) in Matt. 11:8 and Luke 7:25, where Jesus is quoted contrasting the soft, fine clothing worn in a king’s palace with the rougher clothing worn by John the Baptist. Other ancient Greek texts used forms of malakos to talk about freshly plowed soil, fine or luxurious clothing, gentle breezes, gourmet food, lazy slaves or servants, men who were considered weak or fearful, hence “effeminate” in the sense understood by ancient Greeks, who didn’t have a high opinion of female “weakness.”
The word Paul used that your translation inaccurately renders as sodomites was arsenokoitay, a word used in 1 Cor. 6:9 and (also by Paul) in 1 Timothy 1:10 (as arsenokoitais), but found nowhere in classic Greek literature (though it is used in later Christian writing in Greek). It’s a compound word, coming from arsen which means male and koitey meaning bed or place where koitus (coitus) occurs. So, something to do with men and beds — but in both 1 Cor. and 1 Tim., the word uses has a feminine ending, so it could have something to do with women too. The Vulgate — the 4th century Latin translation, whose translators were probably much nearer to having an accurate cultural understanding of Paul’s usage than the 20th century translators of the New King James Version — translated arsenokoitay as adulteri — female adulterer.
There also seems to be a long tradition of considering that malakoi were prepubescent boys kept as sexual partners (or sex slaves) by arsenokoitay, who would then have been adult male pederasts, or that malakoi meant male prostitutes (including temple prostitutes) arsenokoitay the male clients who hired them. Both pederasty and male (including temple) prostitution were apparently somewhat common in ancient Greece, especially in a cosmopolitan city like the Corinth of Paul’s time. Paul lived in Corinth about 18 months before writing the first epistle (1 Corinthians) and another 3 or so months later on (after writing the 2nd epistle, 2 Corinthians). He spent several verses after the passage you quoted (1 Cor 6:12-20) condemning prostitution in general, so it seems to have been on his mind.
However, the whole 1 Corinthians discussion begs the question of what Rev. Blair was writing about. Rev. Blair questioned Rev. Prevo’s political efforts to deny civil rights to citizens under the civil government of the Municipality of Anchorage. That’s a different thing altogether than the theological question of who or who will not inherit the “kingdom of God.” Anchorage is not a theocracy, and 1 Corinthians 6:9 is not part of the Anchorage municipal charter.
(Or the Alaska Constitution. Or the U.S. Constitution. Or the Declaration of Independence.)
Allen was a made a minister solely for exempt purposes. The pastoral staff was given no advanced knowledge when they were called into the room to ordain him. One reason I left ABT.
Dr. Prevo is on the board of Liberty, because he gave Liberty( Dr Fawell) a 2 million dollar loan to keep the univeristy from going bankrupt. This was without approval of the church. Dr. Prevo has always treated the church’s money as if he was a CEO and could make those decisions without approval. Another reason I left ABT.
I always found it outrageous the way Dr. Prevo used the money of the church. In the transcripts Allen says “I’ve stated to Holly, if I keep the kids for the school year I’d purchase the house and get money from the church to pay her half and then I’d owe my dad an arm and a leg
The church is going to pay her half!! the Church? He uses the “church” and his dad as if they are the same entity. Why would any church member continue to give their tithes and gifts to such a ministry that would use God’s money to pay a divorce? Frankly, it sickens me. These same members critisize people who give to such ministries as Benny Hinn and the Copelands. How could they be so foolish?
Thanks, afraid tosay. From all that I read, it had certainly appeared to me as if Allen’s ordination was purely for “exempt” purposes. Do you remember when that happened?
I hope you’ve been able to find a faith community in better keeping with your sense of ethics.
Great work! As someone whose family is being torn apart by this hateful church and their ignorant and spiteful dogma, I hope these divorce proceedings expose them for the bigots they truly are.