I wrote a few weeks ago about the church in New London that god chose to strike down. It was a former Congregational Church, but they sold the historic structure to the Engaging Heaven Ministries back in 2015 for $250,000.00.
We learn today that the City of New London has put a $244,646.00 lien on the property to cover the costs the city has incurred (doubtless there are more to come) cleaning up the mess:
Mayor Michael Passero on Monday said the lien was not “an aggressive move” by the city, but rather a way to protect the city’s interests.
“When (Engaging Heaven) pays us, the lien comes off,” he said, adding the ministry was informed about the lien before it was imposed.
Passero said the city would likely pull the owed amounts from various capital project accounts.
“And as we get paid back, we’d reimburse those accounts,” he said.
… James Levesque, founder of the Engaging Heaven Ministries group, which operates churches in West Haven, Montana and Florida, previously said the ministry was prepared to reimburse the city for all costs related to the collapse.
Levesque, who met with city officials earlier this month, could not be reached to comment on Monday at his ministry’s Madeira Beach, Fla., headquarters.
Levesque assured the city, immediately after the fire, that he had insurance on the building, but somehow the insurance company has failed to take an interest in the situation. My guess, also, is that his other “ministries” are structured in such a way that none will have any legal liability for his operation in New London.
Passero isn’t stupid, so he doubtless knows that he’ll never see a dime from Engaging Heaven. The holy man is a grifter, like 99% of the people who operate churches these days. My guess is that Passero feels it’s good politics not to say out loud what he surely knows. The New London Day, from which the quote above is garnered, has also been a bit reticent about calling a grifter a grifter. So, you heard it here first. If, by some miracle, Engaging Heaven comes through, I’ll print a retraction, but I’m not terribly worried.
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