Celebration Church serves eviction notice on former pastor living on Jacksonville property

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A complaint filed last week says Celebration Church bought a property in Northeast Duval County inhabited by former pastor Charles Stovall Weems, without the church’s consent.

According to the complaint, the church told the Weemses to leave the property on May 31, but they allegedly refused.

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The complaint claims the church did not authorize the purchase of the property, which was instead approved by Weems.

The report says Weems owes nearly $3.4 million in misappropriated funds.

Action News Jax tried catching Weems outside his home Tuesday, but he could not be reached.

In late April he spoke with Action News Jax, saying he felt blindsided by the church’s investigation into the purchase of his home.

“The first communication they give us is, ‘you are banned from church property, you are under this investigation by the trustees,’” Weems said at the time.

The investigation revealed Weems bought the house for more than $850,000 through his personal LLC, then sold it to the church for around $400,000 more.

Read: Bank sues former pastor of Celebration Church in Jacksonville for over $700,000

Weems said in April he has nothing to hide. He claimed the church agreed as part of a three-year plan for him to transition to mission work and retirement.

“That was part of our retirement founding-pastor package, it was this parsonage,” he said.

He added that the $400,000 was because of renovations.

“What we asked for was a parsonage, because the original plan was, we’re going to be out doing all these missions and things, and so when we come back to the city, we want a house there that can be used for ministering stuff.”

The Weemses are also at the center of another complaint. First Citizens Bank says the Weemses have defaulted on several loans and owe the bank more than $700,000.

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