Shocking Disturbance At Megachurch Ends In Arrest
A protester was arrested at a Texas megachurch for allegedly causing a disturbance during Sunday services. The incident occurred at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, located roughly 20 minutes west of Dallas. Pastor Dave Clark explained that the individual was disrupting the church environment by using video equipment and holding signs, prompting a police response.
The protester, identified as filmmaker Nathan Apffel, was warned to cease his actions but did not comply, leading to his arrest. Social media footage showed Apffel walking around the church’s parking lot with signs questioning the church’s pastor, Ed Young, about his salary and housing allowance, which pertains to tax-exempt funds allocated for housing costs. After receiving repeated warnings to leave the property, he was taken into custody.
In a video shared online, Apffel expressed his frustration, stating, “I have a question about salaries and housing allowances and this is how they treat people.” In response to the inquiries about the housing allowance, Pastor Clark asserted that Apffel has a history of disruptive behavior at various churches, making false claims and attempting to create misleading narratives.
Clark defended the church’s housing allowance, noting that it is a well-established tax benefit recognized by the IRS, widely used by clergy and military personnel across the country. He emphasized that Fellowship Church has not received any complaints about this benefit and that an independent financial institution conducts annual audits to ensure financial transparency and compliance.
Fellowship Church, one of the largest Southern Baptist congregations in the United States, has previously faced scrutiny over financial matters. In 2021, a former business manager, Lara Lynn Ford, was sentenced to ten years in prison for stealing nearly $1.4 million from the church’s housing allowance fund. This incident, along with Pastor Young’s past financial disclosures, which included a reported annual salary of $1 million and a housing allowance of $240,000, has drawn attention to the church’s financial practices.