Pastor of Largest United Methodist Congregation Faces Jail, Church Discipline

One of our denomination’s most prominent pastors has recently pled guilty to “conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection to his role in a multimillion-dollar investment scheme.” This has resulted in him facing both discipline within the church and several years in jail.

Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell was well known not only as senior pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church, with over 18,000 members, but as a major force in serving the community, through both his congregation and its affiliated Kingdom Builders Center. He was a spiritual advisor to both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and officiated the wedding of the former’s daughter, Jenna.

A press release from United States Attorney David Joseph, which is worth reading in full, describes “a multimillion-dollar investment scheme” perpetuated by Caldwell along with Louisiana investment advisor Gregory Smith. As the press release puts it:

According to information presented in court, Caldwell and Smith conspired to use their influence and status to persuade multiple victims to “invest” approximately $3.5 million with them. The victims’ investments were purportedly in historical Chinese bonds, which are bonds issued by the former Republic of China prior to losing power to the Communist government in 1949. These bonds are not recognized by China’s current government and, accordingly, have no investment value.

…

The funds were divided between Caldwell, Smith, and others. Caldwell used the approximately $900,000 that he received to pay down personal loans, mortgages, and credit cards, and maintain his lifestyle. Smith received $1.08 million. He used this money to pay down loans, purchase two luxury sport utility vehicles, place a down payment on a vacation property, and maintain his lifestyle. After time passed and investors began to question why they had not received the promised returns, Caldwell and Smith offered excuses, defended the legitimacy of the deals, and assured victim-investors that they would receive the promised returns.

Caldwell was publicly accused of such wrongdoing two years ago, making national news. He insisted on his innocence at that time. Christianity Today reported on the support Caldwell received from within and beyond his congregation, as well as on his lawyer Dan Cogdell’s speaking for a moment at Windsor Village’s Easter 2018 worship service. Codgell drew parallels between the charges against Caldwell and those against Jesus Christ, and brought applause by declaring, “I know the truth and the truth will set him free!”

Not long afterwards, there was much publicity about Windsor Village UMC actively exploring leaving our denomination. In a compilation of Frequently Asked Questions, the congregation denied that the move to explore leaving the UMC was “influenced by the Senior Pastor‘s current legal situation.” Some have noted that, regardless of intent, going independent would effectively remove Caldwell from the accountability our denomination provides. UMNS reported that the congregation itself had touted freedom from owing some $1.2 million in annual denominational apportionments as one advantage of leaving.  Floyd LeBlanc, chair of the staff parish relations committee (SPRC), was also quoted as calling this a “secondary” issue. According to official records, the congregation has received over $10 million in income each year between 2009 and 2018, but in that same time period, has never paid more than 68 percent of its assigned denominational apportionments, sometimes paying as little as one percent (in 2010) or nothing (in 2018).

UMNS also cited LeBlanc in characterizing the congregation as one which “could not be summed up as traditionalist or progressive” in its theology, but one which had grown weary of our denomination’s ongoing internal conflicts.

Then last July, Caldwell’s partner in this scheme, Gregory Smith, pleaded guilty.

On March 11, Caldwell dramatically reversed his own professions of innocence to also plead guilty. David Joseph, the U.S. Attorney, declared that Caldwell and Smith, “used their positions as religious leaders and investment advisors to defraud Louisiana residents – many of whom are elderly and retired,” and vowed to “continue to vigorously prosecute those who use confidence schemes to prey upon the elderly and people of faith.”

(In 2018, the Houston Chronicle also reported that “Caldwell said none of the investors was a church member.”)

Joseph’s press release continued:

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Caldwell faces between five and seven years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release. Caldwell, who has already made partial restitution to the victims, has agreed to pay the remaining balance, $1,951,478.00, before sentencing.

Ironically, in a 2011 profile, Caldwell lamented how the UMC expects too little of its pastors, and two of the three things he cited as unacceptable for even UMC standards were if a pastor would “rob a bank” or “show up on the news in a negative way.”

This is a notable blow for our denomination, as Caldwell was among our most prominent stars.

According to the latest official statistics, Windsor Village UMC is by far the largest U.S. United Methodist congregations in terms of membership. Its 18,273 reported members is a bit inflated when we compare it to its 3,730 in reported average weekly worship attendance. But such membership inflation is an extremely widespread problem in the U.S. portion of our denomination, so much so that it is often taken for granted. (There are worse offenders on the list of our UMC’s “Top 100 Churches.”) And measured by attendance, Windsor Village ranks #4, out of over 30 thousand, among American UMC congregations.

For the last several decades, a major part of the context for the U.S. portion of United Methodism – not the only part, but a major part – has been unabated membership decline and insecurities arising from watching other churches outside of our denomination seem to “do better.” Against this backdrop, having such a large, famous, active congregation in our denomination was a major point of pride to which United Methodists could cling. In 2011, the official United Methodist News Service (UMNS) treated Caldwell to a glowing multi-media profile, telling the story of how he came to Windsor Village UMC in 1982 when it was a dilapidated church of 25 members to lead it to explode in size, and to reportedly become the congregation that was launching more pastors into ministry than any other congregation in Texas, “if not the country.”

In a denomination in which there is desperation to overcome racism and become more diverse, but where the U.S. portion of our denomination persistently remains 90 percent Anglo, United Methodism’s inclusion of a dynamic African American pastor like Caldwell and a large predominantly African American congregation like Windsor Village served as a bright spot.

In a statement, Caldwell’s bishop, Scott Jones of the Texas Conference, said that he was “deeply saddened by this admission of guilt.” Bishop Jones further announced that although the annual conference leadership had previously treated Caldwell as innocent until proven guilty, “We do not tolerate crimes being committed by our clergy and it is now clear that Kirbyjon Caldwell has violated our standards of conduct. The United Methodist Church’s disciplinary process aims at a just resolution of the complaints against him and will begin immediately.”

Per Paragraph 2702 of the UMC Book of Discipline, clergy as well as laity can face formal church complaints for a list offenses including “crime” and “fiscal malfeasance.” The complaints can potentially lead to church trials and forced demotion of someone’s status.

Then during Windsor Village UMC’s March 22 virtual worship service, an official announcement from members of the SPRC somewhat cryptically reported that “As a result of Pastor Kirbyjon’s current legal situation, his official relationship with the United Methodist Church has changed” so that he is now a layman and no longer the senior pastor of the congregation.

However, the change within the congregation does not appear to be as immediately dramatic as might be expected. Both the SPRC and the congregation’s website now identify Caldwell as a “lay preacher,” with the latter listing Caldwell first among the pastoral staff. In the March 22 message, the aforementioned LeBlanc explained that Caldwell remains on the congregation’s staff, where he will “continue preaching, teaching, serving as visionary, and doing the same sorts of things that he’s done for the past 38 years.” He preached that very Sunday. According to the SPRC announcement, the pastor Bishop Jones appointed to replace Kirbyjon Caldwell as interim senior pastor is his wife, Suzette, who has already served as an associate pastor there for some time.

It is not clear how long this arrangement will last.

Caldwell’s sentencing hearing has been scheduled for July 22.

Please pray for the continued ministry of Windsor Village UMC, for the Caldwell family, for all those hurt by the admitted wrongdoing, and for wisdom for Bishop Jones, LeBlanc, and other leaders in the conference and congregation.

UPDATE: After this article was first written, UMNS confirmed that Kirbyjon Caldwell has surrendered his credentials as a United Methodist clergyman, but that a formal complaint has been filed against him as a layman, for allegedly committing a crime, according to the church law noted above. This UMNS article also quotes LeBlanc as saying, in response to inquiries about Windsor Village’s earlier discussions about leaving the UMC, “There has not for a long time been any active discussion about that.”