Former pastor indicted in $100,000 church theft Audit: Money missing from Abundant Life in Bangor

BANGOR – The pastor who helped build Abundant Life Church from 22 members who met in motel function rooms to a congregation of nearly 800 with a $2.5 million facility on Outer Broadway was indicted Monday for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 of church funds.

The Rev. Ron Durham, 59, of Savannah, Ga., was indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury for theft. He left the church and Maine nearly two years ago.

Durham is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 27 in Penobscot County Superior Court.

If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and could be fined up to $20,000. He also could be ordered to pay restitution to his former congregation.

Durham, who founded the church in 1987, resigned abruptly in November 2003 after announcing that he was taking a leave of absence to undergo treatment for alcoholism.

In a letter to the congregation, the former pastor said that he had “lost the support of the main body of leadership” at the church.

His wife, Lynn Durham, also was active in church ministry. Ron Durham’s son, John “Richie” Durham, 32, who worked as the church bookkeeper, and his wife, Theresa, manager of the church bookstore and a secretary, also resigned.

The families sold their Bangor area homes a short time later and relocated to Georgia, where the former pastor was raised.

Durham allegedly used the church credit card between 2000 and 2003 for travel that included cruises outside the United States, stays at hotels, meals at restaurants and bar tabs, Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts said Monday. In all, the former pastor used more than $100,000 in church funds for personal use, he said.

Efforts to reach Durham on Monday were unsuccessful.

The alleged theft was uncovered in 2004 after the church had an audit done by a Portland accounting firm, according to former church treasurer Bernard “Bunny” Doak of Orrington.

“Things in the audit raised concerns,” Doak said Monday. While some congregations have committees that propose annual budgets that must be approved by the congregation, Abundant Life did not do so while Durham was pastor. The former pastor had access to church funds, according to Doak.

“He was the CEO,” he said. “We trusted him.”

Doak no longer attends Abundant Life.

The Rev. Darren Farmer, 33, took over the reins of the church in June. He and his wife, Rachael Farmer, 37, both of Bristol, England, were named senior pastors, the first hired to lead the church since the Durhams’ departure. For 20 months, Abundant Life’s leadership teams, many of them mentored by Durham, led worship services, and Linda Hickey served as interim pastor. She now heads the children’s ministry program.

Farmer said Monday night at a press conference at the church that his policy is to be “open and transparent.” He said that since Durham’s departure, a new church board has been elected and church members are more aware of the church’s financial situation and its annual budget.

“I believe the church is in good financial hands,” Farmer said. “Transparency is everything.”

He said that although church members did not know when an indictment might be announced, they were aware that Bangor police were investigating possible misuse of church finances.

“He was a very popular minister,” Farmer said of his predecessor. “It was a shock [to learn of the police investigation]. People were hurt, but the board reached out and helped them.”

The pastor added that by the time he arrived this summer, church members had dealt with the loss of Durham and were looking to the future.

“Ron Durham is a man, and, like any man, he’s made his mistakes,” Farmer said. “But he’s not the person they follow. Christ is the person they follow.”

The church, at 1404 Broadway, was assessed at $2,351,500 in 2003, according to the city assessor’s office. In 1999, Durham estimated the land and building cost $2.5 million. An expansion, which included offices and a kitchen, was completed two years later for an estimated $885,000.

A native of New York, Durham grew up and graduated from high school in south Georgia. He graduated from Brewton Parker College in Mount Vernon, Ga., and Belmont College in Nashville, Tenn. He also attended Luther Rice Theological Seminary in Jacksonville, Fla.