Richard Wimberly Cunningham and Philip Ladd Cunningham both pleaded guilty to grand theft for stealing 3.1 million from Calvary Baptist Yorba Linda Church and School. Both will serve two years in prison. Yay!
Prosecutors said the Cunninghams wrote checks to themselves on eight accounts belonging to the Calvary Baptist Yorba Linda Church and School. They also used church credit cards for personal expenses.
It was a lifestyle thing. One must keep up appearances in ostentatious Orange County. Not me though, I live in North OC… the poorer cousin so to speak. At least the church sued the pastors to recover some of the lost funds.
I often wonder when I read about this type of crime. How does theft of this scale reconcile with the simple faith and lifestyle of Jesus? I’m not sure being a Christian today has anything to do with what Jesus intended. Of course, I don’t believe in the biblical version of Jesus, but that is a different story.
