The wife of a Southern Baptist pastor has been charged with stealing more than $400,000 from a South Carolina church and may face additional charges related to theft at other churches, police say.
Ware Shoals Police Chief Bryan Louis told El Informe Roys (TRR) that Shelley Strickland, wife of Baptist Pastor Mark Strickland, confessed to stealing $404,000 from First Baptist Church of Ware Shoals, South Carolina.
Shelley Strickland worked as the financial secretary at First Baptist from 2017—2024, Louis said. However, her husband pastors First Damascus Baptist Church in nearby Bradley, South Carolina, and the couple live in the parsonage there, Louis added.
Police arrested Shelley Strickland on August 9 and charged her with breach of trust over $10,000, Louis stated. If convicted, Strickland faces up to 10 years in prison, he said.
Louis added that Strickland is suspected of stealing money from other churches within the jurisdiction of the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office, and that he expects the sheriff to file additional charges soon.
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TRR called the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office for more information but did not receive a response before publication.
Police have also reported Strickland to the IRS for failing to pay taxes on the money she allegedly stole.
Louis said First Baptist Church initially became suspicious of Strickland when she resisted training someone else for her job. That’s when the church reportedly found evidence of wrongdoing.
Louis said when confronted, Strickland admitted to using First Baptist’s credit card to pay for personal vacations, cars, and restaurants. He said Strickland also would charge personal expenses to her credit card and then reimburse herself via a cash app, using church funds. He said Strickland also sent thousands of dollars of church funds via a cash app to her husband and children.
Louis said police do not have any evidence implicating Pastor Mark Strickland in his wife’s crimes.
TRR reached out to Mark Strickland and First Damascus Baptist Church for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Shelley Strickland also worked as the financial secretary at several other churches and a Baptist association in Greenwood County, South Carolina, where she’s also suspected of stealing money, Louis said. Those churches include Emerald Baptist Church, Callie Self Memorial Baptist Church, Providence Baptist Church, y el Lakelands Baptist Association.
Louis said the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the alleged crimes in its jurisdiction, and he expects additional charges to be filed any day.
According to Louis, Strickland is also suspected of stealing $14,000 from Turkey Creek Baptist Church in Abbeville County, South Carolina, but the church is not pressing charges.
TRR called the Abbeville County Sheriff’s Officer for more information but did not hear back.
Louis told TRR that Strickland is cooperating with police and has been released from custody on $10,000 bond.
Julie Roys es una reportera de investigación veterana y fundadora de The Roys Report. Anteriormente, también presentó un programa de entrevistas nacional en Moody Radio Network, llamado Up for Debate, y ha trabajado como reportera de televisión para una filial de CBS. Sus artículos han aparecido en numerosas publicaciones periódicas.
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Could all that money be coming into the household on what should be two modest incomes, and the husband not know?
There is absolutely no way her husband was not aware that something was financially amiss with his wife’s spending!
He know how much she made per year and he knew how much he made per year and there’s no way he wouldn’t have noticed the excess
And according to this report, he was receiving money from her via a cash app to her husband and children…so he had to know he was receiving money…
Which church’s money was used to post bond?
Auditor speaking — like all other organizations, churches need effective systems of internal controls that deter such crimes by lessening opportunities for theft. This story is textbook typical: embezzler faces few obstacles while stealing, employer trusts Christian worker but provides little oversight, and misappropriation of funds escalates until reported to law enforcement.
Too many churches decline to press charges (by misapplying I Corinthians 6 to criminal acts or because they wish to avoid embarrassment), but most offenders will “rinse and repeat” at subsequent offices until forced to experience consequences like time in jail, a police record, and paying restitution. It’s possible that this woman was quietly dismissed by previous employers, and this allowed her to embezzle from multiple ministries. Failure to prosecute fraud is not loving our neighbors; it enables sin that hurts entire congregations.
Wise words, thank you.
Internal controls do not express mistrust but help to build trust.
For example, another elder signs off on all my pastoral expenses ( a book purchase, coffee or lunch receipt, etc).
Also every year two randomly selected church members go through the books with the treasurer and affirm that everything legit to the rest of the congregation.
Just two simple things that build and help maintain a culture of trust and good will.
Classic example of what happens when there is no/inadequate oversight of finacials. I concur with Cec Merz . . . in six years working with churches of the CA Southern Baptist Convention (2016-2022) on compliance and HR matters, I received six phone calls from six different churches concerning embezzlement that had been discovered. Six out of six times, the answer to my first question, “Have you reported this to law enforcement?” was, “No, we don’t want to do that.”
Without the involvment of law enforcement and the courts, restitution is almost 100% never made despite assurances to the contrary, The church governing leaders may also find themselves in big trouble with the IRS called INTERMEDIATE SANCTIONS for their malfeasance.
The tithes and offerings collected weekly churches include Emerald Baptist Church, Callie Self Memorial Baptist Church, Providence Baptist Church, and the Lakelands Baptist Association., passed through this woman’s hands. Her Pastor husband absolutely knew that his bride was bald faced stealing. What was she thinking ? What was her Pastor hubby thinking by keeping clammed up? Law enforcement will absolutely find her involved in many other crimes. She seems to have a history of being quick with her pinkies to grab some cash. Lived in the parsonage also. What has become of the institutional church, so many are apostate, lost, just as spoken of in Revelation during end times.
I attended a large church in So Cal that had $500,000 embezzled over a 10 year period. Didn’t need 2 signatures on church checks. The church did have theft insurance and had to prosecute her to get the insurance coverage. Years later, an associate pastor got dumped for pushing and investment scheme to support the ministries of the church. Somehow the senior pastor weathered the fall out from all of this to keep his job. There are a lot of people out there who know how to cook the books.