WHAT’S UP WITH PERRY NOBLE?
The pastor of a South Carolina-based mega-church is at the center of a brewing storm – one that may have already cost him his job.
According to Leonardo Blair of Christian Post, Perry Noble – the founding pastor of Newspring Church – has been fired from his post.
Blair’s report quotes unnamed sources at the Anderson, S.C.-based mega-church as saying that Noble was dealing with a “terrible marriage, alcoholism and maybe more.”
Noble and his wife, Lucretia Noble – a medical doctor, live in Anderson with their daughter.
Two years ago Noble publicly acknowledged that he had been struggling with “mental anxiety” and “suicidal thoughts” – and that he had begun taking anti-depressants in 2012 in an effort to address his condition.
“I’m not ashamed of the fact I am taking an anti-depressant and have done a complete 180 in regards to how I used to feel about them,” Noble said at the time.
Local television station WYFF TV 4 (NBC – Greenville/ Spartanburg) reported this week that the church would make an announcement about Noble’s future this coming Sunday, July 10.
Noble, 45, leads the 32,000-strong congregation – which features satellite campuses in Aiken, Boiling Springs, Charleston, Clemson, Columbia, Northeast Columbia, Florence, Greenville, Greenwood, Hilton Head, Lexington, Myrtle Beach, Powdersville, Sumter, Rock Hill and Spartanburg.
Another 7,000 viewers follow the church’s services online.
“Perry is a gifted communicator and teacher, convicted about speaking the truth as plainly as possible,” his online biography states. “God has given him a vision and a passion for helping people meet Jesus, and each week he shares God’s word and its practical application in our daily lives.”
According to Newspring’s promotional material, it was the third-fastest growing congregation in America in 2015.
Developing …
UPDATE: Noble fired.