When Hunter, cloaked in his white pastor robe and carrying his Bible, showed up at the church Nov. 4 ready to preach, church officials said, they confronted him in the foyer and demanded that he produce the signed declaration from Bishop T. Larry Kirkland stating his new assignment. Hunter did not have a copy of the declaration and church officials blocked him from taking the pulpit.

In an unprecedented move, officials of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest black pulpit in the city, have rejected the troubled Los Angeles pastor assigned to lead its flock.

The Rev. John J. Hunter was recently transferred from First AME, one of the nation’s most prominent black churches, after an eight-year tenure marred by a sexual harassment lawsuit, a federal tax investigation and the questionable use of church credit cards.

Hunter was slated to make his pastoral debut at Bethel AME this month, but church officials drafted an emergency resolution barring him from taking control. They said the assignment could “impair the legacy, reputation, relationships and goodwill” of the church in the community.

When Hunter, cloaked in his white pastor robe and carrying his Bible, showed up at the church Nov. 4 ready to preach, church officials said, they confronted him in the foyer and demanded that he produce the signed declaration from Bishop T. Larry Kirkland stating his new assignment.

Hunter did not have a copy of the declaration and church officials blocked him from taking the pulpit.

The rejection — unheard of in the AME denomination — pits the small, 650-member congregation against the executive orders of Kirkland and has many churchgoers questioning the ramifications of their protest.

Neither Hunter nor Kirkland could be reached Sunday for comment.

Church officials fear that Hunter’s blemished reputation would upend a multimillion-dollar business deal in the works. Some say the deal, which officials declined to detail, would unravel if lenders learned of Hunter’s questionable financial transactions.

“That’s how much weight his reputation carries,” said one senior church official who asked not to be identified for fear of punishment if Hunter were to be seated as pastor.

In 2008, Hunter acknowledged using First AME’s credit cards for $122,000 in personal expenditures on items including suits, jewelry, vacations and auto supplies. A year later, the Internal Revenue Service said he owed more than $300,000 in back taxes. Hunter has said he repaid both debts.

Additionally, members worry that Bethel AME might lose the good reputation it earned under the leadership of its former pastor, the Rev. J. Edgar Boyd, who served the church for more than 20 years.

Boyd was promoted to take the helm of First AME, a church that boasts a membership of 19,000. There, he was welcomed with open arms.

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