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Home/People/Isaac Hunter’s Wife Files Domestic Violence Petition Against Summit Church Founder

Isaac Hunter’s Wife Files Domestic Violence Petition Against Summit Church Founder

Isaac Hunter, the founding pastor of the popular Summit Church in Orlando, refutes his wife's domestic abuse allegations

Written by Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel | Thursday, December 13, 2012

In her petition, Rhonda Hunter submitted photos of bruises on her arms she said Isaac caused during an argument at their Winter Park home on Feb. 13, 2011. She said Isaac kicked in a locked bedroom door, held her down on a bed by the arms and yelled obscenities at her….A month later…Rhonda Hunter said Isaac became abusive after drinking a great deal of wine and told her, “I have no way out of this marriage.”

 

 

Before his resignation last week as pastor of Summit Church, Isaac Hunter was in a downward spiral of violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicidal thoughts, according to a domestic-violence petition filed by his wife, Rhonda Hunter, Friday.

“I currently fear for my life and the lives of our three children. Isaac is unstable and has demonstrated erratic behavior, alcohol abuse, and fits of rage,” Rhonda Hunter wrote in a petition for a temporary restraining order against her husband.

The same day it was submitted, her petition was granted by Circuit Judge Roger J. McDonald in an order that bars Isaac Hunter from the couple’s Winter Park home, his church, his children’s schools and his wife’s work place.

Isaac Hunter, 35, is the middle child of prominent evangelist Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed in Longwood. Isaac Hunter’s resignation, after admitting an affair with a church staff member, came on Nov. 26, one day before his 13th wedding anniversary.

Rhonda Hunter, 35, spelled out acts of violence and abuse that began in February 2011 and culminated on Nov. 25 when Isaac left their house with two guns and called three days later requesting to see his three children “one last time.”

“I am afraid that his ‘one last time’ will result in the death of our children — going out in a blaze of glory,” Rhonda Hunter wrote in her petition.

The couple have two daughters and a son, ages 11, 9 and 5.

Hunter’s family later found an undated suicide note on his computer and instructions to Summit Church on what should be done “If I die” written sometime before his 35th birthday on April 26, according to court documents.

“I would very much like to be remembered as a person who loved his children, his parents, his brothers, and his best friends — well, while I could,” the suicide note said. “I fear I will love them better in my absence. As I have become what I never wished to be, a burden on those I love the most.”

Calls to Rhonda Hunter were not returned. Isaac Hunter could not be reached. Joel Hunter was unavailable for comment, a spokesman for the church said.

But during his Sunday sermon, Joel Hunter addressed Isaac’s resignation, which the Summit Church pastor had attributed to an affair.

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