The recently filed divorce papers of a megachurch pastor in North Carolina megachurch pastor have exposed his obscene, lavish spending backed by his gargantuan, church-provided personal wealth. That megachurch pastor is Gilbert Andre Thompson, Jr., and he is the pastor of the 15,000-member World Overcomers Christian Church in Durham, N.C.
That congregation of the now-divorced pastor, Overcomers Christian Church, was established over two decades ago, back in 2003. According to the church’s website, it “is one of the fastest-growing churches in America.” Further, it claims that Andy Thompson has managed, through the church, “to impact over 1 million people each week through his innovative, in your face, faith-filled television program called ‘The Truth.’”
In any case, according to the divorce papers filed over the summer of 2024, Pastor Gilbert has not just a nearly $3 million dollar personal, private residence, but spending so monumental that he has a $1.3 million alimony agreement hanging over him due to the divorce, which was filed for on June 10 and granted on July 1.
Pastor Gilbert, known to his megachurch parishioners as “Pastor Andy,” divorced his wife of 33 years, Dequilla LaShawn. The two were, the divorce filings reveal, legally separated in March of 2023. They have now been granted an “absolute” divorce, which means that they have been separated for at least a year and a day.
In any case, the pastor’s lavish spending and obscene personal wealth mean that he has to pay the aforementioned $1.3 million alimony payment. According to the divorce filings, that alimony payment will be paid out as $12,000 a month for the next nine years; so the megachurch pastor has to keep the grift going for nearly a decade, it seems.
Further, the agreement between the divorced couple reveals that the wealthy pastor will retain ownership of his 58-acre estate in Lolly Lane, which sits in Mebane, N.C. That estate is located to the north of the family’s current home, which is located in Mebane and is a shockingly large McMansion outfitted with all the usual lavish bells and whistles for such homes. According to Zillow, the 14,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, six-bathroom house is worth a stunning $2.8 million. It features not only an indoor gym and movie theatre seating, but also an infinity pool and a hot tub.
The details of how the megachurch pastor obtained the lavish resident appear to be even worse. According to property records, World Overcomers Christian purchased the residence from 2020 Properties LLC in 2018 for $1.53 million. Then, a year later, the non-profit church deeded the lavish McMansion over to another non-profit organization, that one called Restore Community Development. Those property records show that no money was exchanged between the two non-profits when the title was deeded over.
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Funnily enough, in a twisted bit of irony, Pastor Thompson’s personal website describes himself and his now ex-wife as being helpful and competent marriage counselors. On that site, the two, Andy and Lashawn Thompson, promoted themselves as having “wisdom and knowledge” that “helped them retain ‘Real Love’ for nearly 30 years.”
Watch Thompson comment on relationships on his YouTube channel here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded YouTube video of Pastor Thompson