Are Bishop Charles Ellis III & Longtime Friend, Former Word Network President, Lewis Gibbs Falling Out?

Is Bishop Charles Ellis' (III) friendship with former Word Network President Lewis Gibbs, who is under investigation, about to hit a rocky patch?

What's going on between Bishop Charles Ellis III, pastor of Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, and his boy, Lewis Gibbs, former head of the Word Network? Heard some rumblings that their friendship is heading to rocky ground? It should be noted that Ellis is one of the mega-church pastors who has three Bentleys in his arsenal while some of his congregants struggle to make ends meet.

Lewis was terminated from the presidency of The Word Network and Adell Broadcasting Corp., though no reason was given for his removal. A source said some "questionable" things have occurred on Lewis' part, such as allegedly accepting kickbacks from agencies, my source said, came from the Internal Revenue Service. If true, Lewis was just greedy and couldn't live within his means. All hell will break loose if the IRS is really involved.

The connection between Ellis and Lewis is interesting. Lewis is the head of the television ministry at Greater Grace. Bishop Ellis is also on the board of directors of The Word Network. Seems that these two are too close for comfort. As part of Lewis' compensation package at The Word Network, he was given a Rolls Royce and a Bentley to drive, my well-placed source said. That's while many of the supporters of the network are struggling to put food on the table. A Bentley Continental starts at $182,000. A 2009 Bentley Coupe retails for $179,000. The car payment alone of this vehicle is akin to a monthly mortgage payment. I was told that both cars in Mr. Lewis' possession was valued at over a $1 million. Talk about where your heart is, there your treasure will be also. This is avarice of the worst kind. I won't take away the fact Lewis helped to build the Word Network, but he let greed take over. Both he and his wife, have lived high on the horse for a long time and it seems the chickens are coming home to roost. His wife drives a Mercedes Benz S550, which has a retail value of $109,000, provided by The Word Network.

There is another component to have far the tentacles of The Word Network reaches. They have reportedly given donations to Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. It should be noted that Lewis pulled his Facebook and MySpace pages.

UPDATE#1:  Bishop Ellis III reportedly earns a salary of $3 million and lives in the prestigious Bloomfield Hills community, while many in his congregation have had homes foreclosed on, cars repossessed, have lost their jobs and cannot make ends meet. The church also pays all his expenses. Besides his large pay from the church, since he is board member of The Word Network, he also gets some type of monetary compensation. This speaks to greed and is despicable. As my source said, influence and power is all pastors like Bishop Ellis seeks. The same holds true for Lewis Gibbs. Why in the world does Greater Grace Temple own a golf course (New Rogell Golf Course)? Ellis reportedly collected money from the congregants to purchase this golf course for little or nothing. Kwame Kilpatrick, the biggest shyster of them all, may have had a hand in this land deal. It should be noted that The Word Network has it annual golf outing at Bishop Ellis' club (yes, Ellis' golf club). Word on the street is that the city was paying the church to maintain the golf course. It is about time the IRS starts asking churches how much they collect in cash, not just for checks and money orders. Why are members of some of these big churches losing their homes, while the pastors continue to live in luxury?

CLICK HERE to read more about the Adells & the "activist" pastors who appeared on the network. 

Stay tuned, more to come.