Pastor Joel Peebles reinstated to 'Jericho' board

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Bishop Joel Peebles


The story about the ousting of a prominent Maryland pastor has taken a significant turn. Years after he was fired from the mega church his parents founded, Pastor Joel Peebles  has been reinstated to the board of Jericho City of Praise in Landover, MD through the courts.   D. C. superior court judge Stuart G. Nash ruled yesterday (Tuesday, July 7) that the firing of  Pastor Joel Peebles and his removal from the board at Jericho City of Praise was invalid. William A. Meadows, a former board member who was fired, was also named in the ruling. Peebles has sought to settle the dispute and reclaim what he deemed his rightful inheritance, through ongoing litigation since the passing of his mother, Apostle Betty Peebles in 2010. Despite their legal woes and the thwarting of his legacy, Pastor Peebles and his wife, First Lady Ylawnda Peeples continued in ministry under the name "Jericho City" at an area school, taking many of their followers with them. To say that the case has been an uphill battle for the preachers son is an understatement.  A Maryland judge in a lower court ruled against Peebles in 2014 on the grounds that the selection of of church leaders was the prerogative of the church. A hearing was delayed.  Peebles claimed in a 2012 statement that hey are also causing church members personal wage losses. the wages of employees that remained at the church were affected.  As of yesterday's decision the scales of justice are tipping in his favor for the time being, but the fight over who controls Jericho City of Praise --Peebles or his detractors -- may be entering the next round.

A D.C. Superior Court judge has reinstated the son of the late Apostle Betty P. Peebles to the board of the Jericho City of Praise. The decision is likely to touch off a new battle over control of one of the Washington area’s largest and best-known houses of worship.

Judge Stuart G. Nash ruled that Joel R. Peebles and William A. Meadows were improperly removed from the board of trustees in 2009 and that subsequent actions taken by the board, including firing Peebles as pastor after his mother’s death, were invalid.

The church — which Betty Peebles and her husband, the late Bishop James R. Peebles Sr., founded in Northeast Washington more than five decades ago — has grown into a 100-acre campus near FedEx field in Landover, Md., complete with senior-citizen housing, a business park, a school and a drug treatment center.

The church — a nationally known venue for religious and musical icons including Bishop T.D. Jakes and Patti LaBelle — filed papers to incorporate in Maryland in 2010, a few weeks after Betty Peebles died. Read the full story at Washpost.com.

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