George Augustus Stallings Jr. (born March 17, 1948) is an American religious leader. He was the founder of the

Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation The African-American Catholic Congregation and its Imani Temples are an Independent Catholic church founded by Archbishop George Augustus Stallings Jr., an Afrocentrist and former Catholic priest, in Washington, D.C. Stallings left the Catholi ...

and was long active in the

Black Catholic movement The Black Catholic Movement (or Black Catholic Revolution) was a movement of African-American Catholics in the United States that developed and shaped modern Black Catholicism. From roughly 1968 to the mid-1990s, Black Catholicism would transfor ...

. He served as a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

from 1974 to 1989, and was based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, for many years. He established the Imani Temple as an independent denomination in 1989, making a public break in 1990 with the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

on ''

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''. The

Archbishop of Washington The Archdiocese of Washington () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church for the District of Columbia and several Maryland counties in the United States. The Archdiocese of Washington is home to the Ca ...

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

him that year.

Biography

Early life and priestly ministry

Stallings was born in 1948 in

New Bern, North Carolina New Bern, formerly Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 31,291 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located at the confluence of the Neuse River, Neuse a ...

, to George Augustus Stallings Sr., and Dorothy Smith. His grandmother—Bessie Taylor—introduced him as a boy to worship in a black Baptist church. He enjoyed the service so much that he said he wanted to be a minister. During his high school years, he began expressing " Afrocentric" sentiments, insisting on his right to wear a mustache, despite school rules, as a reflection of black identity. To prepare for the priesthood, he attended St. Pius X Seminary in Kentucky and received a BA degree in philosophy in 1970. Sent by his bishop to the

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Prie ...

in Rome, he earned three degrees from the

Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (PUST), also known as the ''Angelicum'' or ''Collegio Angelico'' (in honor of its patron, the ''Doctor Angelicus'' Thomas Aquinas), is a pontifical university located in the historic center of R ...

between 1970 and 1975: the

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Bachelor of Sacred Theology (abbreviated STB) is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred by a number o ...

(S.T.B.), a master's degree in pastoral theology, and a

Licentiate of Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology (; abbreviated LTh or STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred ...

(S.T.L.). Stallings was ordained a priest in 1974. His first assignment was as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Peace Church, Washington, D.C. In 1976, at age 28 and two years after ordination, he was named a pastor of St. Teresa of Avila parish in Washington. He was the pastor of this church for 14 years. During Stallings' pastorate, the parish become known for its integration of

African American culture African-American culture, also known as Black American culture or Black culture in American English, refers to the cultural expressions of African Americans, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture. African-American/Bl ...

and gospel music in the Mass. He was active in the

Black Catholic Movement The Black Catholic Movement (or Black Catholic Revolution) was a movement of African-American Catholics in the United States that developed and shaped modern Black Catholicism. From roughly 1968 to the mid-1990s, Black Catholicism would transfor ...

and promoted the integration of African American culture into Roman Catholicism. In 1985, Stallings secretly bought a private home in Anacostia in violation of the archdiocese rule requiring priests to live in the parish rectory. ''

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'' reported that Stallings had allegedly misused parish funds to renovate his Anacostia house. In 1988, he was transferred to a new position as a diocesan evangelist.

Departure and sexual allegations

In the late 1980s, Stallings made numerous appearances in the news media. He was interviewed on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

'', ''

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'', ''

'' and ''

The Diane Rehm Show ''The Diane Rehm Show'' was a call-in show based in the United States that aired nationally on NPR (National Public Radio). In October 2007, ''The Diane Rehm Show'' was named to the Audience Research Analysis list of the top ten most powerful na ...

''. By 1989, Stallings had announced he was leaving to found a new ministry, the

. He stated that he left because the Roman Catholic Church did not serve the African American community or recognize talent. In 1989, ''The Washington Post'' reported that a former altar boy at St. Teresa of Avila Church accused Stallings of sexual misconduct over a period of several months in 1977. Stallings said "I am innocent," declining to answer questions. In a follow-up series of three articles in 1990, ''Post'' reporters

Bill Dedman Bill Dedman is an American investigative reporter and author. He is best known for ''The Color of Money'', his 1988 investigation of redlining of middle-income black neighborhoods by banks and other mortgage lenders. Dedman received the 1989 Pu ...

and Laura Sessions Stepp reported that concerns about Stallings' association with teenage boys had contributed to his split from the Roman Catholic Church. Stallings' former pastoral assistant, who was 22 at the time, spoke publicly about having a two-year sexual relationship with him. In January 1990, Stallings announced on ''The Phil Donahue Show'' that he was breaking with

papal authority The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

and giving up Roman Catholic teaching on

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

, and

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

. Thirteen days prior, Archbishop James Hickey of

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had ordered him to seek psychiatric treatment, following incidents of insubordination, allegations of sexual abuse of children and homosexual relationships. Additionally, Hickey saw Stallings' lifestyle as extravagant and possibly funded by donations to the church. Following the founding of Imani Temple, Hickey excommunicated Stallings and any Roman Catholics remaining in the Imani Temple movement. Stallings was consecrated a bishop on May 12, 1990, by Richard Michael Bridges, a bishop of the American Independent Orthodox Church. He was assisted by Emil Fairfield Rodriguez of the

Mexican National Catholic Church The Mexican Catholic Apostolic Church ( (ICAM)) is an Independent Catholic denomination founded in 1925, by separating from the Catholic Church. It was created to bolster revolution with the support of the Regional Confederation of Mexican Work ...

and Donald Lawrence Jolly. In 1991, Bridges's group conferred upon Stallings the title of archbishop. Consecration of Paul S Morton

In March 1993, Stallings consecrated

Paul S. Morton Paul Sylvester Morton (born July 30, 1950) is an American Black church, Baptist pastor, Gospel music, Gospel singer and author. He is also a founder of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship. Biography Born into a Christian family, his fath ...

for the

Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship The Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship (FGBCF) or Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International (FGBCFI) is a predominantly African-American, Charismatic Baptist denomination established by Bishop Paul Sylvester Morton—a Gospel singe ...

. In 2009, the archdiocese reached a $125,000 settlement with Gamal Awad, who said he was sexually abused at the age of 14 by Stallings and a seminarian in 1984.

Marriage and conditional consecration

In 2001, Stallings married Sayomi Kamimoto, a 24-year-old native of

Okinawa, Japan is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west ...

, in a ceremony in New York City presided over by

Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Moon Yong-myeong; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the ...

, the founder of the

Unification Church The Unification Church () is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. It was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unificatio ...

Emmanuel Milingo Emmanuel Milingo (born June 13, 1930) is an excommunicated former Roman Catholic archbishop from Zambia. He was ordained in 1958; in 1969, aged 39, Milingo was consecrated by Pope Paul VI as the bishop of the Archdiocese of Lusaka. In 1983, he ...

, a former Roman Catholic archbishop who was excommunicated, married a woman from South Korea at the same mass ceremony. Members of the Imani Temple were so upset by Stallings' sudden announcement of his upcoming wedding that some left after services in protest of his "close affiliation with and adoption of doctrine of the Unification Church." In 2004, Stallings was a key organizer for an event in which Moon was crowned with a "crown of peace." The event was attended by a number of members of the U.S. Congress, a number of whom said that they were misled. It was held at the

Dirksen Senate Office Building The Dirksen Senate Office Building is the second office building constructed for members and staff of the United States Senate, northeast of the United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C., and was named for the late longtime Minority Leader ...

, the use of which requires a senator's approval. Stallings said the matter of who approved access was "shrouded in mystery." Stallings was national co-president of the American Clergy Leadership Conference, an affiliate of Moon's Unification Church, and active in efforts to widen Moon's influence among black clergy. He regained attention in 2006 due to his association with Milingo and his group

Married Priests Now Married Priests Now! (MPN!) is an advocacy group founded and formerly led by Emmanuel Milingo, a former Catholic bishop from Zambia. MPN is a liberal Catholic organization calling for relaxing the rules concerning marriage in the Latin Church's pr ...

; Milingo conditionally consecrated Stallings, Peter Paul Brennan, and two other

Independent Catholic Independent Catholicism is an independent sacramental movement of clergy and laity who Independent Catholicism#Appeal of Independent Catholicism to Catholic and Christian tradition, self-identify as Catholic (most often as Old Catholic or as Ind ...

bishops in a ceremony in September of that year, incurring automatic excommunication. Though all were denounced and excommunicated by the Roman Church, however, according to the Catholic understanding of

sacramental character Some Christian denomination, Christian denominations believe that a sacramental character, an indelible Spirituality, spiritual ''mark'' (the meaning of the word ''character'' in Latin language, Latin), is imprinted by any of three of the seven sa ...

, Milingo and the four men were nevertheless considered "

valid but illicit Validity and liceity are concepts in the Catholic Church. Validity designates an action which produces the effects intended; an action which does not produce the effects intended is considered "invalid". Liceity designates an action which has been ...

." Following this

conditional sacrament A conditional sacrament or sacrament ''sub conditione'' ("under condition") is in some Christian denominations a sacrament administered "on the condition that the faithful eceiving it isable and legitimately entitled to receive the sacrament". An ...

, Stallings praised his second excommunication from the Roman Church.

Denial of Hell

Following the January 2024 death of

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

bishop and

Christian universalist Christian universalism is a school of Christian theology focused around the doctrine of universal reconciliation – the view that all human beings will ultimately be saved and restored to a right relationship with God. "Christian universalism" ...

Carlton Pearson Carlton D'Metrius Pearson (March 19, 1953 – November 19, 2023) was an American Christian minister and gospel music artist. At one time, he was the pastor of the Higher Dimensions Evangelistic Center Incorporated, later named the Higher Dimensi ...

, Stallings denied the existence of an eternal and physical Hell.

Politics

Stallings made his first leap into politics when he announced for the Ward 6 D.C. Council seat in December 1996. Stallings ran under the nationalist-oriented Umoja Party. He received eighteen percent of the vote.

Works

* ''I Am ... Living in the Rhythm of the God Within the Key of G Minor'' (2003, SKS Press).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stallings, George Augustus 1948 births Clergy of historically African-American Christian denominations People excommunicated by the Catholic Church African-American Roman Catholic priests American Roman Catholic priests Living people People from New Bern, North Carolina Catholics from North Carolina African-American Christianity African-American Roman Catholicism 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people Independent Catholic primates American Unificationists Founders of new religious movements