Pastor E.J. Newton of 433 Church in Miami, Florida, says he was questioned and his congregants searched after officers from the Miami Police Department forced an abrupt end to his sermon over a child custody dispute between him and his ex-wife Marissa Pardun.
A recording of the incident captured during the church’s YouTube Live broadcast of the service shows Newton, 34, ending his sermon in just under 12 minutes and advising his shocked congregants to pray as he left his pulpit to talk with officers.
The Miami Police Department did not immediately provide their account of what happened next when contacted by The Christian Post on Monday.
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Newton alleged in a statement on Instagram that he was “secluded” from his church members because a judge “granted an emergency extraction” of his children. Court documents reviewed by CP show he was not forewarned about the extraction because there was concern he would flee with his children.
“I’ve been secluded by the police, not allowed to leave,” Newton wrote in a post that included a video of police officers on church property. “Now, they’re searching members’ cars and preventing them from leaving church grounds.”
Last Friday, Circuit Court Judge Samantha Ruiz Cohen granted an ex parte emergency motion for the return of Newton’s three minor children filed by Pardun because Newton violated a custody agreement and allegedly threatened to take them to his native Nigeria.
“The Petitioner is in fear that the Respondent is making arrangements to flee the United States to Nigeria which is Respondent’s country of origin. The Respondent has threatened to take the children out of the country and the Respondent is in possession of the three children’s passports. The Respondent has refused to allow the Petitioner to see the children and continues to conceal the minor children and their whereabouts,” the motion said.
“The Petitioner has made multiple attempts to have the Respondent served with the pleadings. Due to the Respondent’s behavior with regard to the minor children, it is reasonable to believe that advanced notice of this motion and hearing date would cause Respondent to flee and conceal the whereabouts of the minor children.”
Online media personality Larry Reid, who first highlighted the police intervention at Newton’s church on his “Larry Reid Live” Facebook page on Sunday, raised concern about how the dispute between Newton and his ex-wife has affected their children.
“I can’t imagine how he (Newton) felt and what he thought in that moment. The kids are the main victims here in my opinion. The whole church is locked down with guns drawn until the kids are returned along with their passports,” Reid wrote.
In his Instagram statement, Newton alleged that rivals who he only referenced as “THEY,” had weaponized his ex-wife to make false allegations against him because he would not stop “speaking truth and exposing darkness.”
“The moment I stepped off stage, our online service was flooded with false accusations. THEY — the same people who recruited my ex-wife — are now working together. They have my ex-wife claiming that I’m trying to flee the country in the middle of a parenting schedule case. A judge granted an emergency extraction,” he explained. “They had people come also into the service which we spotted. This whole thing has been so weird.”
The Miami pastor, who could not be reached for additional comment, insisted that he had no plans to stop his ministry because “God will prevail.”
“I will not stop speaking truth and exposing darkness. If this is the cost of repentance and speaking up against occultism and witchcraft in the church, then use me, Lord. Purify me. Strengthen me. Make me more like You,” he shared with a crying emoji. “I love my children, and this breaks my heart. My babies do not deserve this. I am a great father. A great husband.”
Since the pick-up of the children was ordered, he and his ex-wife are expected to appear in court for an evidentiary hearing on Jan. 13.
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