St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Jun 1, 2003 - Abstract: - The allegations derive from an affidavit filed by Linda Gestrin, [Ronald Clark]'s sister. Gestrin said he revealed his plan to her in a phone call in February, saying [Belinda Clark] was "crazy" and "out of control," and adding that his plan would cut Belinda out of alimony, leaving her "half of nothing."
[Jack Hoogewind] says in court documents that the church never deducted Social Security or Medicare payments from her paycheck, nor paid any money into the Social Security system on her behalf. Instead, Hoogewind says, Ronald Clark told Belinda that the church was paying into a retirement fund for her in lieu of payments to Social Security.
Ronald Clark filed for divorce when Belinda was fired, saying she tried to ruin his credibility at the church. Ronald Clark also said his wife had made "delusional claims" that he was attempting to kill her after taking out a $1-million life insurance policy on her.
Full Text:
Copyright Times Publishing Co. Jun 1, 2003
Fifteen years ago, the Rev. Ronald Clark and his wife, Belinda, brought their evangelical fervor, organizational talent and youthful good looks to the task of founding the Living Water Church of Tampa.

They started in a Holiday Inn meeting room with five members. The charismatic Christian church ultimately grew to a congregation of more than a thousand, big enough to spin off an international relief mission.

The growth sent the church from a storefront to a warehouse to the $5-million cluster of buildings off Interstate 4, where church services today are advertised by a flashing electronic sign.

But good times have given way to turmoil at the Living Water Church.

A rancorous divorce proceeding between the Clarks has chased away parishioners, undermined church finances and left its future in doubt.

The marital discord has lawyers filing papers in two counties.

The Clarks' conflict has spawned a domestic violence petition, a criminal complaint about missing church donations, a slander suit, a lien on the church to prevent its sale and a lawsuit aimed at dissolving that lien.

"Hopefully for the church, the anger will settle down," said Arnold Levine, a Tampa lawyer representing Ronald Clark. "But if this is going to be the battle of the ages, I'm sure the church is going to be impacted."

At the center of the dispute is the valuable church property. Belinda Clark has taken the unusual action of asking a judge to declare the property a marital asset, so that she can share in the distribution of funds earned from the property.

Her success would likely end the Living Water Church in its current location, and might trigger landmark tax consequences.

Tax exemptions in peril

The church property is owned by a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation and run by a board of trustees.

If the property is determined to be an asset of the Clarks, church leaders worry, then its tax exemption might be void, and the exemption for all donations to the church over the years might be void, too.

Levine discounts that possibility.

"It's just absurd," he says. "The church is in the title of the nonprofit, and no one has any ownership interest but the nonprofit. It's for the benefit of the parishioners."

Nonetheless, Belinda Clark's Dade City attorney, Jack Hoogewind, has asked for an emergency hearing next week to consider a motion to freeze the church's assets so a judge can determine if the Living Water Church is a marital asset.

Hoogewind claims in court papers that Ronald Clark had a secret plan to sell the church, then place the proceeds in a trust that would feed him money in a ministry he would establish out of the country.

The allegations derive from an affidavit filed by Linda Gestrin, Ronald Clark's sister. Gestrin said he revealed his plan to her in a phone call in February, saying Belinda Clark was "crazy" and "out of control," and adding that his plan would cut Belinda out of alimony, leaving her "half of nothing."

Levine said Gestrin's claims are baseless and that she was in adispute with Ronald Clark over some personal effects. Levine also said the church for some months has considered selling its I-4 property to move to a more family-friendly location in the suburbs.

Ronald Clark, 46, known as "Reverend Ron" to his congregation, moved to the Living Water Church's current location 10 years ago. He is the founder of Global Medical Relief, a humanitarian mission that built a hospital in China and clinics in Haiti, according to the church's Web site.

Rev. Clark, who received a doctorate from Oral Roberts University, is the author of Sailing Through the Storms of Life and Can a Christian Love a Muslim? He presided over the memorial service for Hillsborough State Attorney Harry Lee Coe at the Living Water Church in July 2000.

Belinda Clark, 41, served as an associate pastor at the Living Water Church for 10 years, but was fired from her $70,000-a-year job by the board of trustees in March.

Hoogewind says in court documents that the church never deducted Social Security or Medicare payments from her paycheck, nor paid any money into the Social Security system on her behalf. Instead, Hoogewind says, Ronald Clark told Belinda that the church was paying into a retirement fund for her in lieu of payments to Social Security.

Belinda Clark says she was assured by the church board that her retirement account had grown to $300,000, but she says she's received none of those funds and now believes the money was diverted to pay for the acquisition of church assets.

'Delusional claims'

Ronald Clark filed for divorce when Belinda was fired, saying she tried to ruin his credibility at the church. Ronald Clark also said his wife had made "delusional claims" that he was attempting to kill her after taking out a $1-million life insurance policy on her.

Later, Living Water Church officials alleged Belinda Clark had illegally diverted church mail for some weeks around Easter, depriving the church of thousands of dollars in mail-in contributions during the biggest donation time of the year.

According to an April 28 complaint with the sheriff's office by Richard C. Barker Jr., an associate pastor at Living Water Church, Belinda Clark completed a change-of-address form to divert all church mail to her Dade City post office box, even though she was no longer on the church board.

The mail diversion complaint remains under criminal investigation, Hillsborough sheriff's officials said last week. Levine said the missing mail created a financial hardship for the church.

In her counter-petition in the divorce case, Belinda Clark seeks custody of the couple's two children, the proceeds from the Living Water Church and title to the marital home in Dade City, a $322,966 estate on Fort King Road that includes a 3,618-square-foot home and an 8-acre horse farm.

In the counter-petition, Belinda Clark says her husband slandered her during services at the Living Water Church by telling others she was mentally ill, guilty of adultery and morally unfit to be an associate pastor.

In seeking a temporary restraining order against her husband, Belinda Clark told a Pasco County sheriff's deputy that her husband had threatened her and said, "I hope you enjoy living in hell."

Mrs. Clark said she feared for her safety because he kept 13 guns in the home.

She also told the deputy that her husband was under investigation by the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office, where Ronald Clark is employed as chaplain and reserve deputy.

Records show Clark took a 90-day voluntary leave of absence from the sheriff's office beginning March 31. But there is no record of an internal affairs investigation of Clark, according to an April 9 letter from Maj. Richard Cipriano of the sheriff's human resources division.

Neither Ronald Clark nor Belinda Clark would discuss these matters on the record with the St. Petersburg Times.

On May 23, the couple appeared in a court hearing in Dade City to offer testimony in a petition for a permanent domestic violence injunction sought by Mrs. Clark.

Belinda Clark wore a gray busi-ness suit. Ronald Clark was in a gold blazer, monogrammed blue shirt and cuff links. The couple might have passed for Fortune 500 business executives. They did not speak to one another.

Instead, they wrinkled their brows and winced at testimony about their messy divorce.

Threats and lawsuits

Psychologist Timothy Foster, a $250-an-hour counselor paid by the church to see the Clarks, said he saw so much anger "that it became obvious to me this was going to resolve not in the counseling room but in divorce court."

Ronald Clark gritted his teeth as he was asked to recount what his wife had said to him in a March phone call.

"She said she would crush my head, she said she would cut off my b----, she said she would f------ destroy me," Ronald Clark testified.

Barker, the associate pastor, told of accompanying Ronald Clark to his home to pick up belongings that Mrs. Clark had placed on the porch in a driving rain. Boxes had become so saturated they split. The children were "hysterical," Barker said, and Ronald Clark "was weeping the whole time he was loading up."

Belinda Clark said she'd had no support for the children. The electricity would be turned off that afternoon if a $700 bill weren't paid, she said.

After a break, the couple adjourned to a conference room with their attorneys to talk.

They emerged with an agreement to drop the domestic violence petition and to share custody of the children. Ronald Clark promised to pay the electric bill by 5 p.m.

But reconciliation does not appear imminent.

Six days later, the Living Water Church sued Hoogewind and Belinda Clark in Hillsborough Circuit Court, saying they had improperly placed a lien on the church.

The same day, Hoogewind filed the papers in Dade City that claimed Ronald Clark had a secret plan to sell the church and leave the country.