DENVER — A day after church leaders dropped an investigation into his alleged financial misdeeds, the president of the nation’s largest black denomination opened its annual meeting Tuesday by asking members for their forgiveness.
“I’ve come again to ask you to forgive me for my errors, to forgive me for my mistakes … to look upon me as your brother,” the Rev. Henry J. Lyons said in an appeal to people in the pews of the 8.5 million-member National Baptist Convention U.S.A. “I need to know I am forgiven.”
Lyons got a standing ovation from the crowd of a few hundred people.
Lyons has been accused of using church money to buy real estate, cars and jewelry for a woman other than his wife. He has denied having an affair with her or spending church money on personal items.
While opponents still planned a floor fight to unseat Lyons, even some of his staunchest foes conceded he has too much support from the leadership.
On Monday the 200-member board of directors and 1,000 church leaders voted to drop “the whole matter,” said the Rev. E.V. Hill, head of the 18-member Ethics Commission that investigated Lyons.
