Long Announces a Break from Church to Focus on Family after Sex Scandal and Divorce in Process

Bishop Eddie Long, Atlanta megachurch leader

Long says he plans on focusing on his family, especially after his wife, Vanessa Long filed for divorce Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011.

The couple has been married for 21 years and Mrs. Long planned on withdrawing her divorce petition Friday morning, but later changed her mind to go through with the decision.
Long, who has been in the news for allegedly sexually abusing four young men in his youth ministry, has no specific date of when he plans on returning to his megachurch ministry.

Vanessa Long first filed a petition for divorce Thursday. After reports Friday that she would withdraw the petition, her lawyer said she was indeed moving forward with divorce proceedings. As AP explained:

Long’s wife, Vanessa Long, filed a petition for divorce Thursday in DeKalb County Superior Court to end her 21-year marriage to the embattled minister. The church sent out a press release Friday morning saying Vanessa Long planned to withdraw her petition, but her attorney said later in the day that she had changed her mind.

In her petition, Vanessa Long indicated that the marriage is “irretrievably broken” and that there was “no hope of reconciliation of the parties.” She asked the court for temporary and permanent alimony, as well as attorneys’ fees and an equitable division of marital and non-marital property.
“Vanessa and I are working together in seeking God’s will in our current circumstances,” Eddie Long said in a written statement.

According to the divorce petition, the couple is “currently living in a bona fide state of separation.”

Bishop Long was embroiled in scandal earlier this year when allegations of sexual misconduct with four young men emerged.