At first, it appeared to be a typical service at Ward AME Church: tambourines rattling, hands clapping and voices soaring to the sweet sounds of gospel music.
But with the sermon, the deep voice of the Rev. C. Dennis Williams signaled that a new chapter had begun for a church that had fallen on hard times.
"Storms never come to defeat us," the new pastor said to members shouting "Yes, Lord!" and "C'mon, preacher!"
"The Lord," he continued, "sends storms only to make us stronger."
Williams, 45, has assumed control of one of the largest and most prominent African Methodist Episcopal churches in Southern California. In recent months, the Los Angeles church has been rocked by a sex abuse scandal that led to the defrocking of its previous minister and triggered a precipitous drop in membership.
The former pastor, the Rev. Sylvester Laudermill Jr., was accused of molesting two boys, one of whom is now an adult who attended an AME church in St. Louis, where Laudermill pastored for 10 years until 2004. The man told St. Louis police in December that Laudermill started a 7-year relationship with him when he was 14. Soon after, an accuser in Los Angeles emerged.
Laudermill maintains his innocence, and he has not been criminally charged. Police in both cities are investigating.
But in March, Laudermill was suspended after church administrative committees in St. Louis and Los Angeles launched investigations.
He was ousted last month after the St. Louis committee confirmed six of the eight allegations made by the adult accuser and the Los Angeles committee said that it substantiated two allegations made by a 17-year-old.
Laudermill has been barred from any position within the AME Church, which has not been sued by either accuser. Laudermill did not return repeated calls seeking comment.
AME Bishop John Bryant, who runs the church's 5th Episcopal District, which includes St. Louis and Los Angeles, informed members of Laudermill's removal at a closed-door session May 8.
"It was a shock," said Lee Coleman, a member since the 1970s.
While the Roman Catholic Church has been shaken by sex abuse allegations against priests in recent years, the AME Church, which has more than 2 million members worldwide, has mostly avoided headline-grabbing scandals -- especially ones involving allegations of sexually abused boys.
