Megachurch in Shambles Over Pastor's Alleged Affair [View all]

A Tennessee megachurch pastor is on "sabbatical" after being caught on video having an alleged extramarital affair with an employee of the congregation. Last month, the video showed Pastor Tavner Smith of Venue Church in Chattanooga kissing the woman in a restaurant, prompting at least eight staff members to resign.

In addition to the video, a group of church volunteers who visited Smith's home in November found him alone with the woman — "she in a towel, he in his boxers," the Daily Beast reports. Smith and the woman reportedly claimed they took off their clothes after getting food on them while making hot dogs and chili. But, as the volunteer put it, “I don’t think none of us was that dumb.”

“If she dropped chili on her clothes, why are you in your boxers?” she recalled thinking.
“Was y’all like, throwing chili at each other?”
The volunteer who witnessed the chili incident said “I look back and I’m like, ‘I don’t think I was in a Godly place.’”

Smith still has not publicly admitted the affair, despite announcing his sabbatical earlier this month. His wife accused him of adultery in their ongoing divorce case, and requested that the female employee not be permitted around their three children. The female employee's husband has also filed for divorce.

https://www.rawstory.com/tavner-smith/