Revealed: MAGA candidate's deeper ties to 'one of America's most dangerous cults'

Embroiled Republican candidate for North Carolina governor, Mark Robinson, took in more than $27,000 in donations and had visitors to his lieutenant governor's office associated with the controversial Word of Faith Fellowship, according to a Raw Story review of financial and government records.

The Word of Faith Christian School, associated with the church in Spindale, N.C., visited Robinson, lieutenant governor of North Carolina, at his office at least twice in 2023, according to visitor logs obtained by Raw Story through a North Carolina public records request.

On June 6, 2023, at least 27 people associated with the Word of Faith Christian School, including 12 students, visited Robinson’s lieutenant governor office, according to the visitor logs.

According to the log signed by James D. Reidy, who the church featured on its YouTube channel in 2019, another 29 members of the junior/senior class of the Word of Faith Christian School came to visit around Sept. 12, 2023.

According to a Raw Story review of records from the North Carolina State Board of Elections, the church's leadership and employees also donated at least $27,126 to Robinson's campaign committee, Friends of Mark Robinson.

The Word of Faith Fellowship has been mired in controversy ranging from alleged abuse of parishioners, charges of fraud and accusations of human trafficking. The church was the subject of the book, “Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults,” written by Pulitzer Prize winner Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr.

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The church has denied the allegations through a blog on its website titled, “Response to Media Lies.”

Robinson hosted a fundraiser at the church on July 9 and defended his decision to do so in a July 10 podcast interview with conservative talk radio host Pete Kaliner, WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C., reported.

“That was just ridiculous,” Robinson said. “It's just some people that, you know, they don't like that church. And so then they're just trying to besmirch them. Besmirch me by besmirching them. It's really, again, just total dishonesty.”

Robinson’s campaign did not respond to Raw Story’s questions about his relationship with the Word of Faith Fellowship by the time of publication. Representatives of the North Carolina Office of the Lieutenant Governor did not respond to questions about the nature of the school’s visits to the office, directing inquiries to Robinson’s campaign.

Raw Story contacted representatives of the Word of Faith Fellowship and its lawyer, Joshua Farmer, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Robinson came under fire last month for alleged inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board, including calling himself a “black NAZI!” and expressing support for reinstating slavery, CNN reported. Robinson sued CNN on Tuesday for defamation, seeking damages of $50 million.

The News and Observer reported that half of Robinson’s staff in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor resigned after the CNN report.

The Assembly in North Carolina previously reported that Robinson allegedly frequented 24-hour pornography stores in the 1990s and early 2000s, according to accounts from at least six witnesses.

Robinson has also experienced scrutiny for his use of anti-semitic and extremist language, Raw Story reported.

Breaking down donations from Word of Faith

Jane Whaley, pastor and co-founder of the Word of Faith Fellowship and superintendent of the Word of Faith Christian School, donated $5,200 to the Friends of Mark Robinson campaign committee between September 2023 and June 2024.

The Associated Press reported that Whaley admitted on a recorded conversation to being aware of the sexual assault of three boys but did not report the abuse to authorities. Whaley has denied the allegations of abuse by herself and other members of the church, the AP said.

Brooke Covington, a minister with the Word of Faith Fellowship accused of orchestrating the beating and "blasting" — the practice of intense screaming — of a gay congregant to expel his "homosexual demons," donated $1,000 today to the Friends of Mark Robinson campaign in 2023.

In June 2017, a judge declared a mistrial in Covington’s court proceedings related to the abuse of former church member Matthew Fenner, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Covington’s husband and Word of Faith Fellowship minister, Kent Covington, was sentenced to 34 months in prison and ordered to pay $466,960 in restitution in April 2019 for his involvement in an unemployment fraud scheme involving members of the congregation, The Fayetteville Observer reported.

Other church members tied to legal troubles contributed to Robinson’s campaign.

Chris Back and Frank Webster, attorneys who were ministers of the Word of Faith Fellowship, lost their jobs as assistant prosecutors amid charges of sabotaging investigations into abuse at the church, the AP reported. Back donated $2,000 to Robinson’s campaign in September 2023, and Webster, Whaley’s son-in-law, donated $4,000 total between October 2023 and June 2024, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Both Back and Webster list their current employment with Webster & Back Law, according to the state board of elections filings.

Ten other individuals who worked with the Word of Faith Fellowship or its school donated to Robinson, totaling just shy of $15,000.

Mary Staton, a teacher at the Word of Faith Christian School, donated $6,400 to Friends of Mark Robinson on June 29, 2024. Another teacher at the School, Lori Hall, donated $1,000 in September 2023, according to state board of elections records.

According to state elections records, Joshua Farmer, attorney at Farmer & Morris Law, listed on the Word of Faith Fellowship website press releases, donated $2,250 total to Robinson’s campaign between October 2023 and June 2024.

Jayne Caulder, an administrator with the Word Of Faith Fellowship, donated $1,400 to the campaign in December 2023, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections website.

According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections website, Gerald Southerland, a minister with the Word of Faith Fellowship and pastoral counselor for the Word of Faith Christian school, donated $1,551 to Friends of Mark Robinson.

Andra Prince, an administrative assistant at the Word of Faith Fellowship, donated $750 total to the campaign, between September 2023 and June 2024. Ann MacDonald, who lists her employer as the Word of Faith Fellowship with no specific job title, donated $1,000 in June 2024, according to the state elections website.

Tanja Gross, a secretary with Word of Faith Fellowship, and Robert Lowry, an associate minister with the church, each donated $250 to Robinson’s campaign, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections website.

Mary Lange, a secretary with the Word of Faith Fellowship, donated $75 total in 2022 to the Friends of Mark Robison campaign, per the North Carolina State Board of Elections website.

The Word of Faith Fellowship did not respond to Raw Story’s questions about the donations from individuals associated with the church.

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