Eddie Long, embattled pastor of megachurch, dies at 63

LITHONIA, Ga. (AP) — Eddie Long, the flamboyant megachurch pastor whose reputation was tarnished after former congregants accused him of sexual misconduct, has died. He was 63. Long died Sunday after battling cancer, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, said in a statement to multiple media outlets. His death came "after a gallant private fight with an aggressive form of cancer," the statement said. Senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist since 1987, Long oversaw the church's explosive growth with membership swelling from a modest 300 to 25,000. The church operated television and international ministries, and built satellite churches in several cities, including Miami, Denver and Charlotte, North Carolina. Long was a Christian author, a gospel singer and was known for preaching and practicing a "prosperity gospel" in which the faithful would be rewarded with wealth. Long also was known for his flamboyant lifestyle, as he flew around the world on a private jet, drove around metro Atlanta in a $350,000 Bentley and lived in a $1.4 million house with six bedrooms and nine bathrooms. Scandal erupted in 2010, when four young men filed lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct, bringing notoriety to his church that reached far beyond its 10,000-seat cathedral at its home base in Lithonia.