The Rev. Bernice King is no longer an elder at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., according to WSBTV.com.

King’s last day at the church was Sunday. She is the youngest child of the Rev. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King.

Last week, Eddie Long, the church’s pastor, settled sexual misconduct lawsuits from four young men who claimed Long had seduced them into sexual relationships.

Long had been well-known in the Atlanta area for designing several ministries at his megachurch specifically for young men and boys. He had also spoken publicly against gay rights and gay marriage, as had King.

The terms of the out-of-court settlements are unclear. The men made their allegations against Long last fall.

It is also unclear whether King’s departure from the church is related to the Long case or settlements.

Read more at WSBTV.com.

The leader of a prominent Atlanta-area church has settled sexual misconduct suits that four young men had filed against him, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Anthony Flagg, Spencer LeGrande, Jamal Parris and Maurice Robinson sued Bishop Eddie Long as well as the Lithonia-based New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and the church’s LongFellows Academy, because they said Long used his position as pastor of the church and leader of the LongFellows mentor group to coerce them into sex.

It’s unclear what the financial terms of the settlement were. When the accusations first came to light in September, Long said he would fight the accusations and charges vigorously.

The scandal shocked Atlanta’s close-knit evangelical megachurch community, in which it had not been uncommon for pastors to maintain outsized, flashy personae and homes.

Read more about the settlement of these lawsuits here.

Bishop Eddie Long, the pastor of the Lithonia, Ga.’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, is moving to settle the sex-abuse lawsuits against him in mediation, according to a recent CNN report.

Four young men who were members of Long’s church accused the pastor earlier this year of grooming them for sexual relationships.

The Orlando-based Church of Healing and Prosperity will host a series of discussions about churches’ relationships with gays and lesbians.

The talks, which are described as a forum on the topic of “Gays, Lesbians, Down-Low Brothers and Sisters in the Church, Pulpit & Pews,” will be Oct. 7, Oct. 21 and Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the church, 1001 Goldwyn Avenue.

The discussions are inspired by the scandal involving Eddie Long, pastor of the Atlanta-area New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Long, who has been a vocal opponent of gay rights initiatives and described homosexuality as “spiritual abortion,” has been accused by four young men of coercing the men into sexual acts with him.

For more information, contact Bishop Richard Davis at 407-535-7443 or 407-459-2322 or kingdom@iag.net.

CNN has tracked down another one of the four young men who have accused Eddie Long, pastor of the Atlanta-area New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, of coercing them into sex.

Spencer LeGrande, who has moved back from Atlanta to Charlotte, N.C., says Long “knows the truth” about what happened.

Long has expressed antipathy toward gays from the pulpit and led a march several years ago against gay marriage.

Fox 5 Atlanta has posted the second part of an interview the station did with Jamal Parris, one of four young men who have accused Atlanta-area pastor Eddie Long of coercing them into sex.

In this segment, Parris says the 57-year-old married father of four lived two lives and that being around him was like a drug.

Long, as pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, has spoken vociferously against gays from the pulpit, likening homosexuality to “spiritual abortion.”

Read a story about the interview here, and see it below:

One of the four men who have accused Atlanta-area pastor Eddie Long of coercing them into sex spoke to an Atlanta television station about the charges on Tuesday.

In an interview with Fox 5 Atlanta, Jamal Parris described 57-year-old Long, a married father of four who is pastor of the 25,000-member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, as “a monster.”

The four men, all of whom are now in their early 20s, have filed lawsuits against Long and the church. In the lawsuits, the men said Long began relationships with them while they were in their late teens. They allege that he used his power over them as their pastor and “spiritual father” to seduce them. The men say they were all older than 16, which is Georgia’s legal age of consent to sexual relationships, when the sexual activity began.

In the past, Long has condemned gays from the pulpit, describing homosexuality as “spiritual abortion” and speaking against gay-rights and gay-marriage initiatives.

See Parris speak here:

Bishop Eddie Long spoke to reporters at a 10 a.m. news conference today at his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., after a scandal that has resulted from days of allegations that he coerced four young men into sex.

Long said his attorneys had advised him not to speak specifically about what he terms “the allegations and attack that has been levied upon me at this moment.”

He said he wanted the case to be tried in a court of justice and not in the court of public opinion.

He did say, though, that he would fight the charges “very vigorously” and that New Birth would continue its charitable missions throughout the world, programs that have included hospitals built in Nigeria and Kenya and supporting a hospice for AIDS victims in South Africa.

Long’s wife, Vanessa, stood near him at the conference, which lasted fewer than five minutes and was broadcast via CNN.

He did not take questions.

A spirited Eddie Long, pastor of the Atlanta-area New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, today addressed the scandal that has resulted from allegations that he coerced four young men into sex.

Long gave a 15-minute sermon on the theme “how to handle painful and difficult situations” during the 8 a.m. service at the packed church, which seats about 8,000. He said he would fight the allegations against him.

The sermon was broadcast via several live streams, including those on Atlanta NBC affiliate 11Alive.com and BET.com.

“I have never in my life portrayed myself as a perfect man,” the married father of four said as he stood before the congregation about 9 a.m. “But I am not the man that’s being portrayed on the television.”

Long has in the past spoken vociferously against gay rights and gay marriage initiatives. Four men filed lawsuits against him and the church this past week, accusing him of using his authority as the church’s leader to seduce them into sexual relationships. Two of the men claimed Long had groomed them through the LongFellows Academy, a church-based mentorship program.

During his short sermon, Long went on to say that he expected the charges against him to be “dealt with in the court of justice.” He also likened himself to the Biblical hero David in David’s grueling, but ultimately successful battle against the giant Goliath.

“I’ve been accused. I’m under attack,” he said

“I’m not a perfect man. But this thing, I’m gonna fight.”

When he first addressed the congregation, Long denied rumors that he would step down from the head of the church he had led from the time it had just 300 members. He said he would “be here next week.”

After Long left the dais, the church’s choir sang a full-throated version of the song “Our God Is an Awesome God.”

He is expected to again address the church at its 11 a.m. service. He will also answer media questions at a news conference.

In his return to the pulpit after a week of multiple allegations that he coerced young men into sex, Atlanta’s Bishop Eddie Long told his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church that he will not be giving up leadership of the church.

“I’ll be here next week,” he said to the congregation, before thanking them for their prayers.

[Note: Coverage of Long's sermon today is coming via video feed from Atlanta's NBC affiliate, 11alive.com]