After Scandals at Venue Church, Tavner Smith Raises Funds for New Worship Center in Georgia

After Scandals at Venue Church, Tavner Smith Raises Funds for New Worship Center in Georgia

Pastor Tavner Smith, whose Venue Church shuttered amid scandal, is fundraising for a building for Hope House Church, which he launched in 2024.

Four years after adulterous affair, Former megachurch Pastor Tavner Smith fundraising for new church building after bankruptcy

According to a report from The Christian Post, former megachurch pastor Tavner Smith is actively fundraising to move his new Georgia congregation into a permanent building after the collapse of his previous church. Four years after an adulterous affair with a staff member at the now-foreclosed Venue Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Smith is leading Hope […]

Disgraced pastor brushes off divorce, bankruptcy to start new church

Megachurch pastor Tavner Smith is raising funds to renovate a church building in Rossville, Georgia, four years after the church he led in Chattanooga, Tennessee, filed for bankruptcy. His previous congregation, Venue Church, was one of America’s fastest-growing churches. Then allegations emerged that Smith had an extramarital affair and engaged in financial misconduct. But none […]

Former Megachurch Pastor Tavner Smith Marries Mistress, Fundraises for New Church After Bankrupting Last One

Venue Church was once one of the fastest-growing churches in the nation, with a membership of over 1,500 across four services and two locations. Then, in late 2021, pastor and senior leader, Tavner Smith, was caught cheating on his wife with his worship leader/personal assistant, resulting in a mass exodus of staff and congregants. With the church hemorrhaging money, having no cash reserves, and defaulting on its rent for months, it declared ban…