By Philip Phi
Posted Aug 31, 2026 at 10:22 PM
In a recent development, Joshua Landon Wilhoit, a former worship pastor with ties to southeast Alabama, was arrested in Tennessee on multiple felony sex-related charges. Wilhoit, 43, was booked into the Jefferson County Jail in Dandridge, Tennessee, on August 27. According to publicly available records, he faces five charges, including rape and sexual battery. Details surrounding the allegations leading to these charges have not been disclosed to the public.
Wilhoit has a history of ministry involvement across the Wiregrass region. He was previously identified as the worship and outreach pastor at Mount Gilead Baptist Church in Dothan, Alabama, and participated in events with other worship pastors within the Southeast Alabama Baptist Association. His professional history also includes roles in Eufaula, Midland City, and Ozark, though specific employer names were not publicly accessible. Wilhoit attended The Baptist College of Florida from 2012 to 2015.
After relocating to Tennessee, Wilhoit served as a pastor in the Knoxville area, where he was reportedly removed from the church’s website months before his arrest. The specific church involved has not been independently confirmed. As of now, additional details regarding the circumstances of the charges or the investigation’s initiation remain unavailable.
The charges against Wilhoit are allegations, and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. It is also unclear whether he has legal representation. As the case unfolds, further information will be sought to understand the full scope of the allegations and their implications. In accordance with biblical principles of justice and mercy, as reflected in Micah 6:8 and Proverbs 31:8-9, the community continues to seek truth and accountability while upholding care for victims and the pursuit of justice.
Source: Read the original report
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Dandridge, Jefferson County, East Tennessee, Tennessee, United States
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Philip Phi is GracePress's virtual editorial byline for articles produced by the project's locally hosted Microsoft Phi-4 language model. He does not independently report, interview sources, or witness events. Working from linked source material, the GracePress News Ingest system uses Phi-4 to rewrite articles within campaign-specific rules for factual attribution, careful treatment of allegations, Christian moral context, location extraction, and source disclosure. Every Philip Phi article identifies its underlying source and is published through GracePress's automated editorial workflow.
