Pastor and Deacon Charged in Alleged Embezzlement of Nearly $90,000 from Mount Olive, Mississippi, Church

Pastor Stricjavvar Strickland, who has relocated to Mississippi from Michigan, entered a plea deal in a Michigan case in which he had been accused of paying teenage boys to engage in sex acts with his wife. According to one report, Strickland maintained his innocence in a court statement but accepted the plea deal, citing his family’s well-being. The reports do not describe the terms of the plea or any sentence. One report says Strickland had recently moved to Mississippi; the other says he had moved there.

The church’s finance committee later raised concerns about the congregation’s money. One report says the committee alerted the Covington County Sheriff’s Office in October 2024 to discrepancies in the church’s financial records and bank account statements. The other says committee members approached Sheriff Darrell Perkins’s office that month because the books were not balancing. Sheriff Perkins said the committee reported inconsistencies in the records, and the committee’s careful handling of stewardship reflects the trust placed in those who manage entrusted funds (Luke 12:48).

According to the reports, the investigation took several months. Committee members worked with investigators, and gathering the documentation and verifying the inconsistencies took that time before authorities had enough records to proceed.

Pastor Strickland and Deacon Armond Barnes have each been charged with one count of embezzlement of more than $500. The charges relate to nearly $90,000 in church funds. These are charges, and the reports do not indicate that either man has been convicted of them.