scandal: de paulk discovered his father was actually his uncle, the archbishop of one of america's biggest 'mega churches', when he was 34  a mega church pastor who discovered at the age of 34 that his archbishop uncle was actually his father has revealed how he found peace: by founding a 'radically inclusive' church that recognises mohammed as well as christ de paulk, 42, was brought up in the cathedral of the holy spirit at chapel hill once the fourth biggest 'mega church' in the united states, it occupied a purpose built, $12million building with 7,000 seats, and boasted 12,000 members at its peak in the early nineties but a series of sex scandals and financial difficulties brought the church established by de's parents and uncle to its knees speaking to cnn, de has revealed how it was the family's ultimate scandal   the fact his archbishop uncle was his biological father   which finally gave him the strength to create a church based around his own beliefs the spirit and truth sanctuary, which de founded in 2012, welcomes everyone from wiccans to atheists, hindus to muslims, recognising all gods and prophets, including mohammed '[scandal] has a way of wiping out the things that keep you from being authentic,' he said 'all you have left is who you are the games are gone if there was anything i wanted to say i thought would be unacceptable to the church, now is the time to say it' after much soul searching, de established his church based around one principle: 'christ cannot be, and will not be, restricted to christianity' he preaches a message of inclusion, and tells his congregation 'the truth' is not limited to the bible, but can be found in all creation   even other religions this message has been controversial, however, and many of his former followers have abandoned him scroll down for video  success: archbishop earl paulk, left, was de's biological father, while his brother, donnie, right, acted as his father until he was 34 the two brothers set up the cathedral of the holy spirit at chapel hill with donnie's wife clariece in 1960, creating one of the first churches to welcome people of all colours  heir: de, the family's only son, pictured leading a service, was always intended to take over the church, but became disillusioned with the institution when he discovered the truth about his parentage  it is likely this particular philosophy would have horrified his uncle, a tyrannical figure who led the cathedral of the holy spirit from its inception in 1960 set up with his brother donnie and his wife clariece, holy spirit was one of the first churches to accept both african americans and whites worshipping together, and at one point was attracting 100 new members a week it would grow to be the fourth largest church in america, recognised by then president george bush for its volunteering work in 1982 by 1991, the church had 12,000 members, and a cathedral with a 245 foot steeple its pastors had acted like minor celebrities, travelling by private jet, charging as much as $7,500 per appearance and collecting their own 'groupies', who would reportedly get them dressed and even wipe the sweat from their faces and de, as the only boy born to either of the brothers, was set to inherit it all   a fact which had been impressed on him from the age of nine fall from grace: the church, which grew to 12,000 members, was rocked by a series of sex scandals in the early nineties, causing many of its members to lose their faith  secrets: earl would also turn out to be de's father   a fact the tyranical pastor would continue to deny  but the church began to implode: earl   now 'archbishop earl'   was implicated in a series of sex scandals, some of which were settled out of court the archbishop was also accused of slurring a congregant as a lesbian, threatening another with a 38 gun, and pretending never to watch television while hiding one in his cupboard he could be so ruthless that his secretary, ladonna diaz, de's sister, would often leave his office crying then, in 2007, it was revealed de's father was not donnie, 76, but earl clariece, who had tried to hide her secret for more than three decades, claimed that 'it was no more than insemination' nonetheless, this would mark a turning point for de pain: after earl's death in 2009, dewent through a great deal of soul searching and decided to open his own church that recognised all faiths  earl died in 2009 aged 81, and de sold the cathedral for $175million shortly afterwards three years later, de opened a new, 'radically inclusive' church, which bills itself as 'the trendiest, friendliest, most radically inclusive worshipping experience in atlanta' but it horrified many of de's conservative christian followers de told cnn: 'they can tolerate all the sexual scandals and the lawsuits, but when you invite a muslim or a gay person to church, that's the scandal you leave for?' the church, which has 700 members, is going from strength to strength
atlanta 42 the age of 34 chapel hill cathedral of the holy spirit de paulk uncle the early nineties
de paulk, 42, runs a controversial church where all religions are equal  this is his way of dealing with the pain of learning at the age of 34 that his charismatic, archbishop uncle was really his biological father  he grew up in the notorious cathedral of the holy spirit at chapel hill in atlanta, which was famous for its riches and sex scandals  the 7,000 seat church had 12,000 members in the early nineties, but a series of abuse allegations caused it to fall from grace 