DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Metro Times [Detroit, MI]
July 22, 2025
By Steve Neavling
In a series of now-deleted TikTok videos, a woman claimed she began an affair with a Detroit megachurch pastor when she was 22 and he was 47
Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, the longtime leader of one of Detroit’s most influential Black churches, acknowledged Monday night that he had “an inappropriate relationship” with a former church member, but he denies many of the explosive allegations she made in a series of now-deleted TikTok videos.
The former member, Melody Walker, said the relationship began in 2002 when she was 22 and Ellis was 47, and continued off and on until about 2018. She described the experience as painful and spiritually damaging, saying Ellis took advantage of her as a young single mother who had just moved to Detroit and had no family or support.
“When you’re 21 or 22 and you finally meet somebody that is a support system, you will hold on to them, married or not,” Walker said. “I felt like he was my friend. But at the same time, he exploited my brokenness and my weakness and my need for support and to have a friend. He didn’t have to do the things he did in the name of benevolence. He could really just have been a good spiritual father and not made it what it was.”
Ellis, who has been married for nearly 37 years, is senior pastor of Greater Grace Temple, a 6,000-member megachurch on Detroit’s west side. In a statement to Metro Times, Ellis admitted he had an affair but denied many of Walker’s claims.
“I was recently made aware of social media posts shared by a former member of my congregation, with whom I had an inappropriate relationship over 15 years ago,” Ellis said. “At that time, these indiscretions were addressed with my bishop in a redemptive process, which included counseling.”
Ellis added that he has contacted an attorney.
“These posts include accusations, some of which are deeply troubling and untrue,” he said. “Given the nature of several false claims being made I have asked my legal counsel, Atty. Gerald Evelyn, to carefully review all matters, in particular an apparent joint bank account with my name on it. I have retained communications counsel Mario Morrow of Mario Morrow & Associates, LLC to assist in addressing this situation appropriately.”
In one video posted to TikTok, Walker posted what appeared to be a bank statement listing both her and Ellis’s names. She also showed photos of herself with Ellis, including one she said was taken in 2022, which was “the last time I saw him.” In another photo, she said Ellis is pictured with her baby in his office.
“He christened my baby in his office because I wasn’t married,” Walker said. “And this is the inception of the relationship.”
In another video, Walker said she isn’t speaking out to “make this messy” or get revenge, but to share her truth.
“It is what it is at this point,” she said. “It’s my story, it’s my testimony. Women need help. The people need help. If my testimony can help somebody not compromise herself for money. … I just finally have the courage to talk about it.”
Walker said she didn’t take intimate photos because the affair was a secret.
“I wasn’t looking to expose him, and of course he was looking to keep things private,” she said.
Walker said her decision to speak out comes after years of fear and emotional turmoil.
“I just finally have overcome the fear of something happening to me by talking about it,” she said. “We do live in Detroit. People do come up missing and dying all the time. But I feel God and I know that the Lord is with me, and I know my story and things happened to me for a reason so it’s just time for me to tell it. I’m healed and I just want to talk about it.”
She added, “I don’t blame him. I was in love. I believed he cared for me deeply. This isn’t about blaming anybody. People are broken. People do things for different reasons and we have to understand that. May the truth make us free.”
Walker returned an email from Metro Times on Monday evening, saying she wanted to wait to comment until she consulted with an attorney since Ellis appears to be threatening legal action. By Tuesday morning, her TikTok account had been deleted.
In a July 7 post on social media, Ellis marked his birthday with a message about his family, describing them as “one of God’s greatest gifts.”
“My wife and I have enjoyed almost 37 beautiful years of marriage, traveling the world and building a life rooted in love and faith,” he wrote. “To the ones who know me beyond the mic and the message, I love you more than words can say.”
In one video, Walker said too much positive attention is given to men when they have affairs and that women end up taking the blame.
“It’s not to exploit anybody,” she said of leveling the allegations against Ellis. “But at the same time, did they exploit me? Did they think about my family? I don’t think so. Why is it always about the man and his family and what he’s risking? Didn’t he risk that when he decided to do what he did?”
Walker said she made a mistake and regrets what she did.
“Some girls at a young age have that kind of common sense, and some girls don’t,” she said in a video. “They have to learn. Some of them never learn. Some women will always compromise themselves for a couple dollars, for some companionship, you know? Everybody has their own journey. The fact remains that I grew, I learned, and I’m not making some excuses for it, but I’m telling my story.”
n his statement, Ellis asked for privacy.
“I ask for continued prayers for myself, my family, as well as this individual and her family,” he wrote. “My deepest hope is that all parties involved can find peace and healing.”
This isn’t the first time Ellis has drawn controversy. In 2018, he apologized after images showed him touching pop star Ariana Grande onstage at Aretha Franklin’s funeral in Detroit, with his hand pressing against her chest as he greeted her. Ellis said it was not intentional.
“It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast … I don’t know, I guess I put my arm around her,” Ellis said at the time. “Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologize.”
He also faced criticism for joking that Grande’s name sounded like a Taco Bell menu item. “I personally and sincerely apologize to Ariana and to her fans and to the whole Hispanic community,” Ellis said. (Grande is Italian-American.)