In an interview that aired on YouTube Friday, Brittney Reed, the niece of Bishop Dwight Reed, confirmed that Reed’s now 19-year-old bride, Jordan Goodlett Reed, is pregnant. Brittney claims that she was given the information from her father, Bishop Reed’s brother.
Earlier this week, Black Is The Standard shed light on the controversial leader of Christ Apostolic Temple in Des Moines, Iowa, amid allegations that for years, Reed groomed Jordan to be his bride. Brittney, who is an attorney, suspects like many social media users that Jordan became pregnant before her marriage to Reed. Brittney also reveals that it was well known in her family that her uncle was looking for a wife. She mentioned that he is estranged from his two adult daughters from a previous relationship, and made it clear to family members that he wanted a son.
During the interview, Brittney recalls a conversation she had with her now estranged uncle, prior to the Facebook marriage announcement, when he mentions that he found someone who was “a little young” but that he believed it was ordained by God. Per Brittney, that was all he mentioned about the relationship, and that she and her family (who do not live in Des Moines) found out about the mairriage on Facebook. Brittney stated that she believes the relationship was intentionally kept from the family because they would not have condoned any of it.
Throughout the interview, Brittney describes her relationship with her uncle and her family as tight-knit and amicable, until the latest events. She also made it clear that no one in her family is okay with her uncle’s marriage to Jordan and had they been aware of his intentions they would’ve done all they could to protect Jordan from her uncle’s alleged predatory behavior.
In one portion of the interview, Brittney questions whether her uncle may have attempted to groom her to work for him, while she attended law school. In the interview, Brittney describes how at one point her uncle was one of her biggest supporters, offering to buy her a law office. Now, Brittney realizes it may have all been a plot to have her work for him as his attorney and help him “scam” others.
Brittney then elaborates on her allegations of a “scam’, suggesting that grooming a young girl for mairriage isn’t the only scandalous act she believes her uncle took part in. Brittney claims that upon her grandfather’s (the original leader of the church) and grandmother’s deaths, the familial estate should have been divided equally among their children. However, Brittney claims that prior to her grandmother passing away, Bishop Reed became her grandmother’s power of attorney. Documents were then drawn up, and “she” sold the entire estate (a mansion, another home, and the church property) to Christ Apostolic Temple for $1, under “his” signature as power of attorney.
As a result of the transfer of the estate, when Brittney’s grandmother died, there was no estate to be divided among her children (which includes Brittney’s father and one other sibling.) Brittney stated that per legal documents she obtained and reviewed, it appears that after her grandmother’s death, Bishop Reed had the Christ Apostolic Temple’s legal counsel sign off on documents that would return ownership of the estate to Reed, for $1. Now, Bishop Reed is the sole owner of the entire family estate.
There were many other surprise allegations made during the interview. According to Reed, the church also houses a school (where Reed is the Dean), and it became pretty much mandatory that the youth who attended the church attend the school as well. Brittney claims that Jordan was a student at the school, and upon her graduation, Bishop Reed bought her a car! Brittney goes on to explain why that is interesting to her, stating that despite all Reed’s “support” for her pursuit of her law school education, he didn’t gift her with anything at her graduation from law school (that he attended.) This may lend support to the allegations that Bishop Reed groomed Jordan for years before marrying her, and him purchasing her a car was part of the process.
As for Jordan’s parents, Brittney states that while Jordan’s mother is 100% against the marriage, Jordan’s father, James Goodlett, was in total support of the marriage and may have participated in the nuptials.
This story is still developing and we will continue to update you as information is obtained. In the interim, view the Change.org petition that calls for an investigation into Bishop Reed here.
Watch the full interview below.
