Chile, are you done? I’m done, girl, I’m done. We’re letting the spirit use me. Before we dive into today’s installment of our mega church messiness series, hit it on, Regina!
“To better understand this story, we need to go back to May 29th, 1933, when 13-year-old Olivia Jenkins gave birth to her daughter, Francis. The child’s father was Olivia’s stepfather.
“Francis grew up believing that her mom was actually her sister and was told that her grandmother was her mother. It wasn’t until Francis was 16 that she learned the truth about her biological parents.
Francis was shattered and broken. She later married Donald McClurkin, and on November 9th, 1959, they welcomed their son, who we know today as Pastor Donnie McClurkin.
In an interview with Praise 102.5, Donnie shared that his mother’s difficult childhood left her deeply wounded, making him and his siblings her only source of hope and salvation. She taught all her children to sing, and Donnie believed he had the best voice among them.
Speaking on TBN’s Praise the Lord, Donnie revealed that although his father lived with them, he never spent any time with him. The disconnect was so profound that his father never offered him any praise or acknowledgment.
During a 1969 church service, the minister told the congregation, “Christ died because He loves us.” This idea intrigued Donnie, and he began to wonder if God could help him. He decided to give his life to Jesus, making the church his entire world.
In an interview with Ebony magazine, Donnie described the church as a place where he “felt at peace and felt like I belonged.” However, at the age of 13, he was taken advantage of again, this time by his great uncle’s son.
These traumatic incidents led him to question his attraction to men, but he said he prayed over it and refused to accept it. At the same time, things at home were no better; his parents’ addictions caused Donnie to retreat from the world, and he focused all his energy on the church and music.
Eventually, his parents divorced. By then, Donnie had mastered the piano and created musical groups, including the McClurkin Singers. He also formed the New York Restoration Choir, which released an album in 1975 called “I See a World.”
In 1983, while working with a church choir, Donnie met Pastor Marvin Winans. Pastor Winans invited him to Detroit to help start a ministry. Six years later, in 1989, Donnie moved to Detroit. He became an associate minister at Perfecting Church and began touring and singing at different churches nationwide.
In 1996, Donnie released his self-titled studio album, which went gold. His song “We Fall Down,” released in 2000, received heavy rotation on gospel radio stations, and Donnie began to gain even more recognition for his talents and sermons.
During what should have been a joyful period in his life, he was struggling privately to come to terms with his sexuality. While speaking at a convention, he revealed that he had misinterpreted traumatic experiences from his early years as indicative of being gay.
In his book (linked in the description box), he wrote, “The abnormal use of my sexuality continued until I realized that I was broken and that homosexuality was not God’s intention for my masculinity.” His first intimate experience was with a man, but he claimed that he was cured of homosexuality by a divine intervention when he conceived a child.
“Now, which one of y’all didn’t let Donnie ski up in you? Raise your hand, ho!” In April 2000, Donnie and a woman named Kim welcomed their son, Matthew. Although he and Kim never married, a year after their son was born, Donnie reportedly adopted a 9-year-old girl named Michelle.
“Now, y’all know how Auntie Regina feels about grown-ass men adopting young girls on their own. I don’t like that. I don’t like that at all.” Despite viewing having a child out of wedlock as a personal failure, he also stated that becoming a father helped him restore what he believed was his manhood.
“Was it a bad idea for someone dealing with so many personal issues to bring two children into his life? It seems so. Donnie admitted on TBN’s Praise the Lord that his tough childhood affected how he raised his son, Matthew, leading to a strained relationship for years.
“Although Donnie provided financial support, emotional support was lacking. He said, ‘Every morning, I prayed a simple prayer, asking God to help me be a good father because I was scared.’ Starting fatherhood for the wrong reasons only created more generational trauma.
“Donnie became a pastor, and in 2001, Marvin sent him to Freeport, New York, to help establish Perfecting Faith Church, where he’s still the senior pastor. At some point, Donnie realized it was time to make some changes in his life.
“He mentioned overcoming a 20-year struggle with homosexuality but told Cross Rhythms’ website that the fight wasn’t over. ‘Just because God delivers you doesn’t mean the temptations go away. It’s normal for old temptations to come back.’
“Donnie also shared that talking about his recovery made people test him more, but having a supportive circle kept him on track.”
“‘Count on me through a time when you are weak.’ In 2001, he released his memoir and a documentary where he talks about his childhood and his struggles with homosexuality and bisexuality.
He told a spokesperson that revisiting his demons was painful, but through the trauma, he obtained closure. Additionally, he criticized church leaders who continuously demonize homosexuals from the pulpit.
Donnie said, ‘You’ve got the preachers calling them names. We become harsh, and we haven’t portrayed the love of Jesus Christ.’ Some people questioned Donnie’s sincerity, especially as he became more vocal as one of the lead figures in the ex-gay movement.
According to the Jasmine Brand website, on at least one occasion, he compared being gay to drug addiction and said it was God’s plan that gays should change their sexual orientation.
As he continued to preach about turning his life around, one of his former lovers decided to put him on blast. Here we go.
An unidentified man contacted a blogger named Clay Cane and stated he met Donnie backstage at a gospel event in early 2001. The man said they exchanged contact information and started communicating via phone and email.
The man claimed Donnie opened up to him about how lonely it was on the road. Donnie reportedly explained how he would go into his room and cry all the time.
According to the man, things turned intimate a few months later. The man described their bedroom interactions as uncomfortable due to Donnie’s love for being dominated and engaging in role-playing. ‘Fix it, Jesus!’
The man said Donnie would frequently go into remission, and he wouldn’t hear from him for a period of time. After being on and off from 2001 through 2004, their relationship fizzled out.
Despite whatever was going on in his personal life, Donnie continued to be very vocal about his life as an ex-homosexual. During an appearance at a November 2009 church convention, he told the crowd, ‘Were it not for this Jesus, I would be a homosexual today. This God is a deliverer.’
Then, during a 2009 sermon at the annual Holy Convocation convention, Donnie referred to homosexuals as vampires. At the 2011 Church of God in Christ convention, he issued a rebuke and called being gay a perversion of the youth and the church.
He even went as far as to insinuate that young people’s sexuality is affected by fatherlessness. 2013 was a tough year for Donnie. He lost both of his parents, and because of his anti-gay remarks, he was disinvited from that year’s March on Washington Memorial concert. Beat it, Ashy!
When the Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality in 2015, Donnie issued a statement of disgust and urged his church to stand against all sin and not bow its knee to it.
So, he went from criticizing church leaders who demonized homosexuals to being one of the loudest antagonists in the pulpit. Just confused.”
In August 2016, during an episode of the “Praise the Lord” talk show, host Matt Crouch announced that Donnie was engaged to fellow gospel singer Nicole C. Mullen. “Yeah, she’s better than me. That’s a brave woman right there, honey,” he commented.
Donnie, who was a guest on the show that night, didn’t deny the news. Instead, he responded, “The only thing in my life that is missing is marriage. Financially, I’m there. Spiritually, I’m almost there. Emotionally, I’m getting it together. But the only thing that’s missing out of everything that I’m doing locally, cross-country, and globally is that aspect that makes family family. That wife who would make a man whole. That element that brings favor to a man.”
Someone remarked, “This guy forgot about his children, didn’t he? Talking about he’s trying to build a family. He needs to go home and build a relationship with his kids. That’s what he needs to do.”
Nicole, on the other hand, took to Twitter to clarify that they were only dating. “We are headed toward that position, but there’s protocol, you know. He hasn’t met my dad yet. He hasn’t spoken to him, and there are other things that he and I are still working toward that we’re like, ‘We want to make sure we do our due diligence on this side.’ Are we going toward marriage? Absolutely. Will we be married this year? Good chance.”
“Okay, girl.” Donnie later posted a video on social media explaining that he and Nicole needed more counseling before moving forward with marriage.
“Donnie, you need more counseling, okay? You need more counseling.” Whatever issues they were working through remained unresolved. It was later confirmed that Nicole moved on and married someone else in December 2020. “I ain’t mad at you, Nikki! Tall, bald, and scrumptious, that’s my type, honey! Does he have a brother?”
Donnie kept up his mission to convince himself—or rather, the world—that he was no longer gay, thanks to prayer and God’s power. In an interview, he said, “I believed that I was meant to be a whole man, made for one woman, and God brought it all about. I am delivered, and I know God can deliver others too.”
So why is he so sure that God could deliver others? It all comes down to his involvement with an organization called Exodus International. Founded in the mid-1970s, their mission was to help gay Christians become straight through the power of Jesus Christ and conversion therapy.
“Conversion therapy? No way. That sounds like something straight out of a Lifetime movie. That’s some nonsense. Shut it down! Shut that down!”
Exodus International shut down in 2013 after 37 years. The organization also issued an apology to the gay community for years of undue judgment by them and the Christian church as a whole. Good riddance!
In December 2018, Donnie was driving on the highway when he lost consciousness. His car was totaled, and he was hospitalized with a sprained wrist, a damaged knee, and stitches in his left thumb. If I were his nurse, I would have discharged him immediately. Taking up beds for this? Please.
Years passed, and Donnie stayed quiet, focusing on making music and sharing his testimony. Then he reappeared in an August 2021 episode of ‘Uncensored.’ Donnie explained how he never had a long-term relationship, although he had flings with both men and women.
He admitted he still had urges to be with men, but he was choosing not to act on them. He’s now saying ‘choosing not to.’ Listen, Auntie Regina has a serious question. I’m curious because he’s talking a lot about interactions with men, women, and homosexuality.
“What happened to the days of not having premarital sex? Is that considered old-fashioned now? Someone tell Auntie Regina, because I remember when you had to wait. You had to sit on the pew and abstain from sex before marriage. Maybe I’m just outdated, but he seems very open about who he likes and doesn’t like, and who he’s going to be with or not.
“I haven’t heard him say, ‘I’m not having sex before marriage.’ Someone let Auntie Regina know. Maybe I’m just old. He compared homosexuality to diabetes by saying, ‘I don’t eat sugar, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want sugar.’
“Boy, if you don’t shut up and go find someone to be with. Having never had a long-term relationship or been married, I figure I’ll probably be alone for the rest of my life.
“There are millions of people in the world. Go find one! Online users called his story heartbreaking. One person tweeted, ‘No one can tell me it’s God’s will for Donnie McClurkin to suffer loneliness to this extent because of who he’s attracted to. Isolated from companionship to appease sinners in the church, and I am devastated for him.’