Disgraced former pastor J.D. Hall, who was disqualified from ministry in 2022, has been found guilty of felony embezzlement. Earlier this month, a Montana judge handed down the ruling in Richland County District Court.
Hall, founder of Protestia (formerly Pulpit & Pen), was ordered to pay his former parish, Fellowship Baptist Church (FBC) in Sidney, Montana, more than $15,400. Under the terms of Hall’s deferred sentencing agreement, the felony will be removed from his record if he complies with orders for three years.
JD Hall: ‘I Have Deeply Hurt the Church I Loved’
In a court-ordered apology, Hall wrote an admission of guilt to FBC:
It’s with my deepest regret and full admission of my own personal failures, and to be clear, sins, that I have deeply hurt the church I loved and formerly served for so long a time. I pray that resolution of this issue might bring healing and wholeness with your body. As I move forward to a different, better, and more quiet life, with these things behind me, I pray that you are able to move forward with your very important mission as well.
As part of his plea agreement, for the next three years Hall must report to a probation officer, abstain from drugs and alcohol, and can’t own any weapons. Hall lost the support of FBC because of an addiction to Xanax. He was arrested on DUI and firearms charges after a traffic stop. According to police, they also investigated Hall for assault with a weapon in a domestic violence incident.
Court documents indicate Hall used church funds improperly, for personal and political purposes. Prosecutors alleged that the total exceeded $100,000 during a five-year stretch. According to records, Hall spent FBC money on personal travel, a gun safe, family cell phones, and employees of his political blog.
In court, former FBC treasurer Joyce Nesper testified that some of Hall’s expenditures were for “political trips that should not have been paid for by the church.” She said Hall had taken over some financial tasks at FBC and once offered to pay her husband’s medical bills—something she now suspected Hall did so she “did not have the need to look at bank statements.”
JD Hall Cited His ‘Evangelism Strategy’
In addition to his influence among religious conservatives, Hall was active in Montana’s Republican political circles. He founded a political action committee and a conservative news blog, the Montana Daily Gazette. In 2022, Hall declared bankruptcy after settling a libel lawsuit involving a false story about a trans activist.
Regarding the embezzlement charges, Hall argued that some expenditures were marked improperly by church staff. Money that went toward his podcast helped further his “evangelism strategy,” he said, noting that he was working to “bring religion to politics and invade political events with religion.”
