City Councilor, Former Family Minister, Charged With Stealing From CT Church

Alexander Thomas
Pictured: Hartford City Hall; Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Alexander Thomas, a city councilman in Hartford, Connecticut, has been charged with embezzling money from the church where he previously served as family ministry director. Thomas, 27, was arrested Tuesday (Oct. 15) for allegedly stealing more than $14,000 from South Church between April 2023 and April 2024.

Earlier this year, South Church fired Thomas after noticing suspicious charges to a church credit card. Leaders filed a police report in June, triggering an investigation. This week, a spokesman for the Hartford Police Department said they “determined that the accused misused the church credit card to direct funds to a shell company, then to his personal accounts. At the time of the thefts, the accused was employed by the church.”

Thomas, who was charged with second-degree money laundering and second-degree larceny, was released on $250,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned later this month. In January, the Hartford native was elected to city council as a member of the Working Families Party.

Pastor: We Wanted People To Be Aware

In June, after South Church contacted police, Pastor Adam T. Söderberg said, “It’s all still speculation” until authorities “can verify the information that we provided them with.” He added, “It was important for us for other people to be made aware” of the allegations.

Thomas, who served at the historic church for two years, led youth programs and offered teens a safe place to gather after school. “Kids loved him,” said Söderberg. “They don’t know how to completely process it, how two things can be true, because he was such an important, positive part of the last two years of their lives.”

Congregants were concerned about the financial allegations and experienced “a blow [in] trust,” according to senior deacon Eulalia Garcia. “But everything was reported, and now we have to let the court system run its course,” she said in June.

In his campaign bio, Thomas identified himself as the first Black pastor of South Church, which dates back to 1670. A social media bio labels him as “Lover of Hartford, Future leader, and a follower of Christ!”

RELATED: Former Church Employee Pleads Guilty to Embezzling $300K, Sending More Than $220K to TikTok Creators

Pastor Advises Accountability for All Church Staff

When ChurchLeaders asked South Church for additional comments, Pastor Söderberg wrote in an email, “We are all deeply saddened about the events unfolding and are praying for Alex and his family.” The former family ministry director was once even considered to be a possible successor to Söderberg, the pastor said. Moving from that to “where we are today is a significant change,” with many tough emotions to process.

When asked for advice about safeguarding church finances, Söderberg recommended following the credit card procedures you have in place. For example, South Church requires that all charges be verified with corresponding receipts.

“Unfortunately, in Alex’s case, we did not follow our own policies as we should have,” Söderberg said. “Never in a million years did we imagine this was going on, and that attitude left us vulnerable.”

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Stephanie Martin
Stephanie Martin, a freelance writer and editor in Denver, has spent her entire 30-year journalism career in Christian publishing. She loves the Word and words, is a binge reader and grammar nut, and is fanatic (as her family can attest) about Jeopardy! and pro football.

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