Melissa Ganey English, Church Financial Secretary at Amelia Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach, Florida charged with embezzling $570K from church over five years. Woman previously known as Melissa Rhoden had been undergoing 4 year divorce.
A Florida woman has been accused of embezzling more than $570,000 from her church over the course of five years while employed as a financial secretary starting in 2019.
An investigation into the actions of Melissa Ganey English, 44, began after finance committee members of Amelia Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach noticed discrepancies in the church’s bank statements.
English had been serving as the church’s financial secretary. She is accused of stealing money from the church to pay for personal expenses from 2019-2024.
Numerous unauthorized charges beginning from 2019
English leading up to her arrest had worked at the church for nearly 11 years. She has since been charged with felony first-degree grand theft over $100,000, a first-degree felony, for knowingly and unlawfully using the church’s credit card for personal expenses totaling over $500,000.
Amelia Baptist Church reported possible theft to the authorities after two new church financial committee members noticed discrepancies in the church’s bank documents and records. They traced the discrepancies to a church credit card issued to English.
After making this discovery in October, the church terminated English’s employment and contracted a financial investigator to review the church’s transactions.
The investigator reportedly found numerous fraudulent transactions beginning in January 2019.
According to News4JAX, Nassau County detectives found that English allegedly stole nearly $40,000 in 2019, made nearly $90,000 in un-authorized charges in 2020, more than $100,000 in 2021, nearly $125,000 in 2022, more than $123,000 in 2023, and more than $90,000 in 2024.
Church releases statement following embezzlement
The funds English allegedly stole were used to pay for expenses such as Amazon and Walmart purchases, SeaWorld tickets, concert tickets, baseball tickets, shoes, hotel stays, flights, cruises, Airbnb rentals, a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon, and other personal expenses.
Court records show English, then known as Melissa Rhoden, was going through a divorce from 2019 to 2023.
‘This is a significant breach of trust that has deeply impacted the church community,’ said Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper. ‘The suspect abused her position of trust for years, using church funds meant for ministry and community service to instead fund her personal lifestyle. Our office is committed to seeking justice for the victims of this extensive financial crime.’
Forrest Jones, a pastor at Amelia Baptist Church, called the situation ‘incredibly hurtful and difficult.’
‘While events such as this could cause us either to feel despair or have a sense of superiority, the Bible is clear that we all have a sinful nature and thus we must approach this with humility,’ Jones said, ‘because apart from Christ we are all capable of much worse (Matthew 15:19).’
Church collecting wealth
A warrant was issued on March 25, 2025. Following a ‘Wanted Wednesday’ post on April 9, 2025, English was located and detained in Baker County.
Not immediately clear is how the former employee was able to continue her fraudulent activities ongoing, which presumably only emboldened her to continue the rort year after year. Until eventually she couldn’t. Amen.
Others meanwhile wondered how the church itself was able to collect such vast swaths of wealth year over year and why the church failed to oversee the propriety of funds it was receiving. And spending.
