Never mind Bishop Eddie Long and his ill-timed manfests. Atlanta’s favorite anti-gay megadaddy preacher knows how to spin some positive PR from his pulpit at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. He did so again on Sunday, this time bragging to his congregants that he and his wife – yes, yes, throw in another mention of the wife to offset allegations that he’s a manwhore with other men – voluntarily took a 40-percent pay cut. Long says the economy has tightened the purse strings for the Lithonia mega church, which has also sacked two full-time staffers and cut salaries by 10 percent, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Is it a coincidence that Long made the news public as the first mediation session with the four men who sued over allegations of sexual misconduct and otherwise uber gay behavior with the pastor wrap up? Probably not. Long, and by extension the church, pleading poor as they prepare to write big fat checks – mostly likely with the amount undisclosed – to quietly quash the lawsuits is a good move. So is telling his church that he’s leading by example in becoming more frugal in tough times. But where Long and his PR machine erred is that a spokesperson professed ignorance and couldn’t confirm Long’s compensation, yet the pastor tells church members he’s “not hiding anything.” They’ve done this two-step around the truth before when the lawsuits first began to surface last September. The church tightening its belt also begs the question: Are church members donating less and fleeing for a less controversial place of worship now that Long – allegedly – has sullied himself in a sea of muscle T-shirts, sperm, dirty men, shacking up with other men on overseas trips and demands that young men call him daddy? Of course, it’s all the work of the media. Long once again on Sunday blamed the press and whined again that he and the church are “under attack.”

Money wasn't the only thing on the pastor's mind. He spoke out against the media and said New Birth is "under attack," which brought cheers from many in the sanctuary. The bulk of his sermon dealt with maintaining faith through adversity. He said people often ask him how he can get up and go to church on Sunday mornings when people are talking about him. Long said, "Nothing can take away my integrity; nothing can take away my faith."