There are a lot of Christians sad, angry and confused right now. Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley, leader of the Lakeland Florida Revival, announced that he and his wife Shonnah are divorcing.

“It is with considerable sadness then, that we must temper the jubilation we know you all feel with the sobering news that Todd and Shonnah Bentley are presently experiencing significant friction in their relationship and are currently separated,” the statement read.

“We want to affirm that there has been no sexual immorality on the part of either Todd or Shonnah, nor has there ever been. Undoubtedly the pressures and the burden of the Outpouring, which approaches 144 days on August 23rd, have helped to create an atmosphere of fatigue and stress that has exacerbated existing issues in their relationship,” the statement continued.

Peter Wagner, founder of the International Coalition of Apostles, is offering a lengthier statement on Canadian Evangelist Todd Bentley’s break down. The statement reads as follows:

I was in the San Francisco airport on my way to Singapore and Indonesia when the news of Todd Bentley’s separation from his wife became public on August 12. When I arrived back home last week, I found that Doris had received and replied to around 1,700 emails and the stack of correspondence on my desk was unbelievable. It took me the rest of the week to catch up!

During the week I was gone, a major watershed occurred regarding the Lakeland situation as most of you would know. We are now on a new playing field. Lakeland Outpouring I, in which Todd Bentley was the main figure, is now history. Lakeland Outpouring II, in which Stephen Strader of Ignited Church is the main figure, has begun. The Outpouring started in a local church, went to a tent, and now is back in the local church. My suggestion is that we no longer use the term “Lakeland Outpouring” but rather distinguish between Lakeland I and Lakeland II because they are very different.

Was excessive drinking another reason evangelist Todd Bentley, leader of the Lakeland Florida Revival, stepped down and will divorce wife Shonnah?

On August 15th the board of directors of Bentley’s Fresh Fire Ministries (FFM) said there was an “unhealthy relationship on an emotional level with a female member of his staff.” C. Peter Wagner, California pastors’ Che Ahn, Bill Johnson and others commissioned and prophesied to Bentley in a televised service by God TV and offered “apostolic oversight” to the Lakeland Revival. Events have proven the oversight came to late to save the ‘Florida outpouring’ and Bentley stepped down.

Now The Voice magazine has learned that “excessive drinking” may also have been involved. In a letter to ministry partners John Arnott, founder of Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship and member of Wagner’s International Coalition of Apostles wrote, “Further it has now come out that there has been some inappropriate behavior, both with excessive drinking and also with a female member of his staff.”

Sadly this story continues to develop.