CITY Harvest churchgoers rallied around their leaders a day after news that Pastor Kong Hee and 16 other church members were being investigated for allegedly misusing church funds.

City Harvest probed Click on thumbnails below to view. Story continues after photos. (Photos: ST)

Followers said they were praying and confident that the church of 33,000 worshippers would ride out the storm. A group pledging support has been set up on Facebook.

But the probe has begun to take a toll. City Harvest's church in Kuala Lumpur announced on its Twitter site yesterday that its service with Pastor Kong this weekend has been cancelled. No reason was given.

Not quite an ordinary church

CITY Harvest Church is somewhat different from an ordinary place of worship - it uses stars and pop culture to stay relevant, counts a number of prominent business leaders among its congregation and its events have links all around the world.

Even founder Kong Hee calls himself a businessman on the church website and, together with his singer wife Ho Yeow Sun, owns two companies.

One is International Harvest, which company records say is a provider of corporate training services and motivational courses.

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