Two Atlanta-area attorneys and a Chicago lawyer were the primary legal advisers on last month’s multimillion-dollar sale of a Decatur megachurch. The sale came four months after the death of the church’s founder, Earl Paulk.

In the transaction, Chapel Hill Harvester Church Inc. sold its Cathedral at Chapel Hill building for $17.6 million to Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church Inc. The sale includes the church’s 300,000-square-foot, 6,000-seat auditorium and other facilities. The sale includes the 50 acres surrounding the cathedral. The church is located on Flat Shoals Parkway in south DeKalb County.

Burroughs Johnson Hopewell partner Robert Burroughs in Lithonia was outside counsel to Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church. Burroughs is a real estate attorney and has handled transactions involving residential, commercial and multifamily properties. Burroughs’ law partner, Mereda Davis Johnson, is married to U.S. Rep. Henry C. “Hank” Johnson Jr.

Matthew Wilkins of King & Yaklin in Marietta advised Chapel Hill Harvester Church, according to Brandi Paulk, executive administrator of the Cathedral at Chapel Hill. Wilkins, a litigator, serves as general counsel to Chapel Hill Harvester Church and the church did not hire an additional real estate attorney for work on the sale, Paulk said.

Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg partner Peter Barrow in Chicago advised the lead lender on the deal, Herring Bank of Amarillo, Texas.

Paulk, who died of cancer on Mar. 29 at the age of 81, founded Chapel Hill Harvester Church in 1972. The church experienced rapid growth and constructed its new building in 1991.

However, Paulk soon became ensnared in multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. In one case, Mona Brewer alleged that Paulk manipulated her into having an affair with him from 1989 to 2003 by telling her it was her only path to salvation and leading her to believe she was called to be in a sexual relationship with him in order to keep him and his ministry alive. Brewer sued Paulk, his brother, Don, and Chapel Hill Harvester Church.

In Feb. 2008, DeKalb Superior Court Judge Mark Anthony Scott dismissed Brewer’s claims and ordered her to pay $1 million in attorney fees to the Paulks. But in February of this year, the state Court of Appeals reversed the lower court ruling.