Newton, 50, is the bishop overseeing five small Pentecostal churches in Georgia, including the church here, where he is also pastor, and another in Savannah, which is led by his sister-in-law, Gail Norwood.

“He’s a very caring, very loving bishop,” Norwood said Sunday after a weekly service at her church, Holy Zion Holiness, attended by a dozen adults and a handful of children. “Bishop Newton and my sister, Jackie, have all our support.”

Newton took over as bishop of the churches about 10 years ago, after the death of Talmadge Wilder, who was the founder of their small denomination and Newton’s father-in-law. On Sunday, Norwood asked the congregation to pray for Cecil Newton and his family. After the service, she said the controversy had not disrupted the congregation. “We are at peace,” she said.

Cam Newton has been the breakout star of the college season, a Heisman Trophy front-runner who had made a remarkable comeback after leaving the University of Florida in the wake of being charged with burglary, larceny and obstruction of justice for possessing what the police said was a stolen laptop. (Those charges were dropped.) It has since been reported that Cam Newton left rather than face expulsion or suspension, in part for three instances of academic cheating.

Newton, who has said he left Florida because Tim Tebow, the star quarterback, was returning for his senior year, transferred to Blinn College, a junior college in Texas, and played one season. He committed to Auburn last Dec. 31. Regarding academic cheating, Cam Newton has said that he will not respond to every news media account.