I read the article without watching the video so didn’t hear the amens. You’re right, how my fellow church members reacted and were handling it would inform any decision I made. I think I was just assuming that Pastor Jim taking a nutty during a service would be universally considered unacceptable.
“Wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?” 
-d&r-
You could have had a V8 :smack:
This is an old tradition among preachers to give a [del]flock of congenital idiots[/del] congregation a sense of moral superiority by selecting out a single member for group scorn, while at the same time reinforcing the preacher’s status as the leader and ultimate superior among the group. I suspect they’ll use a shill if the group is too docile to start with.
It would have been great if someone had gone all Harper Valley on this pastor…
Incidentally, could we maybe discuss this without the various smug “Atheister-than-thou” commentary? It sorta reeks of thread shitting.
EDIT: I don’t mind if you’re an atheist. I don’t even mind if you want to mention that you are, but maybe you should have something to actually contribute too, is all.
I’m sorry, but your authority isn’t recognized here in the Kingdom of the Video Room.
Seriously, atheist myself and do agree that all of the “I’m an atheist so this’d never happen to me” posts are a bit pointless. (Even though I kinda did one myself.)
I suppose it would further disillusion me with church, like what happened both of the last two times I was in a church, 13 years ago (and those experiences weren’t nearly as bad–they were from asshole church members, not from clergy). If for some reason I did want to keep going to church I’d find a less hateful, creepy one. Maybe start with the nearby Christian church with a rainbow flag hanging up. They seem nice.
It comes as quite a surprise to some that they have a pastor…
It is important to understand that everyone who is old enough has a pastor. Some have their first pastor at an earlier age than others, but barring any medical issues, everyone has a pastor eventually.
Getting your first pastor can happen without warning. You might not be aware of what’s happening or why. It’s important you are educated. Know that you may experience pain or cramping with your pastor. Your pastor may be thick and chunky, or quite thin. Your first pastor may even be white or yellow in color! Feeling unclean and/or disgusted is both normal and perfectly acceptable.
Above all else, remember you are not alone! Friends who have already got their first pastors may be willing to share their own experiences and help you to cope. Also be sure to talk to mom! She’s seen many a pastor and will have great tips to help you deal with any number of issues you might encounter.
Be proud, be strong, be YOU!
Well, first off, I’d need to define what I’d do if it were just some random pastor instead of mine. Like maybe happened after my pastor was no longer with us. My reaction would be pretty close to Shodan’s, except, as I said, I’d first assume that something had gone wrong mentally, rather than first assuming sin. But, still, the procedure is mostly the same, just without the “treat them like the heathen” part. You try to get him to see reason about it, first in private, then with a few other people to help, then you relieve him of duty and possibly try to get him help for his problem. And if I can’t get anyone to help me with step 2, I leave the church.
And, honestly, I can’t see there being much a difference in any of those other than the military one. In that one, as you said, there’s a power structure that makes things difficult. All I guess I could do is make discreet inquiries to see if that sort of thing is acceptable, and hope I didn’t get caught, as that could make my life even worse.
Then again, those types of concerns are exactly why, even if I supported the cause, I could never join a military organization. Personal freedom is too important to me.
I agree, but didn’t have the cajones to say anything. I’m agnostic and haven’t sat in front of a sermonizing minister in a long time. I don’t have it in me to keep up the charade of respect for the pageantry of it all.
But the dilemma is a real one. I imagine that there are good folks who attend that church who don’t know what to do now that their pastor has revealed he’s an egomaniac. The majority are NOT going to become atheist because of it. So what should they do?
Find a church they like.
Well, even in churches of that type, the pastor does not generally have unilateral authority, in spite of what he may think. Sometimes there is an authorising body that (in effect) licences the church and pastor, and who can withdraw that licence. This is certainly the case for tradition denominations such as Episcopalian, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Methodist churches, with a top-down hierarchy. It may be the case for Southern Baptist churches and pentecostal/apostolic churches, although not always. Even in independent churches, there will often be an eldership that exercises a measure of oversight, maybe a management committee including the church officers and congregants, and often an appointing committee. All these (while giving suitable deference to the appointed pastor), should also exercise right judgement and act appropriately in a circumstance such as this. Church treasurers in particular tend to get somewhat worked up if the preaching style starts to impact on the giving.
I’ve been in a church where the minister crossed a line, and made an inappropriate comment to someone in their own home. To be fair, the target of his comment was also out of line with an aggressive challenge to the authority of the minister and vestry to set the content of small group studies. Regardless of the circumstance, the comment was hurtful and should have not been made. While the situation was smoothed over, it was damaging, and a number of congregants did leave as a pattern of similar minor gaffes occurred. We also considered leaving, but felt called to stay. In the end, the vicar retired early, I think recognising that he had lost some of his judgement and was losing the support of those he needed to remain. I applauded his judgement to go when he did - things could have got difficult and there would have been considerable hurt involved in a forced removal. That sort of thing can easily destroy a church.
My grandmother (mom’s mother) insisted that my sister and I be raised in church. My parents had quit going to church before I was born, so we went to the Pentecostal church with Nana. I was five or six when we started and my sister is three years older than me.
When my sister was 15, she and her best friend started working in the nursery taking care of the babies and toddler during the worship service. My sister was in the restroom changing a baby’s diaper when some bitch peeked in and didn’t see her. She went to the Pastor and he went off on a tirade at the start of the service, mentioning my sister by name and saying that she had left the nursery unattended and publicly scolded her!
He refused to listen to reason. My sister was in the bathroom with one baby, but the door was open and she could see the only other child sleeping in a crib 15 feet away.
My sister was totally justified in being totally embarrassed and extremely pissed off! She called my mom (we lived less than a mile from the church) crying to tell her what happened and the way the Pastor talked about her and to her.
My mom put on a dress and heels and showed up about half way through the service. She marched down the aisle of the church and started yelling at the Pastor, calling him an SOB, MoFo and everything else in the book….in front of a congregation of 200+ people! She demanded that the come down from the pulpit and apologize to my sister at that moment or she was coming up there to drag him down! And he did……
That was the last time that my sister and I ever went to Southside Assembly of God….and I’m sure they all think my Mom is going straight to Hell….but the asshole Pastor (in his 60s) was caught fucking a the Asst. Pastor’s 15-year old daughter a few months later! They tried to cover up, but my mom made sure that the police, Child Protective Services and the both local newspapers got involved……the child-molesting bastard killed himself a few weeks after it all came to light! Good riddance!
My wife and I spent a whirlwind summer driving across the USA once; and we attended Mass at a Catholic church in either Pittsburg or Frontenac, KS.
It was like we stepped back in time pre vatican II. In addition to communion being offered at the alter rail, the priest yelled at everyone during the communal prayers: “This is communal prayer everyone! All you turtles speed up! All you jackrabbits slow down!”
Since attendance is voluntary, I assume most of the congregation is all good w/ Pastor Standridge. Whatever floats their boat…
You have to figger a good part of the populace is OK with being bossed around and feeling like their minister is so strong in the Lord that he’ll take on anything and anyone. He fills a niche.
I’m not suggesting this about Standridge in particular, but I’m never surprised when this sort of guy ends up being the one secretly boinking the church secretary.
So it was in Latin? “Hic est cunctis communis oratio! Omnes turtures acceleraretur! Omnes jackrabbits tardus!”
Win!
To the OP, assuming there was no mental disability, or no really colorful history that would put the whole thing in context, I’d either be petitioning for a new pastor or a new church.
I did have a pastor joke a couple of times in the service about my tendency to fall asleep (I work night shift) but it was affectionate & certainly not a secret, so it was all good.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. If the majority of the congregants like that style of preaching, then so be it. Leave if you don’t like it. Stay if you do. If enough people leave, he’ll be out of a job.
It’s very democratic. Seems very American (the process, not his behavior).