UPC Pastor Convicted of Slander in Pulpit!

[Margies3]

Originally Posted by OilCityCajun

Hmmmm! Apparently Mr. Driver has a thing for pastors' daughters. I wonder what will happen to the second marriage when/if Fogarty moves on and is replaced. Will pastor 3 = marriage 3?

My point exactly. I predict that it is very likely that Pastor Fogarty is going to find that defending his daughter's indiscretion is going to be one of the costliest mistakes of his life (in more ways than just dollars). That's too sad.

[Blubayou]

I have read most of this thread and the information on the Spiritual Abuse thread and I find the whole ordeal so sad! It really grieves me to see this kind of thing happening in a church; and I know it happens all too often. I am conflicted in that - if the report we have is correct- what happened was wrong and unjust- but I hate to see dirty laundry aired for all to see. This kind of thing happens when we box ourselves into a corner of "Do right or get out" and leave behind the principles of extending grace and mercy. The disturbing trend I have observed is that we have lost our focus- spreading the gospel to the lost.

[Scott Hutchinson]

Originally Posted by Blubayou

I have read most of this thread and the information on the Spiritual Abuse thread and I find the whole ordeal so sad! It really grieves me to see this kind of thing happening in a church; and I know it happens all too often. I am conflicted in that - if the report we have is correct- what happened was wrong and unjust- but I hate to see dirty laundry aired for all to see. This kind of thing happens when we box ourselves into a corner of "Do right or get out" and leave behind the principles of extending grace and mercy. The disturbing trend I have observed is that we have lost our focus- spreading the gospel to the lost.

Well said.

[Sweet Pea]

Originally Posted by Blubayou

I have read most of this thread and the information on the Spiritual Abuse thread and I find the whole ordeal so sad! It really grieves me to see this kind of thing happening in a church; and I know it happens all too often. I am conflicted in that - if the report we have is correct- what happened was wrong and unjust- but I hate to see dirty laundry aired for all to see. This kind of thing happens when we box ourselves into a corner of "Do right or get out" and leave behind the principles of extending grace and mercy. The disturbing trend I have observed is that we have lost our focus- spreading the gospel to the lost.

Thank you for this post. I wrote out something very similar earlier today, but didn't feel that it would be accepted if I posted it - since I had contributed to the thread.

[smurfette]

Originally Posted by Blubayou

I have read most of this thread and the information on the Spiritual Abuse thread and I find the whole ordeal so sad! It really grieves me to see this kind of thing happening in a church; and I know it happens all too often. I am conflicted in that - if the report we have is correct- what happened was wrong and unjust- but I hate to see dirty laundry aired for all to see. This kind of thing happens when we box ourselves into a corner of "Do right or get out" and leave behind the principles of extending grace and mercy. The disturbing trend I have observed is that we have lost our focus- spreading the gospel to the lost.

I agree. I think this also grieves the Lord. I went to a UPC church for over 15 years and watched people get called out over the pulpit all the time. So many people left deeply wounded. Always wondering when the ax would fall. It's about time this stops and the pastors are held accountable and quit using the "touch not Gods annointed" to justify what they are doing. Thank the Lord I've been going to a wonderful UPC church for the last 4 years.

[Cindy]

Originally Posted by smurfette

I agree. I think this also grieves the Lord. I went to a UPC church for over 15 years and watched people get called out over the pulpit all the time. So many people left deeply wounded. Always wondering when the ax would fall. It's about time this stops and the pastors are held accountable and quit using the "touch not Gods annointed" to justify what they are doing. Thank the Lord I've been going to a wonderful UPC church for the last 4 years.

I had not heard of anything like this before I came on AFF. It still shocks me and makes me sad, and grateful. Grateful that all the Pastor's I have known in my life, were humble before God, and loving souls.

[Margies3]

Originally Posted by smurfette

I agree. I think this also grieves the Lord. I went to a UPC church for over 15 years and watched people get called out over the pulpit all the time. So many people left deeply wounded. Always wondering when the ax would fall. It's about time this stops and the pastors are held accountable and quit using the "touch not Gods annointed" to justify what they are doing. Thank the Lord I've been going to a wonderful UPC church for the last 4 years.

Originally Posted by Cindy

I had not heard of anything like this before I came on AFF.It still shocks meand makes me sad, and grateful. Grateful that all the Pastor's I have known in my life, were humble before God, and loving souls.

I agree, Cindy. I sat under 5 different pastors in the UPC and never saw anyone called out like this. I did see it happen in one of those off-the-wall-non-affiliated-with-anyone-tent-meeting-things that pop up every now and then. That's why I avoid those like the plague even now!

I really do believe that pastors like this are the EXCEPTION and not the rule. I had 4 wonderful pastors. Ok, so I had one not so wonderful one. But he still never did anything even close to this! Honestly, I am not UPC anymore. But it is definately NOT because I suffered abuse of any kind. It is simply a choice I made.

It is very, very sad that there are pastors like this tho because unfortunately, they tend to give the rest of the good ones a bad name. People want to lump them all together. That's not right.

[smurfette]

Originally Posted by Cindy

I had not heard of anything like this before I came on AFF.It still shocks meand makes me sad, and grateful. Grateful that all the Pastor's I have known in my life, were humble before God, and loving souls.

You know Cindy, it's refreshing to know that all UPC churches out there aren't like that. It's just hard when it's your first experience (and for some the only) in UPC is like that. Every church service someone was always getting "gang prayed for" because the whole church knew every week who "messed up".
I'm so thankful that I've now seen the flip side of wrath and judgement. Grace and mercy is a beautiful thing.

[Cindy]

Originally Posted by smurfette

You know Cindy, it's refreshing to know that all UPC churches out there aren't like that. It's just hard when it's your first experience (and for some the only) in UPC is like that. Every church service someone was always getting "gang prayed for" because the whole church knew every week who "messed up".
I'm so thankful that I've now seen the flip side of wrath and judgement. Grace and mercy is a beautiful thing.

I guess because it reminds me of when I was in school, if you misbehaved in class, and got called up front by the teacher. The humiliation of that was horrible. I just cannot imagine a Pastor doing that to someone in church.

[StillStanding]

Originally Posted by Cindy

I had not heard of anything like this before I came on AFF. It still shocks me and makes me sad, and grateful. Grateful that all the Pastor's I have known in my life, were humble before God, and loving souls.

I never witnessed anything like this, but I have heard many stories from friends that it did happen to. It appears that teenagers are the biggest target when they start to question or rebel against church teachings. Unfortunately, every person that I know that this happened to left the church for good after being humiliated. I have yet to see a positive result from the public approach.