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Eddie Hilburn, an associate pastor for The Woodlands First Baptist Church in The Woodlands, Texas, was arrested yesterday on a prostitution charge.
A pastor in The Woodlands was arrested on a prostitution-related charge.
Eddie Hilburn, who is an Associate Pastor at The Woodlands First Baptist Church, is charged with prostitution.
Hilburn, 52, was arrested on Wednesday.
The church released a statement that read, “The Woodlands First Baptist Church is still gathering information regarding our staff member Eddie Hilburn. We can assure you that a statement will be issued once all facts are known, and administration has had an opportunity to review them. We appreciate your patience in the meantime, and we continue to look to God for guidance.”
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Hilburn appeared in court Thursday morning just hours after he had been arrested in a hotel.
Charging documents allege Hilburn paid an undercover Harris County Sheriff’s deputy $80 for sexual activities. Soon after the alleged money exchange, deputies moved in to arrest him.
According to Hilburn’s bio page:
Eddie began serving at The Woodlands First in July of 2012. He has served as Senior Pastor of churches in Texas, has planted a church in Wisconsin, and has served as student pastor.
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In addition to graduating from East Texas Baptist University, Eddie also earned a Masters of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
At the Woodlands First, Eddie coaches other staff members as they live out their calling, leads the reFresh Wednesday night event, and occasionally preaches on Sunday. Eddie feels like he wins when the other staff members win.
Update
On January 8, 2018, CBS-13 reported:
A pastor in The Woodlands who was arrested last summer on a charge of soliciting a prostitute pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year of probation.
Eddie Hilburn, 53, was arrested at a hotel in July 2017 during a sting operation.
READ MORE: The Woodlands pastor charged with prostitutionAccording to charging documents, Hilburn paid an undercover Harris County Sheriff’s deputy $80 for sexual activities. Soon after money changed hands, deputies moved in and arrested him.
Hilburn served as an associate pastor at the Woodlands First Baptist Church. After he was released on bond from the Harris County Jail, Hilburn resigned from his post.
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Curious as to why the other 15 men charged in this sting were not singled out? Will their jobs and lives be in extra turmoil because the media choose #16 – the pastor? It’s not fair. I am sure there was at least one more man on Wednesday night in Houston that is a public figure, oil executive or businessman. The media is a three ring circus right now and I will always cheer when President Trump gives them a piece of his mind.
One reason is that ministers purport to speak for God. Evangelicals,in particular, believe the Bible is the moral standard all of us must live by. So, when a preacher doesn’t practice what he preaches, his misconduct/sin/crime is newsworthy.
Funny that you mention Trump, a despicable man with the morals of an alley cat. I suppose you think pussy-grabbing is okay.
I can’t stand fake ministers! Glad you called him out. Very few honest Christians. Most live double lives – just like Trump! Evangelicals suck too. How can they support Trump, a guy who slept with a porn star! Oh, that’s right, I forgot – Jimmy Swaggart is a Christian. What?!?!
I do not rejoice in our punitive system catching some tradesperson or average Joe paying for sex. We show contempt for sex workers with our lack of medical/psychological care for them, our abrupt disdain for their choices. We allow pimps to make sex workers’ lives miserable because we want to see them suffer rather than get help to free themselves from a difficult way of life. But that is not the subject of this post publishing yet another preacher with his dick wagging.
What does make me happy is to see a preacher have to face his true Christianity, the ‘contradiction’ of it. In that moment he has an opportunity to realize the false way he lives, the dishonest message he spreads to save, I mean, harm others. That is a positive development but does not mean that he will change his ways. It is more likely that he will move to another church or plead with the congregation to forgive him as Christ forgives them. The cycle of harm is designed to go on just like Billy Graham’s endless chorus of Just As I Am played over and over as the sheep are gathered.