This is the latest installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.
You know how us Catholic girls can be We make up for so much time a little too late I never forgot it, confusing as it was No fun with no guilt feelings The sinners, the saviors, the lover-less priests I’ll see you next Sunday
We all had our reasons to be there We all had a thing or two to learn We all needed something to cling to So we did
I sang Alleluia in the choir I confessed my darkest deeds to an envious man My brothers they never went blind for what they did But I may as well have In the name of the Father, the Skeptic and the Son I had one more stupid question
We all had our reasons to be there We all had a thing or two to learn We all needed something to cling to So we did
What I learned I rejected but I believe again I will suffer the consequence of this inquisition If I jump in this fountain, will I be forgiven
We all had our reasons to be there We all had a thing or two to learn We all needed something to cling to So we did
We all had delusions in our head We all had our minds made up for us We had to believe in something So we did
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
I celebrated my sixty-sixth birthday on Monday. I spent fifty years attending and pastoring Evangelical churches. While I began life as a hardcore Independent Fundamentalist Baptist — a sect that positions itself on the extreme right of the Evangelical tent — over the years I drifted slowly leftward, always Evangelical, but more and more liberal socially and politically. I am a perfect example of Evangelical evolution.
One constant during my time in the Evangelical bubble was the war against American culture. While some Evangelicals are counter-cultural, most are anti-cultural. Their goal is to burn the house to the ground and build a brand-spanking new one from scratch. The goal is nothing short of Christian theocracy — the establishment of Jesus as ruler and king and the Bible (as interpreted by Evangelicals) as the law of the land.
Evangelicals have spent the past five decades building what they perceive to be God’s kingdom on earth. Initially, they abandoned secular/cultural institutions and built Christian versions of these things, walling themselves off from the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines at the gate. Over time, Evangelicals became restless within the walls of their metaphorical celestial city. Tired of cheap Christian replacements for everything, Evangelicals flung open the gate, left their walled city, and, en masse, stormed the public square. Realizing waiting on the second coming of Jesus was a wasted effort, Evangelicals decided to use political power and sheer force to build Christ’s kingdom on earth. Abandoning piety, Evangelicals sold their souls to the Republican Party and a plethora of churches, pastors, and parachurch organizations that are determined to reclaim the United States for their peculiar version of God — by force, if necessary.
Today, Evangelical culture warriors are fighting battles on numerous fronts, everything from banning books, boycotting woke corporations, criminalizing abortion, violently pushing LGBTQ people back into the closet, to rolling back one hundred years of social progress. We are now seeing an alarming uptick in Evangelicals taking over school boards and other government institutions. And once they do, they make their agenda clear: establishing a theocracy.
Evangelicals played a big part in the January 6, 2021 attempt to overthrow the U.S. government. They continue to support Donald Trump, and many QAnon and militia members are Evangelical theologically. While Evangelical churches are in numeric decline, as a political and social force they are more powerful today than they ever have been. Most of the most extreme right-wing members of the U.S. House and Senate are Evangelical Christians (or conservative Catholics). The same can be said at the state level too. While progressives and liberals were busy fiddling while Rome burned, Evangelicals have orchestrated a takeover of government at every level. I think I can safely say that if Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, or Mike Pence is elected president in 2024, we could see the collapse of our liberal democracy.
I follow and read scores of Evangelical blogs and websites. I also listen to Evangelical podcasts and sermons. Here’s what I have noticed: an uptick in violent, extremist talk. Sermons and articles about the coming collapse of Western Civilization are common. Church members are encouraged and challenged to do everything they can to rip American culture away from the wicked hands of liberals, progressives, atheists, abortionists, evolutionists, and any other demographic deemed an affront to the thrice holy God of Evangelical Christianity.
One phrase I’ve seen increasingly used in Evangelical blog posts, “news” articles, and sermons is this: a canary in the coal mine.
An allusion to caged canaries (birds) that miners would carry down into the mine tunnels with them. If dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide collected in the mine, the gases would kill the canary before killing the miners, thus providing a warning to exit the tunnels immediately.
Something whose sensitivity to adverse conditions makes it a useful early indicator of such conditions; something which warns of the coming of greater danger or trouble by a deterioration in its health or welfare.
Evangelicals see American culture, government institutions, corporations, and Christian sects as coal mines, each with a canary monitoring the health of these underground mines. Everywhere Evangelicals look they see canaries struggling to breathe as the air of secularism, communism, socialism, humanism, and atheism choke the canaries to death. Never asked by Evangelicals is whether it is Evangelicalism, Trumpism, political extremism, or open warfare against public institutions that is the culprit. Lacking awareness, Evangelicals look for socialists, communists, secularists, and ho-mo-sex-u-als under every bed, sure that once these evil Satanic forces are eliminated, the kingdom of God will be established on earth. (Ironically, these beliefs diametrically oppose their eschatological beliefs around the rapture, the great tribulation, the millennial reign of Christ, and the eternal Kingdom of God.)
What are the canaries Evangelicals see in the proverbial coal mine?
Egalitarianism
Socialist government programs
Open southern border
Abortion (especially morning after drugs)
Certain forms of birth control
Euthanasia (physician-assisted suicide)
Marijuana legalization
LGBTQ-friendly books in libraries
Corporate friendliness toward LGBTQ people
The very existence of LBGTQ people
Hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery
Pride month
Pride parades
Drag queens
Drag shows
Atheism
Humanism
Gun control laws
Separation of church and state
Women serving as pastors
I have heard Evangelical preachers and talking heads mention every one of these canaries in recent months, using their sermons, blog posts, and podcasts as effective tools to whip up mass hysteria. And it’s working. Evangelicals think the United States is on a slippery slope, and if they don’t stop the slide, Christianity will be outlawed and its adherents hunted down and imprisoned. Evangelicals believe they are currently being persecuted for their beliefs. None of this, of course, is true. The slippery slope is actually a horizontal road called progress. What Evangelicals want to do is turn our culture around and push it back to the 1950s — a time when women were barefoot and pregnant and keepers of the home; a time when Blacks knew their place and LGBTQ people were buried deep in the closet; a time when abortion and birth control were illegal and homosexuality was a criminal offense; a time when Mexicans picked our tomatoes and then went home and drag was only seen on Disney cartoons; a time when people went to church and school children prayed and read the Bible in public school classrooms.
Evangelicals are a large minority, but they do not have the numbers necessary to advance their pernicious agenda IF people with progressive values register and vote. The “nones” are now a similar-sized demographic to Evangelicals. Sadly, many “nones” don’t vote. If and when millennials, gen-x, and gen-z realize the power they hold in their hands, the Evangelical reign of terror will end. Like it or not, the only way to affect change in the United States is to vote. Posting social media memes and writing blog posts have their place, but the only way to push back is by voting. The canary in the coal mine of American democracy is voter registration and turnout. Republican politicians, who are largely conservative Christians, know this, and that’s why they are doing their damnedest to keep people — especially people of color — from voting. The only way to turn back these anti-democratic attempts is for people of every political persuasion to vote.
Do we need better candidates? Absolutely. I am sick of voting for the lesser of two evils. I am no longer a Democrat. I vote Democrat, but I no longer support many of the policies of the party. I didn’t vote for Hilliary Clinton or Joe Biden in the Democratic primaries. But when it came time to vote in the general election — knowing the threat many Republican candidates are to American democracy — I held my nose and voted for Clinton and Biden. I am a pragmatist. I must never let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
The canary in the coal mine of our republic is wheezing and gasping for breath. Another Trump (or DeSantis) presidency will draw the last bit of oxygen out of the air and kill off our grand democratic experiment.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
I was a teacher, a new term started and I soon worked out that one of my class of six-year-olds, Ben, was from a Christian family. He was a chatty child and told me of church picnics and events, of the preacher he liked because he always brought a ventriloquist’s puppet teddy for children’s talks. (Cringe, cringe from me – it was called Brother Ted.) Ben said the name of his church. Google told me it was a Brethren Assembly, KJV-only church, and in pictures of the congregation, l saw that some of the older women wore hats that looked like ones my old grandma wore in the 1940s and 1950s. No one was smiling.
I was fundamentalist, mainstream Baptist, so not as dyed-in-the-wool fundy as Ben’s church obviously was. Looking back, my dissonances had begun partly through knowing young Ben, but it was years before I faced them, until finally, they got to be too many and too compelling for me to disregard any longer.
Over the coming months, having Ben in my class certainly brought some of them to the fore. The children were allowed to bring a new toy they’d had for their birthday. Ben brought a spaceship and explained it to me. He detached the capsule and said two astronauts were bringing a dead astronaut back to earth in it. When they got here, they’d bury the deceased spaceman in the ground and include a shovel. Naturally, I asked, ‘Why a shovel?’ and he said it was so that the man could dig himself out of his grave when Jesus came back and go to Heaven with him. (I still can’t pass a cemetery without smiling at the thought of all those graves with shovels in them, laid across deceased Christians’ chests. Maybe it’s true, God helps those who help themselves.)
One day he told me he’d learned the memory verse for Sunday School. From the Google pictures I’d seen, the Sunday School children all appeared to be under ten years old. Ben said they were going to stand out front next Sunday and say it to the adults with actions. Then they’d repeat it ten times so the adults learned it too. It was Romans 6:23, ‘The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.’ (I daren’t ask what the actions to Romans 6:23 were.) What a verse to be indoctrinating small children with.
One morning, Ben’s mother asked to speak to me to tell me Ben might be upset that week, his grandad had just died, and Ben had also seen a funeral group leaving a house in their street and asked about death. As I expected, Ben wanted to tell me about this. He said neither grandad, nor the deceased man in his street, went to church. He paused and then added, ‘But they were both kind, good people, so I think they’re in Heaven now.’
What a mash-up that poor child was being indoctrinated with. They were told every week that they must accept Jesus as their Saviour or they wouldn’t go to Heaven when they died. Or when you die, do you stay dead in the cemetery with your shovel till Jesus returns? Or does God let good people into Heaven the minute they pop their clogs, even if they didn’t go to church? Which is it?
I wonder what happened to Ben. I do hope his keen mind enabled him to figure it all out and escape that rigid Brethren upbringing. He’s not the only one, of course, confused by the dissonances, contradictions, and clear-as-mud commands of the Bible — lots of us were — until we finally made our escape. I hope so very much that Ben did too.
(He also told me one day of a disappointment. He’d been assigned the part of Jesus in a church drama about the call of Matthew. I said that was a very important part. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I wanted to be Matthew, the Snack Collector.’ I guess in that role, he hoped he’d be able to legitimately extort chocolate bars or Pringles from the others in the play!)
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Marvin Mosely, the former pastor of God’s Missionary Church in Penns Creek, Snyder County, Pennsylvania, stands accused of sexually molesting three minor girls over a fifteen-year period. Mosely was also a pastor at several United Methodist congregations.
The former pastor of a church in Andreas was jailed Wednesday after being charged by West Penn Twp. police with indecent assault involving three juvenile girls between 2007 and 2012.
Marvin Leroy Mosley, 43, of 101 College Ave., Milroy, Mifflin County, was arraigned on two felony counts each of indecent assault of a person under the age of 13 and corruption of minors where the defendant is age 18 or above, and two misdemeanor counts of a person under the age of 16.
Mosley was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Andrew Serina, Orwigsburg, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison unable to post $100,000 straight cash bail.
Serina said Mosley is no longer a pastor at the United Methodist Church in West Penn Twp., but at the time of his arrest was serving at a church outside of Schuylkill County.
In paperwork filed with the court, Police Chief James Bonner said the charges stem from incidents that came to light on April 27 when a 26-year-old woman reported being sexually abused by “Pastor Marvin Mosley” from the time she was about 7 until she was about 15.
The woman said she knew Mosley from around 2003 when her parents became involved in God’s Missionary Church in Penns Creek. The woman said Mosley graduated from Penns View Bible Institute and was assigned to their church in 2003.
At one point in 2007, the woman said Mosley touched her inappropriately by putting his hands up under her dress.
Bonner said the woman also reported that two other girls relayed stories that they were assaulted by Mosley.
One was interviewed and reported Mosley having inappropriate contact with her starting when she was about 10.
On May 8, Bonner said, Mosley was interviewed and admitted touching the woman who reported the incident and said it began when he was about 28 and married. He also admitted touching the other two girls, Bonner said.
Bonner said Mosley said he had been married for about seven years at the time and did not know what sex was, adding he was “lost and unfulfilled.”
The chief said Mosley reported he had been touching the girls for a time span of 15 years and would go from one “to another.”
Bonner said Mosley said he would become sexually aroused when the girls walked into the room and that he did not think anything was wrong by touching them.
The defendant said he would cooperate with the investigation so the victims can get closure.
Court documents state the incident began with gestures such as Mosley pulling hair and tickling, and then led to him exposing and touching their private areas.
The affidavit says Mosley would often take the girls on four-wheeler rides in the woods where he would hug them and press his body against theirs.
Police say during an interview with Mosley, he admitted he did sexually assault the three victims for 15 years, switching from one girl to the other.
In the criminal complaint, Mosley told police when he was around the girls he felt a chemistry that he enjoyed and he was “too free with his hands”.
Mosley says he was starving for sex and he would get aroused when they would walk in the room and while playing with them, police say.
Mosley has been charged with indecent assault on a person less than 13 years of age, indecent assault on a person less than 16 years of age, and corruption of minors.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
This is the latest installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.
Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Summon Satan by Advance Base.
You had tried to summon Satan But screwed up the incantation & left an open portal On your parents’ kitchen wall & the demons you released that day Have stayed with you you along your way Screaming in your ear Kill them all
You can worry about the future You can worry about the past You can worry about how long This curse is going to last
You were walking through the park one night Angry looking for a fight When you heard a busker Playing accordion
You stuck him twice & down he fell Sealed your passage straight to hell & you knew at once That you would kill again
You can worry about the future You can worry about the past You can worry about how long This loneliness will last
You can worry about the future You can worry about the past You can worry about how long This curse is going to last
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
This is the latest installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.
Today’s Song of Sacrilege is You Might Not Like Her by Maddie Zahm.
If you would’ve told me I’d throw away my purity ring In the middle of an airport My younger self would laugh, would never believe that It’s against everything that we stood for She’d hate that I’ve smoked weed and cuss frequently And she’d try to convert everyone I call a bestie You’ll throw shots in the dark and black out at a bar There’ll be good, then there’ll be bad parts
Someday, you’ll kiss a girl and you’ll panic Some guy’ll break your heart and you’ll feel manic Then you’ll learn to let people have their opinions And talk about your traumas and like the body you live in Someday, you’ll learn to keep your own secrets Say you’re doin’ okay and really mean it You’ll lose your faith a bit and question if she’s you For a while you might not like her, but I do
Some days feel like whiplash, one-eighties, and you’ll hate that You’ll label yourself just to take it back Convinced you’re not bi ’cause you’re way too into guys And the first time you have sex, you’ll cry You’ll sometimes skip meals and numb how you feel And you’ll miss the old you, but here’s the deal That good girl you were was really fucking bad at being real
Someday, you’ll kiss a girl and you’ll panic Some guy’ll break your heart and you’ll feel manic Then you’ll learn to let people have their opinions And talk about your traumas and like the body you live in Someday, you’ll learn to keep your own secrets Say you’re doin’ okay and really mean it You’ll lose your faith a bit and question if she’s you For a while you might not like her, but I do
You might not like her You might not like her You might not like her You might not like her
Someday, you’ll think you disappoint your parents But they’ll love you, not despite, but regardless And you’ll learn to let people have shitty opinions And talk about your traumas and like the body you live in Someday, you’ll learn to keep your own secrets Say you’re doin’ okay and really mean it You’ll lose your faith a bit and question if she’s you And for a while you might not like her, but I do
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
This is the latest installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.
For starts What a waste to say the heart could feel apart Or feel complete, baby Why would you make out of words A cage for your own bird? When it sings so sweet The screaming, heaving, fuckery of the world? Why would you offer a name To the same old tired pain? When all things come from nothin’ And honey, if nothin’s gained?
My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand That’s how I know now that you understand
There’s no plan There’s no race to be run The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun There’s no plan There’s no kingdom to come I’ll be your man if you got love to get done Sit in and watch the sunlight fade Honey, enjoy, it’s gettin’ late There’s no plan There’s no hand on the rein As Mack explained, there will be darkness again
Let it hurl, let the awful song be heard Blue bird, I know your beat, baby But your secret is safe with me ‘Cause if secrets were like seeds Keep my body from the fire Hire a gardener for my grave Your secret is safe with me And if secrets were like seeds When I’m lying under marble Marvel at flowers you’ll have made
My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand That’s how I know now that you understand
There’s no plan There’s no race to be run The harder the pain, honey, the sweeter the song There’s no plan There’s no kingdom to come I’ll be your man if you got love to get done Sit in and watch the sunlight fade Honey, enjoy, it’s gettin’ late There’s no plan There’s no hand on the rein As Mack explained, there will be darkness again
My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand That’s how I know now that you understand How big the hourglass, how deep the sand I shouldn’t have hoped to know, but here I stand
There’s no plan There’s no race to be run The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun There’s no plan There’s no kingdom to come I’ll be your man if you got love to get done Sit in and watch the sunlight fade Honey, enjoy, it’s gettin’ late There’s no plan There’s no hand on the rein As Mack explained, there will be darkness again
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Derek Taplin, an Evangelical man who attended Prairie College (formerly Prairie Bible Institute) in Canada, stands accused of sexually assaulting teen boys under his care while he was a student.
A one-time student union president at a central Alberta Bible college has been charged with multiple sexual assaults at the school, alleged crimes dating back two decades.
Acting on a Canada-wide warrant, Winnipeg police on Tuesday arrested Derek Taplin, 43, who has been charged with sexually assaulting younger non-college students under his guidance while the accused attended Prairie College in Three Hills from 2002 to 2004.
At the time he attended the college, he was also a youth group leader, said RCMP.
“He was in charge of youth groups . . . (the alleged assaults happened) in all those scenarios,” said Sgt. Jamie Day of the Three Hills RCMP detachment.
On June 10, 2021, a man came forward to report he’d been sexually assaulted by Taplin when the accused attended the college in the town 134 kilometres northeast of Calgary, said Day.
Soon after that, three other men reported similar crimes, said the Mountie, adding it’s possible there are other unknown victims of Taplin.
“If someone’s out there, struggling and wants to tell their story, we’re here to help them,” said Day.
Day said some of the assaults occurred on the campus of the college, whose website says its educational programs are “all soaked — not sprinkled — with the Bible.”
“There were multiple assaults on each (victim),” Day said.
“They could have also happened in private settings, it didn’t have to happen on a (college) outing.”
Taplin was not employed by the college at the time of the alleged assaults, said RCMP.
All the victims at the time were classified as youths, he said, and one source said they were junior high students and not college attendees.
The accused was a student at the college from 2001 to 2004 and was president of the student union until he was banished from the role “because he wasn’t a model citizen but it had nothing to do with these alleged sexual assaults,” said college President Mark Maxwell.
….
The complexity, logistics and age of the alleged crimes explains why charges were laid nearly two years after the first complaint, said Day. Some of the victims and witnesses no longer live in Alberta “and we’ve had to confirm a lot of information and a lot of background,” he said.
Taplin is charged with four counts each of sexual exploitation of a young person, sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching.
He’s in the process of being returned to Alberta, said RCMP, where he’ll make a yet-to-be scheduled court appearance in a venue with close proximity to Three Hills.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
In 2018, Anthony Morris, pastor of St. Paul’s AME Zion Church in Toledo, Ohio, along with his wife (Zelda) and daughter (Kamali), were charged with aggravated robbery.
A downtown Toledo pastor and his family are accused of robbing a Sunday school teacher at the church over the weekend.
St. Paul’s AME Zion Church Pastor Anthony Morris, 49, along with his wife, Zelda Morris, 46, and 19-year-old daughter Kamali Morris, are each charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, a first-degree felony.
Nickema Turner, 39, of Maumee was teaching Sunday school at the church, 954 Belmont Ave., when the younger woman grabbed her by the hair, according to a Toledo police report.
Mrs. Morris then began punching Ms. Turner, police said. The pastor also pushed Ms. Turner to the ground, according to the police report.
During the assault, Mrs. Morris is accused of dumping items from Ms. Turner’s purse and taking them.
Ms. Turner attempted to recover her belongings when Mr. Morris allegedly pulled out a gun and pointed it at her, police said. The woman told police the pastor threatened to kill her.
Two prescription bottles, a Taser, and a cell phone were taken from Ms. Turner’s purse, according to the police report. The cell phone was recovered, but the glass was broken.
The Morris family, who reside in the 3000 block of Evergreen Road, fled the church before police arrived. The couple have been arrested, though the daughter has yet to be located, according to Toledo police.
According to The Christian Post, the charges against the trio were reduced. Anthony Morris was sentenced for assault; his wife, Zelda Morris was sentenced for criminal damaging/endangering, and their daughter, Kamali Morris was sentenced for disorderly conduct. Pastor Morris was given one-year probation. The other two were sentenced to a diversion program.
An Ohio pastor, his wife and daughter who were initially accused of robbing a Sunday school teacher and then fleeing their church minutes before the start of a worship service in February, were all sentenced Monday as it was revealed that the incident was triggered by an affair.
Pastor Anthony Morris, 49, of St. Paul’s AME Zion Church in Toledo, was sentenced for assault; his wife, Zelda Morris, 46, was sentenced for criminal damaging/endangering, and their daughter, Kamali Morris, 19, was sentenced for disorderly conduct, according to The Blade.
“I’m just sorry for my involvement, but the truth is out there,” Kamali Morris said, according to WTOL 11. “It came to surface, and I just thank God for that. That’s all I have to say.”
When the case was first reported in February, the Sunday school teacher, Nickema Turner, 39, of Maumee, who did not appear in court on Monday, reported the incident as a robbery during which the pastor’s daughter grabbed her by the hair as she taught Sunday school at the church. The pastor allegedly pushed Turner to the ground as his wife punched her. Zelda Morris was also accused of dumping items from Turner’s purse and taking them.
When Turner attempted to recover her belongings, Pastor Morris, with whom she’d had an affair, allegedly pulled out a gun, pointed it at her and threatened to kill her.
On Monday, Toledo Municipal Court Judge Amy Berling sentenced the pastor to one year of probation and ordered him to have no contact with Turner, The Blade said. His wife and daughter were each sentenced to six-week alternative programs.
Ronnie Wingate, a lawyer for both Zelda Morris and her daughter, revealed in a new narrative Monday that days before the church incident his client began receiving taunting text messages about her husband’s affair.
One of the first messages stated: “Your husband is having an affair with a member of the church.” The pastor’s wife was further called “stupid” for being in the dark about her husband’s infidelity.
The pastor’s attorney, Neil McElroy, told the court that Zelda Morris confronted her husband, and he “confessed and discussed the matter with his wife.”
On Feb. 18, the lawyers revealed, Zelda Morris and her daughter went to the basement of the church where Turner was teaching and a confrontation erupted.
“An argument ensued and the alleged victim became aggressive. At this point Ms. Kamali Morris stepped in to defend and prevent her mother from being assaulted by this complainant. A fight ensued,” Wingate said.
Members of the congregation rushed to the basement to break up the fight between the women. Wingate said once the fight ended, the pastor and his family tried to leave, but as they were walking to the door, Turner allegedly grabbed a metal instrument from the church’s kitchen and attacked them.
“Mr. Morris, who has a concealed-carry permit for protection of his own family, protection of his parishioners, had his firearm with him that day,” McElroy explained. “When the complainant came at them with all he knew was something from the kitchen that was metallic, he did in fact pull his weapon. He acknowledged that.”
McElroy said the gun was not loaded and no shots were fired. Turner backed down but she later filed a police report which resulted in the initial felony charges against the pastor and his family.
The pastor told the judge that he and his wife will be staying together. Elders at his church have also agreed to allow him to seek employment elsewhere.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
In 2018, Stacy Digby, a volunteer worship leader at Highfill United Methodist Church in Highfill, Arkansas, was arrested on charges of “sexual Indecency with a child and sexual assault in the first degree.” (Digby’s mother said he was the church’s worship leader. A Raw Story report says Digby was a lay leader.) Digby was also the mayor of Highfill, Arkansas. After his arrest, Digby resigned from office. According to an earlier NWA report, Digby has previously been investigated on suspicion of having an inappropriate relationship with a minor. When asked about the charges levied against Digby, Highfill pastor Russ Hall said, “I would vouch for his character.”
NWA reports:
On January 8, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a possible inappropriate relationship between Stacy Digby and a 17-year-old girl.
Community and church members voiced their concerns about the interactions between the girl and Digby. The police report lists one such instance at a local bowling alley where the bowling alley manager and a woman saw the teen sitting on Digby’s lap.
When taken in for questioning, the 17-year-old told police she did stay the night at Digby’s home, but only once when her sister, Digby’s kids and his girlfriend were there.
The teen told police she had known Digby for six years, but she started to really hang out with him about four years ago.
On January 10, police questioned her grandmother and younger sister. The younger sister confirmed the 17-year-old and Digby met up several times in public and private. She also stated Digby and the 17-year-old started the relationship about four years ago.
The younger sister also confirmed to police the 17-year-old kept in communication with Digby through text. The two would send each other numerous photos including pictures of genitalia.
On January 24, detectives went to Digby’s parent’s house, where they believed he was hiding his computer. During the conversation, Digby’s mother said he was the worship leader at Highfill United Methodist Church and was pretty much the second person in charge besides the actual pastor himself. After obtaining a warrant, detectives seized a 500GB external hard drive from Digby’s parent’s milk barn.
On January 29, investigators interviewed an ex-girlfriend of Digby’s about the case.
The ex-girlfriend told police Digby confessed to having pictures of the 17-year-old and to having sexual intercourse since she was 12 or 13 years old.
Digby was arrested on Wednesday, March 28, and faces charges of Sexual Indecency with a Child and Sexual Assault in the First Degree.
In 2019, the charges against Digby were dismissed.
Charges against former Highfill Mayor Stacy Digby have been dropped, Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith told 40/29 News, because the victim is not cooperating in the case.
Digby resigned from office shortly before his arrest in March 2018, according to Blake Webb, Highfill Police Chief. He was charged with Sexual Assault in the 1st Degree.
In January 2018, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office announced it was investigating Digby on the possibility of an inappropriate relationship between him and a juvenile. A search warrant was executed as his house on that date.
“The wishes of the victim are always important in deciding how to proceed in a criminal case. Over the course of multiple meetings between prosecutors and the victim, she repeatedly stated her desire not to participate in the prosecution of this case,” Smith told 40/29 News.
“The victim is now an adult and able to make her own decisions. Her decision not to cooperate made the continued prosecution of this case impossible. I respect the victim’s decision and wish her the best in her future,” Smith said.
Digby’s attorney, Shane Wilkinson, told 40/29 he always thought this was the end result.
Wilkinson said what Digby was arrested for wasn’t actually a crime, and he’s glad the charge was dropped.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
