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Tag: Evangelicalism

Zambian Evangelical Preacher Asks Me for Money to Buy KJV Bibles

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peanut gallery

From time to time, Evangelical preachers from Africa will send me emails asking for financial support. Recently, Elder James Mwaba, allegedly from Zambia, contacted me, asking for Bibles and money for his needy ministry. What follows is the conversation that transpired between Mwaba and Dr. Bruce Gerencser, director of the C. Hitchens World Evangelization Ministry. 🙂 (All spelling, grammar, punctuation, and delusions in the original.)

James:

Dear saints of the most High God, special christian greetings to you in the name of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ who is soon to come. Continue being faithful to Him who called you and send you for many be called but very few are chosen who are blessed like you. Continue the tremendous work you are doing by proclaiming the Everlasting Gospel which is needed in these last days of Earth’s history and very soon you will be rewarded. I’m here humbly request crying to you if you can help us materially in our missionary work here in Zambia. We are in much need local language bibles for these poor Souls who are hungering and thirsting for God s word but they cannot afford to purchase Bibles on their own in remote areas and villages. I write to you because through Jesus Christ you are my only hope. Your help will mean a lot to me and will bringing a lot of Lost souls to Jesus Christ. It’s paining me to see these poor Souls who are hungering and thirsting for God s word but they cannot afford to purchase Bibles on their own but unfortunately nothing l can do much as iam an independent and self -supporting elder here in Zambia. Your local language is Bemba. Your local language KJV Bible is Baibele OV 52. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon and God bless you all and May His coming rejoice your Hearts. Please pass my warm Christian Greetings to your ministry.
With much of christian love.

Bruce:

Brother James,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Thank you for contacting me about your urgent need for King James Bibles. I would love to help meet your need for the precious Word of God.

Please let me know what you would like me to do.

Sincerely, 

Dr. Bruce Gerencser, director of the C. Hitchens World Evangelization Ministry

James:

Thank you so much for the kindness and concerning for my missionary work here in Zambia. God bless you. You can order from bible society of Zambia their online shop. Shop.biblesocity-zambia.org

But the bible society of Zambia they need transportation fee’s but if you order from this book store they don’t want transportation fee’s. This is the email address of this christian book store. bookstorefinalwarningchristian@gmail.com if you order bible from this christian book store l can receive bibles very soon. This christian book store they selling Bibles at a very good price $8 each. But Iam not forcing you you can do what you want to do. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.

James:

Sorry brother I make a mistake to write website of bible society of Zambia. This is online shop of bible society of Zambia shop.biblesociety-zambia.org

But there is a Christian book store here who selling Bibles at a very good price $8 each and they don’t want transportation fee’s. But if you order bible from the bible society of Zambia they need transportation fee’s because it’s too far from bible society of Zambia to here2000 km , bible society of Zambia is in Lusaka your capital city here in Zambia so it to far. So it’s better to purchase Bibles from this christian book store here because they don’t want transportation fee’s.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon. Your local language is Bemba. Your local language KJV Bible is Baibele OV 52.

James:

Hello real man of God. I’m waiting to hear back from you.

Bruce:

James, 

Sorry for the delay. I spend Sundays preaching and fasting, so I don’t typically respond to emails.

I’m fine with you buying the Bibles locally. How would we go about doing so? I want to get the precious Word of God to as many people as possible.

Dr. Bruce Gerencser

James:

Thank you so much and God bless you. The poor Souls who need bibles is 300-400 but you can help what you can afford to purchase. If it can be possible to you, you can send this support to me through western union money transfer or money Gram and if you want to contact this christian book store this is the email address: bookstorefinalwarningchristian@gmail.com the price of one bible is $8 each. If you send the support for local language bibles for these poor Souls l can send you All pictures and lvoice to show you all the poor Souls who received free bibles through your faithful help.

If you want to send this support to me through western union you can use this details:

ELDER JAMES MWABA 
BOX 730086
KAWAMBWA DISTRICT 
LUAPULA PROVINCE 
NTULO STREET 
ZAMBIA 

What a great work you are doing here for these poor Souls who are hungering and thirsting for God s word but they cannot afford to purchase Bibles on their own God bless you. I’m not forcing you but you can do what you want.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon

James:

Sorry brother in Christ. If you send this support through western union or money Gram send me all the details from the western union.

Thank iam waiting to hear back from you soon.

James:

Hello dear brother in Christ. I’m waiting to hear back from you. Are you busy for God s work?
Thanks and God bless you all and May His coming rejoice your Hearts.

Bruce:

How did you decide to contact me? Do you use a bot to find people to send you money?

James:

I did find you via website, and when I find that your Ministry really contains the accurate truth of the Bible,I decided to write to you. I find your website to be my tool for My missionary work as iam an independent and self -supporting. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Bruce:

Come on, James. Be honest. Go look at my site https://brucegerencser.net

I am an atheist. I love it when guys like you contact me, trying to get me to send you money. You might want to pay attention to what sites you are posting your “urgent” needs on. 

Dr. Bruce Gerencser

James:

Thank I checked out your website and thank you so much for your kindness and concerning for my missionary work here in Zambia. Yes I will be paying attention to every website. Thank you so much for your encouragement.

I’m looking forward to hearing back from you soon.

Bruce:

I’m an atheist. Do you really think I’ll send you money to buy Bibles? How about if I send you 100 copies of the Satanic Bible?

Drop the schtick, James. I “see” through your con. I suggest you go to Christian sites and see if they will send you money. 

Happy New Year. May Loki be praised.

Dr. Bruce Gerencser, Snarkologist and Bullshit Detector

James:

I thought you are a Christian, because you told me that you were preaching and fasting on Sunday. I can’t purchase Satanic Bibles God forbid. Iam a Christian.

Bruce:

I was pulling your leg because you went to an ATHEIST website and sent me an email asking for Bibles/money. I’ve received numerous emails such as yours from con artists trying to get money from unsuspecting Christians. Well, I’m neither Christian or unsuspecting.

James:

It will never happen in Jesus name -Amen. Know one above Jesus Christ. God s great than you.

Bruce:

There is no God and Jesus is dead. Neither are greater than me. If Jesus was alive, what do you think he would say about you asking a child of Satan for Bibles/money? Surely, other Christians can provide what you need, instead of you begging atheists to meet your needs.

All praise be to Loki.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime Stories for 2024

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arrested

What follows is a list of Black Collar Crime stories published in 2024.

Songs of Sacrilege: Ladies in the Church Choir by Brittany Moore

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brittany moore

This is the latest installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series, which I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent toward 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 Ladies in the Church Choir by Brittany Moore.

Video Link

Lyrics

VERSE 1]
There’s a singing contradiction in the third row of the alto section
They whisper, bitching who they think won’t get into Heaven
Well, Jesus loves me, this I know, but not because they told me so
‘Guess I don’t fit their mold, ’bout time I toss this robe

[Chorus]
Hallelujah! Amen, I ain’t like them by the grace of God
Hallelujah, I could throw them stones, but why egg ’em on?
If the only thing here close to Jesus is box-dyed hair with how they teasе it
Hallelujah! Amen, I ain’t like thеm, nah, ladies in the church choir

[REFRAIN]
Look at her, bless her heart, could that hemline get any higher?
Know your place, know your part

[VERSE 2]
Well, I’ve never done unto them what they think they can do unto me
Yeah, I’ve never said “Hey Brittany, if you lose some weight, then you might be pretty”
After hearing that preacher preach ’bout lovin’ on everybody

[Chorus]
Hallelujah! Amen, I ain’t like them by the grace of God
Hallelujah, I could throw them stones, but why egg ’em on?
If the only thing here close to Jesus is box-dyed hair with how you tease it
Hallelujah! Amen, I ain’t like them, nah, ladies in the church choir

PRE-Chorus]
Well, Jesus loves me this I know, but not because they told me so

[Chorus]
Hallelujah! Amen, I ain’t like them by the grace of God
Hallelujah, I could throw them stones, but why egg ’em on?
If the only thing here close to Jesus is box-dyed hair with how you tease it
Hallelujah! Amen, I ain’t like them, nah, ladies in the church choir
Ooh, yeah, ladies in the church choir

[REFRAIN]
Look at her, bless her heart, could that hemline get any higher?
Know your place, know your part
Ladies in the church choir

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Sacrilegious Humor: Coming Out As Agnostic by Emily Catalano

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emily catalano

This is the latest installment in the Sacrilegious Humor series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a comedy bit 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 email me the name of the bit or a link to it.

Today’s video is Coming Out As Agnostic by Emily Catalano.

Video Link

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

OMG! I Have Proof That the Rapture is Imminent!

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hicksville ohio earthquake

For 2,000 years, Christian preachers have been saying Jesus is coming to Earth soon. As the 1976 gospel song by Andre Crouch goes:

Soon and very soon
We are going to see the King
Soon and very soon
We are going to see the King
Soon and very soon
We are going to see the King
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
We’re going to see the king

Soon and very soon? Every generation of believers believed that Jesus would return to Earth while they were still alive. And every generation of believers died without seeing Jesus face-to-face. In the 1970s and 1980s, in particular, Evangelicals were certain that Jesus was going to rapture them away, safe from the wrath and judgment God planned to pour on the Earth, as recorded in the book of Revelation. Alas, most preachers who prophesied that the rapture was nigh died, proving themselves to be false prophets. Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, Harold Camping, Herbert W. Armstrong, Edgar Whisenant, Jerry Falwell, and Ed Dobson — all pushing up daisies in the cemetery — predicted Jesus’s return in their lifetime.

These days, Evangelicals have largely given up on making predictions about the second coming of Jesus. Tired of waiting for Jesus to show up again, Evangelicals have taken to building a kingdom on earth through raw political power. They do not need Jesus; Trump is their Lord.

Earlier today, Defiance County, Ohio residents experienced an earth-shaking event that I hope will change their minds about the rapture. I spent fifty years of my life hearing Evangelical preachers preach passionate sermons about the imminent return of Jesus. Countless sermons were preached from Matthew 24:

And as he [Jesus] sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

….

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

….

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Astute readers of the Bible will notice that I have skipped a number of Bible verses. I did this because that is exactly what many, if not most Evangelical preachers do. Their goal is to make a point or advance an agenda instead of properly exegeting the Word of God. If that was their plan, they would preach this passage of Scripture in context, and in doing so, teach their congregations that Matthew 24 has nothing to do with the rapture.

At 6:48 AM, Defiance County, Ohio, specifically the community of Hicksville (a few miles from our home), felt a magnitude 2.9 earthquake. This is the first recorded earthquake in Defiance County history. No fault lines lie nearby, so experts wonder what caused the earthquake. I suspect some local Evangelical preachers won’t wonder about what happened. Nope, these prophets of the Almighty will turn to Matthew 24, rip out the verses necessary to prove their point, and say that this earthquake is an irrefutable sign of the second coming of Jesus. Yes, siree bob, Jesus is coming soon! What other explanation could there be, right?

In time, scientists will posit likely explanations for the Defiance Earthquake®. And sure as Jesus is still lying in an unmarked Judean grave, these very same preachers will conveniently forget their earthquake predictions and move on to other newspaper auguries, sure, that this time, they will be right.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

How Evangelicals Will Act When Seeing Their Unsaved Loved Ones in the Lake of Fire

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hell

Most Evangelicals believe that one day the virgin-born, sinless, resurrected Son of God, Jesus Christ, will return to earth to judge the living and the dead, granting Christians eternal life in the Kingdom of God and consigning everyone else to the Lake of Fire. Christians will spend eternity worshipping and praising Jesus, while non-Christians will be endlessly tortured in flames of intense fire. Of course, the bodies of non-Christians would immediately sizzle away as the fat on a steak as it’s broiled, so God plans to give these unfortunate people whose only crime is worshipping the wrong deity, a special body that will survive torture for millions of years. What an awesome God Evangelicals serve, right?

After believers are resurrected, they will receive new bodies. Gone will be the pain, suffering, loss, and death of their former bodies. Their minds will be wiped clean of all thoughts except those of Jesus. Gone will be thoughts of their unsaved families, spouses, and friends. The overwhelming majority of people who populated the earth will end up in the Lake of Fire. Billions upon billions of non-Christians will face untold suffering, all because they worshipped the wrong deity or none at all. Finite crimes will receive infinite punishment. It matters not if you lived a moral, ethical life. All that matters, according to Evangelicals, is that you believe the right things, pray the right prayer, and worship the right deity. Putting extra money in the offering plate helps too. The vile Dr. David Tees and Revival Fires of the world will receive great rewards from Jesus, but those who practiced the Golden Rule and followed the second part of the Great Commandment to love their neighbor as themselves will be rewarded with eternal pain and suffering, all because they weren’t Christians. What a perverse religion, yet millions and millions of Evangelicals worship this version of the Christian God.

When asked where the Lake of Fire is located, thoughtful Evangelicals will say “I don’t know.” Others will cobble together Bible verses and reinterpret them to provide an answer to this question. One Southern Baptist evangelist, the late Rolfe Barnard, believed the Lake of Fire was located outside the gate of the New Jerusalem; that believers would see the smoke of the Lake wafting into the air like the smoke of a Burger King on a busy Friday night — a constant reminder of the punishment they would have received had Jesus not saved them from their sins.

Barnard went on to say that when the redeemed saw this smoke, they would fall on their knees and say:

Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. (Revelation 19:1-6)

That’s right, Christians will praise Jesus for the true and righteous judgments their unbelieving families, friends, and neighbors are receiving as just recompense for their sin and rebellion against God. I suspect this is why preachers tell fellow believers that their minds will be wiped clean from thoughts of their former lives. If not, what kind of people would praise Jesus for torturing their parents, spouses, children, and grandchildren? Psychopaths, that’s who.

Is this a God worthy of our worship? Not in my book. Christianity is a blood cult, and Evangelicals, in particular, revel in the workings of a violent, bloodthirsty deity who will someday, beyond today, inflict horrific pain, suffering, and death on everyone who didn’t worship him. I have often been asked if I would worship the Evangelical God if I found out he was real, and the answer is “no.” Such a deity is unworthy of my worship, and I will not bow a knee to a deity who takes pleasure in torturing his created beings.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Bruce Konold Sentenced to Jail Time for Taking Sexual Advantage of Woman He was Counseling

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pastor bruce konold

In 2022, Bruce Konold, pastor of Eagan Hills Church in Eagan, Minnesota, was accused of taking sexual advantage of a woman he was counseling. Eagan Hills is affiliated with the Christian Missionary and Alliance denomination.

The Pioneer Press reported:

A former Eagan pastor was charged this week with a dozen felony counts of criminal sexual conduct involving two women who were parishioners.

Bruce Douglas Konold, 61, was the lead pastor at Eagan Hills Church from 1997 until his resignation in February, and the alleged sexual misconduct occurred between June 2020 and December 2021, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.

Minnesota law says it’s a felony for members of the clergy to have a sexual relationship with a person they are counseling or to whom they are providing spiritual advice.

Konold’s attorney, Kevin DeVore, said Friday that the “charges are brand new, and we’re just assessing everything now.”

….

A 20-year-old woman told police in March that Konold fondled her at his home last year and it led to numerous sexual encounters, which occurred at his home, the church, hotels, and in his vehicle.

She said she began attending the church in January 2021. She said the next month Konold told her she needed a father figure and began providing her with spiritual counseling and guidance on a regular basis.

During a break from college, she said Konold suggested that she stay at his home. One day, Konold gave her several alcoholic drinks — she was not of legal age to drink — and she felt foggy and had difficulty walking. She said he then touched her genitals above her clothing and tried to remove her clothes several times before she pushed him away.

Konold began sending the woman sexual messages regularly and suggested she move into his home at the end of her school year. He got her a cleaning job at the church.

The sexual acts began in May 2021 and continued until the end of the year. She described to police how she had “conflicting emotions about the incidents, explaining that there were certain incidents that didn’t feel consensual,” the complaint read.

….

Police also spoke with a 30-year-old woman in March who said she and her husband attended Konold’s church for about 10 years and that in 2020 he offered her a personal assistant job at the church. She told police that Konold then began pressuring her for sex, pleaded with her not to leave the church or tell the church elders, and also made suicidal comments after she would reject him.

Konold told the woman “she was selfish because he had been meeting her emotional needs, but she was refusing to meet his needs,” the complaint read.

She said Konold first fondled her at his home in June 2020 and she agreed to have sex with him at a hotel in November 2020 after he promised to leave her alone afterward. It later led to numerous sexual encounters, which occurred at his home, her home, a hotel, and in his vehicle in places near the church and Lebanon Hills Regional Park.

During the time of the sexual acts, which continued until January 2021, the woman continued to regularly meet with Konold for one-on-one spiritual counseling and guidance.

In a March interview with police, Konold said he had sexual relations with the woman about 15 times. He expressed concerns about the church supporting her mission work, saying that “it was not right that they continue to support an adulteress,” the complaint read. He “quoted a bible verse regarding adulterous women being ‘stoned.’”

Konold described his relationship with the 20-year-old woman as “another adulterous relationship,” the complaint said.

Konold did not directly answer the question from an investigator of whether he considered her as someone seeking spiritual counseling, but said she thought of him as a father figure and “explained that his conversations are spiritual given that he is considered one of the foremost experts in world religions,” according to the complaint.

In early April, the 20-year-old left police a message saying that she had felt pressured to come forward and was no longer sure about whether she had been sexually abused. Later that month, her pastor contacted police and reported that Konold had been aggressively pursuing the woman by showing up at her home, work and school and used threats of suicide to “manipulate her into continuing a sexual relationship,” the charges read.

She later told police that Konold had been harassing her after learning about the police report. She described an incident where he approached her car and asked why she wanted him to go to jail and said he had lost everything. He told her that she could tell police that it wasn’t abuse.

Konold is charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. He’s also been charged with one count of harassment involving the woman he allegedly talked to after he learned she spoke with police.

….

Eagan Hills Church, located at 700 Diffley Road, is affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, an evangelical Christian denomination.

In September 2024, Konold was convicted of one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and later sentenced to 90 days in jail.

The Pioneer Press reported:

Bruce Douglas Konold’s victim told the court Friday that pastors are “supposed to be people you can trust.”

But the 63-year-old Konold “betrayed me, betrayed me at my most vulnerable moments and in the most humiliating ways,” the college-aged woman said.

“Your Honor, I was shamelessly exploited by a man who took pleasure in abusing his position as a pastor to find sexual satisfaction through my vulnerability,” she said. “My suffering was a means to his end.”

Dakota County District Judge Ann Offermann on Friday sentenced Konold to 90 days in jail. The judge stayed the imposition of a two-year prison sentence, making it possible for Konold’s conviction to be reduced to a misdemeanor after 10 years of supervised probation.

A jury in September found Konold guilty of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2021 involving the former parishioner, finding the relationship took place while he was giving her ongoing religious advice, which is a felony in Minnesota. They were hung on a more serious third-degree charge against Konold and acquitted him of two similar charges involving a second parishioner.

Konold was the lead pastor at Eagan Hills Church for 25 years until he resigned in February 2022, shortly after his then-wife learned of his sexual relations with the woman. She ended their 32-year marriage soon after charges were filed.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: The Physical Presence of the Bible in Schools Protects Students From Being Shot

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no bible

Recently, Canyon Independent School District (Texas) Superintendent Darryl Flusche removed the Bible from school libraries due to its sexually explicit material. Some Evangelicals were outraged over the superintendent putting the Bible in the same category as secular books deemed offensive to Christian sensibilities.

Regina Kiehne, a mother of two students in the Canyon Independent School District said:

It seems absurd to me that the Good Book was thrown out with the bad books. In a day when we are needing security guards and bulletproof windows and doors, I think having the Word of God available to our children cannot only be preventative to violence, but also provide comfort and a sense of security in a chaotic world.

It just makes sense to have the Word of God in our school library. After all, it is the book of wisdom. It is the bestselling book of all time; it is historically accurate, scientifically sound, and most importantly, life-changing.

The only reason something is stolen is because it is valuable. The Bible holds great value. It should be valued in our Texas school system.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Counselor and Pastor Raymond Gaglardi Convicted of Sexual Assault, Facing More Charges

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raymond gaglardi

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 2023 Raymond Gaglardi, a former employee of Glad Tidings Church in Vancouver, British Columbia and Hillside Community Church in Coquitlam, was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to almost 13 years in prison. The sentence was reduced to half due to Galardi’s age, meaning he will only spend six and a half years in prison.

TriCity News reported:

A former pastor, therapist and counsellor who worked for churches in Coquitlam and Vancouver walked out of a court prisoner’s box today to be handcuffed and led to jail.

On Friday (Jan. 20), BC Supreme Court Justice Paul W. Riley imposed a sentence of 12 years and 11 months against Raymond Gaglardi; however, it was reduced by half under the totality principle due to his age, meaning Gaglardi will be behind bars for six years and six months.

Gaglardi, a diminutive man of 78 years old, showed no emotion as Riley took nearly 90 minutes to read out his reasons for judgment, or when the judge imposed the sentence.

His wife of 49 years, who sat behind the prisoner’s box, showed no expression as well.

But some victims present in court, and their spouses, brushed away tears after the decision. Several other victims — some dating back four decades — watched the hearing online.

Last year, following a trial, Riley convicted Gaglardi on 11 of the 25 offences before him. On the counts, each of the 11 victims experienced between one and three sexual assaults.

Riley recounted how Gaglardi befriended his victims at the Glad Tidings Church in Vancouver, its academy or summer camp, as well as at the Hillside Community Church in Coquitlam or at his counselling practice, located in the basement of his Coquitlam home.

The judge said Gaglardi “preyed” on adolescent boys or young men who came from troubled homes or were in need of help. They came to trust “Dr. Ray” for emotional support because he was part of the church and he told them he held a PhD in philosophy from Ohio Christian College, a post-secondary institution in the U.S. that was later declared to be fraudulent.

Gaglardi’s interactions with the boys and young men were “bizarre” and “opportunistic,” the judge told the New Westminster courtroom: In private, Gaglardi would check their bodies for venereal disease, touch their penises, use a pen-like instrument to examine their genitals, massage their prostate, provide pornographic material to masturbate or perform a coffee enema.

In another case in Coquitlam, Gaglardi did an anal swab with a Q-Tip to look at the feces.

And when the boys reported Gaglardi’s sexual conduct, they were often shunned from their broken families, who believed the church-going authority figure instead of their children.

The impact was long-lasting, the court heard, as many victims said Gaglardi’s actions led to shame, embarrassment and trauma that had a ripple effect on their future relationships.

In sentencing, Riley said he took into account Gaglardi’s age and his lack of criminal history, but he also noted Gaglardi’s abuse of position within the churches, his claim he was a trained doctor and therapist, and the duration of his crimes, which lasted from 1971 to 2017.

Besides his 155-month sentence in prison — cut to 78 months behind bars — Gaglardi will also be on a sex offender registry for 20 years and provide a DNA sample, Riley ordered.

In November 2024, Gaglardi was charged with three more counts of gross indecency and indecent assault.

Burnaby Now reports:

An 80-year-old former pastor and therapist who is serving a prison sentence for sex crimes against 11 young male clients has been charged with more offences in Vancouver and Burnaby in the 1970s.

Raymond Howard Gaglardi was sentenced in January 2023 to six-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault and sexual exploitation against victims between the ages of 10 and 30.

The offences were committed between 1971 and 1981, when Gaglardi was working at Glad Tidings Temple in Vancouver, and between 1993 and 2015, when he was associated with Hillside Community Church in Coquitlam, according to court documents.

A number of the offences were committed at Gaglardi’s Burnaby apartment.

His victims were between the ages of 10 and 30.

“In each case, Mr. Gaglardi touched the victim in a sexual manner, in circumstances where the victim did not consent, consented on false pretenses, or consented based on Mr. Gaglardi’s exploitation of a trust relationship,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Riley said in his sentencing ruling in the case.

On Nov. 13, Gaglardi was charged with three more counts each of gross indecency and indecent assault (charges that no longer exist in the Criminal Code of Canada) against three different alleged victims in 1970, 1973 and 1974, according to the Vancouver provincial court registry.

He is scheduled to make his first court appearance on the new charges Wednesday.

The Burnaby NOW reached out to Coquitlam RCMP, which investigated the cases, for more information and was told a “full update” on the charges would be published later in the week.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

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You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Anthony Strickland Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Sexually Assaulting Young Girls

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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 December 2024, Anthony Strickland, pastor of Freedom Center in Bono, Arkansas (no web presence), pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault and was sentenced to ten years in prison.

In a previous case (June 2019), Strickland was charged with felony rape and second-degree battery.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported at the time:

Jonesboro police said a Memphis hospital contacted the department last week after a 43-year-old woman came in with several injuries. She told police that 53-year-old Anthony Lee Strickland had attacked her, the affidavit said.

She said Strickland was intoxicated, and she gave investigators a “detailed account” of him hitting her at least two times in the face before raping her, according to the affidavit.

Officials said officers found three guns in Strickland’s car seat when they arrested him during a Wednesday traffic stop.

Authorities charged the Jonesboro resident with felony rape and second-degree battery.

Strickland is a pastor at the Freedom Center, a congregation he started in 2003, according to police and business records filed with the Arkansas secretary of state.

Phone numbers and social media accounts listed under the church’s name appeared to be deactivated on Friday.

Strickland was free on a $125,000 bond that he posted Thursday evening, according to the Craighead County sheriff’s office.

A judge set a no-contact order with his alleged victim and required Strickland wear an ankle location monitor.

According to the Jonesboro Sun:

The rape charge was dropped in July 2019 by then-Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington, and Strickland pleaded guilty to second-degree domestic battery and was sentenced to 60 months of probation.

On October 8, 2021, KAIT-8 reported:

A former Craighead County pastor faces up to 60 years in prison following his arrest for rape.

Jonesboro police arrested 55-year-old Anthony Lee Strickland of Bono on Oct. 6 on suspicion of rape and second-degree sexual assault.

According to the probable cause affidavit, the two victims claimed Strickland sexually assaulted them at his home.

On Friday, Craighead County District Court Judge Tommy Fowler found probable cause to arrest Strickland and set his bond at $150,000. The judge also ordered he have no contact with the victims.

According to the Jonesboro Sun, Strickland has now been officially charged with rape:

A former pastor has been charged with rape and second-degree sexual assault in a case involving a then-11- to 13-year-old girl and her 11-year-old sister.

District Judge Tommy Fowler found probable cause to charge Anthony Lee Strickland, 55, of Bono on Friday. Fowler set Strickland’s bond at $150,000.

According to the probable cause affidavit, the older girl, now 18, told her parents that when she stayed over about five to seven years ago with Strickland, who was a friend of the parents for 20 years and pastor of their church, he watched a movie with her. She said Strickland began rubbing her privates and asked her if it felt good.

The victim said she was able to get away and run downstairs.

After the victim’s mother was made aware of what happened with the older daughter, she sat down with her other children and asked them to tell her and her husband if anyone had touched them inappropriately and not be afraid to tell them.

The older girl briefly told her siblings what happened to her, and her 11-year-old sister broke down crying and said, “Momma, he did that to me, too,” the affidavit states.

The younger girl said Strickland began rubbing her private parts and she attempted to yell and scream. She said Strickland covered her mouth and said “shhhh.”

She said Strickland digitally penetrated her. She told him she needed to go to the bathroom and ran and got into bed with her brother.

On December 16, 2024, Strickland pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault and was sentenced to ten years in prison.

The Sun reports:

After his case was postponed 11 times, and almost a decade after the crimes occurred, a former minister has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting young girls.

Anthony Lee Strickland, 58, of rural Bono, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of second-degree sexual assault, according to court records. He had originally been charged in 2021 with one count of rape and one count of second-degree sexual assault involving two girls whose parents attended his church.

Strickland was the founder of Freedom Center, a congregation he established near Bono in 2003.

One of the victims disclosed the crime after she turned 18. According to the court information, the incidents occurred between October 2015 and December 2016.

After turning 18, the older girl told her parents that when she spent the night with Strickland, he watched a movie with her. She said Strickland began rubbing her genitals and asked her if it felt good.

The victim said she was able to get away and run downstairs, according to a court affidavit.

After the girls’ mother was made aware of the allegations, she sat down with her other children and asked them to tell her and her husband if anyone had touched them inappropriately and to not be afraid to tell them.

One of the younger children spoke up to say a similar situation happened to her, too. That child would have been under the age of 7 at the time.

Rape carries a potential penalty of up to life in prison. Under Arkansas law, Strickland could have received 20 years for second-degree sexual assault.

Strickland had previously been charged in 2019 with rape and felony domestic battery in the second-degree. The following year, he pleaded guilty to the domestic battery charge and the rape charge was dropped. Court records show Strickland was placed on five years of probation.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.