Iowa Pastor Orville Erickson writes: “As a Senior Pastor if this happened at my church, this person would be immediately relieved of duties AND a third party would be asked to investigate to make sure nothing of an even more serious nature took place. I am NOT a prude in any way but this is beyond the pale.”
Another pastor writes: “That is an instant firing and never allowed back on campus incident. If I was the pastor I would also go to the police and make a report of what happened, including the action we took at the church, so there can be official documentation.”
Someone defends Wall for probably just “playing off” the current “I [heart] ______” trend “in the ever desperate attempt to relate to youth culture.” That person adds, “Still a huge misstep but not a random creation of his own.”
In response, someone writes: “Kids can joke all they want about hot moms and dads. When an adult does it, the power differential is flipped, and it’s never appropriate.”
Incident Catches the Attention of Church Critics
In a blog post, outspoken atheist Hemant Mehta criticizes both Wall and Fairview, saying the incident raises many questions and concerns. For example, “Why would anyone order these stickers?!”—which likely would have had to be custom-ordered. And “Why are conservatives complaining about gay teachers when THIS IS GOING ON IN THEIR OWN CHURCHES?”
Mehta wonders why Wall was talking about a supposed porn addiction with kids. He also notes that the “hot moms” logo isn’t a “‘culture’ so much as pathetic frat boy humor.” Mehta concludes by advising readers: “Want to protect your children? Get them out of churches like these and let them visit a library where drag queens read stories to kids. The people you should be concerned about are in the churches.”
A comment online picks up on that theme: “Some guy dressed in drag: Baptist Church: Ban them for life, take away all their funding, throw them in jail!!! Some pastor grooming children. We’ll investigate ourselves and find out that nothing happened, it was just a joke.”
Twitter User Wanted Accountability
ChurchLeaders contacted Emily Petrini, whose tweet about the sticker went viral. On October 6, she shared a screenshot of the sticker, saying a friend in South Carolina saw it in a local mom group online. “I just…..cannot,” Petrini writes in her caption.
My best friend lives in South Carolina and sent me this SS from her local mom group and I just…..cannot. pic.twitter.com/Z3iw4bE8c1
— emily petrini (@emilykmay) October 6, 2022
Petrini tells ChurchLeaders she didn’t anticipate her tweet going viral and “purposefully blocked out the church name because I did not want a pile-on of internet strangers.” But when people who lived in the area contacted her (including “pastors in surrounding churches”), “then I did share the church name because I felt like it was fair for those in their local community to hold them accountable.”
