Pastor Prays for Would-Be Armed Robbers During Worship Service: ‘God’s About To Change the Plot of the Enemy’

February 22, 2023

robbers_pastor_prayer — Screengrab via YouTube @ll Creation NHFC COGIC

On Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 12), Pastor Marquaello Futrell of All Creation Family Church in Ferguson, Missouri, used prayer to divert would-be robbers from going through with their plan during the middle of the Sunday morning worship service.

Futrell, who served as a St. Louis police officer for 10 years, told a local news station that the hairs on the back of neck of his neck stood up when a man walked into the church carrying two bags and started speaking with the church’s Children Services Director. In that moment, Futrell’s cop intuition told him, “something’s about to happen.”

After telling the Children Services Director to lock the doors so the children would be safe, four masked men walked into the worship service and sat down.

“Me being a former police officer, I immediately noticed their waistbands, I’m like, ‘There’s something there,’” Futrell told the reporter. One church member saw one of the men drop their gun on the floor.

In the church’s livestream video, the pastor can be seen remaining calm and continuing the service as normal, so as to not create a panic amongst the congregation.

Futrell also didn’t want to tip off the would-be robbers to the fact that the authorities were on their way. Instead, he inconspicuously directed his media team to zoom in on the assailants in an attempt to capture their faces.

As Futrell was praying for people throughout the congregation, he approached the four men and asked, “What’s your name?”

After the four young men told the pastor their names, he asked, “Who sent you out here?”

“You all just saw the church and decided to come,” Futrell continued.

“Talk to me,” he further nudged.

Futrell then told the congregation to praise God for them coming, to which they obliged. The pastor then started to raise his voice as if he were preaching a sermon, telling everyone in the sanctuary that God was going to change the devil’s plans.

“I said praise God that God sent them in here,” Futrell preached. “That what the devil meant for evil—you messing with a Marquaello Antonio Futrell—God’s gonna turn. Don’t you play with me. I still got a cop anointing, and I still know what’s going on, and I still know what’s about to happen. God’s about to change the plot of the enemy. Lift your voice and shout unto God for what he’s about to do.”

The four young men remained in their seats watching the pastor as he spoke. Futrell then asked to pray for them. Men of the church then surrounded the young assailants and laid hands on them and bowed their heads while the congregation joined in praying for them.

“I believe they felt the power of God lifting their hands and then they left,” Futrell said. “The Bible speaks of watch and pray, so while we’re being spiritual, I’m also watching around, trying to protect the congregants.”

20 Truths From ‘Grace Ambassador: Bringing Heaven on Earth’

Ed Stetzer

February 22, 2023

My friend John Jackson has a new book out. Titled “Grace Ambassador: Bringing Heaven on Earth,” in it John explores how we, as citizens of the kingdom, represent Jesus and his kingdom well, and he gives us some clarity and direction.

I care about the content of this book so deeply that I wrote the foreword. I also asked for permission to publish some key quotes from the book in my 20 Truths Series. Read them below.

20 Truths From ‘Grace Ambassador: Bringing Heaven on Earth’

Chapter 1

“In our present age, the words we use have created a world that is neither what we say we believe in, nor what we have to offer the people we know, love and spend time with—and even those with whom we disagree[…]. We must shift the narrative of our words and behaviors to align with the expressed will of the Father.” (p. 19)

“The first Reformation produced a cultural shift of seismic proportions on the planet. The 1500s through the 1600s produced massive intellectual, cultural and economic changes that continue to affect the world hundreds of years later. Shifts in the distribution of knowledge, patterns of governance and populist movements—often messy and venturing into uncharted waters—spread across Europe, and eventually across the globe, changing the course of history.” (p. 20)

“The Body of Christ has experienced one Reformation, but the world has lost its bearings and is in desperate need of a second Reformation. You, my precious reader, are the key to the revival that is in the heart of God for this hour.” (p. 21)

“But although glorious ministry has come these past five hundred years, the Church today has demonstrated by our behavior that we do not fundamentally believe in the Rather, we practice a big view of grace received and a small view of grace distributed.” (p. 23–24)

“The first Reformation changed Western culture and provided the seedbed for the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment […]. The second Reformation will bring about even greater societal transformation as followers of Jesus are activated in love, grace, redemptive presence and dynamic Kingdom witness to the good news of the presence of Jesus for men and women longing for hope and meaning in life.” (p. 25)

Chapter 2

“But the Bride of Christ was never meant to be a retiring and reticent creature of comfort. Bringing heaven to earth is the work of His love and grace for the planet. The Church is to be strategic, forward‑leaning and fully engaged.” (p. 31)

“[The sacred/secular divide] accepts the notion that human existence is divided into two spheres. The sphere of church and religious activity is sacred, and everything else is secular. This view has allowed many in the Church to pursue religious affection (or at least religious activity) divorced from cultural engagement.” (p. 36)

“I contend that God is calling for a second Reformation in which we actually live out the Great Commission and disciple nations in every sphere of society. How? By learning to bring heaven to earth and being distributors of grace as heavenly ambassadors.” (p. 38)

Chapter 3

“We have given birth to many spiritual babies. But we have grown fewer sons and daughters, and even fewer fathers and mothers who can shepherd their flock to maturity.” (p. 50)

Chapter 4

“The gathering of the Church is not to be a spectator arena for a Christian entertainment event, but an equipping center for the distribution of the Gospel into the world.” (p. 58)

God ‘Came To Save the Sinners’—Mark Wahlberg Promotes 40-Day Prayer Challenge on the ‘TODAY’ Show

Jessica Lea

February 22, 2023

Actor and producer Mark Wahlberg appeared on the ‘TODAY’ show this morning to talk about his faith, the practice of Lent and his participation in the Hallow app’s #Pray40 challenge, in which Wahlberg is joined by actors Jim Caviezel and Jonathan Roumie.

“God didn’t come to save the saints, he came to save the sinners,” said Wahlberg, who noted that his faith “is everything” to him. “We’ve all had things and issues in our lives and we want to be better versions of ourselves, and through focusing my faith, it’s allowed me to do that.”

Mark Wahlberg: God Knows What You Need

Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, a season in the Christian liturgical calendar that anticipates Jesus’ resurrection. It ends during Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter Sunday. Other seasons in the Christian calendar include Advent, Easter, and Ordinary Time.

The roots of Lent go back to the practices of early church converts to Christianity, who would fast in preparation for being baptized on Easter morning. Eventually, Lent became associated with Jesus’ 40-day fast in the wilderness.

It is common for modern Christians to choose something to fast from during Lent, whether a type of food, habit, or some other comfort. Participants can break their fast on Sundays, which are “feast days” that foreshadow Easter.

Mark Wahlberg said that today he will only have one meal and no meat and that he will do the same every Friday during Lent. “If you have issues with food, there are other things,” he observed. “God knows the things he wants you to detach from.”

The actor, who is Catholic, challenged people to “be better versions of themselves.”

“Discipline has always been important for me in life,” said Wahlberg. “Once I started getting into movies and transitioned from music, I realized I needed a lot of discipline in my life, and that discipline has afforded me so many other things, and I’ve been rewarded for it so much and I want to share that with people.”

‘A Beard Is Nothing More Than Pride!’ — One San Diego Pastor’s Hot Take on Facial Hair

Dale Chamberlain

February 22, 2023

Stephen Buxton hot take on facial hair — Photo by Erik Mclean (via Unsplash)

A sermon delivered by Stephen Buxton, now-retired pastor of Hilltop Tabernacle, a Pentecostal church in San Diego, California, has been the subject of online discussion, particularly with regard to Buxton’s hot take on facial hair.

“I’m gonna tell you something. Facial hair is not apostolic. However you wanna cut it, it’s compromise,” Buxton said. “I don’t care if your leader says you can wear a beard, honey. A beard is nothing more than pride! You’re not gonna be dipped in Holy Ghost oil and run around looking like the world.”

The footage is from a sermon Buxton delivered on June 5, 2022, at First Pentecostal Church of North Little Rock, Arkansas. The next day, a clip of the sermon was uploaded to Facebook by Berean Holiness, which was subsequently reshared in various places.

“We don’t need beards. We need more oil. We need more Joashes,” Buxton went on to say, referencing the Old Testament Judean King Joash, who led an effort to restore the temple in Jerusalem, which had fallen into disrepair. “We need more people in an altar. We need more prayer rooms. We need more people digging into the things of God.”

Responding to Buxton’s words, popular YouTuber Mike Winger said, “I would be very concerned about the kind of person—and I’m going to say this genuinely here—it’s a red flag at least…for someone to be like, literally just having a beard is evidence of pride.”

“Someone saying that is a little scary to me,” Winger continued. “Because if he has that kind of logic with his other rules he gives you, there’s gonna be a lot of weird things going on in your Christianity. So I would be very, very careful listening to the reasoning of a person like that.”

“It’s also, on the face of it, obviously not true,” Winger went on to say, pointing out the somewhat obvious fact that most of the men we read about in both the Old and New Testaments had beards—most notable among them, Jesus himself.

In fact, from what we know about the culture of the Ancient Near East, conquerors and oppressors would shame their victims by shaving or plucking out portions of their beards. An example of this tactic is found in 2 Samuel 10:4-5, when the king of the Ammonites mistreated messengers sent by King David, shaving off half their beards and cutting off the backside of their clothing to humiliate them before sending them away.

Again referencing Buxton’s words, Winger said, “I don’t understand the logic of this pastor.”

“The logic of this is so wacky,” Winger reiterated. “God gave you a beard so you could shave it, or else you’re arrogant? I mean, it sounds more to me like this guy has a pride issue with his non-beard condition. [It] is an issue of pride in his life, and he’s projecting it onto others.”

Karl Vaters: Just Because Your Church Is Small Does Not Mean It Is Unhealthy

Jessica Lea

February 22, 2023

The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast · Karl Vaters: Just Because Your Church Is Small Does Not Mean It Is Unhealthy

Karl Vaters has been in pastoral ministry for 40 years. He is the teaching pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, a healthy small church in Orange County, California. Karl’s heart is to help pastors of small churches find the resources to lead well, and he produces resources to help small churches thrive at KarlVaters.com. He is also the author of four books, including “Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of Under 250.”

Other Ways To Listen to This Podcast With Karl Vaters

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Key Questions for Karl Vaters

-What is a “small church”? Could you give us a general overview of some of the strengths and weaknesses of large churches and small churches?

-How do pastors know what size church they should be pastoring?

-How have you seen small church leaders walking through our cultural divisiveness in the last several years?

-What keeps small churches from thriving?

Key Quotes From Karl Vaters

“The definition of small church is a moving target and it depends on what you’re trying to measure for…I like to measure it by factoring in what it takes to pastor a church.”

“There are two very distinct types of small churches. There’s a church of 50, give or take 50, and there’s a church of 150, give or take 50. And those are two very distinct types of small churches.”

“The small church strength typically is in relationships. When you ask people who attend small churches why they attend small churches…number one is ‘I go to a small church because the pastor knows my name.’”

“Two hundred is a significant barrier. That’s why 150 give or take 50 is the upper range of ‘small church’ in my definition because at that point you really do have to change the way you pastor when you make that shift.”

“The phrase ‘all healthy things grow’ tormented me for a couple of decades…And if you reverse that principle, then that means then if it’s not growing numerically, there must be something unhealthy about it.”

Excessive Bail Bond Required of Christian in Pakistan

Morning Star News

February 22, 2023

Sexual Abuse — Photo via Unsplash.com @Emiliano Bar

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A Catholic who spent more than three years in jail on a baseless blasphemy charge had to pay an exorbitant amount of bail for release this month, just one example of gross injustices against him and other Christians, his attorney said.

The maximum amount for bail under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws is 500,000 rupees (US$1,900), but a judge of the Bahawalpur bench of the Lahore High Court on Jan. 17 imposed an amount of 4 million rupees (US$15,200) on impoverished 23-year-old Sunny Waqas, attorney Aneeqa Maria of The Voice Society said.

“It seems the judge wanted to make Waqas’s release impossible by setting the value of the bonds to 4 million rupees,” Maria told Morning Star News. “It was an impossible target, as Waqas’s family is extremely poor, and his father is paralytic. It took us almost two weeks to raise the bail amount and finally secure his release from jail on Feb. 3.”

The judge granted bail because the trial against him had not concluded within the mandatory two-year period, Maria said. Waqas was arrested in 2019.

Courts routinely dismiss bail appeals of blasphemy suspects, especially when charges are made under Section 295-C, where the punishment is death, a non-bailable offense.

There are instances where suspects in non-bailable offenses, including murder, can be granted bail under the third proviso of Section 497 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Section 497 states that if suspects have not been formally charged, the trial has not been concluded within two years and the delay is not due to the accused, they should be granted bail.

The exorbitant bond was the latest in a series of irregularities revealing bias and discrimination against Waqas, said Maria, executive director of her organization.

“From the onset of the case, the high court in Bahawalpur adopted a highly prejudiced approach towards us – we were openly threatened by judges and intimidated by Muslim lawyers, who also manhandled a member of our team,” she said.

Maria said a high court judge told her on the day of the bail hearing, “Advocate Aneeqa Maria, you know that you can be burned alive for pursuing this case in Bahawalnagar and Bahawalpur…people become very emotional when it comes to religious matters.”

The judge also told her that Waqas should remain in jail “because he will be killed when he comes out of jail,” she said.

When the attorney initially approached the Lahore High Court for bail in 2021, rather than consider the bail application, the judge ordered police to form a joint investigation team to ensure a watertight case against the accused, she said.

“This order violates Section 156 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” Maria told Morning Star News. “Section 156 of the CrPC states that a ‘High Court has no power to interfere with the police investigation and assume the role of investigator. Conduct and manner of investigation is not to be scrutinized under constitutional jurisdiction which might amount to interference in police investigation as the same cannot be substituted by the Court.’”

During the bail hearing, the judge also attempted to incite Muslim lawyers in the courtroom, telling them it was “unfortunate that there was no lawyer who could fight for the prophet [Muhammad]’s honor,” according to Maria.

The attorney said Waqas’ case showed how courts deliberately ignore constitutional and procedural law when dealing with blasphemy cases especially against Christians.

“There is no direct evidence against Waqas,” Maria said. “The case also doesn’t fall under Section 295-C because nothing derogatory was spoken, shown or done by the victim. Moreover, there is no independent witness in the case except the police.”

She said that Waqas’s cousin, Noman Masih, was also charged under Section 295-C and was still in jail.

“The two blasphemy cases against Waqas and Noman reek of mala fide of the police of two districts – Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar,” Maria told Morning Star News. “In both cases, the police are the complainants, and they claim they acted against the Christian youths on ‘secret information.’”

Loyola’s Sister Jean Captured Hearts During March Madness. Now She’s Written a Book.

Emily McFarlan Miller

February 22, 2023

Loyola-s-Sister-Jean-written-a-book- — Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt attends her 100th birthday celebration at Loyola University on Aug. 21, 2019, in Chicago. RNS photo by Emily McFarlan Miller

CHICAGO (RNS) — Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt entered religious life at 18 to become a schoolteacher, and though Bob Hope’s kids and a future cardinal were among her students over the years, when fame came — international fame, she’d remind you — it was as chaplain to the Loyola University Ramblers during the men’s basketball team’s improbable 2018 run to the NCAA Final Four.

Now 103, Chicago’s beloved Catholic sister, best known simply as “Sister Jean,” has added publishing a memoir to her list of achievements.

“Wake Up With Purpose!: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years” not only chronicles Sister Jean’s long life — growing up in California, she remembers watching the Golden Gate Bridge being built and playing intramural basketball when the sport was “still quite young” — but also the wisdom she has accumulated along the way.

Among the proverbs she shares, always with a sense of humor: Having a consistent, daily purpose not only keeps her alive, but also young and vibrant. Teamwork is what life is all about. And “There’s nothing like hugging a sweaty basketball player after a big win.”

The sister doesn’t shy from controversial topics either, though she writes that she realizes to many people she sounds “hopelessly old-fashioned”: She voted for Hillary Clinton, but thinks too many people argued Clinton should be president because she was a woman; she believes abortion is immoral, but thinks it should be left out of politics; as a longtime educator, she doesn’t understand why anybody would want to “whitewash” history.

“If we don’t learn about our mistakes, how will we learn from them?” she writes, matter-of-factly.

Sister Jean said she hopes readers will feel like she’s sitting beside them, sharing stories, just as she does with students in her office at Loyola.

“I would just like them to feel at peace when they’re reading it,” she said.

She spoke with Religion News Service about what keeps her young and what it was like to become an overnight sensation after 98 years. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You write, “That’s how it works with God. If you keep your faith, you never have to grow old.” What is it about faith that you believe keeps you young?

I think with faith comes hope and love. To me, they just can’t be separated, because if you believe in God, you certainly have hope in what he’s going to do for you and also you love him. My mom and dad — especially my mom — taught me early in life to love God: “Dad and I love you, but God loves you even more, and so you have to love God.”

I believe that when you have love for other people, you have a good heart, and you’re happy. And I think happiness has a lot to do with longevity — in addition to DNA, of course.

“Wake up With Purpose!” by Sister Jean with Seth Davis. Courtesy of Harper Select

That lesson your parents taught you about loving and accepting other people is a theme that runs throughout the book. Why is that acceptance and inclusivity important? Do you feel like that’s something the church needs more of?

Oh, I feel it’s really important because God says, you know, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” So if they’re not loving other people, I don’t know what people are doing about themselves, because that, again, is so closely connected. We get all kinds of messages from Pope Francis that we need to do this, and he’s constantly now reminding us to remember the people in Turkey and in Syria. He never separates the two, and the two are certainly very different from each other.

I feel now, as I experience all the disruption we have with cultures and people turning people away and killing people of different cultures, I feel that my mom and dad and other moms and dads were way ahead of their time in the ‘30s and ‘40s. We just took people for granted.

5 Expectations Jesus Has of His Church

Dan Reiland

February 22, 2023

Jesus said He would build His church, but He chose to do that through us. It’s a divine partnership. His purpose and power, our calling and responsibility.

I often marvel at the fact that Jesus chose us, but I can see how it works.

The more we mature in our faith, the stronger the body of Christ, (The Church) becomes.
The stronger we become the greater our reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ extends.
The greater the influence of the church the more we can serve those in need.

The church is truly the hope of the world because it carries the truth of Jesus Christ, and the extension of God’s love.

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ephesians 3:10-11)

I honestly cannot think of a more challenging, more inspiring vision than to partner with God Himself to change the world.

Yet, Monday arrives and reality hits.

How do we encourage first time guests to come back a second time?
How do we help a struggling married couple to decide against divorce?
How do we inspire enough volunteers to serve in the kid’s ministry?
How do we help feed so many hungry and hurting people?
How do we handle conflict inside the church?

Suddenly it feels like we left the lofty vision of heaven and traded it for ministry that requires grit, resilience and courage. Like we traded glorious for grind.

Jesus never said ministry would be easy, but He did say He would always be with us.

That “with us”—that incredible partnership, (not an equal partnership but fully together), carries expectations.

Perhaps the idea of us having expectations of God is not fully appropriate, but we certainly have hopes founded in God. For example, we hope for His presence, power, favor and grace. We count on and trust His promises for these things.

And, Jesus does have expectations of us, the body of believers, His Bride, The Church.

5 Expectations Jesus Has of His Church

1. Stand Firm Against the Resistance That Comes Your Way.

There is hardly a week when we don’t meet resistance against the progress of the church.

It can be anything from a key leader becomes offended and leaves the church to someone who has never attended is using social media to cause trouble for the church.

We get caught up in these things because we are responsible to solve them, but in doing so we can lose sight of something bigger going on—a spiritual battle.

It is natural for your church to experience resistance to making progress. There is an enemy and he doesn’t want you to succeed, yet Jesus calls us to stand firm.

Ephesians 6:10-17 reminds us of the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. It is clear about the spiritual amor needed to remain strong and stand our ground.

The Enemy would love for you to become discouraged and maybe give up, but remember that progress will always bring resistance. Stand firm, keep going.

2. Speak up With Courage, Wisdom and Grace.

I find myself occasionally holding back when I think I should speak up. Do you? We should think before we speak, but we are called to speak up.

Jesus expects us to speak the truth about who He is with wisdom and grace.

It’s not just on the platform that we are responsible to speak up but in group meetings and in one-to-one conversations. As the Holy Spirit prompts you, don’t hold back.

Dad, What’s Your Vision for Your Family?

Andrew Linder

February 22, 2023

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Dad, do you have a vision for your family in the coming year?

When God made the family, he started by giving it a man — to lead it, to direct it, and to guide it.

This wasn’t by accident, but by design. God knew that a family would need loving leadership and strong guidance to navigate through the tough waters of family life and growth.

But even though God gave the family a man, unfortunately, we still see many families who are lacking in confident male leadership. Some men have abandoned ship, others are physically or emotionally absent, and some sadly just don’t care. My heart goes out to all of the woman who are pulling double duty out of necessity to provide the leadership their family needs.

However, if you are a man, and God has given you a family, you need to consider them as one of your highest callings in life — the call to be a husband to your wife and a father to your precious children. God has called you to lead, guide, and direct them.

And even more than that, God has called you to have a vision for them and their future.

QUESTION: Do you have a vision for your family?

This past weekend, we sat down with our kids and I shared my vision for our family in the coming year. And it was a fun and engaging time of discussing what our goals would look like.

Have you prayerfully considered what God would have you to do, and where God would have you to go as a family in 2022?

You do realize that every single day, you are building something, right? You are building not just a family, but a future. You are building the very foundation of hearts and lives that will one day build that same foundation for future generations to come.

If I were to ask you, “What is your vision for your family?”, could you describe it, or articulate anything specific about it?…

Yes, I know you want to have a great marriage and godly children. But have you carefully thought out any of the details of making that vision a reality?

When you look at your relationship with your wife, how do you want it to be different a year from now… or 5 years from now?
When you look at your children, what things would you like to see in their lives and character in the coming year? What about 10 years from now?
And what are you currently doing to help them to get there?

Eric Geiger: God’s View of Gender Dysphoria

Eric Geiger

February 22, 2023

What is God’s view of gender dysphoria and the transgender movement?

Imagine being a teenager who doesn’t feel at home in your own body. You never felt you met the typical gender stereotypes of guys playing with trucks and rough sports and girls dressing up and play with dolls. You aren’t happy, and you so badly want to be happy. Like all teenagers through all generations, you want a sense of identity, of who you are. You would love to be known for something, to be celebrated. You watch lots of Tik-Tok videos about others who have changed their gender identity, and they recount stories of being celebrated and affirmed for their courage.

Imagine being a parent with a young teenager who comes to you and says he or she wants to go by a different name and different pronouns. Imagine not knowing who to talk to and wondering if this is a phase that is going to pass. But as the weeks go on, the conviction in your teenager grows stronger. You begin to read articles online and discover that children or teenagers who struggle with gender dysphoria are much more likely to struggle with suicidal thoughts. You are told in online forums that if you don’t help your child transition you are being a cruel and unsupportive parent.

Imagine being a parent who learns that your elementary son’s bathroom at school has a tampon dispenser in it, and you feel conversations with your child have been thrust upon them at too early an age. Or image a parent whose daughter is playing basketball against someone who clearly was born a male, and people in the crowd are perplexed about what to say.

God’s View of Gender Dysphoria

These are not hypothetical situations but questions about gender dysphoria that I have been asked by people in our community and by people I pastor. Last weekend I preached a sermon answering theses questions—with the desire to be full of grace and full of truth. You can see the whole sermon here, What is God’s View of Gender Dysphoria, but this blog serves as a bit of a summation.

Starting with Compassion

Gender dysphoria is the sense of mismatch between physical sex (body) and psychological gender identity (mind). Thus, those suffering with gender dysphoria are experiencing a painful war within themselves. A BBC Film titled, Transgender Kids, says “At the heart of the debate about transgender children is the idea that your brain can be at war with your body.”

Who else believes our mind and our bodies can be at war with one another? Christians.

Saddleback Church Kicked out of SBC Over Female Pastors

Dale Chamberlain

February 21, 2023

Saddleback Church Disfellowshipped — Pictured: Stacie and Andy Wood delivering sermons at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California (screengrabs via YouTube @Saddleback Church

Saddleback Church, the largest church in the Southern Baptist Convention, has been ruled to no longer be “in friendly cooperation” with the denomination because of its decision to ordain women to the title of pastor, most notable among them Stacie Wood, the wife of the church’s new lead pastor, Andy Wood.

Wood took over for Rick Warren, who founded the church four decades ago, in Sept. 2022. When Wood assumed the role of lead pastor at Saddleback, whose flagship campus is in Lake Forest, California, Stacie was named one of the church’s teaching pastors, a role she also filled at the couple’s previous congregation, Echo.Church in San Jose, California.

On Tuesday (Feb. 21), Executive Committee chairman Jared Wellman said in a statement, “In its meeting today, the SBC Executive Committee determined five churches to be not in friendly cooperation with the Convention due to the churches continuing to have a female functioning in the office of pastor.”

“As stated in the Baptist Faith and Message Article VI, the SBC holds to the belief that the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture,” Wellman continued. “These churches have been valued, cooperating churches for many years, and this decision was not made lightly. However, we remain committed to upholding the theological convictions of the SBC and maintaining unity among its cooperating churches.”

Saddleback’s disfellowshipping came alongside the removal of several other churches from the denomination, one for issues related to sexual abuse, and four others who have a woman serving in the role of lead or senior pastor.

Each church has a chance to appeal the decision at the annual meeting, which will take place in New Orleans in June.

While the pastoral role filled by Stacie Wood appears to have been the decisive factor in the decision to disfellowship Saddleback Church, the question of whether the church would remain in the Southern Baptist Convention has been an open discussion for some time.

In May 2021, Saddleback ordained three women on its staff to the title of pastor, albeit not teaching pastors, which led to an inquiry by the SBC Credentials Committee.

In June 2022, when the SBC assembled in Anaheim, California, Saddleback narrowly avoided disfellowship amid a kerfuffle on the convention floor regarding whether the language of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the unifying statement of faith for the SBC, outlawed women merely from becoming senior pastors in SBC churches or if that mandate extended to other roles on the staff.

Coupled with procedural concerns and a surprise appearance by Rick Warren, who delivered a “love letter” to the SBC in the waning days of his pastorate, the discussion about whether to oust Saddleback from the denomination was tabled.

“I could have not built Saddleback Church to its size and influence in any other denomination,” Warren said at what he rightly predicted would be his last Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. “I love Southern Baptists.”

“Friends worldwide,” Warren tweeted on Tuesday. “I’m so touched by your love! Kay & I love you back! We’ll respond to #SBC in OUR time & way thru direct channels.”

‘Unlike Anything I’ve Ever Seen in My Life’—Asbury’s President Shares Ending of Continuous Worship Service

Jesse T. Jackson

February 21, 2023

As Asbury University approaches the second full week of a continuous worship service that many have characterized as a revival, university president Kevin Brown announced Sunday night that beginning this week (Feb. 20-23), around the clock worship would come to an end.

Brown expressed to those worshiping on campus Sunday night (Feb. 19) that the number of people descending upon Wilmore, Kentucky, to witness what God started on Feb. 8 in the Hughes Auditorium after their Wednesday chapel service led by Zach Meerkreebs has been overwhelming for their little town of approximately 6,000 people in a 2.6 square mile area.

Some have estimated that over 50,000 people have traveled to Asbury University in an attempt to experience the worship service. The campus witnessed over 20,000 visitors on Saturday night (Feb 18) alone and reported that traffic was back up for over 2.5 miles with people trying to get to the university.

On Sunday (Feb. 19), social media posts showed that the city posted traffic signs telling visitors “No Further Entry” and “Revival Over Capacity.”

“We had authorities that had to redirect traffic away from Wilmore. Our town’s institutions and our town’s infrastructure is just not in a place to absorb the influx of the blessed guests that we have had,” Brown told those worshiping on Sunday night.

In a video released by the university, Brown shared, “We are now approaching two consecutive weeks of nonstop worship, prayer, and gathering that’s been occurring on our campus. And whether you call this a revival or renewal, an awakening, or an outpouring, what we have experienced on our campus these last few weeks is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Brown said that since the continuous worship service started, he has witnessed “radical humility, compassion, honesty, confession, and life-altering commitments.”

The president also spoke to the decision to not livestream any of the worship service outside their normal scheduled chapels.

“From the start,” Brown explained, “we avoided live streaming what has been occurring on our campus, and at that time, our desire was to honor the space and to allow for a more organic unfolding of what was taking place here.”

The university decided to start livestreaming portions of the worship services in order “to play a role in stewarding God’s Spirit on our campus and to do it in collaboration with the Asbury community,” Brown said.

Beth Moore Reveals Why She Is Now Naming the Person Who Abused Her as a Child

Jessica Lea

February 21, 2023

Beth Moore’s memoir, “All My Knotted-Up Life,” released today (Tuesday, Feb. 21). On Monday, Feb. 20, Moore joined ABC News’ Linsey Davis to discuss her newest book, and during the interview, Moore explained she has a specific reason for now revealing that the person who sexually abused her as a child was her father.

“What is clear to me is that this subject matter has remained so general that people don’t know the pain of it and the cost of it to the victim,” said Moore. “And so it was important to me to put some color in it, place it in a home, give that home an address and a yard and a street, and understand what it is like to be in secret where you feel like you carry all of this shame.”

.@BethMooreLPM was one of the most celebrated female teachers in the Baptist faith until she spoke out against former Pres. Trump. She opens up to @LinseyDavis about the backlash, her decision to reveal a deep trauma from her childhood and new memoir, “All My Knotted-Up Life.” pic.twitter.com/KjAOiTPE7c

— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) February 21, 2023

Beth Moore: Protect People, Not Power

Beth Moore is an influential author and Bible teacher whose “life took a turn,” as Davis put it, after Moore first spoke out against Donald Trump in 2016. After the “Access Hollywood” tape was leaked of Trump describing how feels free to sexually assault women, Moore spoke out in a series of tweets in which she said, “I’m one among many women sexually abused, misused, stared down, heckled, talked naughty to. Like we liked it. We didn’t. We’re tired of it.”

In the years that followed, Moore, who was a member of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) at the time, received considerable pushback for her opposition to Trump and for speaking out on behalf of women, as well as for at times preaching during Sunday morning services.

In 2021, Moore announced that she was leaving the SBC, saying that she is “still a Baptist, but I can no longer identify with Southern Baptists. I love so many Southern Baptist people, so many Southern Baptist churches, but I don’t identify with some of the things in our heritage that haven’t remained in the past.”

Davis asked if Moore’s experience as a woman in the SBC had led her to consider leaving the denomination even before 2016. Moore acknowledged that there were times certain situations seemed “off” to her, but said that she would explain them away using Scripture.

She put the behavior down, not to a lack of respect, but to how certain people viewed authority in the church based on the Bible. Moore said she kept this view until she realized, “Wait a second, I don’t think that this is about Scripture. I think this is about power.”

She said, “When I watched so many champion Donald Trump in October of 2016” and soon after saw the SBC start to deal with its “sexual abuse crisis,” she realized that the support of Trump “was not an anomaly.”

WATCH: Sadie Robertson Huff Discusses Purity—And How the Church Got It Wrong

Janna Firestone

February 21, 2023

Sadie Robertson Huff discusses sex and purity culture — Screengrabs via YouTube @Sadie Robertson Huff

As part of her “WHOA That’s Good” Podcast, Sadie Robertson Huff sat down with her mom, Korie Robertson, to discuss what most “would shy away from talking about—especially in the church.” Sadie and Korie had an honest conversation about sex and purity.

Sadie reflected on when she first learned about sex at around age nine. She and her mom were watching “So You Think You Can Dance,” and the judges kept mentioning how certain moves were “sexy.”

Sadie recalled, “And, I was like ‘Mom, what does sexy mean?'”

Taking a cautious and clinical approach, Korie explained that “sexy” comes from the root word “sex.” Korie saw a natural open door and began to explain sex to her daughter.

Where Most People Hear About Sex and Purity

Sadie shared a startling statistic: “80% of people found out about sex from their peers, television, or the internet.” She believes this has led to misinformation and a skewed view of sex and purity.

She went on to tell Korie that she’s “glad that you told me that, because I got to hear from my mom what sex is, what God’s design for sex is. A lot of people don’t have that conversation with their parents, don’t have that conversation with their pastor or with a mentor. It comes from a lot of other places.”

The church has also served as a resource on the subject of sex, but sometimes providing inaccurate information.

“There have been so many harmful things put out from the church when it comes to sex,” Sadie continued. “And, if that’s brought shame to your life, I just want to say that is not the message of Jesus. That is not the message of the cross. That is not God’s intention for sex.”

Sadie further attempted to connect with those who have been hurt by the church’s purity message methodologies, saying, “So, if you’ve heard an analogy that was horrible—if you’ve heard things spoken over your life that alluded to anything other than the power of the blood of Jesus can heal you—it’s not the truth.”

The World’s View of Sex Has Changed

The biblical view and God’s design of sex haven’t changed since the beginning of time. Sex is a beautiful thing, intended for good between a married man and woman, Sadie explained. On the other hand, the world’s view and treatment of sex have changed continually.

20 years ago, 47% felt like it was okay to have sex outside of marriage. And, now 73% say it’s “totally fine—why, what’s the harm in having sex outside of the marriage?”
And, for teenagers, the same statistic has gone from 32% of people saying it’s not okay for teens to have sex—now 43% of people think teenage sex is acceptable.
Polygamy (being married to multiple people) has seen a rise from 7% to 20% acceptance over the past 20 years.
Even more alarming, 95% of people say they have had sex before they were married.

Addressing viewers, Sadie said, “I’m not assuming that you guys never had sex before. I’m actually assuming most of you probably have. If it’s up to the statistics that 95% of you have, so I just want to say that you are not exempt from the beauty of what this conversation is about to be, because you’ve walked in sexual sin in your past or are currently walking through sexual sin. Today can be a day that everything changes that you begin to repent and walk toward the way that God has for you.”

Lifeway Research: Most Pastors, Churchgoers See More Than Monthly Attendance as Standard

Aaron Earls

February 21, 2023

defining regular church attender — Photo by NATHAN MULLET (via Unsplash)

If you want to be considered a regular at a local church by those behind the pulpit and in the pews, you’ll probably need to show up in person at least a couple times a month.

A study from Lifeway Research finds a majority of both U.S. Protestant pastors and churchgoers consider someone to be a regular church attender if they attend twice a month or more. Most also say that’s based on how often they attend a worship service, not other church activities.

“There has likely never been unanimity on what qualifies someone as a regular churchgoer,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “But the question piqued our interest recently as we have heard church leaders speculating that churchgoers are attending less often and that their mindset of who is a regular attender may be changing.”

Church attendance has decreased in the U.S., according to studies from multiple research organizations. Those trends were already pointing downward prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which only accelerated the churchgoing declines for many. Last fall, Lifeway Research found the average church is currently at 85% of their pre-pandemic attendance levels.

Emerging from a period when most U.S. Protestant churches paused physical worship services for a time, pastors and church attendees are now considering what it means to be a regular churchgoer.

Pastoral Perspectives

For U.S. Protestant pastors to consider someone in their congregation a regular churchgoer, 3 in 5 expect attendance at least twice a month, while 1 in 10 include those who attend less than monthly.

Pastors who define regular attendance as less than monthly include those who attend at least once a year (2%), two or three times a year (2%), four or five times a year (2%) or six to 10 times a year (4%). Around a quarter (24%) see those who attend once a month as regular, while a plurality (30%) places the threshold at twice a month.

Others have a higher standard for a regular churchgoer. Around 1 in 7 (15%) say three times a month, and 13% say weekly. For 3% of pastors, only those who attend more than once a week qualify as a regular attender at their church. Another 3% aren’t sure.

“There are practical implications to how often someone attends church,” said McConnell. “Those attending a few times a year are there enough to be known. Whereas those attending weekly likely have deeper relationships and can be counted on to serve. Those at church half the time can only serve if some rotation system is in place.”

The oldest pastors are most likely to have the highest threshold, as 22% of pastors 65 and older say a regular churchgoer attends weekly or more. African American (36%) and Hispanic pastors (25%) are more likely than white pastors (14%) to say at least weekly attendance is the standard for a regular church attender.

Those in the South (20%) are more likely than pastors in the Northeast (12%) or Midwest (11%) to say only those who attend weekly or more are regular churchgoers.

Denominationally, Pentecostal (26%), Restorationist Movement (26%) and Baptist pastors (23%) are more likely than Methodist (11%), Lutheran (4%) and Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (4%) to consider only those who attend weekly or more as a regular attender in their congregation.

SBC Database of Leaders Accused of Sexual Abuse To Be Implemented by Guidepost Solutions, Will Cost $1.5-2 Million

Dale Chamberlain

February 21, 2023

Guidepost Solutions Ministry Check website — Pictured: SBC messengers raise their ballots in support of various resolutions at the June 2022 meeting of the denomination in Anaheim, California. Photo courtesy of Baptist Press

The Southern Baptist Convention’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF) announced on Monday evening that a “ministry check” website, which will provide a database of denominational pastors and leaders who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse, will be built by Guidepost Solutions.

Guidepost Solutions is the same firm the SBC Executive Committee hired to investigate their own handling of sexual abuse allegations across two decades, the result of which was a bombshell report delivered in May 2022 that fueled widespread support for reform.

At the denomination’s annual meeting the next month, SBC local church delegates, called messengers, overwhelmingly voted to implement such reforms, which have been spearheaded by the newly formed ARITF, the members of which were appointed by SBC president Bart Barber.

The cost of creating the website, which was one of the key directives given to the ARITF, will be between $1.5 million and $2 million. The ARITF was given $3 million by fellow SBC entity Send Relief to implement reforms approved by messengers.

“Although we were told for decades this was impossible, last June our convention voted to get this done,” Marshall Blalock, chairman of the ARITF, said at an SBC Executive Committee meeting on Monday (Feb. 20). “There has been no cooperative mechanism to relay information from church to church to help each other to stop sexual abusers from going [from] place to place.”

Despite the longstanding desire among many within the SBC to implement a central database of clergy sex offenders, they were consistently rebuffed under the guise that the denomination would be vulnerable to legal liability if they created such a list. One of the shocking revelations of the Guidepost Solutions report was that Executive Committee legal counsel was already maintaining one in secret.

The ARITF reached the decision to hire Guidepost Solutions for the website after considering 18 firms, evaluating each on a set of 11 criteria, which included being licensed in all 50 states, as well as having expertise in both cybersecurity and the legal considerations involved in certifying investigations and reporting credible allegations of abuse.

This comprehensive evaluation process has been cited as the reason why progress on the website’s implementation has been slower than many within the SBC expected, leading to frustration among some.

In an interview with Baptist Press, Blalock explained that the project will be undertaken by a newly formed faith-based division of Guidepost Solutions called “Faith Based Solutions” and will be led by Samantha Kilpatrick, a veteran attorney who is a member of an SBC church and a graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“We are actually opting for one of our own to spearhead this initiative,” Blalock said. “She is [a] godly, capable, and trustworthy person. I could not be more grateful that she is willing and available to come alongside us in this process.”

After Parkinson’s Diagnosis, Philip Yancey Aims To Be Faithful, Grateful

Stephanie Martin

February 21, 2023

In a Feb. 20 blog post, prolific Christian author Philip Yancey reveals he was diagnosed last month with Parkinson’s disease. The degenerative neurological condition hampers muscle-brain connections, and the severity of symptoms varies widely.

Yancey has authored more than 30 books, many of which wrestle with tough faith-related questions. In his 2021 memoir “Where the Light Fell,” he shares glimpses of “a bumpy childhood” and recounts the physical challenges of his older brother, Marshall, who had a stroke in 2009. Reflecting on how people often judge his courageous brother by the “externals” of his condition, Yancey recently “coined a new word—dislabeled—in protest.”

Philip Yancey: ‘I’m Still the Same Person Inside’

In his blog (also shared by Christianity Today, where Philip Yancey served as editor-at-large for 30 years), the Colorado resident recaps his journey to a diagnosis. While skiing a year ago, he crashed into a tree after giving “clear instructions for my legs to turn downhill, and they disobeyed.” Yancey’s gait, posture, handwriting, and golf game got noticeably worse, yet a doctor insisted he was “in great shape” and “can’t have Parkinson’s.”

Daily tasks became noticeably more difficult by last fall. Yancey switched insurance plans to see a neurologist sooner and began a “dopamine-based treatment along with physical therapy.” After his diagnosis, Yancey tried playing Pickleball but fell face-first on the court. In the ER, he realized “I’m not dislabeled after all” and needed to make lifestyle adjustments.

“In a preview of aging, disability means letting go of ordinary things that we take for granted,” writes Yancey. “Just as I’ve had to slow my pace when walking alongside my brother, now others must slow their pace for me.”

Learning to Embrace Our Unique ‘Disabilities’

Philip Yancey, co-author of “Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants” (1993), admits he would love to have Parkinson’s “magically removed from my life.” Without that option, though, he’s working on acceptance, knowing that life isn’t fair and “people are unequal in their abilities.” Instead of feeling resentful or ashamed, he writes, we can “somehow learn to embrace the gifts and ‘disabilities’ unique to ourselves.”

Pointing to Psalm 71:9 (“Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone”), Yancey writes, “That prayer expresses the silent plea of all disabled persons, a group that now includes me.” Now that the author has joined the one-quarter of Americans with some type of disability, he strives “to look past the externals—as I do instinctively with my brother—to the person inside.”

After decades of interviewing everyone from dignitaries to leprosy patients, Yancey observes: “Those who live with pain and failure tend to be better stewards of their life circumstances than those who live with success and pleasure. Pain redeemed impresses me more than pain removed.”

Harvard, National Council of Churches, Reform Jews Seeking Reparations Blueprint

Adelle M Banks

February 21, 2023

reparations — Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Photo by Joseph Williams/Wikipedia/Creative Commons

(RNS) — A professor and students at Harvard Kennedy School are joining forces with prominent Christian and Jewish organizations to develop a faith-based blueprint to advance the possibility of reparations for African Americans.

The National Council of Churches and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism have become a client of several students in the school’s “Creating Justice in Real Time” course and hope by the end of the semester to create new ways — such as resources for congregations and proposed legislation for Congress — to move conversations into action.

“We’re trying to build a grassroots, congregation-level strategy to take up the whole matter of federal reparations and ultimately establish a commission and ultimately push for legislation that addresses America’s profound racial wealth gap,” said the Rev. Cornell William Brooks, a former president of the NAACP and a professor at the Kennedy School, Harvard’s school of public policy and government.

Brooks, who also is a visiting professor at Harvard Divinity School, leads a collaborative at Harvard that he describes as “a think-and-do tank” that involves college and graduate students of divinity, business and law, working with political leaders and social justice organizations. The African Methodist Episcopal minister said this semester marks the first time the collaborative has signed a memorandum of understanding with religious organizations that are expected to implement what they and the students develop as soon as 2024.

“This is not a mere research paper,” he said. “How do you get the academic research out of the journals, into people’s hands, into their heads, and into legislation?”

More than half a century after “the Black Manifesto” demanded $500 million in reparations from white churches and synagogues for the mistreatment of African Americans, religious institutions and denominations have helped lead the way amid continuing national debate. In recent years, Virginia Theological Seminary began paying descendants of African Americans “whose labor built and sustained” it. In January, Reconstructionist Jews called for reparations to descendants of slaves and Indigenous peoples for harms caused by slavery, colonization and white supremacist policies.

The Rev. Stephen A. Green, the NCC’s civic engagement and outreach consultant, said the ecumenical council is working on a draft of a letter it hopes to send to President Joe Biden seeking his signature on an executive order to create a commission to study reparations. Congressional legislation for such a step, proposed for decades on Capitol Hill, has yet to pass.

“Because we don’t see a pathway in the Congress under this session, because of divided government,” Green said, “we would like to see the president establish this via executive order.”

Green, a former NAACP youth director and the current pastor of St. Luke AME Church in Harlem, New York, said he hopes religious leaders will work with the students to learn best practices about reparations from a task force created in California and an initiative in Evanston, Illinois.

Yolanda Savage-Narva said a reparations task force of the Religious Action Center, which is the advocacy arm of the Union of Reform Judaism, has begun creating resources on the history of reparations as well as possible advocacy steps to share with their congregations. They expect to receive feedback from Kennedy School students about it.

“We’re following their lead,” said Savage-Narva, the URJ’s official addressing racial equity, diversity and inclusion. “We’re approaching this from this very specific point of view about b’tselem elohim, that people are made in the image of God, and I think that drives both organizations to support this work and to support the students in their pursuit.”

Phil Scholer, a Georgetown University graduate, is a divinity school student who will be assisting the NCC and RAC, drawing on his work with others at his Catholic alma mater, to continue to seek payment to descendants of enslaved people who were sold to pay the debts of the Washington institution.

Beth Moore Tries to Untangle Her ‘All Knotted-Up Life’ in New Memoir

Bob Smietana

February 21, 2023

(RNS) — There’s a downside to going someplace where everyone knows your name.

Author and Bible teacher Beth Moore discovered that reality in the months after making a public break with the Southern Baptist Convention, which had been her spiritual home since childhood.

Whenever she and her husband, Keith, would visit a new church, the results were the same. People were welcoming. But they knew who she was — and would probably prefer if she went elsewhere. Once the very model of the modern evangelical woman, she was now a reminder of the denomination’s controversies surrounding Donald Trump, sexism, racism and the mistreatment of sexual abuse survivors.

When Moore would no longer remain silent about such things, she became too much trouble to have around. Even in church.

“I was a loaded presence,” she told RNS in a recent interview.

In her memoir, “All My Knotted-Up Life,” out this week from Tyndale, Moore recounts how the couple ended up at an Anglican church in Houston, largely at the suggestion of Keith Moore, who’d grown up Catholic and felt more at home in a liturgical tradition. When they walked in, the rector greeted them and asked their names.

When she told him who she was, the rector brightened up.

“Oh,” he said, with a smile, “Like Beth Moore.” Then, having no idea who he was talking to, he added, “Come right in. We’re glad to have you.”

After the service, a handful of women who had gone through one of Moore’s best-selling Bible studies, gathered around her. They knew who she was and wanted Moore to know she was safe in that place and that there was plenty of room for her in the community.

“Can I simply ask if you’re OK,” Moore recalls one of the women saying.

In that moment of kindness, Moore says she felt seen and at home in the small congregation, which became her new church. She could just be herself, not defined by the controversies she’d been through.

“Never underestimate the power of a welcome,” she said.

The kindness of ordinary church people has long sustained Moore — providing a refuge and believing in her, even when she did not believe in herself.

Raised by an abusive father and a mother who struggled with mental illness, Moore has long said that church was a safe haven from the chaos of her home life. In her new memoir, Moore gives a glimpse into that troubled childhood and the faith — and people — who rescued her.

Displaying the skills that made her a bestselling author, Moore tells her story with grace and humor and with charity toward the family that raised her, despite their many flaws and the pain they all experienced.

Suspect Arrested in Shooting of Los Angeles Bishop Is Housekeeper’s Husband

Alejandra Molina

February 21, 2023

LOS ANGELES (RNS) — The suspect arrested in Saturday’s shooting of Roman Catholic Bishop David G. O’Connell is Carlos Medina, the husband of the bishop’s housekeeper, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. The sheriff made the announcement at a press conference Monday afternoon (Feb. 20) with a visibly distraught Archbishop José H. Gomez, O’Connell’s superior, who called his auxiliary bishop “a good friend to Los Angeles.”

Medina, 65, was arrested at about 8:15 a.m. Monday in the city of Torrance. No motive was given, but Luna said the suspect had previously done work around the bishop’s house. Detectives are looking into whether there was a dispute over money.

The housekeeper is cooperating with the investigation, Luna said. It is believed that a deacon called 911 after going to the bishop’s home to check on him because he had been late to a meeting, Luna said.

A somber Gomez, his voice was trembling and seemingly close to tears, said of O’Connell: “He was a good priest, and a good bishop, and a man of peace. We are very sad to have lost him.”

At one point, Luna embraced Gomez and told him in his ear, “God is with you.”

In the hours since O’Connell’s body was found a stream of neighbors and Catholics from around the Los Angeles area visited the home in Hacienda Heights, a suburb in San Gabriel Valley, after the news spread that the bishop had been discovered with a gunshot wound to his chest.

Mourners prayed the rosary and left bouquets of flowers and votive candles. Several visitors talked about O’Connell’s outreach to the unhoused and lauded his advocacy for immigrants. Others recalled social gatherings where O’Connell — often referred to as “Bishop Dave” or “Father Dave” — would “sit with everyone.”

“He was one of us,” one mourner said, adding, “He prayed for everyone.”

Linda Dakin-Grimm, an immigration attorney who worked with O’Connell for more than a decade, said it was hard to believe anyone would want to kill him. “Father Dave brings people together. I’ve never met a person who had anything bad to say about him, ever. Everybody loves him,” said Dakin-Grimm.

She recalled O’Connell’s work with poor dioceses in Peru, his commitment with parishes in South Central L.A. and how he would pay Catholic school tuition for students in need or to help an immigrant family pay rent. O’Connell, she said, was committed to “the ordinary person, not the rich Catholic.”

Dakin-Grimm credited O’Connell, who served as chairman of the interdiocesan Southern California Immigration Task Force, with her decision to take on pro-bono immigration cases. She has represented unaccompanied minors and those who were separated from parents deported under the Trump administration.

“He has always been the person who had the back of every person that I took on,” Dakin-Grimm said. “He’s an extremely unique person of deep faith and witness and kindness. I don’t see how we will fill that big, aching gap.”

Jose Diaz, a member of a Catholic men’s fellowship, said O’Connell often joined the men for prayer services and Christian formation and “spiritually guided me and the group.”

On Sunday evening, Diaz and his wife, Teresa, led a rosary prayer service near a growing makeshift memorial outside O’Connell’s home.

“He was a light of hope and he gave people options. Most of us, we don’t encounter holy people. He gave us the option of turning to God,” he said.

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Key Questions for Karl Vaters

Key Quotes From Karl Vaters

You write, “That’s how it works with God. If you keep your faith, you never have to grow old.” What is it about faith that you believe keeps you young?

That lesson your parents taught you about loving and accepting other people is a theme that runs throughout the book. Why is that acceptance and inclusivity important? Do you feel like that’s something the church needs more of?

5 Expectations Jesus Has of His Church

1. Stand Firm Against the Resistance That Comes Your Way.

2. Speak up With Courage, Wisdom and Grace.

QUESTION: Do you have a vision for your family?

God’s View of Gender Dysphoria

Starting with Compassion

Beth Moore: Protect People, Not Power

Where Most People Hear About Sex and Purity

The World’s View of Sex Has Changed

Pastoral Perspectives

Philip Yancey: ‘I’m Still the Same Person Inside’

Learning to Embrace Our Unique ‘Disabilities’

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