East St. Louis pastor arrested during his sermon

St. Clair County Sheriff reportedly asked if he could meet with them outside the church, but he refused.

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[mswardmusic]

I refuse to be anywhere where I’m not wanted, respected, or loved. The Pastor should shake the dust off his feet & keep it pushin. Matthew 10:14

[traviskellogg]

"He failed to grow the church and bring in PROMINENT members."

There it is... It's about the money. -__-

[jaime]

Growing the church and bringing in prominents members? What?!! That is not a church but a club. Disgusting.

[sgmares]

"Prominent"??? Sounds like they were looking for people with money...just sad.

[johnadams]

This is the craziest story I have ever heard! The Pastor needs to find a new church.

[russwatkins]

Very sad that it got to this point. Pastor, pray about it and brush the dust off your feet and move on. There is a place for you somewhere. God may be trying to push you into a better place for ministry.

[leroyhargett]

It’s not the Pastor’s full or total responsibility to grow the Church, the Parishioners has a big part to play in the growth of the Church.

[sktgfk]

"He failed to grow the church" so the members cannot go out and evangelize and pray for increase.

[KarenProctorGoodNews]

This is my personal opinion! I wouldn’t want to be a officer who arrest a Pastor from the pulpit under no circumstances; I would have waited until he’s outside. I wouldn’t want to be a member of the church who result to calling the police to remove my Pastor from the pulpit. As Christians, the teachings of the Bible is to be our guideline for how we conduct our affairs. Yes, I’m on the outside looking in and there’s things that I may not know concerning the entire situation, but I still wouldn’t call the cops to come in during the service 🤷🏽‍♀️

[kramsdrawde]

To grow the church is for it's members to accomplish, the Shephard is to equip them to "grow the church" through personal contact and speaking to those they come in contact every day.

[smacdiesel]

Impossible to grow a church with members who would do such a horrible thing to a pastor.

[ricardoramos]

He didn’t tickle their ears like they wanted. Stand firm in the Faith. God Bless all 🙏❤️

[joelnielsen]

Damn, having your pastor arrested for trespassing while he's giving the Sunday sermon is the ultimate F*** Y**. He should immediately leave that nasty bunch that's trying to harm him.

[pamelafranklin]

Shame on them the whole church it's pathetic

[patriciamariemitchel]

In England if someone was being chased by the police and they made their way into the church, they were safe from arrest as long as they stayed there. It was called, "Sanctuary".
Shame on us 😖

[wilburwilson]

DURING the sermon? Law enforcement should have waited until after (IF they had to do this) the service in PRIVATE! This is an outrage!

[miaj]

I thought it was illegal for law enforcement to make an arrest of anyone during an active church service. What crime did he commit to get arrested in his pulpit? Not only was this, wicked, and evil, but it also shows a lack of respect for God and his sacred space.

The members want the pastor removed because he failed to grow the church with “prominent members?” That’s not failure, but it speaks volumes about the members of that church. They don’t realize what they’ve done. They surely won’t escape the wrath of God for this.

[pep]

Trying to grow a church in East St. Louis can not be easy.

[truthanderror]

There seems to be more to this story. Getting arrested while preaching. Come on. Arrest him before he gets up there or afterwards, not during a church service.
A church should not be looking to add prominent members. It should be sharing the message of the cross and people will either come or they won't.
This whole thing is sickening.

[MM-bwlo]

This ain’t the first time this has been done, wasn’t another pastor arrested as well. He needs to move on, no point of staying where your not wanted. Grow somewhere else