It seems not all is good in the camp of Pastor Matthew Makela this afternoon as the church that the associate reverend worked for, St John’s Lutheran Church prior to be found out living a double life on dating site grindr has now taken to de activating their web page, the reverend’s Facebook page as well now urging followers to ignore the fiasco that has landed on its doorstep.
Explains gawker: In the meantime, the church is urging its congregation not to read or turn on the television so that they might avoid inadvertently discovering what happened to that nice pastor man.
And the letter the Midland, Michigan church has since sent out to devout followers:
Dear members of St. John’s,
It is my grief to inform you that Pastor Makela announced his resignation as a pastor of St. John’s through a letter that was read in worship on Sunday, May 17. Pastor has acknowledged that there was sin and repentance, and I have testified that there is indeed forgiveness through the same Lord who forgives all our sins. Nevertheless, it is an end of our time together in ministry, and we ask for your continued prayers and support for the Makela family.
To make matters worse, though, the details of sin that have been kept confidential are being posted online by those who seek to do harm to the Makela family and to St. John’s. This is taking an already difficult situation and making it even more painful.
I write this to you to warn you that you may be confronted with the details of the sin, and to remind you that sin is never pretty. The facebook pages associated with St. John’s have been taken down in an attempt to remove the opportunity for malicious posters to have access to St. John’s members, but the internet and age of communication being what it is, I have no way of guaranteeing that you will not come across this information in some way.
A few thoughts on how to proceed:
-Don’t panic. This changes nothing. Matt is still forgiven and he is still loved, and we will do what we can to stand by him and the family as they face this spiteful attack of shame. God is bigger than this and will see us through.
-Don’t respond. Those who are trying to shake up the congregation are doing so, at least in part, to generate traffic to their website. If you click on a website to see, or respond to what is being said—even in a positive way—you are only rewarding those who are trying to shame the Makelas.
-Please know that the leadership of St. John’s will be forthright with any information the members need to have. However, we do not intend to use the internet as the primary means of communication at this point.
-Be patient and trust God. This too shall pass. In the meantime consider the advice of scripture: “Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.”
See you in Church,
Pastor Kempin
Images via queerty
Oh I’m sorry that a man who publically disgraced and humiliated innocent people with damnation and hypocrisy was outed for for being gay, which in itself is not a sin, but for being an unfaithful adulterous scumbag as well.