Posted on 02/07/2006 4:45:46 AM PST by freepatriot32
CHICAGO - Some members of a Lutheran parish on Chicago's far South Side said they are outraged police arrested the Rev. Jimmy McCants in the middle of his sermon.
McCants, 54, has been the focus of a dispute between rival factions at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The church's board of directors told police the board fired McCants on Christmas Eve, and a woman affiliated with the church signed a complaint against him for trespassing on church property, said Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond.
But a Lutheran Church official said the board fired McCants without going through the proper steps to resolve disputes.
"They have removed a pastor inappropriately," said the Rev. William H. Ameiss, president of the Northern Illinois District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. "The real tragedy is the ministry gets put on hold for a power struggle."
McCants was not handcuffed when police led him out of the church Sunday. He was booked on a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespassing and released in lieu of $1,000 bond.
"My church is the house of the Lord, and I had not committed a criminal act," McCants said. "We're going to see what the lawyers say. I intend to go back next Sunday."
hmmm i guess her bible must be missing 1st Corinthians
1 Corinthians 6:1-7 (King James Version)
1Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
2Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
3Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
4If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
5I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
6But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
7Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
I wont argue the merits of the case, The story doesnt include enough information to do so. It would seem though that even the police should have enough common sense to wait until after the Mass to make an arrest. Either that or do it before the Mass began.
i just find it very wierd that he was supposedly fired christmas eve(how very christian of them) and now february 6th he gets arrested how did they not know he was still preaching for almost two months?
Oh those wacky Lutherans!!!!
An experienced police dept. would have treated it as a civil dispute and told the complaintant to get a civil "kick out" order of eviction. Then they could proceed with their rear ends covered.
Ping.
Uh oh... LCMS...
The sad part is that church/congregational disputes can be some of the nastiest out there. I was an Elder (Presbyterian USA) and there was a big skermish between two groups of members, each wanting a different style of worship service. It was rough, but the Lord did see us through that troubled time.
Sadly, the LCMS is cracking up in many places over the changes that Pres. Kieschnick and his minions have made in doctrine and practice. There is much conflict in many congregations that are only quasi-Lutheran, due to poor instruction in doctrine, and the vanishing faction that want to preserve Lutheran doctrine and worship. But having the pastor arrested in the middle of his sermon is truly a new low for the LCMS, and the PR gurus will hate to see this in print. They prefer that the givers in the pews remain totally ignorant of the severe fault lines in the church that should be obvious to everyone by now.
Satan is rubbing his hands in glee at another confessional church body that has fallen for his tricks.
If his paychecks stopped Dec 24, why would he still be preaching at that church?
It depends on what parish one belongs to. We left the ELCA last April for our local LCMS parish. Best move we ever made (And, you think the LCMS has problems? Not by comparison!).
As for this story, I heard about it last night at our Evangelism Board meeting. It seems the parish tried to remove the pastor in contravention of the constitution (either parish or synod...that wasn't clear). It wasn't stated how the Synod got involved but I'd put my money on the pastor.
"hmmm i guess her bible must be missing 1st Corinthians"
I'm sorry to say it but the Lutheran denomination stopped following Biblical teaching years ago. I would not be a bit surprised if the woman who filed the complaint had not cracked a Bible in years and has no idea what it says on the subject.
power.
More & different info here:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0602070188feb07,1,7837792.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed
The congragation was bound by constitution to inform the District of any disciplinary action taken with the Pastor.
The synod is big on following procedures. A congregation cannot sack a Pastor over a dispute without going through the District first.
BTW the LCMS is very touchy on going outside the church to resolve disputes. Very unbiblical and anti-Christian to do so. I would not be surprised if the District didn't come in and had a discipline session with the woman who signed the complaint against the Pastor. Or in the very least had a session with the Elders to mete out discipline.
If the District President says that the congragation didn't follow correct procedures then my bet is that they will have to retain the Pastor until the District resolves the dispute.
You don't know much about the Missouri Synod, do you?
Keep in mind that the citation you used has specific intentions...XPians going to court to determine proper doctrinal solutions.
In this case, I belive it may apply but it is a "trespassing" case and - on the surface - tangentially touches on the doctrinal dispute at Zion.
My assumption is that the parishioner has good enough connections inside the "Chicago Machine" (TM, Richard Daley, Inc.) to have this done.
This is a sad story.
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