Posted on 11/02/2007 6:39:19 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
In a bit of shocking news today, Pastor Gary Liddell of Free Will Primitive Baptist Church in Roanoke, VA was charged with first degree reckless endangerment after two children were severely burned when his church caught fire during their summer vacation bible school. The fire started when the pyrotechnic display inside the church ignited the curtains overhanging the baptismal pool. The display was part of the church’s “To Hell In a Handbasket” VBS theme, the brainchild of Pastor Liddell. “I just wanted to show our kids the reality of hell. I never thought anyone would get hurt,” stated Liddell.
Nine-year old Brittany Levins shared her experience of the event, “Pastor Gary was shoutin’ and yellin’ at us, tellin’ us that if we didn’t say we love Jesus and tell Him we’re sorry for our sins that we were very bad boy and girls. He said that if we didn’t do that that we would go to hell and burn forever, and all this fire started shooting up where the choir sits. It got really hot in there. Then the whole church caught on fire and everybody started running.”
Two children, Bobby Freers and Michael Ingram, suffered second degree burns when their costumes for the skit “The Losers of Armageddon” caught on fire. Fortunately the children suffered less injury after they remembered to stop, drop, and roll. Their flames were quenched when the children rolled into a small pool for the Streams of Living Water set. The children are now recovering at home after being quickly treated and released from the hospital.
“I don’t feel that I did anything wrong, ” stated Liddell, “I am very sorry that Bobby and Michael were burned, but if any of those kids accept Jesus into their hearts, then my job as pastor is done. . . the vacation bible school becomes a success rather than a failure.”
The church suffered only moderate damage, as the Hunt County Fire Department was able to hastily put out the raging fire.
This pastor is a freak.
This pastor is a freak.
Click through to the original. It's satire.
Okay, this caught me off guard...need more coffee.
“Their flames were quenched when the children rolled into a small pool for the Streams of Living Water set.”
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