frankly, ‘lord, it sounds really weird that a pastor would tell you to go here, by name, RATHER THAN DOING IT HIMSELF. we have pastors on this board already — it’s not like it’s an impossibly time consuming task. some of them are pretty darn orthodox, would never agree with mitt’s religion in a googol years, and yet they don’t take themselves as seriously as a heart attack.
this could be a main reason for the flak. i can’t answer for the folks who want to vet you personally, but it does come across rather weird.