This story is just bizarre.
Fans of gospel music likely know the name Tommy Tester well. He's a staple at WZAP 690 am in Bristol, Virginia, and has been for almost 25 years, but his recent arrest, has put his station in a tight spot.
Johnson City police arrested Tester Thursday night on charges of indecent exposure and public drunkenness. Police say the preacher was driving drunk when he stopped at a car wash and urinated with children present. Investigators say prior to his arrest, Tester, who was wearing a skirt at the time, made sexual advances to them.
WZAP Owner Al Morris says he has relieved Tester of his duties at the radio station until the facts of the case are determined. Morris says Tester's arrest came as a surprise to him and everyone at the station. Since the arrest, Morris says he has spoken with Tester, who he says denies all of the allegations. Morris asks everyone to pray for the man.
It seems people are taking that request to heart, including members of Tester's congregation. He is the pastor of Gospel Baptist Church. We're told, Sunday's service was packed.
I read this and thought, what the hell? Tester was driving drunk, stopped to pee, and then hit on some kids. I find it hard to believe this guy is a pastor.
I love the line "who was wearing a shirt at the time" - does this mean he was not wearing pants?
"was wearing a shirt at the time"
ReplyDeleteHaha, I must be projecting -- I read that as "who was wearing a skirt at the time".
I guess I'm just reading what I expect to see, considering all the strange pastor stuff that's come out the last few years!
-olly
Um, the italicized text does say "was wearing a skirt at the time".
ReplyDeleteIt is worse than Mojoey thought, and as bad as Olly thought he mistakenly thought.
Turned my stomach a bit, too.
Also, he was hitting on the cops, not on the kids.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised if on Sunday mornings he is a hell-fire-and-brimstone, anti-drinking, anti-gay pastor, and any other time he's just a drunk gay guy.
A quick google search on Tommy Tester Gospel Baptist Church brought up this article:
ReplyDeletehttp://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/oct1982/v39-3-article3.htm
In the early spring of 1974, a small group of parents-fifteen in all-attended the regular monthly meeting of the Washington County School Board and demanded that it immediately remove from eleventh grade English classes the "Responding Series" of literature textbooks. The leader of the group was Bobby W. Sproles, who, at that time, operated a small grocery in the city of Bristol, Virginia, about fifteen miles west of Abingdon.
Sproles said the series contained "common curse words" such as "damn" and "hell." "Evil comes from this kind of thing," he said. "We should hold our children off from seeing these words as long as possible." The School Board was non-committal.
At the next meeting, Sproles' group was back in force. There was standing room only. The Rev. Tommy Tester, pastor of the Gospel Baptist Church, said "the demons of hell have entered the bodies of our educators." Sproles asked women and children to leave the room as he read the offensive words. Two children left. Sproles read: "By god … poor bastard …God damn the Prince of Wales … sick as a pink-assed baby in the crib."
All the offensive quotations were from Billy Budd, a modern adaptation of the Herman Melville novella by playwrights Louis O. Coxe and Robert Chapman. Melville wrote the story shortly before his death in 1891 after a long dry period of wrestling with religious and social questions.
Yes, mild curse words are ruining our children via the demons of hell who have entered our educators, who then force our children to read such filth like the words "damn" and "hell" in books by notable American authors.
However, driving drunk, urinating in front of children, and offering oral sex to cops who want to arrest you is perfectly fine.
In a friggen skirt no less. How did I miss that!
ReplyDelete