Sacked Survivor pastor: I didn't steal!
Christianity Today is frequently asked to cover more "Christians in the media," especially those in the midst of their 15 minutes of fame. In the last few years, not a few writers have pitched us stories on the Christians of reality TV. We've noted a few of these folks in the past, and now one of them is back in the news.

Unless you're Clay Aiken, being a reality TV contestants rarely means fame and fortune. But for John Raymond, life has been especially difficult since Survivor: Thailand. See, you probably didn't even remember John Raymond. He was "Pastor John," who lasted all of three days on the 2002 show before being the first one kicked off the island. (CT interviewed him shortly thereafter.)

It's hardly a surprise that Raymond didn't make the upcoming Survivor All-Stars series, which starts Sunday after the Super Bowl. "John was one of those exceptions—he was the 'first-off' who you hate to see go," Survivor host Jeff Probst told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "You knew he was going to be a great character because he had such strong opinions about life. But you only have 18 slots, and he didn't have enough time on the show to have an impact or be memorable enough for people to instantly 'get' him."

Too bad: Perhaps Raymond could have used the work. It turns out that he was fired last May as executive pastor of The Harvest, a 2,700-member Assembly of God church in Slidell, Louisiana. (That's a pretty big church for the denomination: the average is 131 members.)

Now Raymond is suing the church—not for firing him, but for the reasons given for the dismissal. According to the suit, as reported by the Times-Picayune, Elder Michael Dunn told church member Ronald Boelter that Raymond was fired for stealing, and that "the locks on the church had to be changed before Pastor Raymond was fired, because The Harvest did not know what Pastor Raymond would steal next."

Raymond says the accusation is "preposterous," and said the reason that Senior Pastor Doug McAllister gave for his firing was that Raymond was late in turning in his sermon notes. The real reason for his sacking, Raymond says, is that he and McAllister have a long history of tension.

Tension, indeed. "I never had access to the money any more than [anyone else] did," Raymond told the newspaper. "I'm not good at deception. That's why I got voted off Survivor in the first round. Doug should have gone on the show instead of me. He would have won the million-dollar prize."

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Raymond, who has since started New Horizon Christian Fellowship and runs a business selling red, white, and blue cross necklaces, told the Times-Picayunelast year that the reasons given for his leaving were "totally ridiculous." "I think Doug didn't like the fact that I was getting some media attention," he said of his childhood friend. "I think [Survivor] might've gotten him jealous."

Boelter, the church member named in the suit, says pastor McAllister had told the congregation that Raymond wasn't sacked for "illegal or immoral" actions.

McAllister isn't talking (he earlier said the reason Raymond was let go "was job-performance based"), and elder Dunn isn't answering questions. "Even though John's suing, we are friends," Dunn told the paper. "It's probably something that should stay between us. … The church has tried to keep all of this within the church, which is where it should be."

That view has changed, Dunn later told the local paper, the Slidell Sentry-News. "There is no comment," he said. "I wish I could give you more, but our position now is that this is going to be handled in the courts."

More articles

Persecution:

  • Catholic church firebombed in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka | Nearly 20 unidentified men attacked the church late Monday in the village of Mathegoda— the third attack on a Christian place of worship in this predominantly Buddhist country in two weeks (Associated Press)

  • Also: One more church attacked in Lanka | One more Roman Catholic church was attacked in Sri Lanka despite President Chandrika Kumaratunga vowing tough action against the perpetrators of violence against Christians in the Buddhist-majority country (PTI, India)

  • Armed guards for Sri Lanka church | Armed guards have been posted at a church near Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, after the latest in a series of anti-Christian attacks (BBC)

  • North Korean record on rights decried | Witnesses tell U.S. panel meeting in L.A. of abuses under Kim Jong-Il. 'His crimes are far worse' than those of Hussein, says one (Los Angeles Times)

  • Boy soldier who died for faith made 'saint' | On his 19th birthday Chechen rebels took Yevgeny Rodionov out of the cell where they had held him prisoner and invited him to convert to Islam. When he refused, they beheaded him (The Daily Telegraph, London)

  • Signs of tolerance amid religious strife in Sudan | Muslim-Christian tensions are softening in Sudan - which could set the tone for Africa (The Christian Science Monitor)

Money and business:

  • A place to worship . . . and shop | An evangelical congregation in Alfred is shopping for land for what its pastor believes could be the first-ever Christian-oriented shopping mall (Portland Press Herald, Maine)

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Marriage:

  • Marriage and politicians | Would we be talking now about a federal marriage amendment — a public policy response to a perceived crisis in public policy — if the relevant private institutions hadn't so frequently gone AWOL when challenged to show why marriage was rightly a sacred proposition? (William Murchison, The Washington Times)

  • A marriage health advisory | The marriage initiative could justly be supported by anyone who favors limited government, stronger families, and reducing poverty. (Eve Tushnet, The American Spectator)

  • Marriage and the moon: a curious union | State of the Union address is wedding-veiled endorsement of right wing's anti-same-sex marriage amendment (Bill Berkowitz, WorkingForChange.com)

Sex, marriage, and family:

  • Gay men lose challenge to adoption ban | Four gay men lost a federal challenge Wednesday to the only blanket state law banning homosexuals from adopting children (Associated Press)

  • Gay 'marriage' case broadened | In a move that could enable the Canadian government to abandon its push to legalize same-sex "marriages," Justice Minister Irwin Cotler asked the Supreme Court yesterday whether the constitution required that such unions be allowed (The Washington Times)

  • Clergy to fight gay unions | Christian leaders and hundreds of their followers gathered at The First Cathedral Sunday evening for a worship service and a call to arms for those opposed to same-sex marriage legislation (The Hartford Courant, Conn.)

  • Parties in a quandary about gay marriage | Gay marriage is shaping up to be the battlefield of the culture war in 2004 (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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Religion and politics:

  • Intolerance spans the religious divide | Lack of religious devotion should not be a basis for a smear. But neither should religious belief—and the truth is that the intolerance of the religious right can be fully matched by that of the secular left. (Cathy Young, The Boston Globe)

  • Bush prayers top 3 million on web site | Membership in the Presidential Prayer Team soared to 3 million members around the world during the past year (Arizona Daily Star)

  • Administration neocons elbow evangelicals aside | You almost have to envy neoconservatives for their comfort in exercising raw power. They have flummoxed everyone, including the bulk of evangelical Protestants (William McKenzie, The Dallas Morning News)

  • Elections have a Baptist flavor | Men from one church have a strong presence in races for County Commission and the Brooksville council (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)

  • House Democrats claim prayer is 'disrespectful' | Rep. Doug Quelland, R-Phoenix, caused a stir on Tuesday when he delivered a prayer on the House floor that took aim at multiculturalism, welfare, abortion and "alternative lifestyles" (The Arizona Republic)

  • Democrats talk up their religious faith | Up against one of America's most publicly pious presidents, the Democrats who hope to replace him have taken to reminding voters that they believe in God, too(Associated Press)

  • Bush's faith-based services considered | Representatives of one of the nation's largest religious organizations said Friday that President Bush's plan to give federal money to church social service programs won't work if it comes with strings attached (Associated Press)

Ten Commandments:

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Crime:

  • Reverend upset by sign vandalism | There's growing controversy after someone defaced a sign at a well-known west Nashville Episcopal church (WTVF, Nashville, video)

  • SEC shuts down Fla. investment firm | In three years, Ware Enterprises and Investments Inc. attracted $16.5 million from more than 600 investors, primarily targeting blacks and Christians with ads that quoted the Bible and made religious references, the SEC said in a complaint (Associated Press)

  • Miramar man accused of defrauding church | Barry R. Young, pastor at a North Dade church and a chaplain with the Miramar Police Department, is suspected of stealing up to $70,000 in church donations (The Miami Herald)

Social justice:

Games and gambling:

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Missions & ministry:

Southern Baptists leaving Baptist World Alliance:

  • Baptists' attempt to branch off criticized | Baptists around the world, including Texas moderates, are deploring a move by conservatives in the Southern Baptist Convention to withdraw from an almost century-long membership in the Baptist World Alliance (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram)

  • Baptists end talk short of decision | Moderate Baptists left Greensboro after a two-day meeting still struggling with their future with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and its conservative leadership but ready to explore relationships with other religious groups and churches (News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.)

  • Alliance leaders reach out to conservative Baptists | The hopes of the Rev. Billy Kim that the singing of his Korean Children's Choir might "soften the hearts" of Southern Baptist conservative leaders and lead them to change their minds about seceding from the Baptist World Alliance was only partially realized this week (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram)

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Anglicanism:

  • Episcopal bishop condemns tactics of splinter group | Citing "deceitfulness and sabotage" by a group opposed to the consecration of an openly gay bishop, West Tennessee's Episcopal bishop has issued a pastoral letter condemning the tactics (State Gazette, Dyersburg, Tenn.)

  • Faced with church's stand, member walks | A man from Wilsonville makes the difficult decision to leave the Episcopalian Church after it consecrates an openly gay bishop (The Oregonian)

  • Archbishop Orombi enthroned | Henry Luke Orombi was yesterday enthroned as the seventh Archbishop of the Church of Uganda at a ceremony witnessed by President Museveni Yoweri and hundreds of Christians (New Vision, Kampala, Uganda)

  • Life after Anglicanism | I am an Anglican, born and bred; there is no other church for me. But I have come to the conclusion that this religious tradition is unsustainable, at least in its present form - and the present crisis confirms it. I have started calling myself a post-Anglican (Theo Hobson, The Guardian, London)

Church life:

  • Love among the pews | The search for romance is leading single New Yorkers to their religious roots (New York Daily News)

  • US megachurches bring shopping mall theology to thirtysomething | The latest religious phenomenon to hit the US is one that is being viewed as the most significant since the advent of televangelism in the 1980s (The Daily Telegraph, London)

  • Bishop concentrates on race, membership | Twelve years after becoming bishop of the United Methodist Church in Indiana, the Rev. Woodie White still focuses on two challenges: trying to reverse the church's declining membership and trying to improve race relations (The Indianapolis Star)

  • These churches don't ask the men to doff their hats | At the Nashville Cowboy Church, about the only things reminiscent of a traditional sanctuary are the pews (The Boston Globe)

  • United Church continues to lose city congregations | Low attendance has resulted in the loss of four United Church congregations in Winnipeg in the last three years (CBC)

  • Church honors legacy | Celebrates pastor, ties to military unit (The Boston Globe)

  • Sacred mission: Save Denver's old churches | Stained-glass windows are among the first things to deteriorate in aging churches. They are followed by roofs and mortar, both of which succumb to the cycles of nature. But when the time comes to repair 100-year-old churches, the thriving neighborhoods that spawned them often have changed, often for the worse (The Denver Post)

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Land disputes:

Orthodox church in Cuba:

Lewis vs. Freud:

  • Great minds square off in virtual debate over God | For more than 25 years, Dr. Armand Nicholi has taught a popular course at Harvard University in which students deconstruct the lives and arguments of Sigmund Freud, one of the 20th century's chief spokesmen for atheism, and C.S. Lewis, who came to faith at age 31 (San Jose Mercury News, Calif.)

  • Earlier: The Dour Analyst and the Joyous Christian | In the realm of mental balance and personal peace, Sigmund Freud had nothing on C. S. Lewis (Christianity Today, Apr., 19, 2002)

  • Also: Two Cultural Giants | Both Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis were emotionally wounded as boys and struggled with depression as men. But a worldview can make a tremendous difference (Christianity Today, Apr., 19, 2002)

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Education:

  • Colleges noticing home schooled students | Until recently, educators say, home-schooled students mostly gravitated to small, primarily religious colleges. Now, as the movement keeps gaining in popularity, they can be found on many — even most — campuses nationwide (Associated Press)

  • Origins debate deeper than Darby | Intelligent-design theory part of national push to re-evaluate coursework in U.S. classrooms (Missoulian, Mont.)

  • Oakland evangelist, Bible teacher and college founder Bebe Patten dies at 90 | Patten was the pastor of Christian Cathedral in Oakland and the founder of Patten University, an Oakland Bible college affiliated with the Church of God, a Cleveland, Tenn.-based Pentecostal denomination (Associated Press)

  • International Church of Christ's plans for Eugene raise concerns | A new church on the University of Oregon campus is raising concern among critics, who say the church is overly aggressive in its evangelizing, targets young people on college campuses, and publicly humiliates members who fail to recruit enough newcomers or tithe 10 percent of their income to the church. (Associated Press)

Religious schools in Scotland:

  • Dispute stalls mixed-faith schools talks | The project to build "superschools" in North Lanarkshire ran into trouble when the Church issued a deadline of Friday for written guarantees of separate entrances, staffrooms and toilets (The Scotsman)

  • Church deadline in campus row | Agreement can be reached over a £150m plan for mixed faith school campuses in North Lanarkshire, the council has insisted (BBC, video)

  • Tolerance and togetherness - Catholic style | The evidence of bigotry in all its forms and the misery it causes throughout the world is there for us all to see, and the best contribution the Catholic Church can make in Scotland is to demand separate entrances for a primary school (Fordyce Maxwell, The Scotsman)

  • We're all for tolerance | The worrying news that the Catholic Church may pull out of a £150m flagship project for seven joint-faith school campuses in North Lanarkshire if its demands for separate entrances and separate staffrooms are not met has re-ignited the debate about the validity of segregated schools in a tolerant, diverse and forward-looking nation (Lorna Martin, The Herald, Glasgow)

  • Catholic Church may pull out of school-share deal in Scotland | Senior Catholic Church officials have said they will to call a halt on the project to use seven primary school sites in Lanarkshire unless they get written assurances that there will be separate entrances, staff lavatories and nurseries for the different faiths (The Independent, London)

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Abuse:

Catholicism:

  • Pope John Paul II criticizes media | Pope John Paul II criticized the media on Saturday, saying they often give a positive depiction of extramarital sex, contraception, abortion and homosexuality that is harmful to society (Associated Press)

  • Also: Pope says media damaging families | The Pope has called on governments across the world to ensure that family life is not weakened by the growth of communications media (BBC)

  • Disabled pope would create a dilemma for the Vatican | There is no formal provision for governing the Catholic Church should a pope become incapacitated, nor is there likely to be one anytime soon (The Orlando Sentinel)

  • A miracle by any other name | An ailing girl's amazing recovery may offer proof needed for Francis Seelos' canonization (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)

  • Break-dancers perform for the Pope | an unusual spectacle at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II presided over a performance of break-dancers who leaped, flipped and spun their bodies to beats from a tinny boom box (Associated Press)

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