Texas Pastor Claude Gilliland III stated: 'Me and my ex-wife were in porn' and a Sex Offender
The New Heart Family Worship Center in Cleburne made a pretty unorthodox decision when the elected to have their new pastor take post at the church. The only thing is some just don't expect their new pastor to have such a jaded history, at least not in their church.
WFAA reported what has the congregation and the church community up in arms over the new pastor's past life:
“Me and my ex-wife were in porn, we were in the booze and the drugs,” said New Heart’s Senior Pastor Claude Gilliland III, who thought it appropriate to offer those very personal revelations to the congregation.Pastor Gilliland III confronted his congregation but only after he was publicly outed as a convicted sex offender. He was recently elected just two weeks before the news hit he has a criminal past. The pastor admits the news hurt many people:
“The pain and heartache it brought to New Heart Church, I did not intend it to be this way,” Gilliland said.WFAA reported the pastor, 54, said he served four years in prison after being convicted in 1993 for the sexual assault of his ex-wife. He still denies he did it, but he acknowledges he was no angel back then, either, and that the fast life caught up with him.
“The life I led was nothing but a juggle, and it was heartache after heartache after heartache," Gilliland said.
“All of us have a past," said Rina Ramos. "If we believe in the redemptive work of Christ, then this man is a miracle. A man with a past makes a great pastor, because he has been there."The founder and retiring leader of the little church in Cleburne said there was no intent to hide Gilliland's past.
"There's nothing that was ever kept secret," Carl Roye said. "He said two weeks ago, 'I've got a dark, dark past, and if anybody wants to know about it, you just ask me and I'll be glad to tell you.'"What started the rumor mill was a Cleburne newspaper published photos of registered sex offenders, including Gilliland and church members complained.
"He's asked God to forgive him. He's told us he asked God to forgive him," Roye said. "I take him at his word for it."AT2W's Take: We say, if the man has changed his life and the church officials felt he would still be a great pastor for the church, then so be it. Not everyone has a squeaky clean background and if he is sincere about being changed for the good, then he should be given the chance to serve others. Now, it would be those who deny their past fully, even when exposed, that we should have a problem with. Unfortunately, those are the ones people follow and praise for the wrong reasons.
