The Church Doesn’t Need Outside Opposition

When it has internal behavior like this

A Pennsylvania pastor has pleaded guilty to stealing church members’ identities to obtain credit cards and cash advances for personal purchases totaling nearly $30,000. The Rev. Raymond Lee Clayton, 43, admitted he used Grace Fellowship Church members’ personal information to obtain credit cards during a six-month period that ended last April. “I trusted him completely,” said Patricia Tomedi, 83, who was treasurer of the now defunct church. Others in the small congregation just outside Mount Carmel became suspicious of Clayton, but “I thought it was his way of doing things,” she said. She later learned her Social Security information was among the data Clayton used to obtain credit cards. The Baptist minister, who is without a church, was indicted in October on charges of bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The Church too often becomes its own worst enemy.