Bishop Michael Reid Resigns over Sex Scandal

Another hypocrite who headed the "Christian Congress for Traditional Values"in the UK (A CCTV ad is posted at left) has been forced to resign due to a sex scandal. Funny how these guys who say they want to protect marriage and the family from us evil gays have such a proclivity for extra-marital affairs or, in the case of Senator Venner from Louisiana, prostitutes. Perhaps if they spent more time minding their own families and not spreading hate and lies about gays and others, both they and the rest of us would be better off. Here are some highlights (http://blogs.salon.com/0003494/2008/04/08.html):

A well known Pentecostal church leader has resigned after admitting he's had an affair. Bishop Michael Reid was the head of Peniel Church and school in Essex.

...In a statement Bishop Reid said: "It is with great sorrow and regret that I have resigned from the church board and have stepped down from official duties. I confess that I have sinned by committing adultery. I recognize that I have failed in my duties and acted in a way that harmed the Church. I take full responsibility for my actions and so I resigned. I apologize to my wife and family and all of you whose trust I have betrayed and ask for your forgiveness and prayers."

Outside Northern Ireland, British evangelicalism tends to be politically centrist and wary of authoritarian leaders. However, Michael Reid and his Peniel Church in Brentwood, Essex, are an exception. Reid – a former policeman – is more like a US "Christian Right" figure, and for the past few years he has campaigned for "traditional morality", arguing with figures such as gay-rights activist Peter Thatchell and protesting against Jerry Springer: The Opera. One 2000 Guardian report has further details:

…gays are "filthy perverts"; Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists are variously described in videoed sermons as "vile" and "foul heathens". Christians who do not work, Reid said in one recording, should be allowed to starve. He believes in capital punishment, and he would pull the trigger himself; lethal injection is too good for them, he says in one church video.

Interesting friends, and Reid's admission is another blow to the International Communion of Charismatic Churches; former presiding Bishop Earl Paulk was last year engulfed in numerous sex scandals, including allegations of sexual abuse. Richard Roberts, meanwhile, was recently forced to resign from the presidency of Oral Roberts University over claims of financial mismanagement. Reid himself has long-standing links with Oral Roberts and ORU.