Pay and Pray: Pastor Accused of Withholding Communion After Parishioners Refuse To Hand Over Their Tax Refunds

Pastor John Goodman is accused of having a rather curious view of attending his flock: fleecing before ministering. Members of the Houston Unity Baptist Church have accused Goodman of refusing to give them communion after they declined to hand over their tax refund to the church.

Goodman insists that it is not the tax refund but more generally the failure to support the church. He is quoted in the article below as saying “I asked if there were any other members, which I know it is, that got income tax money. I ask if they would like to contribute it over here to the new parking lot.”

He says that only a handful of people help with the bills and “called the rest of his congregation devils and demons.”

Source: Houston Fox

23 Responses to “Pay and Pray: Pastor Accused of Withholding Communion After Parishioners Refuse To Hand Over Their Tax Refunds”


  1. 1 frank 1, March 18, 2011 at 9:28 am

    WWJC – what would Jesus charge?

    So, that comes to 7.50 for the fish and 2.10 for the bread – HAVE A NICE DAY :)

  2. 2 Stamford Liberal 1, March 18, 2011 at 9:48 am

    Curious as to what kind of house the good pastor lives in and what kind of car he drives …

  3. 3 eniobob 1, March 18, 2011 at 9:59 am

    So he has “turned out”only a portion of his flock.

    “He says that only a handful of people help with the bills “

  4. 4 rafflaw 1, March 18, 2011 at 10:39 am

    You beat me to it Frank. Such a Christian attitude displayed by this so-called man of the cloth. I think he will be soon looking at an empty parking lot!

  5. 5 catch22oy 1, March 18, 2011 at 10:47 am

    Another excellent example of why we need to end the tax expenditure known as “charitable” giving, which costs about $50-60 billion per year. And tax the churches, too, except to the extent that they engage in verifiable, socially beneficial work such as feeding the poor and sheltering the homeless.

    I have a problem with subsidizing religion on first amendment grounds. In my opinion, our current system fails the third prong of the Lemon test, in that it requires government to get intimately involved in religous funding through our tax system.

  6. 6 James in LA 1, March 18, 2011 at 10:58 am

    For a parking lot?!? Is the some sick euphemism for purgatory?

  7. 7 Anonymously Yours 1, March 18, 2011 at 11:21 am

    Paradise

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWwUJH70ubM

    But then again…everything has a cost….

    They did say Houston….maybe purgatory is closer to the truth….but then again…the RCC says not to worry about it…

  8. 9 Anonymously Yours 1, March 18, 2011 at 11:21 am

    hmmmmmm

  9. 12 Yankee 1, March 18, 2011 at 12:10 pm

    keep your money. pray at home

  10. 13 Blouise 1, March 18, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    Yankee,

    Sounds good to me

  11. 14 rafflaw 1, March 18, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    Keep your money and pray that you get to keep your home!

  12. 15 Elaine M. 1, March 18, 2011 at 2:39 pm

    frank
    1, March 18, 2011 at 9:28 am

    WWJC – what would Jesus charge?

    **********

    Good one!

    Pastor “The Holy High Roller” Goodman of the Show Me the Money Unity Baptist Church is just invoking the well-known “pay to pray” religious rule.

  13. 16 Blouise 1, March 18, 2011 at 3:39 pm

    Too bad we can’t see his hands. Preachers like this usually wear large, chunky, gold, pinkie rings.

  14. 17 Bud 1, March 18, 2011 at 4:31 pm

    How does the old saying go?
    The church is full of sinners…

    Too damn bad its always the priests and ministers though.

  15. 18 Bud 1, March 18, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    Blouise 1, March 18, 2011 at 3:39 pm

    Too bad we can’t see his hands. Preachers like this usually wear large, chunky, gold, pinkie rings.

    —————————————————————-

    If you do an image google of pastor John Goodman, you’ll see a dandy rock on his right hand. For some reason I can not reproduce it here.

    I wish I could afford an imitation that size.

  16. 19 Buddha Is Laughing 1, March 18, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    “He says that only a handful of people help with the bills and ‘called the rest of his congregation devils and demons.’”

    Hmmmm.

    Yeah. That’s certainly and interesting way to get people to help you out financially Pastor Putz. Call them devils and demons. Might I suggest some basic PR courses at the local learning annex or perhaps a copy of Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People”?

  17. 21 Blouise 1, March 18, 2011 at 5:38 pm

    Bud … intrepid sleuths be we!

  18. 22 Bud 1, March 18, 2011 at 8:24 pm

    Blouise,

    Do you know how many thousands of miles of road this
    jerk can pave with that one ring???

    That pic is the one that I was referring.

  19. 23 frank 1, March 18, 2011 at 9:25 pm

    “I like your Christ very much. I do not like your Christians much, they are nothing like your Christ.”

    – Mahatma Gandhi


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