Pastor Desiree Allen got pregnant out of wedlock. But rather than abort her baby and hide her shame, Allen says she’s not sorry and will give her child life.
“I thought about the women who were belittled in their churches for being pregnant. The women who felt abortion was a better option than humiliation. The girl or young women of a pastor forced into abortion, because the family couldn’t handle the shame,” Allen, the arts and spiritual formation pastor at First Corinthian Church in New York, writes.
She considered “the woman who left the church permanently because the members couldn’t accept her child. The woman who watched the same people who loved her each Sunday avoid her like a plague. The woman who would give up everything to be pregnant regardless of the circumstances and still finds her womb bare. So many women who may have made a different choice if they understood the power they had.”
When she revealed her unplanned pregnancy to her church’s staff, she says she experienced Jesus.
“In a moment I will never forget, our executive pastor had the staff encircle around me and they begin to pray. A noise that can only be described as a wail left my mouth and I broke. To the point of needing a chair to sit in. I broke in the most beautiful way possible. In the breaking I was free. That ugly Jesus cry released every anxiety, fear and worry holding me down. They promised to protect me and support me,” Allen writes.
But Allen’s blog commentors found issue with Allen’s plans to remain in the pulpit.
One person wrote:
It seems like the vast majority, if not all, of you supporting her position as an active pastor are not comprehending or maybe intentionally ignoring the points from the other side. I have yet to heart (sic) anything on why she is currently fit to be a pastor. Just because someone has been forgiven by God does not make that person fit to be a pastor. All Christians have been forgiven, very few should be pastors. They are still loved and can still be part of the body and serve, just not as pastors. The fact that there are many unfit pastors currently serving is not a valid point. Will stepping down cause undue unhappiness? The bible does not promise happiness. The pursuit of happiness is an American ideal, not a Christian ideal. Simply put, she is unfit to lead because she is a bad example for the portion of her congregation who struggle with sexual temptation.
Said another:
With the current situation with our dear sister (Pastor), I seem to see some deep rooted form of pride being at the centre of this whole saga. She has found it hard to humble herself and move out of the limelight to seek an audience with God, take stock of her life and begin afresh later. Instead she has flipped the whole thing with her twisted logic. Our sister’s arguement (sic) sounds quite logical but it’s devoid of spiritual substance. It convinces the mind but does not align with the truth in God’s word. You can never twist the word of God because the word of God is not twistable. Whoever knows the right thing to do and they do not do it, to them it is sin. Our sister knows the right thing to do. What does scripture say concerning her case? If you commit adultery or fornication, you have not only sinned against your body but, you have also sinned against the body of Christ, the believers that you gather with. By this act, you have cause many to stumble. The sad part is, instead of admitting and withrawing (sic) to show penitence our sister is continuing to cause many more innocent lives to stumble by insisting to remain in leadership.
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