Baptist Church in Florida Hires Convicted Child Molester as Pastor

The last time I wrote about Darrell Gilyard, he was a young preacher who was on the rise within the Southern Baptist Convention, but unearthed documents revealed that he had a number of sexual misconduct allegations to his name.

He molested two girls and was sentenced to three years in prison. There were additional allegations outside the state of Florida.

Making matters worse, his SBC “mentor” was disgraced leader Paige Patterson, who downplayed those accusations. He said some were untrue — without evidence. He also said some of the women making the claims were “not innocent either” — which is nothing more than Victim Blaming 101.

Patterson also chastised a pastor who honestly explained to his congregation why Gilyard was no longer working at their church.

Gilyard is back in the news now because, as it turns out, he’s got a new job at a new church. Far from being “canceled,” the registered sex offender is the new pastor at Mount Ararat Baptist Church in Jacksonville.

Tiffany Thigpen Kilgannon, who said she was a victim, wrote in short [on Facebook]:

” …God doesn’t need predators in the pulpit, no matter how great a speaker or the truth of God’s word being spoken…”

She continued, “…Please keep your young girls and ladies safe. It is a painful thing to recover from, give them the gift of safety…”

News4Jax visited Mount Ararat to talk with Rev. Gilyard. A staff member said, “No comment.”

It’s not illegal for him to have a job, including one as a church. This isn’t about him. This is about a church that celebrates men who are sexual predators, allowing one of them access to children yet again. This is about a church whose message to women is clear: We don’t care if you’re assaulted because your word mean nothing to us.

You don’t have to make the man a pastor in order to “forgive” him in a spiritual sense. This is a reward. He didn’t do anything to earn it.

(Thanks to Carol for the link)