This Guy . . .

 

This is Jack Hyles.

Allow me to relay my memories from a single day back in the mid 1980's:

I was in the US military stationed in North Carolina. I was also a member of an Independent Baptist church.

A group of us in the church drove to the town of Fayetteville, NC - a largely military town - to visit a small Baptist church that Jack Hyles was going to be speaking at that day. 

My only knowledge of Jack Hyles was from a few men in my church. They had mentioned that he was the pastor of the largest congregation in the US - First Baptist Church of Hammond Indiana - with a regular attendance of somewhere around 20,000 and a membership of around 100,000.

In many congregations, numbers are both important and impressive, though I never understood this mentality.

This particular church that Mr. Hyles was to be speaking at was not terribly large, I think it would seat perhaps 150-200 at most, and I don't think that it was a packed house on this day. I think there was perhaps 8-10 from my church that came to hear him speak, and likely there were others visiting from other church's - he was, after all, a celebrity.

My memory of that day consists of only two incidents during his sermon, and I found both to be very unpleasant. 

Now remember, this church is in Fayettville, NC, home of Fort Bragg Army Base (one of the largest military bases in the world) and the former Pope Air Force Base (now Pope Army Airfield). The population of Fort Bragg in the 1980's was about 37,000, which probably means, in the church that Jack Hyles was going to speak, a sizable part of the membership were either members of the US Army and Air Force - or - were family of military members.

1 - I distinctly remember Mr. Hyles making this point: He could never serve in the US military.  His reasoning was because he would only go where Jesus told him to go. It would be against his Christianity to follow the orders of the US Military - and he said this to a congregation containing a sizable amount of military associations. In my mind that day, he was saying that it would be unchristian (sinful) to be in the military, following military orders. 

He then illustrated this by singing a sentence from the hymn "Where Ever He Leads I'll Go" by substituting with "Where Ever The Military Leads I'll Go".  His point being - he would rather go where Jesus told him to go, which made no sense in my young Christian mind because - obviously - if Jesus wanted me to go to Germany while I was in the military, the military would send me to Germany.

I was a tad furious, and I know that those around me could tell that I was furious due to the comments I was making just under my breath. 

Then it only got worse . . .

2 - Some short time later during his sermon he paused to address someone sitting in or near the center front row of the church (I was seated with my group perhaps 6-8 rows back). I couldn't tell who he was talking to but thanks to the marvel of modern audio-electronics, his microphone let everyone in the congregation hear what he said - he said "Sit up", and he said it several times, waving with and upward motion of his hand toward the offender, and his command sounded progressively more agitated every time he said it - because - apparently the offender was not obeying his command.  Finally, after several attempts to get this person to comply, a lady came walking past my group, down the isle, and over to the person that the Rev. was addressing.  At that point Mr. Hyles said something to the lady, something to the effect of, "That's OK, I'll take care of it", to which the lady informed him that this was her daughter, to which Mr. Hyles responded back, "Well, this is my sermon", trying to take the control / responsibility / authority away from the lady in dealing with her own child. The lady then took the hand of her daughter and slowly walked her up the isle and out the back door of the church, and what was obvious to everyone observing this scenario play out, was that this young girl, perhaps in her early teens, had a severe deformity and disability that made it impossible for her to "Sit Up".  She could hardly walk up the isle.

I was more than a tad furious by this time, and I know that those around me could tell due to the comments I was now making out-loud. I am sure that I embarrassed some, but, being the compliant Christian and respectable member of the US military, I sat and let the man finish his sermon. Once the sermon ended I headed for the door.

At some point either later that day or in the week that followed, it was relayed to me that Mr. Hyles had sought out the woman and apologized to her. Well, in my mind, the damage was done. 

Preachers behaving badly is just one of the reasons why I left Christianity.

~  ~  ~

This is David Hyles, the son of Jack Hyles. David served as the youth pastor at First Baptist in Hammond under the leadership of his father. Sources say that upon learning of his son's affairs with multiple women, Hyles recommended David as pastor of his former church in Texas; by so doing, David was able to stay out of the public eye. David had multiple affairs with other women while pastoring the church in Texas, before moving to a different state, divorcing his wife, and leaving the ministry.  David is now accused in a rape investigation dating back more than 40 years - oh - and two of his young children died under suspicious circumstances.

This is Jack Schaap - Cindy Hyles (daughter of Jack Hyles) married Jack Schaap, who succeeded Hyles after his death.  As the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Schaap was embroiled in a major controversy, where he admitted to having sexual intercourse with a 16 year old girl and transporting her to do so, across state lines. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and registered as a sex offender, after which Cindy divorced him.  Jack is due for release in 2025.

Wikipedia page - scroll down to the "Controversies" section and the "Family" section - this Christian family has done so much damage.

~  ~  ~

bob

r.u.reasonable@gmail.com