An associate pastor from First Baptist Church of Dothan in southeastern Alabama is out of a job, following his arrest for leaving his child in his car while drinking at a local bar.

Starting the night of July 12, and lasting into the morning of July 13, associate pastor John Gibson allegedly left the child, who is under the age of five, in his SUV while he went on a drinking binge. Gibson then drove across the parking lot to a 24-hour restaurant and entered the establishment, leaving the child alone in the vehicle again, according to WTVY News Ch. 4, the local CBS affiliate.

Officers arrested Gibson at the scene, and paramedics checked on the youngster, who was unharmed. The child is currently in the care of the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

Gibson has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. 

The Alabama Baptist reported that Gibson’s wife and daughter were out of state at the time. Other family members were able to take custody of the boy.

The incident has gotten a surprising amount of play on YouTube, including a mock award from shock jock Charlamagne Tha God, who lambasted the pastor on his syndicated show, The Breakfast Club. The show awarded Gibson its “Donkey of the Day” award.

“It takes an extreme level of faith and extreme trust in the Higher Power to just leave a five-year-old in the car while you in a bar having a drink and then going over to a 24-hour restaurant to get a bite to eat, and knowing everything gonna be all right,” the talk show host said. “Okay, not to mention it was a Saturday night going intoa Sunday morning. Clearly, it wasn’t his Sunday to preach. . . . (H)e must have thought to himself, ‘I’ll go sin on this Saturday night and ask forgiveness, ask for forgiveness in church on Sunday morning.’

The episode got 52,000 views.

In a statement, First Baptist, a Southern Baptist congregation, said it “takes very seriously” its “responsibility as followers of Christ to obey the law and promote the safety and well-being” of its neighbors. The church specified that Gibson is no longer employed by the church; the incident occurred on his personal time and did not involve any of the students or children involved in its student ministry.

“We wanted to be transparent and honest with everyone,” Taylor Rutland, senior pastor of the congregation, told TRR. He said Gibson was known as “Trey” to congregants and was associate pastor for families at the church, which draws 450-500 people on a Sunday.

Julie Fidler, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is a reporter and communications professional whose work has been published in numerous religion, culture, and news media outlets.