A Lutheran pastor who is among the 18 people indicted alongside former President Donald Trump on charges of trying to interfere in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia returned to his pulpit on Sunday, preaching to the small Illinois congregation just days after his arrest.
The Rev. Stephen Lee, an emeritus Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod pastor, was the last of the 19 defendants to surrender at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia. Lee appears in his mugshot wearing a clerical collar.
Lee preached Sunday at the Living Word Lutheran Church in Orland Park, a southwest Chicago suburb, where he is serving as an interim pastor. He did not directly discuss the arrest or indictment during the service, which was livestreamed on YouTube — but made veiled references to his situation.
He began the service by launching into an impromptu reading of a passage from the New Testament’s Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, which has become popular with prominent conservatives in recent years. The section Lee read calls on believers to “put on the full armor of God” in order to “struggle” against “rulers” and “the powers of this dark world.” Ephesians was not among the Bible lessons slated for Sunday’s services, according to the LCMS lectionary, the official schedule of readings.
Lee appeared to grow emotional as he read the passage’s conclusion: “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains.”
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The pastor also appeared to allude to his arrest at the beginning of his sermon, when he praised the congregation and repeatedly thanked those in attendance who had prepared in case of his absence.
Lee was originally expected to remain in the Fulton County Jail after his surrender on Friday, as he was initially unable to pay for a bond on his $75,000 bail. According to reports, Lee’s $7,500 bond was raised after podcaster and longtime Trump supporter Rochelle “Silk” Richardson, half of the onetime duo “Diamond and Silk,” urged listeners of her podcast to contribute.
Lee is alleged to have attempted to influence a Georgia election worker in December 2020, after Trump accused her and another election worker of election fraud. Police body camera footage shows Lee acknowledging that he knocked on the door of Ruby Freeman, prosecutors say, as part of a larger effort in which defendants “unlawfully conspired and endeavored to conduct and participate in criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere.”
In the same police footage, Lee is seen explaining he is also “prior law enforcement,” saying he was a “sergeant out in California.” According to Reuters, Lee served as in the Mendocino County, California, sheriff’s department and provided chaplaincy support to police officers in New York City. However, an NYPD spokesperson clarified to media earlier this month that Lee “has not been employed as an NYPD Chaplain.”
His lawyer has said Lee is innocent of the charges, telling reporters that Lee’s actions don’t amount to a crime. “You have a pastor being indicted for knocking on a door,” attorney David Shestokas told CBS News. “For them to try and tie him to this criminal enterprise is just an incredible, incredible stretch.”
Nearly 20,000 people have signed a petition organized by the advocacy group Faithful America calling on Lee’s denomination, the second largest of three major Lutheran groups in the U.S., to expel Lee because of his arrest, but it’s unclear whether Lee will face any repercussions.
Reached by media on Friday, after Lee surrendered to Georgia authorities, a spokesperson for the LCMS Northern Illinois District — the body that oversees Lee’s church — noted that Lee is “a retired pastor in the LCMS,” which the denomination refers to as “emeritus status.”
The spokesperson did not comment on whether Lee will continue to serve as a pastor in the district, saying only that “with respect to what is going on in the investigation, we have a policy of not commenting on any investigation.”
A spokesperson for the LCMS’ national office did not respond to inquiries.
Shortly after Lee was indicted in mid-August, a person answering Living Word’s phone line told media that Lee was no longer the church’s pastor. However, Lee appeared in the pulpit later that week as well.
At the end of the church service this past Sunday, a church leader noted that the congregation is actively searching for a permanent pastor.
Jack Jenkins is an award-winning journalist and national reporter for the Religion News Service.
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16 Responses
Rev Lee was indicted for knocking on a door, as his lawyer would have you believe. He was indicted for conspiring with two other individuals who repeatedly badgered and threaten election worker Ruby Freeman. In the hopes that Freeman would falsely admit to election misconduct.
“We’re fighting for social, economic, and racial justice, standing with the Black Lives Matter movement and upholding the Gospel’s values of love, equality, and dignity. Together, we’re helping make a difference for immigrants, refugees, the climate, the LGBTQ community, and more.”
Faithful America
And now we know where this organization stands. Their “nearly 20,000 people petition” should be viewed accordingly. If its “members” moved any farther to the Left, they would fall off the map and into the twilight zone.
What does this have to do with the story? I don’t see any relation to BLM quoted in it.
What we see at the top is a foretelling of what we can expect coming upon us and those that stand against a fierce evil communist take over of America !
We are seeing our future coming to us !
This pastor is someone that is an example of what is at our doors!
Pray for the church! If they can arrest this innocent pastor then they can arrest you too !
Yes, he is innocent until proven guilty! Under our laws, we are all guaranteed that. But, if he has done what he accused of he is guilty and should be held accountable.
I guess since I’ve never tried to overturn any elections, I’ll take my chances.
Those who were following Trump are guilty of treason!!! What Trump did is just like Pence said was overthrowing the constitution! I don’t know how a y one who loves America could vote for him!!
Avoid trying to intimidate witnesses and you’ll be fine. It’s only your future if you decide to commit crimes. and yes, even pastors who commit crimes will get arrested.
Please, please, please stop with the communist boogeyman comments. You can do better than that plus it’s so 1950s.
I hope the Rev Lee doesn’t end up lying.
Boy did he get his theology wrong. Paul was in chains for the sake of the Gospel, not for Trump (or any human). This misguided “pastor” better revisit Paul’s context and he just might realize he (Lee) is completely off base.
Sadly this pastor allowed the ideological/political dog to wag the biblical tail.
Rest assured the words from the apostle Paul read by the Rev Lee “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains.” have noting to do with Donald Trump and the election.
Sadly this pastor was duped by a man who knew he lost the 2020 election and continued to push the lies that he won.
Sad Very sad
That mug shot says it all. Wearing a collar for the shot juxtaposed with that face completes the creepy clergy look. Using the ‘ministry’ position to intimidate (how far again did he drive to perform this act?) should be justification for removal from any emeritus or other status in any respectable denomination.
This is who started the lies that he claims were constitutionally protected.
Rudy Giuliani has lost a civil lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers after he failed to turn over discovery documents in the case, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Judge Beryl Howell issued a default judgment ordering the former Donald Trump attorney to pay nearly $133,000 in sanctions. In a 57-page opinion, Howell admonished Giuliani’s failure to turn over the documents as “willful discovery misconduct.”
Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss sued Giuliani in December 2021 after he claimed that the mother and daughter had helped commit supposed election fraud during the 2020 presidential race.
Giuliani conceded in a court filing earlier this year that he had made false statements against the pair, which he said were “defamatory per se.” Still, he argued that his statements were constitutionally protected.
—Nina Golgowski
HuffPost
This speaks to the danger of mixing religion and politics, the Trump minions behave over and and over again as if they are above the law.
I believe I have read somewhere that God will not be mocked.
“What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything?”
I Corinthians 10:19
He could have taken his mug shot in anything, but he chose an outfit associated with the church.
For some, the idol worship of this “proven,” immoral, con man is because of naivety, for others, it is out of insincerity.
Either way, it was all for nothing. Some have lost honor and others will lose freedom – most without the benefit of the secret service. All will have to answer to God.