Missing Pastor Found In Strip Club: Ways to Pray For Your Pastor
Posted: Wednesday, April 02, 2008
by Asher Ricard
It is all over the news. New York Pastor Craig S. Rhodenizer, 46, was found in an Ohio strip club after a national search had been underway for two days. The pastor's wife had reported him missing after he failed to return home just one day before a scheduled family vacation. He had left to take the family's computer to be worked on at Best Buy and never returned home.
The police report states that when officers initially approached Rhodenizer in the strip club, "It should be noted Mr. Rhodenizer seemed collected and surprised to be speaking to the police." That composure quickly deserted him when informed he was listed as a missing person.
The Dayton Daily News reports that Riverside Det. Matt Sturgeon said Rhodenizer started to become confused, saying he didn't know where he was or how he got there. Medics took him to Grandview Hospital.
"It might have been somewhat an act," Sturgeon said. "It started when he found out there was a nationwide report he was missing and it was a big deal."
You might ask how something like this could happen to a pastor of St. Johns Lutheran Church. He is after all a pastor, right? It is becoming all to familiar of a story.
Those who are wives, pastors, families are continually being reported on as having a major downfall or crisis. Those who are not Christians look in to the church with confusion and condemnation.
The truth is we are all people even pastors. We all have a natural tendency to sin and it is a daily struggle to make sure we remain in Christ.
Pastors face more stress than any other occupation. They not only have to continually serve others but have to manage businesses as well. What happens in this busyness, I think, is that pastors forget to take the time to be ministered to from God as well. We all forget this at times, but we don't end up with our failures on the 11 o'clock news.
The amount of stress a pastor faces is phenomenal. As a member of any congregation, it is imperative that we pray for our pastors. They not only have issues of their own to deal with they also face attacks. It is our job to make sure we do whatever necessary to protect them. The best way to do that is to pray for them daily.
- Pray for protection
- Pray for wisdom
- Pray for strength
- Pray for their marriages
- Pray for their families
- Pray for their finances
- Pray for the daily walk with God
Pray for this pastor and his wife. The good news is the wife is welcoming him back with open arms.
Mrs. Rhodenizer told The Buffalo News Friday she had spoken to her husband by phone and told him she loved him, and they would work on whatever his problems are.
She attributed his uncharacteristic behavior to the stress of the Easter season and "consistently dealing with other people in crisis," and said they had friends in the Dayton area who would help him get home.
According to a report by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, St. John's in 2007 had about 176 members, 40 attending regularly and operating expenses outpacing income.
Realize that pastors have stresses just like the rest of us. Most likely probably more since they are carrying our stresses as well. Pray for this family and take the extra time to pray for your own.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Asher, what does that speak to? We all fail and fall at times. Sinners all and just men and woman subject to all the temptations of life. Pary for Hima dn help him he is a brother in need not an enemy. Best RTM
Asher, many pastors and priests-many- see themselves as being above the very rules they expound. That, I believe, is the problem.
Preachers are after all subject to the same temptations as everyone else. You would think they would be better equipped to deal with it but no two are made the same. It is sad to see this happen and excuses don't fit here as Robert M said we should approach it softly because we are all made of the same stuff. Rev M. Bresciani
speak for yourself REV - 'we' are not made of this stuff and the pastor is to be condemned unreservedly. and anyone who degrades themselves by exploiting vulnerable woman in this way is to be condemned unreservedly. and those who condone this behaviour are to be condemned unreservedly. after all if one is that way inclined why not just do what i do and head for the local nudie beach? too cold? then come to Hawaii
vl, don't be so "holier than thou". You act like the caricatured version of Hollywood's take on the token "Christian".Anonymous, -many- pastors and priests actually DON'T see themselves above biblical or governmental law. Sure, in media, Hollywood, and reality TV, perhaps, but we don't get our information from such sources do we? I hope not.And if you've had bad experiences with pastors before, understand that not everyone is like those few. In the bible, the Jewish religious elite, and the pious leaders who absolutely hated Jesus' radical ways of reaching out to "unworthy" people like Gentiles, whores, and lepers, were the ones who were pointing fingers and gloating. Pastors, who are called to be Christlike, should be, and are, among the church (everyone else incl.).
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