Pastor's Sermons: I Have AIDS and I Had Sex With Congregants
In a series of recent sermons, a pastor at an Alabama Baptist church confessed that he slept with with several members of his congregation without disclosing that he has AIDS.
Last month, Pastor Juan Demetrius McFarland told members of the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Montgomery that he's been HIV positive since 2003 and has had AIDS since 2008. Perhaps encouraged by the congregation's reportedly supportive response, McFarland continued his confessional sermons over the next few weeks, admitting to mismanaging church funds, using drugs and, finally, that he'd slept with several female congregants without revealing that he has AIDS.
"I know a young lady who is a member of the church who says she has slept with him and that she didn't want this to go public, and she running out now trying to find out if there is anything wrong with her," one church member told WBTV. "And my heart goes out to her because she's been a wonderful church member, and then for something like this to happen. The fact that he didn't tell them at all. That's a crime in itself."
Authorities in Montgomery are reportedly aware of McFarland's confession. "He confessed to the entire membership and then to the City of Montgomery, because as soon as he got done confessing, it went all over Montgomery anyway," church deacon Nathan Williams Jr. said. "So it's nothing we [are] making up. It's coming out of his mouth."
McFarland, who was fired from the church on Oct. 5, could face misdemeanor charges of transmitting a sexually transmitted disease, according to WBTV.