CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Police arrested the senior pastor at
St. Luke's Lutheran church in
Dilworth after a sting at Park Road Park where they say Robert Graff tried to solicit an undercover male police officer for sex.
"He's a great man, he's a wonderful man. I'm shocked,” said one church member.
The 58-year-old Graff is married and has been the pastor at St. Luke’s for the past four years. The business administrator at the church told us there would be no comment except that members were, “sorting it all out.”
Graff was charged and released with a promise to appear in court. He came to his church for a Wednesday night supper, where members closed ranks, and supported their senior pastor.
"Can you tell us what he's like as a pastor?," WCNC asked another church member arriving at St. Luke's Wednesday night.
“Great,” she answered.
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and reverends? They must have 100s of them locked up by now.
Maybe a church camp in the north woods?
(christians espesially), of the MANY crimes done by preachers the more people will will find out that religion is bullshit because, people will say to themselves; "If that's what religion teaches,(and it does) people, then i'll have no part in it", then the faster religion dies out I hope.
Peace, Roger
Obviously he is deluded - he's a priest - but what has he done that is so wrong? At least he wasn't picking up little choir boys, I'm assuming the undercover cop was a grown man. He may have done wonderful charitable work for his community and now it's all gone Pete Tong because he fancied a little man on man action.
I realise that his motivation for doing good work is suspect as anyone who belongs to the church knows that good deeds get you a fast track through the mythical pearly gates. But it is the outdated moral high ground that the church dictates from that means that gay men of the cloth have to seek out thrills of the fleshy bits in secret.
He isn't a monster, just another victim of a false belief system that preaches that homosexuality is dirty and wrong. And the only thing he's guilty of is propagating that false belief system.
Like samib said, at least he wasn't taking advantage of anyone underage; he was soliciting an adult. He also wasn't "comforting" desolate housewives or skimming the offering plate, so I can cut him some slack; but yeah, he's still a hypocrite.