Television Preacher Sued for "Slandering in Tongues"

Pensacola, Fl - For almost ten years Charles Winters has been a familiar face on Public Access Cable in Pensacola. The "fire and brimstone" Pentecostal Holiness preacher, affectionately known as "Brother Charlie" is known for his impassioned church services that air on Friday nights at 7PM. His services, filled with "miraculous healings," people being "slain in the Spirit" and an abundance of speaking in tongues, generally runs in excess of two hours.

But as of late Brother Charlie has found himself the target of a lawsuit that threatens to ruin his ministry if he is found liable. The trouble started when a local Pensacola man, Terry Farnsworth, accused Winters of slandering him in one of his sermons while speaking in tongues. Farnsworth is now suing Winters for $1.4 million dollars. Farnsworth, who lives in a small two-room trailer with his mother, girlfriend, half-sister, his three children, seven dogs and a rabbit, commented on the situation.

"I was sitting here last Friday with my mamma and my daughter Bo Raylene, and we was watching Brother Charlie" said Farnsworth. "We really like to watch him because he just will gets so excited and start all that tongue speaking. Well, about halfway through the show he starts that business. I believe that some people speaks in tongues and some is supposed to understand what they saying, that's my gift. All of a sudden he says something and I know what he's saying. I hear him say 'Terry Farnsworth is no good trash. He don't do nothing but drink beer, and he ain't got no job. Terry Farnsworth is a lying thief.'

Upon hearing the alleged "slander" Farnsworth stated that he told his mother what he had just heard.

"I told my mamma what I just done heard and she said that I needed to sue this man" said Farnsworth. "I talked to my neighbor who's got a brother who's a lawyer in prison and he said I could sue this man for slander."

A court date for Farnsworth's case against Winters has not been set yet. Farnsworth further stated he hopes to settle out of court with Winters. But Winters is determined not to budge.

"I said nothing, nothing of the kind against Mr. Farnsworth" stated Winters. "I've never met the man, nor do I have any idea about who he is. When I speak in tongues I say that which only the angels can understand. That's what tongue speaking is all about, saying something that's only between you and God. It's not supposed to be understood by people. Just the angels."

"If we go to court I'm suing for $1.4 million" said Farnsworth. "But if he don't want to go to court I'll just take $50,000 in cash. I feel bad suing a preacher and all that, but he don't need to be saying stuff like that on television.

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Church Focuses on Ephesians 4:26a

Mentone, AL - Since its founding almost a half a century ago St. Luke's Methodist Church in Mentone has been a church that by its own confession has "struggled to be happy." The members of the congregation of just over 100 people seem to consistently struggle with one another, arguing and holding grudges.

Over the years disputes have broken out over everything from building projects to who will run Vacation Bible School, to someone's casserole not being eaten at a church picnic.

"We have two ladies in this church that haven't spoken to one another in over twenty years" said deacon Charles Ainsworth. "I don't remember all of the details, but it had something to do with one of the ladies criticizing the flower arrangement that one of the other ladies had made. It's not that we don't love one another, we just don't seem to like one another. "We've all grown up together, and we just seem to get on each others nerves a lot."

The various pastors of the church over the years have tried to preach peace among the congregation, but to no avail. But the church's current pastor, Rev. Prentiss Carnes recently "discovered" a verse that may be the solution to all of the strife within the church.

"I was reading in Ephesians and came across 4:26a where it says 'Be angry and yet do not sin,'" said Carnes. "I started thinking and realized that there's a Biblical mandate here to be angry, that perhaps all these years we've been getting it all wrong. May God has called us to be an angry church. That seems to be where our gifts lie, in being angry."

And "angry" is just what they are fostering now at St. Luke's. The church has recently made Ephesians 4:26a its theme verse and has set out to make itself known as "the angriest church in America."

"It's a relief to know that we're okay" said Lillian Ainsworth, wife of Charles. "We stayed so blooming mad at one another all of the time I wasn't sure what our problem was, but I see now that we just have a different calling by God. The Lord calls some of us to be angry and that is our calling I suppose."

"I believe we can be angry at one another and not sin because we still love each other deep down" said Carnes. "But we need to foster this anger that we have and learn how to do it better. God commands it, and therefore we must do it."

Study Shows Average Age of Presbyterians Down to 83

Louisville, Ky - A recent study by the Barna Research Group published this past Friday was good news for the Presbyterian Church, USA. The denomination, which has found itself shrinking over the past decade, has also struggled to attract younger members. But the results of the Barna study revealed that the average age of members in the church is down from 91, in 1997 to 83 in 2006, showing that the church is almost 9% younger than they were ten years ago.

"This is tremendously encouraging news" stated Joan S. Gray, moderator of the 217 General Assembly of the PCUSA. "Our denomination has been striving for change over the past decade, opening new doors, welcoming in new people and promoting tolerance. We value and cherish our elderly, but at the same time the children are the future of our denomination, and new vibrant life is necessary if we are to continue to grow and develop."

But some state that the celebration might be premature. Further investigation into the statistics seems to reveal that the decrease may not be due to a substantial increase in younger members, but a decrease in older members.

"While it looks like progress on paper, what we have here is simply a reduction in the number of older members thus lowering our overall average" stated Rev. Jeff Coolidge, pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Louisville. "If one examines the statistics, one will find that the reason that our average dropped is because almost 92% of members over the age of 85 have died in the past ten years."

A further examination of the statistics have also led some to believe that the decline in the number of older members may be theological.

"With the spiritual and theological decline of our denomination it's no wonder that so many of our older more traditional and conservative members have left" said Jack Miller of the PCUSA's Layman, a conservative voice within the denomination. "So many have just gotten fed up with the liberalism and left."

Still, many are hailing the new statistics as "progress" in the church.

"This is irrefutable evidence that we're headed in the right direction" said Gray. "We hope that by 2015 to bring that number down even further maybe even to 78 or 79."

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