I believed that our concert as Ex Nihilo was a success. I had a vision that our group could reach out to young people with love and point the way to God, showing that we would accept them for who they were.
Unfortunately, two of the elders of the church decided to attend the concert, with preconceived ideas and prejudices. These men completely missed the point of our message, that God looks upon the heart and not what is on the outside. They were so angry about the way we were dressed that they stirred up the deacons of the church and rallied against me.
For those of you who don't know me, I am an amateur actor. Boris is just one of many characters who I have portrayed over the years. I have performed at company picnics, birthday parties, church skits and several public places, along with filming several short videos with family and friends. I posted my achievements proudly on my personal website.
These people found my personal website and printed countless pictures of me in various costumes with the intentions of destroying my reputation. They were very selective in the pictures that they chose to show around the church. They printed pictures of Boris, a vampire character I have portrayed at a haunted house where we raised money for the United Way, pictures of me as Boy George at a company picnic, and photos of me dressed as a blonde who I portray when playing practical jokes, among other characters. With no explanation, they began to show these pictures and stir up trouble against me.
They purposely forgot to print pictures of me as Batman, Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, Mr. T, my cowboy character and dozens of other characters I have portrayed.
They also failed to remind people of the characters I had portrayed at church skits and plays. Among these were my clown character, the Agnostic Shepherd and the Grinch.
Rumors came back to me that these men were saying that I was a devil worshipper and was leading the youth into witchcraft. I was in shock!
If these people had a problem with me, why were they doing this behind my back? I found out that the deacons were having a secret meeting while the pastor was away to discuss my fate. I went with a couple of the kids' parents and I assured these men that I was not involved in witchcraft or worshipping the devil. I apologized if I offended anybody by the way we were dressed at the concert. They refused to speak with me and said that they would make a decision and let the pastor know.
I was not given the chance to defend myself, and before I knew it, the deacons had asked for my resignation as Sunday School teacher. I was crushed. I had worked with these kids for two years and had come to love them.
When I went to church that Wednesday night to tell the youth group the sad news, two of the deacons were waiting for me on the church steps. I was escorted into the building like a criminal. At least they gave me the dignity of telling the kids what had happened in private.
The kids and their parents grew angry over what had happened. They, along with others in the church, supported me and felt that this was totally unfair. I wanted to defend myself before the church, but the pastor asked me not to, afraid that it would only cause more problems.
I was finally able to face my accusers in a private meeting when they found that many of the people were ready to ask them to step down. I prepared a sample video of some of my work and explained that I was an actor, that none of these characters represented my personal lifestyle. I assured them that I was not involved in the occult in any way and that I had diligently taught the Bible and God's love to the kids in Sunday School.
A few of these men were very angry over the concert. One of them even compared me to Jim Jones and said that I had started a cult. Another was upset that I had invited kids with tattoos and body piercings to church. He said that they didn't want those kinds of people there because it represented a "sexual culture".
Things actually got worse after this meeting. Rumors began to spread like wildfire, and I was completely helpless to stop it. I was called Satanist, Witch, Cult leader, and pervert. One of these men prayed aloud in church that God would cast "Satan" out. He even went to my boss and asked about the "Satanic" cult at work.
Threats were made to my wife on Easter Sunday 2003. She was told by two of these men that they would do "Whatever it takes to get your husband". That was the last time my family went to church together.
I continued to go to church, hoping to prove my innocence. My wife and kids stayed home. We felt it was not safe for them to be there. Things got even worse as rumors came back to me that I was being called a child molester and that people were saying I was involved in the porn industry and had 20 pornographic websites!
I finally stopped going to church. I was hurt beyond belief and was tired of the gossip and all of the judgemental stares.
