Re-posting this on my own page, since the church has removed the "review" section of their Facebook page after so many people wrote in and commented on how inappropriate their pastor's behavior was as my grandfather's memorial. Jeremy Pickens, we will not be silenced and you will own your actions.
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Jeremy Pickens,
I am writing this letter to you because I need to express how the words you chose to speak at my grandfather's funeral affected the people who had to listen. It was my opinion, and also the opinion of most people in attendance, that it was extremely inappropriate to say "Craig was not a good man". You said this not once, but THREE times.
You also chose to cut off and limit the number of people who were allowed to share memories of my grandfather in order to give a sermon that you were not asked to give. You essentially hijacked his memorial. This was incredibly disrespectful to our family and to all the people who came to grieve the loss of a man who some had known for 80 years.
You should be ashamed of yourself. It is people like you who cause those with rocky faith to turn away from church and religion. What you did was an abuse of power. Several of our close family and friends actually got up and left because it was so inappropriate.
There's nothing you can do to change the way you made people feel, or the effect you had on people who were there to grieve and remember a great man, but I hope that what I have said will make you think twice about what you say if you are asked to lead a memorial in the future. If anything, the words you spoke today drove people further away from the church rather than drawing them in (which I assume was your intention). You owe a sincere apology to not only Pops, but also to our family and our friends.
Katie Hall
*** EDIT to include: My grandfather was not only a GOOD man, he was amazing! He was a Marine, a Firefighter, a Firechief, and a Fire Commissioner. He was disrespected in front of 300 people who came to grieve the loss of an important friend and family member. read more
