Pastor Electrocuted

Updated: 11:17 AM EST
Pastor Electrocuted While Performing Baptism
Standing in Water, Minister Adjusts Microphone

WACO, Texas (Oct. 31) - A pastor performing a baptism was electrocuted inside his church Sunday morning after adjusting a nearby microphone while standing in water, a church employee said.
The Rev. Kyle Lake, 33, was stepping into the baptistery as he reached out for the microphone, which produced an electric shock, said University Baptist Church community pastor Ben Dudley.

Water in a baptistery usually reaches above the waist, said Byron Weathersbee, interim university chaplain at Baylor University.

Lake was pronounced dead at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, nursing supervisor Pat Mahl said. The woman being baptized apparently had not stepped into the water and was not seriously injured.

Pastors at University Baptist Church routinely use a microphone during baptisms, said Jamie Dudley, the wife of Ben Dudley and a business administrator at the church.

"He was grabbing the microphone so everyone could hear,'' she said. "It's the only way you can be loud enough.''

About 800 people attended the morning service, which was larger than normal because it was homecoming weekend at nearby Baylor University, Dudley said.

Lake had been at the church for nine years, the last seven as pastor. He had a wife, Jennifer, a 5-year-old daughter and two 3-year-old sons.

At a remembrance attended by about 1,000 people Sunday night at First Baptist Church, Ben Dudley told the UBC congregation that they would move forward as a church.

"I don't know how, when, why, where or what's going to happen, but we will continue as a church in the community because that is what Kyle would have wanted,'' he said.



10/31/05 00:42 EST

 

What an inhuman thing to say.

You say that you don't put forth a propoganda of hate, but that's what this is: you post thread after thread of hate and malice toward others. I'm not excited to hear about anyone's death, Christian or not.

This makes me sick.

 

did the person die?

 

fuzzy dont go around sayin that we are all murder lovin idots now that you just said that.

 

Yes, sweetheart. Rememberance services are kind of like funerals, but they don't have the body. The gentleman who is the subject of the article is dead.

I'm afraid that I don't see the significance of posting such an article, though. If one has a liking for the foolish ways people die, I'm sure it isn't difficult to use a search engine and find lots of stupid ways all kinds of people die...

Including preachers, because they're only human.

 

what the fuck?

 

Yeah, I have to concur. Death isn't funny.

It can be ironic, it can be something that makes you shake yr head, but it is not something to smile over.

 

i believe the post is a question of 'why would god let a long serving pastor die, in the church, while performing a baptism?'
didnt want to see him suffer as a mortal any longer?

 

Essentially, the Bible never promises a Christian invunerability to the weaknesses of the flesh (i.e. the fact that it doesn't conduct electricity well). Bodies are rotting shells that house our Self, and the shell is somewhat fragile. Fortunately our substance, like an egg, is not in our shell, but in our yolk or core. This is the part of us G-d promises to preserve.

Baptism is just an outward symbol of what has already transpired within. It's a ritual. The fact that the pastor was performing a ritual doesn't offer some automatic magical bubble of protection. Reality just doesn't work like that.

 

i think the problem is it conducts it a little too well

 

"why would god put us through this suffering? to test OUR faith?"

 

*chuckles* Indeed, you're right. It does. But we don't seem to survive it very well.

I doubt the pastor expected to live a life free of suffering... He probably knew that this wasn't a guarantee of a G-d who asks us to crucify the flesh daily. In a nutshell, it's a warning that life is filled with painful experiences we have to endure.

In any event, it's pointless to question "why" because no one, not even atheists, can answer the questions of why tragedy occurs to anyone.

I could be wrong, Fuzzy, but I don't think "truth" is the issue here. You said that the thought of someone else's suffering and death brought a smile to your face, which may be utterly accurate. Some people would feel that expressing joy at such an occurance is... well... I hate to say this, but... heartless?

You're bigger than that, dude. And you know it.

 

Even the non-christians said it your comment was disgusting and you know it, Fuzzy

 

Aye, would such an Intelligent Designer allow for electric microphones and tubs of water to be in such close proximity?

 

The Intelligent Designer allows his flawed design to do whatever foolishness it likes, in hopes that the others will learn from the outcome once it occurs.

Too bad human beings are a thick-skulled lot. Something like this will probably happen again before it's all said and done.

 

what do you mean? of course atheists can explain why tragedy occurs...? its only an issue when you place all the world's workings in teh hands of a supposedly benign force, that tragedy becomes inexplainable.

 

Let's blame God for not holding all of our hands 24/7

 

alright, im down with that

 

fucking great point. Atheists (and realists in general) have logic and such to explain it. Shit happens because of stupidity, the natural workings of the universe, cause and effect. Christians have "god's mysterious will" or "satan's mysterious will".

 

it's a good thing he wasnt baptising the baby at the time, that would have been terrible