I guess the "pastor" thought it would be easy money...

A recently widowed woman called on me this past year to list her home.  We set an appointment to meet at her home and discuss the sale.  It was a challenging time for her, she was raising a young child who had a rare disease and she had sent him to live with her in-laws who had graciously volunteered to help her out in her time of need.  She was troubled and I was thankful I had been asked to assist her.  I was eager to help her, and in a way I felt like a boy scout helping this widow.  I would protect her from any harm.  I only wish I had prevented the travesty that was to come.  With hindsight, I feel like I helped her half way across a busy street and left her there in the middle of the road to get run down.

We met as agreed and when I sat down to do the paperwork, she was ecstatic.  Something had changed since our previous conversations.  Bubbling with glee, she wanted to tell me something deeply personal.  Curious, I obliged and then she began.  She was Jewish, she told me, born and raised Jewish and observed all the traditions and practices of her faith.  Her now deceased husband was also Jewish, as was her teenage son as well.  She had already bought a new home she exclaimed, but she had been looking for deeper meaning in her life.  Since her husband's death, she had begun to question if there wasn't something more to this life.

Knowing her grief, a friend at work suggested she come to her church nearby.  Perhaps she would find what she was looking for there.  That's when my client met "the pastor".  He was a wonderfully handsome and charming man, full of life, a likable guy who could wax eloquent on the Bible, Jesus, salvation and repentance.  He shared the "good news" with her and she "received" Jesus as her personal Savior and decided to get baptized in the church.  I could hear the angels singing, the saints praising and the trees shouting for joy as she told her story of how she had come to know Jesus.  I was truly happy for her, she was thrilled and she had a glow about her.  She was on fire as she related the story of her conversion and how she wanted to tell everyone about it.

During this time her new pastor began to counsel her.  Grief counseling I guess it's called.  "Jesus will heal the wounds" kind of talk.  She admired this man and how he seemed to understand what she was going through so well and had just the right words or encouragement for her when she needed them.  I truly believe she didn't know what was coming next.

We listed her home for nearly $700,000 and the showings were strong with many interested buyers.  It was clear I would have the house under contract in a few days.  She called abruptly and wanted to take the house off of the market and cancel the listing agreement.  "Why?" I asked.  She had decided she wanted to gift her house to her pastor and his family.  "What?"  He needed a better home for his family she said (they already lived in a $300,000+ home).  Something about how a porn shop was nearby and his daughter should be spared of that.  Oh and by the way, he told her, there is a new music minister coming to the church and he could use some financial help as well.  Before he finished with her, the "pastor" got her to gift him her house free and clear, he got her to help another minister with a substantial financial contribution and she was left holding the bag.

I met this guy - her "pastor", the counselor.  He seemed to me a swindler from the outset, quoting versus from the Bible out of context to substantiate how what she was doing was a true gift from the Lord.  He saw her money; I don't think he ever really cared about her.  He thumped the Bible with one hand while he snuck his other hand in her purse.  When I told her that I believed she was being taken advantage of, she told me I was no longer her realtor, that she had hired me to sell her house, and now that the house had been taken off the market this was none of my business.  

She later discovered that he had not told the pastoral board about her gift, a requirement before he could accept the gift.  Apparently, the disclosure to the church of the gift he had received from a parishioner was something he overlooked.  Less than one month after the "pastor" titled the home in his name he listed the house on the market!  (No, not with me...)  It appeared he was going to sell the house and get out of town.  Timing didn't work out so well for him though, it seems the nearly $10,000,000 lawsuit the widow filed against him got his attention.

He gave the house back.  Good for him - the cheaper alternative to the lawsuit.  Perhaps he thought he could protect his reputation and the church's reputation - I don't know.  His church is not going to press charges.  You gotta love that.  He has moved back home out west somewhere to start his life over I hear.   

I guess the pastor who loved his money has gone on to "greener" pastures.  Perhaps someplace where he can find another poor unsuspecting soul to convert and swindle.