Drunk Pastor Attacks AA Meeting With Shotgun & Ax

Madras Pioneer ^ | June 4, 2003 | Troy Foster

[PlutoPlatter]

A Lutheran pastor who allegedly threatened an Alcoholics Anonymous group with both an ax and shotgun was arrested Thursday by police, who said they suspect he was under the influence of alcohol. The Rev. Ronnie McCulloch, 53, was taken into custody just after 9 p.m. He spent one night in a detoxification holding cell before paying $1,350, or 10 percent, of his $13,500 bail to gain release the next afternoon. "This was an unfortunate incident and it's behavior not expected from someone in his position," said Madras Police Chief Tom Adams. "Our investigation into this continues." According to police and witness accounts, McCulloch approached five members of the AA group with an ax just after their meeting at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepard had ended. He angrily demanded their keys to the church, witnesses said, and by some accounts was shifting the ax back and forth between hands while yelling. Police said the AA members were leaving the church property when McCulloch retrieved a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun and began wielding it and the ax together. McCulloch was ordered to the ground at gunpoint. He was booked on misdemeanor charges that include disorderly conduct and five counts of menacing. Combined, these charges are punishable by up to 5 1/2 years in prison. Police said he admitted to consuming two beers, but refused to submit to a breathalyzer test. McCulloch is scheduled to appear in Circuit Court for arraignment on June 30. Paula Carlson, president of the Lutheran Church Council, said McCulloch has been placed on paid leave for two months. She said he has returned to Lake Oswego, where his family lives, and might go on disability. "The Bishop of our church is working with him," Carlson said. "He's going to go through some counseling." McCulloch did not return a phone call Monday. Carlson said McCulloch's behavior might be linked to a lack of medication he had been taking since a near-death auto accident nine years ago. He has been with the church for more than two years, at first in an interim capacity. He was installed permanently as the Lutheran Church's half-time pastor on Jan. 19. He lived in the church parsonage at 395 S.E. C St. four days a week — Saturday through Wednesday — returning home to his wife and two sons during the remainder. "After we installed him, he quit taking his medication and I think that was his problem," Carlson said. "He needs to go back on it." McCulloch has bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology. He has experience in marriage and grief counseling, and has coordinated several support groups, including Alcoholics Anonymous. He has been a pastor for 15 years. According to witnesses, McCulloch allegedly had been asked to leave a recent Alcoholics Anonymous group meeting after he showed up and began preaching — reportedly under the influence. They recieved a notice shortly after that meeting that the church no longer would be available to their sessions come June 19, witnesses said. Carlson said Monday she spoke to the AA group to make sure they'd found a new facility. She said the Lutheran Church will be needed for another use. Retired Revs. Craig Jorgenson and Frank Brocken will handle pastoral duties at the church in the immediate future, Carlson said.

[PlutoPlatter]

I don't know about anyone else but this cracks me up!

[ican'tbelieveit]

hmmm, something strange about this story... only 2 beers caused him to act this way.

[Poohbah]

hold-muh-you-know-what ping!

[Revelation 911]

whats with all the Lutheran bashing horsecrap lately ?

anyone acting this way is not in the least Christian let alone someone I would call brother.

BTW - what is your faith PP?

[brbethke]

And *this* is why we need to carry concealed in churches...

[camle]

what a litany of excuses!!!

[johniegrad]

[hellinahandcart]

"After we installed him, he quit taking his medication and I think that was his problem," Carlson said.

Ya think?

[brbethke]

Does this look to you like a man who's off his meds?

[PlutoPlatter]

No bashing intended Revelation, just an interesting story.
and my faith is the only one, by the way.
Cheers!

[katana]

He's just a lonely Lutheran, tending to his flock.

Honestly, this belongs in The Onion

[galt-jw]

Hey, how bout that? booze should be banned!

[milan]

Regardless of what this guy, or anyone else calls him, this guy is not a man of God.

I am very glad that no one was hurt...but as much as I don't want to say it, yeah, it made me laugh.

[Billthedrill]

Hmm...most cops will tell you that the average DUI with a blood alcohol high enough to run a top fuel dragster admits to precisely this dose. It's simply amazing the effect that two beers has on a full-grown male adult.

If people would just play it safe and drink three instead of two this sort of thing would never happen.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Can't by Missouri Synod, none of my in-laws are this interesting.

[Scenic Sounds]

It sounds to me like he at least knew where he needed to be.

He's got some work to do on his "how to make a good first impression" skills, though.

[Blzbba]

"McCulloch retrieved a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun and began wielding it and the ax together"


This guy would give Ash* ("Evil Dead 2", "Army of Darkness") a good fight.


* Note: "Ash" was the hero character of the two mentioned movies. He had a chainsaw attached to one arm and a shotgun in the other.

[dighton]

"Honest, all I had was two scoops of ice cream."

[HairOfTheDog]

I have a feeling this is gonna knock him back at least to step 4.



THE TWELVE STEPS

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptlym admitted it.

11. Sought though prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.