A right-wing Montana pastor has resigned from his church after his arrest for drunken driving and weapons charges.
Jordan Daniel “J.D.” Hall was no longer listed as pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Sydney and removed from the staff of the Protestia website, which issued a statement saying he had been “disqualified from pastoral ministry," reported Religion News Service.
“Earlier this week, the team at Protestia received allegations of serious sin committed by our brother J.D. Hall,” the statement says. “After correspondence with leadership at Fellowship Baptist Church, we learned that J.D. was determined by the church to have disqualified himself from pastoral ministry, had resigned from the pastorate, and submitted himself to a process of church discipline. Due to J.D.’s removal from pastoral ministry, we likewise have removed him from ministry with Protestia.”
Hall filed for bankruptcy in February after he was sued for libel for publishing a story in the Montana Gazette, which he operated, about Native American activist Adrian Jawort, and he was arrested in May for driving under the influence and carrying a concealed weapon while intoxicated.
The church initially supported Hall after his arrest, agreeing with his claim that he suffered from a vitamin deficiency that can cause behavior impairments similar to alcohol intoxication, and he was given a leave of absence.
Hall founded Pulpit&Pen, which later became Protestia after the site was banned from Facebook, and railed against liberal and worldly influences on the evangelical church and Southern Baptist Convention, and he also airs his grievances through the Gideon Knox Group, which runs media sites and ministries including the Polemics Report and the Bible Thumping Wingnut podcast network.