Friday, July 11, 2008

Church minister shames congregation by dressing as a bum

Churchgoers were left shamed after they ignored a bum who turned out to be their minister in disguise. The Rev Derek Rigby sat in the porch to his church as the congregation arrived for a Sunday service, hidden beneath a wig and scruffy clothes.

He then settled on a pew in the church surrounded by syringes and began drinking from a can of beer. But none of the worshipers at the Trinity Methodist Church in Prestatyn, North Wales, spoke to him or offered him any help.

The 51-year-old then took off his wig to reveal his true identity, before delivering a sermon based on the failure of the disciples to recognize Jesus Christ on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection. He said: "I told the congregation they are a stingy lot. Everyone was amazed and later complimented me on my acting skill, though some said I had made them feel terrible."
"Everyone was amazed and later complimented me on my acting skill, though some said I had made them feel terrible."
Describing how he avoided detection, he said: "I didn't shave for three days, made my hands and face dirty and drew on tattoos.
"I bought some scruffy clothes at a charity shop, ripped the trousers, and put on a straggly wig and thick, broken glasses. "I then splashed lager over my clothes so I was stinking.
"I looked in the mirror before the service and I didn't recognized myself."
Churchgoer John Sproston was one of the first to arrive at the service to see the "bum" on the doorstep.
He said: "We were all aghast when he took off his wig because he was very convincing."

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