A loyal reader alerted me to this story last week but I held off on posting it because I needed more to go on. Now that one of the principals in this story has been busted for soliciting sex from a minor, I have decided to run this story.
According to my loyal reader, former rapper-turned preacher Mason “Ma$e” Betha was recently spotted in his hometown of Jacksonville where he is allegedly being courted to head a megachurch called Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. The church boasts 7,000 members and until recently, was run by a man named Darrell Gilyard.
For the past 15 years, Pastor Gilyard served his congregation well – until a 16-year-old told her momma about the inappropriate text messages he had been sending her. Mr. Gilyard was subsequently arrested on Jan. 14 and charged with lewd and lascivious conduct involving a minor. This was not the first such charge leveled at Gilyard who stepped down as pastor once the allegations came to light.
According to my loyal reader, Pastor Gilyard may be coming to Atlanta to take the helm of pastor Betha’s S.A.N.E. Ministries if Ma$e gets his old job. The irony in all of this is no one wins in either congregation. You have Pastor Betha who is rumored to curry the sexual favors of transvestite hookers over his lovely wife Twyla Betha. And now his church may be losing him and gaining a pedophile.
Is God paying attention to any of this?
