Down-and-out on his church's doorstep, Methodist minister goes unrecognized by his congregation in visual aid about acceptance

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

July 13 2008

A minister posed as a tramp and gatecrashed his own service to teach churchgoers about "acceptance."

According to a story on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) website, the Reverend Derek Rigby donned a wig and some torn clothes and surrounded himself with lager cans and syringes in the church doorway on Sunday morning.

Most of the congregation at the Trinity Methodist Church in Prestatyn, Denbighshire, ignored him, the BBC said.

Pastor Rigby said most of the church members were "embarrassed" by their behavior when he finally revealed himself during the service.

The BBC story said the former police officer had told the congregation he would be late for Sunday's service, and only informed one church member of his true plans, in case anyone decided to dial the local police.

The minister said he did not shave for three days and drew on tattoos to make his appearance more convincing, the BBC reported.
He said: "I couldn't take the car in case anyone spotted it, so I walked from my home to the church. That was interesting, because my neighbors avoided me. I had bought clothes from a charity shop -- which were immaculate -- so I had to dirty them up a bit and I poured a bit of lager on them.

"When I got to the church I arranged a couple of cans and some plastic syringes, without needles, which I have at home for the dog. It gave the impression of a real down and out," Rigby said.

He added: "None of them spoke to me, apart from a few who told me off and told me to get away from their cars, which they kept checking. "They all ignored me."

Rigby said he waited until the children had left the church to join their Sunday School before walking to the front of the building and revealing his identity to the congregation.

He said: "Some were very embarrassed. Nobody was angry with me but they were shocked they had ignored me in the way they had. They could have given me a cup of coffee. I was surprised rather than disappointed. Some people said they wished I had been there because I would have known how to deal with the situation."

The BBC explained that Rigby intended to communicate a "serious message of acceptance in an emotive way," and used the example of the Disciples not recognizing Jesus on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection.

Rigby has tried a similar stunt twice before in Newport and London -- where the congregations had been more generous.
He added: "I told them they were stingy because I had been given as much as £4.50 ($9.00 USD), a packet of biscuits and a blanket in the other places, but in Prestatyn I got nothing. Although, I'm sure that wouldn't happen again."

Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.