NY Pastor Booted After Visiting Sex Shop With Congregants

NEW YORK CITY—If one follows the national news, it's easy to find stories about famous (and even not so famous) clergymen (it's almost invariably men) ranting from the pulpit about how terrible adult entertainment is, how adult stores should be banned from most cities, and how people that go into such stores are either deviants or sluts. So it's refreshing to read about a New York City pastor, Dr. Amy Butler of the Riverside Church in Manhattan, who not only had the courage to check out the Smitten Kitten adult boutique while attending the 27th annual Festival of Homiletics in Minneapolis, she also brought along with her two of her assistant ministers and a female congregant. Riverside Church historically has been pretty liberal, and among the causes that it supports are an LGBT ministry, the annual NY Pride Parade, the new sanctuary movement for undocumented immigrants, and prison reform—so it's probably not too surprising that, according to an article in The New York Post, Rev. Butler spent upwards of $200 at the store, $200 being the cost of the Beaded Rabbit vibe she bought for her female assistant minister, and who knows how much she spent on herself and her female congregant. (The male assistant minister, already in a committed same-sex relationship, turned town Butler's toy offer.) According to the Post's source, neither of the assistant ministers felt comfortable going into the adult boutique—no word what the congregant thought of it—but "felt pressured" to accompany Butler and feared "professional retaliation" if they didn't. (Perhaps those assistants can write a few sermons on how sinful it is to use sex toys for pleasure.) Butler reportedly pulled out her church credit card at the cash register, asking (apparently rhetorically) "Is this a church business expense?" It's unknown if she actually used the card for the purchase, but it's perhaps notable that even back in 2007, the church had an annual operating budget of $14 million. Anyway, this little escapade didn't sit too well with the Church Council, who had the church lawyer hire a private investigator to delve into the May 15 Smitten Kitten visit, and apparently as a result of the investigator's findings, a few days ago, they opted not to renew Butler's five-year contract with the church and removed her from her leadership role at Riverside. We say "apparently" because Butler's supporters claim the dismissal was due to Butler's having spoken up against harassment—including some of which she was the victim, having reportedly been hit on by one of the church's "lay leaders"—and sexism in general. However, the Post's source claims that Butler and the church "mutually parted ways," and that Butler's Smitten Kitten visit was only one of several accusations of misconduct filed against her. In any case, according to the Post's sources, Bultler and the Church Council were "far apart on negotiations," as Butler had hired a lawyer to help her try to score a $100,000-a-year raise to her then-existing $250,000 annual salary, plus housing allowance and yearly pension contributions. Butler joined the Church Council in releasing a kiss-off announcement to the press, part of which read, "The Council thanks Pastor Amy for her leadership and asks all congregants to pray for her continued ministry as a leader in the progressive Christian world," and we can't help but hope that Butler finds another parish that'll be even more friendly to her progressive sexual views.