Quodlibet
From the Devil's Discard Heap
by S. M. Hutchens
On July 11, the New York Post reported that the pastor of the famed Riverside Church in Manhattan, the Rev. Dr. Amy Butler, had resigned her position after having—allegedly—taken a parishioner and two of her pastoral staff members on a shopping trip to a sex toys shop during a preaching conference in Minneapolis.
The Post reported:
Butler, who is known as "Pastor Amy," and the others were visiting Minneapolis for the 27th annual Festival of Homiletics, a week-long conference at which the 49-year-old pastor presided over the closing worship service.
Neither assistant minister wanted to go to the raunchy store and the male minister repeatedly told Butler they were uncomfortable. Butler said they didn't have to go, but they "felt pressured" and feared professional retaliation, sources said.
As a sinner like Pastor Amy, I am in no position to luxuriate in Schadenfreude, sagely noting that this is where lax and disobedient religion takes the likes of her and Theodore McCarrick—before that is, it finally tosses them off the boat in hell.
But I will say this, that I doubt Amy was always a fool, nor must she remain that way. What we witness here is something one becomes as the result of many deliberate, freely chosen wrong turns in the same direction, listening to the voice neither of Reason nor of God, but of idolatry, which, with thoughtful examination, can be discovered, exposed, and repented of. If it is not, however, the circling course becomes a maelstrom from whose current there is no escape except by an extraordinary extension of the Master's hand. We should pray for her as we pray for ourselves.
S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
A Journal of Mere Christianity—Delivered to Your Door
- Essays on theology, culture, and the Church
- Contributors from across the Christian traditions
Six print issues (one year) of Touchstone, plus full online access and PDF downloads for only $39.95.
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on Sex from the online archives
32.5—September/October 2019
on the Inhuman Transformation of Transgenderism by Anthony Esolen
31.6—November/December 2018
on the Church's Response to the Anti-marriage Tide by Diane Woerner
32.4—July/August 2019
Does Biblical Language for Man Matter? by Stephen F. Noll
more from the online archives
19.6—July/August 2006
The Three-Fold Cord of Imagination, Reason & Will in C. S. Lewis by Michael Ward
37.5—Sept/Oct 2024
An Abandoned Ruling Principle & How to Get It Back by Adam MacLeod
31.5—September/October 2018
Errands into the Moral Wilderness
Forms of Christian Family Witness & Renewal by Allan C. Carlson
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
