Sentenced, reprimanded

By Matt Snyder
Herald Staff Writer

FARRELL March 25, 2008 11:16 pm

— “The purpose of a preacher or a minister is to bring people together. You have divided and destroyed,” Common Pleas Judge John C. Reed told the Rev. Sidney B. Walker.
Reed’s condemnation of Rev. Walker, 50, of White Oak, Pa., came as the judge sentenced the pastor for stealing $18,000 from his congregation. The judge’s words proved prophetic.
Among the dozens of members of Farrell’s First Baptist Church — some testifying in support of their pastor and others against — were two parishioners who decided to hash out their disagreement in a courthouse hallway after the sentencing.
Their rising voices came through the thick, wooden doors of Reed’s courtroom and four sheriff’s deputies sprinted out of the room. Two women, one in a wheelchair, were involved in a heated argument.
“That’s enough!” one deputy told them. “Not in here! Not in here!” The two dispersed without incident.
Reed barred Rev. Walker from ministering to First Baptist Church, put him on five years’ probation and ordered him to pay back the $18,000 plus interest. Rev. Walker will not be permitted to access the funds of any official organization as part of the sentence.
He took the money from the church’s line of credit with Sky Bank, now Huntington. Assistant District Attorney William J. Moder III stressed the money he took left the church deeper in debt.
Church member Susie M. Ford testified against Rev. Walker. She said her church, which has existed in Farrell for 106 years, was already reeling when Rev. Walker arrived.
“But this man has practically crippled the church,” she said. “He sat in the pulpit and said, ‘Bring your offerings, your tithes.’ ”
She said he got another member of the church to sign off on purchasing a Cadillac Escalade for him to drive.
“This man came and practically destroyed our church in less than five years. We were the laughingstock of the community,” Ms. Ford said.
She said people snickered when they talked about her congregation. “That’s not why I go to church. I go to praise God.”
However, others in the congregation supported Rev. Walker, including member and former trustee Etchaka Rose. “No one’s perfect and I think we, as Christians, need to realize that.”
She added that Rev. Walker was not the sole reason for the church’s financial troubles, and that the $18,000 Walker took from the line of credit is not the church’s only outstanding debt.
“The church hasn’t paid one portion of debt that’s outstanding,” she said.
First Baptist Trustee William Thomas said there were misunderstandings on who was to handle the money from the credit line, and neither Rev. Walker nor church members understood the church’s bylaws.
Parishioners said the incident tore the church apart, with some siding with Rev. Walker and others against him. Defense attorney Gregory Metrick said 46 church members signed a petition to reinstate Rev. Walker.
There are about 90 members of First Baptist on paper with about 35 attending regularly, said Ms. Rose.
The bad blood was palpable in the courthouse, with a few discontent murmurs coming from the seats during Ms. Ford’s testimony.
Rev. Walker, who pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, said he never intended to take anything illegally. He had gone to church trustees for help for his personal finances.
“If you can’t go to your church for help, where can you?” he asked.
Rev. Walker is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but restitution will not be effected by bankruptcy, Moder said. Rev. Walker will still have $600 docked from his pay each month.
Rev. Walker is currently employed as a heavy crane operator for U.S. Steel, he said in court. He is married and has five children, three of them grown.
“Your faith will see you through your time in the wilderness,” Reed advised the congregation before they were dismissed.