Pastor’s Redemption for Pornographic Past

Senior pastor Claude Gilliland III was forced to admit to his flock at New Heart church in Cleburne, Texas, in January he’s a convicted sex offender and he and his ex-wife had worked in the porno industry. Gilliland, 54, served four years in prison in the 1990s for sexually assaulting his ex-wife; in January, he was still defended by his congregation. “If we believe in the redemptive work of Christ,” said one parishioner, “then this man is a miracle.” Gilliland believes he needs no redemption for the assault — he was innocent of that — but he had done other bad things then that did require redemption.