Facebook Posters Very Happy That East Haven Pastor Resigned

EAST HAVEN, CT — The news that the Old Stone Church Pastor who confronted East Haven Police officers when they searched inside her church for an accused violent fugitive had resigned was received as good news on the church's Facebook page.

Church officials announced late last week that the Pastor, Rev. Care Goodstal Spinks is no longer with the church.

A sampling of the some the Facebook comments are listed below:

"She obstructed police officers in protecting the public, claimed knowledge of non-existent laws and attempted to endanger church personnel and minors in their charge. I'd vote to fire her for poor judgement and general stupidity."

"There is NO law that forbids the police from entering a church to arrest a suspect. The police do NOT need the permission of the pastor, priest, or anyone else to make an arrest."

"I think it's great that Old Stone Church came out so decisively and quickly in support of the police. Seems like in today's society people are very quick to condemn police, for dubious and inaccurate reasons. The police in this matter acted lawfully."

"Going forward, I hope all people who see this know that there is no law, federal or state, that says the police have no authority in a church. Dangerous and false information."

"The officers were trying to protect everyone in the church from potential harm from a guy who assaulted a woman enough to send her to the hospital. She (the pastor) should be thanking them, not chastising them."

"This is America...there is no "sanctuary." You don't get to commit crimes and then run into a church and say "I'm on base."

The outpouring of comments and "likes" on the church's page came in response to a lengthy post on social media, the Old Stone Church (aka First Congregational Church of East Haven Inc.) released.

It read:

"We are deeply saddened by the events that unfolded at the Old Stone Church on Tuesday January 23. The behavior and language on video by the Intentional Interim Pastor, do not necessarily express the opinions of the wider congregation. We have accepted a letter of resignation from the interim pastor -effective immediately."

"We want to assure everyone, with confirmation from the teachers and directors, that at no time were the students or staff of our educational program in danger. The incident happened during nap time and in the main office which is located at the opposite end of the building and not in the education wing. The teachers remained calm and had the safety of everyone as their utmost concern."

"A message was released earlier today to all parents...The children were safe and never knew what happened. Thanks to our devoted teachers who remained calm in the midst of a very difficult situation. Rev. Care is no longer employed by the Old Stone Church."

"We want to thank the East Haven Police Department, including Lt. (Joseph) Murgo, for their calm yet swift actions on Tuesday, all while keeping in mind that school was in session, and the safety of students and staff was top priority. We would like to continue our good relationship with the police department and respect their position in the community."

"Although the person that was arrested is a known parishoner, helpful and caring, not one of us was present during the altercation at his home. We do not know all the details. For now, all individuals involved have been separated and we pray for them. From the time he had been allowed entrance into the building until the police arrived, the staff were not aware of the implications against him."

"In a statement made by the secretary of the church, she "did not feel threatened in any way while he was there." In closing we would like to thank Rev. Care Goodstal Spinks for her spiritual guidance prior to this week's happenings."

"We would also like to thank all the ministers at the CT Conference level for their assistance during this most difficult time in our church's life. We are hopeful that we, as a church family, can come together and support each other and the firm foundation in which this church was built on all those 300 years ago."

Respectfully yours in Faith,
Heidi Manley, Moderator Susan Clark, Vice Moderator
Old Stone Church
First Congregational Church, East Haven

For those unaware about the incident in question, last Tuesday afternoon Ryan Champlin, 34, is accused of beating his mother with a telephone and running to the church and hiding inside, police have said. A daycare is connected to the church. Police officers were allowed inside by church employees to search for Champlin who was found hiding inside of an office, police said.

After Champlin was in custody, the Pastor became "irate" that police officers entered her church to search for Champlin. The Pastor physically attempted to stop police officers from leaving with the accused including jumping in front of the police car, police said. The Pastor demanded that police release the accused to her.

On the video, the Pastor blasts cops and said they had no authority to arrest the accused and could not go inside the church to search for the accused violent offender. She said police can't arrest the man while he is inside the church because it's a sanctuary.

Police said young children may have been inside the church, which operates a daycare, and they needed to act. The victim suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries during the brutal attack, police said.

You can watch two videos of the incident here.

Photo via East Haven Police video screenshot