A Baptist pastor has been placed on leave after lamenting that women often “let themselves go” after getting married and telling them to lose weight, dress up, look pretty, and submit to men’s sexual desires in order to be good wives. Stewart-Allen Clark was giving his weekly sermon at 1st General Baptist Church in Malden, Missouri when he made his offensive statements, though the 55-year-old is now understood to be taking time away from his congregation to “seek professional counseling,” The Times reports.
- Clark’s words were truly offensive. As Clark stood in front of the congregation with his own belly hanging over his jeans, he had no problem making outlandish claims and demands of women. “Why is it that so many times, women, after they get married, let themselves go?” he said. “Way too many women are: ‘I’ve got him now, the chase is over.’ Hey, that’s where you’re wrong. The chase ain’t never over. I want you to know a need that a man has that he won’t ever tell you about but since I’m the preacher man I’ll say it. Your man needs an attractive wife.”
- Clark is a Trump supporter, surprise surprise. His disgusting attitude towards women seems to have a lot in common with the former president, with Clark telling the congregation: “I’m not saying that every woman can be the epic trophy wife of all time like Melania Trump. Most women can’t be trophy wives but, you know maybe you can get a participation trophy.”
- Clark believes women being fat is the root of any marital issue that may arise. This guy was giving marriage counseling to parishioners and often told couples who came to seek his help that their problems would go away if the woman just lost weight. “If you were sitting in my office, here’s the first thing I’d say to you — and, boy, I hate to say this, this is why I don’t do marital counseling anymore — and that is: weight control,” he said, adding that women could use perfume and makeup to be “less ugly and stinky.”
- The General Baptist Ministries claim Clark’s message was “not consistent” with the church’s values. 1st Baptist’s parent organization was forced to issue a statement following the decision to place him on leave, writing in a Facebook post: “The sermon included comments that are not consistent with the position and values” of their denomination. Meanwhile, 1st General has since discontinued their social-media presence, removing all past content as well as their direct contact details. In keeping with our structure, the Executive Committee recommended that the Council of Associations and the MoArk Presbytery research the statements and take appropriate action.” They added that Clark had stepped down from his position as moderator at the General Association of General Baptist meeting in July 2022.
- Sorry, but God doesn’t have any of these expectations of women – that’s misguided men. As the General Baptist Ministries’ statement continued, women should be loved and valued as-is, not held to unrealistic and frankly inconsequential standards by men. “General Baptists believe that every woman was created in the image of God, and they should be valued for that reason. Furthermore, we believe that all individuals regardless of any other factors are so loved by God that Christ died for them,” they wrote.
- Sadly, Clark may not even lose his job over this. As General Baptist Ministries revealed, they have no say in the matter as “each General Baptist church has autonomy from the national organization.” Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of him.
