Church Members Speak Out After Pastor Arrested In Century
March 31, 2010
Members of a Mt. Vernon, Ala., church are speaking out after the arrest of one of their pastors in Century on 16 drug related charges.
Several members of the AOH Church of God in Mt. Vernon are upset that they learned that Bertha Y. Wright, 43, had been arrested indirectly from an article on NorthEscambia.com rather than from Wright. She was charged with 11 counts of possessing a controlled substance without a prescription, three counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, one count of trafficking in hydrocodone and one count of possession of a blank prescription after being arrested at Century Pharmacy earlier this month.
Church members said that they eventually learned of the arrest after a March 11 story on NorthEscambia.com, not from the associate pastor.
“This is our pastor’s wife and it’s had destroyed the hearts of the church members,” said Michael Williams, a lifelong AOH Church of God member. “This is really breaking and sad news to our entire church, because we didn’t know anything about it.”
Tuesday, the church members forwarded an email news release to several Gulf Coast news media organizations in hopes that more media would run the story.
Williams told the Mobile-Press Register that Wright is the wife of the church’s pastor, and she does preach some sermons at the church.
Wright was freed from the Escambia County Jail on $34,500 bond. She is scheduled to appear in Escambia County Circuit Court in an arraignment hearing before Judge Joel Boles.
When Wright attempted to fill three prescriptions at Century Pharmacy on Mayo Street in early March, the pharmacist suspected that they were fraudulent. Julie Moran called the doctor that allegedly issued the prescriptions, Dr. David Smith in Jay, and determined they were indeed fraudulent, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
The first prescription was written for Phenergan and codeine. The second was for 180 methadone tablets, and the third was for 120 Soma tablets. All three were dated March 3, 2010. Deputy David Bashore contacted Dr. Smith by phone, and he advised that he last saw Wright in February and had written no new prescriptions for Wright.
Inside Wright’s purse, Bashore located an unlabeled prescription bottle containing methadone, a bottle with generic Lorcet and generic Soma mixed together, and a third bottle with methadone.
When deputies Michael Coburn and Tod Day searched Wright’s vehicle across the street from the pharmacy, they discovered a variety of medications — the sheriff’s office incident report lists about a dozen other medications by their identification numbers. The report identified 127 hydrocodone tablets and the muscle relaxer Carisoprodol. An ice-filled cooler in the vehicle also contained three bottles of an unknown substance, according to deputies. The vehicle and the medications were seized as evidence by the sheriff’s department.
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47 Responses to “Church Members Speak Out After Pastor Arrested In Century”
WHITE PUNK, DID YOU GET YOUR ENLIGHTENMENT FROM ….OPRAH
Oh man I love that THEspiritually enlightened ONE HAS SPOKEN.
Who enlightened you while PUNK.
NO NEED FOR ANYONE ELSE TO SAY ANYTHING. THE KEITH OLBERMANN OF THE NORTH END.HAS SPOKEN.
REGARDING:
“God is big, MUCH bigger than Christianity or Islam or Judaism. ”
and
“See you all in Heaven (that’s your name for it, not mine).”
We could be wrong and you could be right, but I don’t think that’s the name for where you are going to wind up, if we ARE right.
David thinking a drop of water would be welcome then
“What I hope that you all realize is this – to God, a sin is a sin. If I tell a lie, to Him, it is the same as murder.”
That’s crazy. Absolutely crazy.
Nobody dropped me and damaged me, and I do know God, and I will be with him just as you all will be. Where I draw the line, and you brainwashed folks draw my ire, is when you “bundle” God with the religion you’ve been so successfully imprinted with: Christianity. I became spiritually enlightened when I was 19 and realized that it is not the truth you all think it is. You can all chatter on like sheep about Jesus and the Bible and scripture and blah blah blah, and you’re all wasting your time. God is big, MUCH bigger than Christianity or Islam or Judaism. Those are tiny little social constructs that man thought up to keep himself comfortable or fearful, take your pick. As for me, I left it all behind long ago and am much more free and happy without it. See you all in Heaven (that’s your name for it, not mine).
Well to the family members and others that on the defense for wrong and sin. If that’s what you want to uphold then find do just that.
Right is right and wrong is wrong. And that’s what wrong with people today, they want to take the bible and it’s scriptures and use it in a way to fit their life style and then come back and use everybody sin. If you sin and keep on sinning you just wrong.
For the record you’ll, since this so call family is using this newspaper as the court, he or she should be somewhere practicing as her attorney in court not here on northescambia.com. But however it’s also been revealed by court records and jail records that Bertha Wright has been getting arrested since 2008 for shoplifting, and she didn’t tell the church about that or did the church know about that. So don’t play defense on sin, because you is guilty as she is upholding sin and wrong.
Family member consult your aunt or family member, not us she was caught red handy by law enforcement.
Well in life God give us the chance to make our decision to serve him or serve the devil, the bible do not say when you choose to serve God that you will never sin again and that everything will be peachy. Thats why most of God messengers go through things for they can be a witness to the people. If you no the story of many of the big gospel preachers like- Donnie McCurklin, Wynita Bynum, Joyce Meyers just to name a few. Each one have an incredible testimony.
I’ts praying time,while everybody saying this and saying that,you need to be praying for the family,if you have Love in your heart that’s what you will be doing instead of trying to put them down. Jesus Loves everybody and he has the last say so about everything. Lift them up in prayer.
Well let me say that I didn’t call her personally fake, because she hasn’t been found guilty or not guilty. I don’t even know the woman forreal. Why you on the defense for her.
If she wants or say they are leaders she should do the right thing. Yes, she may have ask God for forgiveness personally. But you was leading God people that’s not in the blind, and you have not come before the church and spoke with your members about the matter, and hiding it for weeks.
If it was me and everyone sins and fall short, save one back slide and be reclaim. I can’t and will not and never cast judgement on no one, because I don’t know no ones personal relationship with God. But all I am saying is when you lead be a leader, and be honest rather it’s right or wrong. Let the truth speak for it self.
People keep saying I don’t want to go to church with hypocrites ect, ect, I go to church to worship GOD not to go be with people. I go to recieve the word. We need to remove the plank from our own eye
To: Be real—— Who are you to called people of the church fake, I suggest you save your own salvation.
REGARDING:
“Notice how I am NOT trying to impart MY beliefs on you, why can’t Christians (real and fake) give non-Christians the same courtesy?”
In response to your question, Christ told his followers to teach others what he had taught them. Thus, to practice Christianity requires–not suggests–sharing the good news with others. This doesn’t mean others have to pay attention or believe, just that Christians have to share what has been taught.
Talking shouldn’t be a crime.
David wondering at those who proclaim belief in religious freedom while
begrudging it to Christ’s followers
To: Be Real ——-who are you to say if people of the church is fake, only God can determine that. I suggest you work on your on salvation
The problem is that people seem to think that if you proclaim to be a Christian, you are supposed to be perfect. You are never to commit a sin again. That is simply unrealistic and not biblical.
The truth is that we will always sin, no matter how much we love the Lord. The difference is that as Christians, we are forgiven for those sins. We will continue to make mistakes as long as we are on this earth. There’s no way to avoid that. We cannot EVER be perfect as Jesus was the only perfect man. We will continue to battle with Satan in every aspect of our lives. We will probably (and SHOULD) sin a lot LESS than we did before, but we will always be sinners.
If that makes us hypocrites, trying to do right and follow God’s Will, then I guess that we are ALL hypocrites in your eyes. Do you honestly expect perfection from anyone? If so, you will always be disappointed. Do you expect perfection from yourself? If so, in the words of Dr Phil, how’s that working out for ya?
There is no other way for it to be.
EMD,
From Websters I provide you with the following definition:
Hypocrite:
1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
2.a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.
And in case you are unfamiliar with the term “belie”, it means to show to be false or contradict.
Sound familiar?????
This is off the scene, it’s time out for all this fake stuff in the church of God. It’s time to be real and draw and win souls for christ. You can’t be save, so called santified and they testify and lead God people and do things like this. It’s not judgemental……God is the Judge of us all. Whether we choose to do things behind close doors or in the open. The bible says sin is sin and call it as it is.
To those that want to get religious about this matter, don’t say you are a leader of God people, preaching and suppose to be living right and asking others to do the same, and here it is that you first off lying after they caught you red handy and then without the truth and not come before the church and ask for forgiveness.
Oh I would be mad myself, if I found out that my pastor or wife or any minister that hold that standard was doing wrong like this, because I look at them as my leader sent by God.
Well the first rule of thought is , who can cast a stone. NOBODY IS PERFECT!!!!!!!!!
With the media and law officials blowing this cast up, you would think she was a mast murderer or a big drug boss. Its no different from anybody- teenager, adult, actor, athlete, who get hooked on mediations. If you take a tylenol every day for a long periods of time, your body is going to need that to function. And when you try not to take use them, your body will have a withdrawal. This is what I think happen. The medications that she was on, is highly addictive meds and can make anybody that is addictive to them try ANYTHING to get them. Yes she was a minister and God has to judge her and all of us for our sins. For the people that are truly callers of God word, will lift up prayers and pray that justice be met. I hope that we can learn from this, that all have to be accountable for what we do here on this earth.
A message to my Aunt Bertha, I love you and I am praying for.you and your family. All I asked is that you hold your held high and pray for me and my family strength in the Lord.
Hypocrites-NO THANKS!
I can appreciate what you are saying. I felt pretty much the same way for a long time. I hate to consider myself a hypocrite, but if , by “hypocrite,” you mean one who does not do or say or think everything perfectly, then I guess I am a hypocrite in your eyes. I read in The Word, that we are to get the log out of our own eye, before we try to remove the splinter in another’s eye. I also read that men look on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. Once I heard someone say, that if I let a hypocrite stand between me and God, then the hypocrite is closer to God than I am. OUCH! May I suggest that you visit every church you need to, until you find one where you can work out your salvation and be changed daily into the likeness of Christ. That is sort of how I came to find my church. My grandson had been baptized, and wanted to go to church somewhere near by. His folks weren’t “into” church, so I promised him I would take him to different churches so he could find one where he felt he belonged, and I would stay to check things out and make sure he wasn’t getting into something weird or off base. There has been a lot of that in these parts. That is how I found the church I now attend, and I do not miss a service unless I am so sick I can’t stand up, contagious, God calls me somewhere else for some reason, or I am out of town. Why did I stay where I am now, after having visited about 5 others? Because on my first visit, I saw love in little children, that could not have been more cordial to me, on their own. Not rehearsed or prompted. Because I saw a greater ratio of men to women than I have seen in any church in years. But, the biggest reason of all, is because I heard a very enthusiastic preacher preaching things I had heard only from God, as He revealed the spiritual meaning of His Word to me many many years ago. I KNEW that this man had been in the presence of God. And God for real is the only thing I hunger for above all else. In so many churches, I was not fed spiritually, nor could I feed others spiritually for the “traditions of men in the churches, and their idea of God in their box forbade me to teach what I had learned from God. I’m still there after over 6 years. I have seen all kinds of ups and downs. If everyone is comfortable in a church with no trouble, you can bet they are not a threat to the devil. It is those that are a threat to his kingdom that he desires to divide and destroy. But, if the faithful stick to what God said and not just their feelings, He will see them through and folks will grow in The Truth. I have seen people in a mess come and be changed into new creations, and have seen many maturing in The Lord. I’ve seen folks leave that could no longer be in control or who just want feelings all the time. But, finally, I once again, have found the real, but yet imperfect house to grow in. And there is unconditional love growing there. Don’t give up. Fishing is one of my favorite things to do, but I have never found fishing better than what I found 6 years ago. It just keeps getting better, because God Himself and lovingly praising HIm, is the Focus and our main desire is to see peoples’ spirits healed, mended and restored. It is a real adventure and a challenge. Above all……….I am NOT religious. I have a living, breathing, walking relationship with Jesus Christ, and He is changing me. If you are asking God where He is, and mean it, I believe He will say to you, “Come and see.” I have prepared a place like you have not seen before. We need those serious about God to come and fight powers of darkness with us.
this goes out to the pastor,pastor wife, and church.you are in my prayers.please know that god forgives all and all things.mrs. wright keep your head up high and trust in the lord.he will see you through this.for you all who are criticizing mrs. wright the bible says to judge not. whatever you judge shall be measured back unto you.at the end our lord and savior will be the judge of all and all things.we all will be held accountable for our own wrong doing.so why sit criticize and judge mrs. wright. we all are sinners not a one of us is righteous .not saying that all of us are not saved or is not christians.we have to repent of our sins dailey and if mrs. wright repented then she is still gods child.
Difference is in life I have a choice, in death the choice will no longer be mine.
Another difference is if in fact I do end up in heaven or hell, and it is really everything those mortal men wrote about in your bible. In heaven I will be accompanied by true good people, in hell I will be surrounded by those who are KNOWN liars, cheats and thieves so they will no longer feel the need to pretend to be something they are not.
Guess I will just live happily in this life and take my chances on the unknown after death.
Notice how I am NOT trying to impart MY beliefs on you, why can’t Christians (real and fake) give non-Christians the same courtesy?
I am not writing to be critical but we sometimes let other people influence our decisions. Hell is as long as heaen is going to be..eternity is 4ever
Hypocrites-NO THANKS!
The bible says to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.we only have to give account for ourselves. so if hypocrites want to sit in the church, thats theiir business but what is the difference of churching with them and spending eternity with them in hell.Church is for a time but eternity is 4ever
EMD,
If there were less of you (religious types) who are exactly like this lady in the sense that you preach but don’t practice what you preach, then there might be more of us (non-believers) coming to those churches for that Word and Spirit you speak of.
I personally can’t stand hypocrites and in my experience the church is slap full of those types of people, therefore I choose to stay away. Will I have to answer for that decision some day? Perhaps. But I would rather be there trying to explain why I stayed away from church instead of trying to explain why I lied and deceived my whole life.
“BEEGEE” Now would you judge her the same way if she had…..ummm let’s say………took another woman’s husband away from?!?!?!?!
Seems very “judgemental” to me that “HOMEWRECKERS” can sit at a computer and post judgements about someone with a drug problem.
It is so easy to sit behind a computer screen, use a fake name and throw slurs and Biblical statements at other people when that person has in God’s eye committed a sin even worst than a drug addict has committed.
Just saying!!! DD!!!
just goes to show ya, you never really know people
whitepunknotondope,
Who dropped you and bruised you so, that you fight so hard to keep from becoming the person God created you to be? Do not feel compelled to answer me, but I pray you will answer yourself, or ask God to help you find that answer. I have prayed for you, and that is what came into my spirit.
I sure am not a perfect human being yet, and so you may think I’m pretending to care……..for whatever reason. The truth is that, though I do not even know you in the flesh, I know you somewhat in the spirit, and I truly do care. I just wanted you to know that.
To WHITEPUNK….
Your comment “Yumus: you’re an excellent representative of the disingenious conservative spin doctors who made you what you is today!” is actually hilarious to me. Truth be known, I tend not to be pursuaded by others (like yourself) into believeing their point of views, but rather form my own based on my intelligence and perception.
As far as the “spin” a blind man could read your shots and as I suspected, you floundered when your argument was shot down.
Are you afraid I put your “not so Christian like way” in the spot light for everyone to see? I forgive you my brother and I am sure others do as well.
Reply to
What I hope that you all realize is this – to God, a sin is a sin. If I tell a lie, to Him, it is the same as murder. Proof that we are all sinners and we all need to accept the sacrificial love that He has for us by sending His Son to die on the cross – taking all of our sin upon Himself – so that we can be forgiven and have life everlasting.
Well in the eyes of the Escambia County Sheriffs Dept, murder is a little more serious than telling a little white lie. Im going to interpret this one myself and say they are not the same in ANYONE’S eyes!
but I respect your opinion as well.
Whitepunk, must you always try and get a rise out of people? Start some sort of controversy? Please consider going to church this Sunday, and learn about the true meaning of love, mercy, grace and understanding. God Bless You and your family.
What I hope that you all realize is this – to God, a sin is a sin. If I tell a lie, to Him, it is the same as murder. Proof that we are all sinners and we all need to accept the sacrificial love that He has for us by sending His Son to die on the cross – taking all of our sin upon Himself – so that we can be forgiven and have life everlasting.
whitepunknotondope, well I see that you caught the funny spelling error in my comment, thats funny lol
Oh, Whitepunk, MUST you be so sarcastic?
In regards to: “NONE of you have ANY proof that Jesus did not partake in drugs or alcohol. There is NO WAY you can claim that Jesus did not do any locally available drugs, stimulants or hallucinogens. Don’t make such presumptive judgements and say “what Jesus is” when you don’t have any real idea.”
Actually, if you would read and study your Bible, you would KNOW the answer to the statement made above. YES, you CAN know that Jesus did not do any of those things.
whitepunknotondope,
It can be known by faith, through The Word, for that is The Foundation, of our faith. You truly do not understand in your heart of what you speak. God sent Jesus, as the perfect sacrificial Lamb to be our substitute, offered up for all the sins of man since man’s fall. Therefore, we know that He was perfect. Now, we can have a “perfect heart” towards God. And, now, God, can receive us through the perfect Righteousness of Christ. I know that this may sound confusing and hard to understand. However, this too confirms The Word, for it is written that the things of God are foolishness to those who do do not believe, for spiritual things are only truly understood by those who are filled with and led by The Holy Spirit of God. This poor woman may have been trying to walk in the flesh and in the spirit. That is a very hard road. I know, because I’ve been there. It can be even harder than being cold to the things of God. When one truly begans to get knowledge, it is then that they know there is much they do not know. I used to be “wise” like you. I only have God to thank for my deliverance. I can understand your bitterness. I know how it feels to look for the real Truth, and see, hear, and experience so much error and confusion. The church of today is the 7th one spoken of in the first part of the book of Revelation. I hope you will check it out. That is the church on which God’s judgment is now falling.
First off God isn’t Jesus, and you ain’t no brain surgeon! This story has nothing to do with raping and killing so try to concentrate and stay on track, I know it’s difficult when you have ADHD…
I was talking about judgemental people who make pronouncements based on their interpretation of their faith, that’s all.
————————————————————
Are you serious!?! “First off”, ever heard of the Holy Trinity? That is the FATHER, the SON and the HOLY SPIRIT as ONE!!! They are one and the same and “you ain’t no brain surgeon!” This story had EVERYTHING to do with breaking the law “so try to concentrate and stay on track, I know it’s difficult when you have ADHD …”
You had the nerve to talk about “judgemental people” and yet what did you just do? You JUDGED people for doing the same thing you are. Wow.
As far as the article, I agree about people judging the way they have. We are considered innocent until proven guilty and all these church members are deciding that she is guilty right off the bat. That’s NOT the way my faith works. Until she is proven guilty in a court of law, it is not a fact that she did anything wrong. The church’s job is to love her regardless of what she has or has not done. They should be praying for her as she deals with this legal situation and then, IF she should be convicted, to continue to pray that she get the help that she would need to handle this and the problem that she will THEN be shown to have. In the meantime, there should not be any kind of judging going on. That is up to God and the court system, NOT to mankind. Their job, as God has given it to them, is to support and love her.
BTW, I don’t know what Jesus did or did not do…..but I do know that he was without sin and that he tells us to make our decisions based on what is right and wrong and that we are to follow man’s laws as well as His Laws.
Yumus: you’re an excellent representative of the disingenious conservative spin doctors who made you what you is today!
I won’t waste any more of my time with you because you’re simply twisting the meaning of what I wrote. Nowhere did I say that this woman had an excuse to commit a crime, nor did I even insinuate that Jesus would fake a scrip! Those are things that YOU interpreted from my post. And as usual, you’re so completely off base as to be out of the ball park. Such a good little republican!
Now go wipe your but with the constitution or the bible whichever you prefer.
I too am at war with satin, and I’m waging a pretty fierce battle against polyester as well.
It’s easy to judge, when you’re sitting on the outside looking in.I don’t condone what Mrs.Wright did,and knowing her and the Pastor she is married to,i was shocked to see this happening.We don’t know what drives a person to do,what they do.She should have told her church,so the member can pray about it and decide what to do next.
Elder Wright ,we will keep you and your family in prayer,and we know Pastor Bertha Wright will have to answer for herself one of these days.
God is still in charge and he loves us in spite of ourself.
People! Where in the Bible does it say that it’s a sin to become addicted to prescription drugs? Where in the Bible does it say that humans are perfect as God? Chances are very good that this lady became addicted to these pain killers during treatment following an injury or disease, through no fault of her own. People just don’t take the medicines that are prescribed to them with the intention of becoming addicted. If you take a prescribed narcotic 3 times a day for ten days you are addicted whether you want to be or not, and this is her burden, not the burden of the congregation. I did not know that a preachers wife is to live her life in a manner that pleases and requires the approval of the congregation. This response says more about some of the members of that congregation than it says about Mrs. Wright. But then I need to remember that a church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.
Please Pray for the AOH Church of God members , the pastor and the wife , Satin is working in this ,we all are at war with satin !
to white punk…
So you can judge me based on a posting, but we shouldnt judge a church leader based on her arrest report?
Its ok for you to call me names or insinuate my ignorance, but we shouldnt judge others?
You my friend is what is wrong with America today. Hypocrites and a belief of entitlement.
Is she your sister, mother, aunt, or dealer?
replying to ““NONE of you have ANY proof that Jesus did not partake in drugs or alcohol. There is NO WAY you can claim that Jesus did not do any locally available drugs, stimulants or hallucinogens. Don’t make such presumptive judgements and say “what Jesus is” when you don’t have any real idea”
Really? Are you serious? So the new excuse for committing a crime is you dont know for sure that Jesus didnt do it? So we can run around and break laws (while we counsel others not to) and then say we are not sure Jesus didnt do the same thing.
Im gonna go out on a limb and say Jesus didnt write fake scripts to get his fix on pain pills. How ridiculous of you to rationalize with such arguments.
“So whenever we decide to break the law going forward, we can simply say ” You dont know for sure that God didnt rob, rape, and kill” and everything will be ok? Give me a freakin’ break.
I dont envision GOD trying to put the okey doke on local pharmacies in order to support a pill habit!!!
First off God isn’t Jesus, and you ain’t no brain surgeon! This story has nothing to do with raping and killing so try to concentrate and stay on track, I know it’s difficult when you have ADHD…
I was talking about judgemental people who make pronouncements based on their interpretation of their faith, that’s all.
um… we have the bible which clearly says what jesus said and did…
“NONE of you have ANY proof that Jesus did not partake in drugs or alcohol. There is NO WAY you can claim that Jesus did not do any locally available drugs, stimulants or hallucinogens. Don’t make such presumptive judgements and say “what Jesus is” when you don’t have any real idea.”
So whenever we decide to break the law going forward, we can simply say ” You dont know for sure that God didnt rob, rape, and kill” and everything will be ok? Give me a freakin’ break.
I dont envision GOD trying to put the okey doke on local pharmacies in order to support a pill habit!!!
“When one is “called” into a service that provides a help and example of what Jesus is …..when they do contrary to that calling……they do owe the folks they serve through the calling…..an explanation!!!! If a person is really repentant,this will take place….”
I know this is going to rankle a few horse collars, but there’s an important point to be made here about JUDGEMENT of our fellow human’s transgressions.
NONE of you have ANY proof that Jesus did not partake in drugs or alcohol. There is NO WAY you can claim that Jesus did not do any locally available drugs, stimulants or hallucinogens. Don’t make such presumptive judgements and say “what Jesus is” when you don’t have any real idea.
When one is “called” into a service that provides a help and example of what Jesus is …..when they do contrary to that calling……they do owe the folks they serve through the calling…..an explanation!!!! If a person is really repentant,this will take place….
The church is about forgivness and compassion. You need to forgive but not forget. Accountability is needed going forward.
It’s sad for the congregatiion to found out this thru the media, however surely that was a personal decision as to whether or not she told them as soon as it happened. After all it was awhile before the story was on northescabia.com, leaving plenty of time for the church to be told…but again that decision was a personal decision between Mrs. Wright, her Pastor, and God.