'You're one of the sorriest church members I have': Baptist pastor caught on camera ranting at members of his congregation

Church-goer told he wasn't worth 15 cents during sermon



Preacher refuses to apologize and says he was trying to save his flock

A video of a Baptist preacher chiding members of his congregation during a sermon for not coming to church regularly has gone viral.

Dr Jim Standridge, of Immanuel Baptist Church in Oklahoma, is seen telling one church-goer off for falling asleep before chastising a man for skipping his sermons.



However, the Baptist preacher has refused to apologize, saying he was trying to save his congregation.

Rant: Pastor Jim Standridge tells off members of his congregation for having a nap and missing church

Since the testy hour-long sermon from May was posted on YouTube it has been viewed more than 380,000 times.

In it Dr Standridge tells a man: 'I noticed on the calendar I'm supposed to marry you all. What makes you think I would marry you? You're one of the sorriest church members I have. You're not worth 15 cents.'

He also told the man who was filming the sermon for the church website that he needed to work on his 'attitude adjustment' and warned the young man's mother, who was also in the congregation, not to stand between him and her son as he taught him.

Although the preacher, who has worked at the Skiatook church for 24 years, said he had the best interests of his congregation at heart, one of the people he told off said he felt humiliated by the rant.

'I had no idea what he was talking about. I was pretty shocked when it happened,' Ryan Underwood told Tulsa World . 'Obviously he was uptight about something else.'

Although Dr Standridge hugged him after the berating for missing church, Mr Underwood said he will not return to the church.



'I felt pretty out of place after that and I just wanted to leave, but out of respect for my family I sat there,' he said.

Forceful: The Baptist pastor shakes his fist as he drives home a point in his hour-long sermon

Humiliated: Ryan Underwood has stopped attending the church after the pastor told him off

Dr Standridge claimed God had told him to rebuke Mr Underwood for missing several weeks of church, and added his words were 'tough love'.

'The Lord had showed me that [Mr Underwood's fiancée] was really getting in a bad thing with him,' he said. 'God charged me to go after those things. And I did.'

He added that he called Mr Underwood a few days later, and left a message explaining that it was God's work.

However, Mr Underwood said: 'The Bible says if you have a problem with your brother, go to him in private first. You just don't talk to people that way, especially in public.'



House of worship: Pastor Standridge has preached at Immanuel Baptist Church for 24 years

Although members of the congregation were embarrassed by the video, Dr Standridge stands by his comments.

'I'm a man of order, and we owe no one an answer for that. What concern is it of me what a carnal world thinks of this?' he told the Huffington Post .