A southern Indiana pastor has been
accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward another man.
Gaylard Williams is the 59-year-old
pastor at Praise Cathedral Church of God, which is part of the
Pentecostal Church of God headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee.
According to WLKY,
an unidentified man told police that Williams approached his vehicle
while it was parked near a lake. After the man rolled down his
window, Williams reached for and squeezed his genitals. The victim,
27, said that William asked him to perform oral sex.
He told Williams that he was “barking
up the wrong tree,” then pretended to be reaching for a gun.
Williams fled the scene. Police later found gay male pornography in
Williams' car.
Police have charged Williams, who is
free on bail, with battery.
Williams denied the accusations, saying
he was at the lake looking for a friend who fishes there. He
explained that he was delivering the pornography to someone else.
According to its website, Church of God
opposes “fleshy behavior which do not glorify God,” including
homosexuality, adultery, murder and witchcraft. Marriage, the
church says, is a “threefold covenant relationship between one
man, one woman and one God who externally exists in three persons as
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”