Holy Hecklers Come to ETSU
Matt Bourgault preaches at ETSU. Photo: David Hart
By Amanda Milstead
posted Dec. 16, 2011
A crowd of about 50 people shot video, took pictures, shouted back or simply stood and watched as members from Consuming Fire Campus Ministry and Revival Open-air Mission brought their fervent message of repentance against sin to ETSU's campus on Friday.
"It was my first visit to ETSU," said Sam Jones, a part-time member of Consuming Fire Campus Ministry. "It was a typical college campus. We had a good discussion and good interaction. Some liked it, some didn't and some were apathetic."
A video appeared on You Tube later that afternoon with the title "Crazy, Religious Nutcase at ETSU." In the video, Micah Armstrong from Revival Open-air Mission is seen standing on top of a planter in Borchuck Plaza screaming at the crowd, "You have no salvation! You have no God!"
Bible verses were intertwined in his speech as he spoke in a hybrid language of English and scripture. He explained later that after being called by God to preach the Gospel on the streets of Miami, Armstrong sold his home, quit his job as a public school teacher and now travels full-time preaching to college students.
"The majority of students at ETSU live ungodly lives," he said. "We expect opposition. In order to become a Christian, they must turn away from their sins. We got that message out. Did everyone receive it? No.”
Matt Bourgault, founder of Consuming Fire Campus Ministry, said he was not present at ETSU on Friday, but has preached on the campus before. The ministry is based out of Missouri, and different members travel around the country to college campuses. Bourgalt said the ministry is funded by its members and through donations from people who “believe in the great Gospel as Jesus commanded.”
"We're not trying to convert or save anyone," said Bourgault. "Our command is to preach, and it's tailored to university campuses. There are a bunch of sodomites on your campus."
Most of the people in Friday’s crowd either looked on in disbelief or shouted back in protest. Andrew Harrison Cox, a member of ETSU’s Couch Bible Study group that meets in the first floor of the DP Culp University Center, said Armstrong only wanted to start a ruckus.
"His goal is to inspire enough fear in people so that they will turn to God," said Cox. "I was livid. Christ never spoke that way to nonbelievers. You cannot have love where fear is present."
Pictures on the Consuming Fire Campus Ministry website, http://www.cfirecm.com, depict open-air preachers carrying signs that read, “Homo sex is a threat to national security,” and “Heathens beware, you deserve to go to hellfire.” There are also videos from the group’s visits to college campuses including one from a 2007 visit to ETSU. Cox said he saw patches sewn to Armstrong’s coat that had the words “homo” and “porn” crossed out.
Other ETSU students made claims that the preachers told women that if they wear pants and cut their hair short, then they are going to hell because they are lesbians. It was also reported that Armstrong labeled one male student a whoremonger, and he shouted that hell awaited a female student that he deemed to be overweight.
"She was telling me about her sins," he later said about the confrontation. "I told her she was self-indulgent. I could tell she was self-indulgent by looking at her. Gluttony is a sin."
Carrie Akins was outside the library for three hours on Friday watching the sermon from a bench, but Armstrong did not say anything to her. As a Christian, Akins said she was offended by the messages she heard from the preacher standing on top of the planter.
"He was saying everyone was a sinner on campus, and that we
were all going to hell."
-Carrie Akins, ETSU student
Armstrong said that it was a normal occurrence for his style of preaching to conjure up a strong reaction from the crowd. He believes that the angry response he received on Friday demonstrates a deficiency in local biblical teaching. Armstrong argues that frequent exposure to open-air preachers results in less resistance to his controversial views.
"Yelling at people is biblical," said Armstrong. "When there is a big crowd, you can't whisper at them."
Bourgalt recognized that their heavy-handed approach might not be effective "in the eyes of man," but that their organization followed a "biblical pattern." During the 1980s, he attended Unity College in Maine and said he was saved by an on-campus preacher. According to the Consuming Fire Campus Ministry website, the "Lord called Matt (Bourgalt) and his family to open-air evangelism."
"The sins we preach against: sodomy, drunkenness, all these types of people are typically found on college campuses," he said over the telephone. “Repent, or die and go to hell. Jesus said it: Repent or perish."
Bourgalt recognizes the potential for violence at some of the venues his organization visits. On the website, there is a request for prayers that reads, "Please pray for us as we contend for the faith. This confrontational evangelism many times finds us on the receiving end of projectiles (tomatoes, rocks, etc.), profanities and even jail time for preaching the truth."
Chief Jack Cotrel noted that nobody was arrested, and no charges were filed. He said that it takes two people to argue, but he felt that the preachers overstepped their bounds.
"We don't want them following our students or getting in their faces," he said.
One of the three officers present in Borchuck Plaza Friday afternoon, Amanda Worley, said that the police attend all potentially controversial events. This lets their presence be known, and they usually leave after determining the situation is under control. On Friday, Worley stayed the whole time.
"I've been here four and a half years and that's the worst I've ever seen it," she said.
Mikaela Minihan heard the commotion from her dorm room in Carter Hall. In order for her to reach the library, she had to traverse a sea of shouting people. Looking at the scene, Minihan thought that the preachers were inciting people. She felt that they did not deserve an audience, and that the onlookers should have just ignored the preachers.
"I don't think his religion had anything to do with it," she said. "It was not an appropriate tone. If I am going to return books, I don't want to feel like I'm walking through a riot."
Borchuck Plaza and the grassy area in front of the amphitheatre are the two public forums on campus that groups can reserve. Assistant Vice President Tony Warner said that anyone has the right to come visit ETSU. The only groups Warner could recall who were denied access to the university had not filled out the necessary paperwork.
"They complied with the procedures to be here," he said. "Frequently we have groups here that will make some people upset. That's part of America. We have no right to not let someone on campus."
While a group's right to free speech is protected, Warner said the university does not want to create a dangerous situation or disrupt the educational process. Harassment of students is not permitted, but Warner said there were many different interpretations of harassment.
“There are formal complaint forms online,” he said. “We are going to look at what happened. They have no reservation to return.”
Warner said that some students have already submitted complaint forms. The form is available through the ETSU website at www.etsu.edu/students/documents/electronicstudentcomplaintform.doc.
“I would like to return to ETSU in the future,” said Armstrong. “I believe it was positive. If they don’t live a holy life, they are going to hell. That’s what we are getting them to understand.”
Contact Amanda Milstead at [email protected]
posted Dec. 16, 2011
A crowd of about 50 people shot video, took pictures, shouted back or simply stood and watched as members from Consuming Fire Campus Ministry and Revival Open-air Mission brought their fervent message of repentance against sin to ETSU's campus on Friday.
"It was my first visit to ETSU," said Sam Jones, a part-time member of Consuming Fire Campus Ministry. "It was a typical college campus. We had a good discussion and good interaction. Some liked it, some didn't and some were apathetic."
A video appeared on You Tube later that afternoon with the title "Crazy, Religious Nutcase at ETSU." In the video, Micah Armstrong from Revival Open-air Mission is seen standing on top of a planter in Borchuck Plaza screaming at the crowd, "You have no salvation! You have no God!"
Bible verses were intertwined in his speech as he spoke in a hybrid language of English and scripture. He explained later that after being called by God to preach the Gospel on the streets of Miami, Armstrong sold his home, quit his job as a public school teacher and now travels full-time preaching to college students.
"The majority of students at ETSU live ungodly lives," he said. "We expect opposition. In order to become a Christian, they must turn away from their sins. We got that message out. Did everyone receive it? No.”
Matt Bourgault, founder of Consuming Fire Campus Ministry, said he was not present at ETSU on Friday, but has preached on the campus before. The ministry is based out of Missouri, and different members travel around the country to college campuses. Bourgalt said the ministry is funded by its members and through donations from people who “believe in the great Gospel as Jesus commanded.”
"We're not trying to convert or save anyone," said Bourgault. "Our command is to preach, and it's tailored to university campuses. There are a bunch of sodomites on your campus."
Most of the people in Friday’s crowd either looked on in disbelief or shouted back in protest. Andrew Harrison Cox, a member of ETSU’s Couch Bible Study group that meets in the first floor of the DP Culp University Center, said Armstrong only wanted to start a ruckus.
"His goal is to inspire enough fear in people so that they will turn to God," said Cox. "I was livid. Christ never spoke that way to nonbelievers. You cannot have love where fear is present."
Pictures on the Consuming Fire Campus Ministry website, http://www.cfirecm.com, depict open-air preachers carrying signs that read, “Homo sex is a threat to national security,” and “Heathens beware, you deserve to go to hellfire.” There are also videos from the group’s visits to college campuses including one from a 2007 visit to ETSU. Cox said he saw patches sewn to Armstrong’s coat that had the words “homo” and “porn” crossed out.
Other ETSU students made claims that the preachers told women that if they wear pants and cut their hair short, then they are going to hell because they are lesbians. It was also reported that Armstrong labeled one male student a whoremonger, and he shouted that hell awaited a female student that he deemed to be overweight.
"She was telling me about her sins," he later said about the confrontation. "I told her she was self-indulgent. I could tell she was self-indulgent by looking at her. Gluttony is a sin."
Carrie Akins was outside the library for three hours on Friday watching the sermon from a bench, but Armstrong did not say anything to her. As a Christian, Akins said she was offended by the messages she heard from the preacher standing on top of the planter.
"He was saying everyone was a sinner on campus, and that we
were all going to hell."
-Carrie Akins, ETSU student
Armstrong said that it was a normal occurrence for his style of preaching to conjure up a strong reaction from the crowd. He believes that the angry response he received on Friday demonstrates a deficiency in local biblical teaching. Armstrong argues that frequent exposure to open-air preachers results in less resistance to his controversial views.
"Yelling at people is biblical," said Armstrong. "When there is a big crowd, you can't whisper at them."
Bourgalt recognized that their heavy-handed approach might not be effective "in the eyes of man," but that their organization followed a "biblical pattern." During the 1980s, he attended Unity College in Maine and said he was saved by an on-campus preacher. According to the Consuming Fire Campus Ministry website, the "Lord called Matt (Bourgalt) and his family to open-air evangelism."
"The sins we preach against: sodomy, drunkenness, all these types of people are typically found on college campuses," he said over the telephone. “Repent, or die and go to hell. Jesus said it: Repent or perish."
Bourgalt recognizes the potential for violence at some of the venues his organization visits. On the website, there is a request for prayers that reads, "Please pray for us as we contend for the faith. This confrontational evangelism many times finds us on the receiving end of projectiles (tomatoes, rocks, etc.), profanities and even jail time for preaching the truth."
Chief Jack Cotrel noted that nobody was arrested, and no charges were filed. He said that it takes two people to argue, but he felt that the preachers overstepped their bounds.
"We don't want them following our students or getting in their faces," he said.
One of the three officers present in Borchuck Plaza Friday afternoon, Amanda Worley, said that the police attend all potentially controversial events. This lets their presence be known, and they usually leave after determining the situation is under control. On Friday, Worley stayed the whole time.
"I've been here four and a half years and that's the worst I've ever seen it," she said.
Mikaela Minihan heard the commotion from her dorm room in Carter Hall. In order for her to reach the library, she had to traverse a sea of shouting people. Looking at the scene, Minihan thought that the preachers were inciting people. She felt that they did not deserve an audience, and that the onlookers should have just ignored the preachers.
"I don't think his religion had anything to do with it," she said. "It was not an appropriate tone. If I am going to return books, I don't want to feel like I'm walking through a riot."
Borchuck Plaza and the grassy area in front of the amphitheatre are the two public forums on campus that groups can reserve. Assistant Vice President Tony Warner said that anyone has the right to come visit ETSU. The only groups Warner could recall who were denied access to the university had not filled out the necessary paperwork.
"They complied with the procedures to be here," he said. "Frequently we have groups here that will make some people upset. That's part of America. We have no right to not let someone on campus."
While a group's right to free speech is protected, Warner said the university does not want to create a dangerous situation or disrupt the educational process. Harassment of students is not permitted, but Warner said there were many different interpretations of harassment.
“There are formal complaint forms online,” he said. “We are going to look at what happened. They have no reservation to return.”
Warner said that some students have already submitted complaint forms. The form is available through the ETSU website at www.etsu.edu/students/documents/electronicstudentcomplaintform.doc.
“I would like to return to ETSU in the future,” said Armstrong. “I believe it was positive. If they don’t live a holy life, they are going to hell. That’s what we are getting them to understand.”
Contact Amanda Milstead at [email protected]