Now Reading
A Pastor Has Been Rightly Suspended For Handing Out ‘I ❤️ Hot Youth Pastors’ Stickers

A Pastor Has Been Rightly Suspended For Handing Out ‘I ❤️ Hot Youth Pastors’ Stickers

Being a pastor is hard work. You’re basically running a small business in which you’re expected to navigating the mental, emotional and spiritual health of a multi-racial, multi-generational and multi-sociocultural collective of people who are looking to you for wisdom and guidance. It’s tough.

It’s so tough, in fact, that pastors should not be looking for ways to make it harder on themselves. But that is what Fairview Baptist Church youth pastor Cory Wall decided to do anyway by handing out a sticker that reads “I ❤️ hot youth pastors.”

Good grief. You know, with all the scrutiny being placed on pastors over the last few years following numerous sexual abuse scandals that have plagued numerous denominations, you’d think youth pastors would be extra careful around stuff like this. In a lengthy blog post, Wall said he was just trying to poke fun at something called “I ❤️ Hot Mom” culture, which raises more questions than answers.

Initially, the church responded to the growing backlash via a private email, in which church leadership said Wall “understands this should not have been shared with the students” which, well, yeah. One would hope.

But in follow-up post shared to social media, the church announced that Wall had been placed on administrative leave while a “thorough and comprehensive” investigation takes place. “We take this matter very seriously and want to be proactive as we move forward,” the post read. “Our main goal is to always make our campus a safe place for anyone who attends.”

There’s a lot of things going on here. To name a few: A general church culture that often elevates conventionally attractive people; goofy youth group antics in which shock value and silliness are sometimes seen as substitutes for real spiritual growth; and a Christian culture that has sought to be in charge of American sexuality while failing mind its own guardrails. It sounds like Fairview is trying to take this seriously, as it should. But the deeper soul searching extends far beyond just one youth pastor or even one church building.

View Comments (0)

Leave a Reply

© 2023 RELEVANT Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Scroll To Top

You’re reading our ad-supported experience

For our premium ad-free experience, including exclusive podcasts, issues and more, subscribe to

Plans start as low as $2.50/mo