Man goes into church to chop woman

A man claiming he had sold his soul to the devil entered the Kingstown Methodist Church during worship last Sunday morning, saying the Heavenly Father had told him to go there to chop off a woman’s head.

Sometime between 7:45 and 8:15, the man, dressed in a white sweater, entered {{more}}the church through the Middle Street entrance, walked around inside, left and returned waving a cutlass wrapped in paper, startling the approximately 120 worshippers.

Superintendent of the Kingstown Chateaubelair Circuit, Reverend Adolf Davis, who was present at the time, spoke to SEARCHLIGHT yesterday and recounted what happened.

“When he came in, I approached him to find out what was happening and if he wanted me to pray for him, but he was very dismissive and it appeared as if he was looking at me, but not really seeing me. He was not connecting and then I followed him as he walked around.”

The deranged man exited through the church’s door that faces Middle Street, picked up a cutlass that was wrapped in paper, came back in, pointed it to the front of the church, then very briskly went up to the altar area where women were leading the service.

“They noticed him and moved to get away. He had the cutlass in the air unwrapping,” recalled Rev Davis, who said at first, a couple of persons were trying to figure out how to disarm the man and then two churchgoers grabbed him, one from behind and one from in front, while a third person grabbed the cutlass, after which the man was subdued and taken outside.

“He indicated that he was told by the Heavenly Father to go and cut off the woman’s neck, but his story had variations. When I later went to see him at the police station, he said that it was a test of the Lord and if he was really to cut off her head, he would have done that, but the Lord was just testing him,” said the clergyman, who added that the confused man told him that he usually hears voices, but he would negotiate with them and he felt that he had done something good for the Lord that morning.

“He does not know the ladies and they don’t know him, but he said that this is what he felt the Lord wanted him to do and the voices he heard,” stated Rev Davis.

The minister said that when he later prayed with the man, it was evident that he did not remember some of what had transpired.

Davis said that the deranged man admitted to smoking weed and some of what he spoke about was very troubling.

“He hears voices and in my own assumption, the weed and smoking is one way of trying to get rid of the voices,” said Davis.

An ordained minister for over 15 years, Rev Davis opined that demon possession is one of the reasons he went to the police station to pray for the troubled man.

“Some of these things are multi-dimensional. Issues begin in the physical with very unfortunate life experiences and very often when those experiences are not addressed, you sometimes see them manifested in various ways and become even deeper than being just physical and psychological, but becoming spiritual issues, and so I have no doubt that part of what we saw yesterday was really a spiritual problem, evil, demonic… spiritual issues can become a part of the story.”

The minister added that the man needs psychological intervention, but that alone would not be sufficient for the young man’s well-being.

“He said the mission was very clear, but later he then said to me that if it was meant to be, it would have happened, but when he came he looked lost and it is only when he was subdued he seemed coherent and sensible. He said he sold his soul to the devil; then when I chatted with him at the police station, he didn’t represent that and he tried very hard to convince me he was doing the Lord’s work.”

Rev Davis is of the opinion that if the machete wielding young man had hidden the cutlass under his sweater, they would not have seen it and there is no telling what could have happened.

He said also that he is grateful to Guardsman security personnel, who came to their assistance from their headquarters next door and the police, who responded quickly.

The clergyman said while the incident means that the church will have to have discussions on security, one must be mindful that some of the issues are beyond their capabilities to prevent; if somebody is bent on doing evil, “we can’t stop them.”

The minister said this is the first time that he has experienced something of this nature, but revealed that a few years ago, a man had walked up to him while he was preaching, made a sound and walked back out of the church.

The female church member who was targetted by the mad man declined to comment when contacted by SEARCHLIGHT. (LC)