Assaulted In My Robes

Recently I blogged about the fateful day that my urban ministry ended. This post turns back the clock ten more days. It was a Sunday morning before the service, when I was assaulted in the Church vestibule, in my robes. I was throttled and slammed against great door fixings (pictured), and scratched from head to foot. Five people in the congregation were involved, three of them deacons. I was not seriously hurt, but I was badly hurt. I continued with the Sunday morning service, burning from head to foot, and in great pain in my back and upper legs. It took more than half a year for me to heal. This at a time when I needed to move house. My strength was much reduced. Then I went down five times with fevers, and various bleeds. Several courses of increasingly high-tech antibiotics were prescribed. It was staph, which was likely caused by the scratches. OBSERVATION: Afterwards I received a demand that I should “withdraw all criminal and civil charges ... w.r.t. the recent events related to the church”. I signed it, and a Church trustee signed it. But this contravened the Constitution of the Republic, and was declared void. I did not lay charges. (See also The Day My Ministry Ended).