wfn.org | Con Artist at Work

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
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Note 373 by UMNS on Oct. 7, 1997 at 16:58 Eastern (7127 characters).

 
CONTACT: Linda Green				561(10-30-71B){373}
	    Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470	Oct. 7, 1997

Con artist duping Georgia 
United Methodist Churches 

by Kelly Holton*

	ATLANTA (UMNS) - The generous be aware. An alleged scam artist is targeting
Georgia United Methodist Churches and could be headed your way.
	Churches in states surrounding Georgia are encouraged to be wary.
	Since June, a family has entered the worship services of at least 10 United
Methodist and Baptist Churches claiming to be stranded and "scamming" the
congregations out of approximately $850 dollars a week. 
	On Sept. 21, a family visited St. Luke United Methodist Church in Columbus,
Ga. They were clean and mannerly, the children especially well-behaved. Just
before the invitation, the man stood up and made an impassioned plea to the
congregation.  
	He said he was David Twitty, a part-time sheet rock hanger from Knoxville,
Tenn. Their car had broken down in nearby Tuskegee, Ala., and he and his
family were stranded nine hours from home. His son had wondered as they
entered the sanctuary if they had come to the right church, but no, his father
assured him, God had led them to St. Luke that day.
	As they sang the closing hymn, congregation members approached the man
pressing money into his hands. The Rev. Cynthia Cox Garrard, the churchs
associate pastor, estimates the congregation gave the family more than $1,000.
	Not suspecting him, Garrard led Twitty and his wife Teresa to her office to
consult the bus schedule. The Rev. Helen Berenthien, another St. Luke
associate pastor, called Garrard aside. A member of the Mulberry Street United
Methodist Church was visiting St. Luke that day and had seen the family the
week before at his church.
	"At that point we didnt really know what to do," Garrard said. "He had the
money in his possession . . . We probably should have called the police."
	Never indicating they thought the man was lying, church representatives took
the family to the bus station, where they decided to go to Atlanta, rather
than Knoxville. 
	After the family left, the church called the police, who said the apparent
scam, was similar to one pulled several years ago on the Columbus Masonic
Lodge.
	"He was so good," said Garrard of Twittys performance. "He knew to go
straight to the congregation and avoid the pastor. It was brilliant. It was
the best acting Ive seen. He missed his calling."
	Twitty also had practiced his act on the Mulberry Street congregation the
week before, except that time, he was a preacher. The car had broken down
between Macon and Dublin, and the family had no way home.
	Although his approach mirrored the one at St. Luke, Twitty capitalized on
being Africa-American in a predominately white congregation and apologized if
the familys presence at Mulberry Street offended any of the congregation.
Again the son had said, "Daddy, are you sure were in the right place?"
	Twittys passion countered any cynicism anyone might have felt, said the Rev.
Creede Hinshaw, pastor at Mulberry Street. "It was unbelievably crafted," he
said. "The children are the visual aid . . . that pulled it off."
	Hinshaw even called Twitty to the front during the service where he prayed an
"unbelievable benediction." Without the mention of money, the congregation
gave the family approximately $850. A week later Hinshaw received an
electronic mailing telling St. Lukes story.
	Mulberry Street and St. Luke are the latest victims of the deception. In
June, the family attended United Methodist services at Embry Hills, Atlanta;
Oak Grove, Decatur; and Lanier at Cumming. At the evening service of
Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church, the family received a tank of gas
but no money. Shadowbrook Baptist Church in Suwanee and Hawthorne Baptist
Church in Lilburn also were deceived.
	The man often uses the name David Twitty, saying he is the associate (or
former or lay) pastor of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in Knoxville. Sometimes the
family is on the way to visit a sick daughter. Once they said they were coming
from Twittys fathers funeral. At several churches they have arrived in a
silver Subaru that appears to have caught fire.
	At Lanier, Twitty received more than $100 from the congregation, while other
members gave $730 to the Rev. Herb Flanders, the churchs pastor. Several
members of the congregation spent the afternoon repairing the car. Some gave
refreshments for the trip; others offered their homes for a night and even
another car. The man was willing to take the car but insisted on keeping the
money.
	Flanders requested Twitty mail the church a receipt for repairs before the
church sent the rest of the money. As the family pulled away, Twitty tossed
the church address out the window.
	Although several churches have reported the incidents to the police, none
have yet filed charges. 
	All of the churches have reflected on their actions. The Rev. Bob Bowling,
pastor at Oak Grove, said in the future, he will contact the police to verify
stories.
	Hinshaw, who informed the churchs administrative board of the scam during a
meeting, is proud of Mulberrys response. "I believe the whole process has
been and continues to be grace-filled," he said. "We will learn different
lessons than we thought we were going to learn."
	Though he will be more cautious in the future, Hinshaw wont become "vigilant
to the detriment of compassion." 
	Garrard says St. Luke also will check out stories before they give money, but
she wouldnt expect the congregation to respond differently. "The congregation
acted out of a purity of spirit that I thought was wonderful," she said.
	The week after Lanier fell victim to the trickery, Flanders applauded their
efforts with his sermon, "We got scammed, but Im proud of you anyway."
	Despite their Christian compassion, these pastors want to stop this scam.
"Although Ill be praying for this man," Hinshaw said, "Id love to have a
prison ministry with him as well."
	According to Linda C. Cholak, risk manager at the United Methodist Council on
Finance and Administration, Evanston, Ill., churches need to create an
awareness of past incidents in order to stop this activity. If they are
approached by this man, she said, they should contact the authorities and
their district superintendent. 
Cholak encouraged churches to send people requesting assistance to the local
charity such as a food pantry or the mission or wherever homeless people go to
find services. Rather than give cash, she urged congregations to offer
non-perishable foods, gift certificates to fast food restaurants and grocery
stores, and tokens for transportation. She also encouraged congregations to
communicate with the local clergy association or council of churches to
establish a procedure to help channel all requests for financial assistance to
one source. 
She said churches should welcome people into the congregation and help them as
much as possible, but at the same time be wary.

# # #

* Holton is the associate editor of the Wesleyan Christian Advocate, newspaper
for Georgia United Methodists.

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