‘Being a pastor is an awful existence,’ JD Hall says

‘Being a pastor is an awful existence,’ JD Hall says

‘Being a pastor is an awful existence,’ JD Hall says: Pastor Jordan Daniel “J.D.” Hall, a well-known polemics blogger, was removed from ministry a little over a year ago for abusing the prescription drug Xanax. He was also accused of embezzling money from his church and committing physical abuse. Hall claims that being a pastor is an “awful existence” and that he would never want his son to follow in his footsteps.

After word spread about his arrest for DUI and a weapons charge last summer, Hall—who had led Fellowship Baptist Church in Sidney, Montana, and was well-known for his caustic critiques of Christian leaders on his polemics website Pulpit & Pen and, more recently, Protestia—lost his positions with both organizations. But when a blood alcohol test was performed, there was none in his system.

During an interview, Hall revealed that he is now living a quiet rural life with his family and doesn’t miss vocational ministry.

“You know, I always felt like I was thrust into it. But David, I’m sure I’ve had conversations with you over the years where I talked about the stress and the burden of it. … To have 100 or 120 people with their problems somehow becomes your problem. “I never know when the phone is going to ring, being away from my family so much,” Hall said.

“And, you know, when you’re there to solve somebody else’s family crisis, usually the question on the top of their head at 2 o’clock in the morning is: Who’s with your family right now? It’s like, their concerns become your concerns, but your concerns are seldom theirs,” he explained.

“I don’t miss it. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why guys who seem like they just can’t get out and go do something else would persist. Being a pastor, I’ve said this for a long time; it’s an awful existence. It just is.”