“Caught on Grindr” Pastor told Gay parishioner to commit suicide since he was already going to hell.

I remember going to mass as a Roman Catholic and a gay boy / man.  I don't go now, but when I was younger I went every Sunday with the family and I was actually in charge of my college's church choir for the 4 years I was enrolled at Colby College.  I didn't look for support or affirmation from weekly mass or the father administering the multi-denominational celebration.  It wasn't what I needed.  People go to church for many different reasons and I respect that.  Unfortunately, when the person you trust and seek out for assistance is confused himself, only bad can come from the situation.

MIDLAND, Mich. — A parent has come forward with new accusations against the anti-gay Michigan pastor who was outed for his efforts to hook-up with men on Grindr, and says the pastor told her suicidal gay son he might as well commit suicide.

Jennifer Kish says her then 17-year-old son Tyler suffered from serious depression and was considering suicide because he was told by Makela he was going to hell because he was gay.

She claims Makela said that her son was going to hell for being gay, so he might as well go to hell for committing suicide.

Makela, a married father of five, resigned as pastor of St. John’s on Sunday, just one day before the website Queerty posted screenshots and text messages of sexually explicit conversations between the pastor and other men on the gay hook-up app Grindr.

Queerty says it outed Makela becuase of his record of disparaging the LGBTQ community, decrying same-sex marriage and for stating that the “transgender movement is going to assist opportunistic sickos in preying upon children and others.”  – lgbtqnation.com

For more on Instinct's coverage of the Grindr incident, see our post here.

To watch local coverage from WNEM.com news, see the video below.

I feel for Jennifer and her son Tyler.  I cannot imagine what went through both of their minds every hour, every minute, every second after Reverend Matthew Makela had told them that suicide was the answer for Tyler's affliction.  Someone they had trusted, someone they had seeked out and the reason they moved to that town had told them that death was the answer to their prayers.   A married, anti-gay pastor and father of five children, telling a 17 year old gay child that he might as well commit suicide, while he himself solicits men on Grindr.  

Is it safe we'll see two-faced Matty in Hell saving a seat for us?