DeRidder, LA — Pastor Stagg Tilley, of DeRidder Church of the People, has decided to speak in regards to his new appearance. Over the past few weeks, there has been much chatter about the pastor’s new look and what may have brought about this transition. As you can see, Pastor Tilley has grown his hair, grown a beard and now has himself some ink. Naturally, his congregation is divided about this new look. Some of them are quoting scripture to Tilley. Some are openly chastising him while others just nod and give him a half-hearted smile. When we approached the pastor, he was happy to sit down with us and answer a few questions.
NT: Pastor Tilley, we appreciate you taking time to sit with us and answer a few questions for us.
Pastor: Glad to do it. I reckon you’re curious as the rest of ‘em.
NT: Well, probably not. We see it all around here.
Pastor: Yea, I reckon.
NT: What made you decide to grow your hair, the beard and the tattoos?
Pastor: I’d say it was probably the vision I had. Woke up one morning and had a burning sensation in my head. Laid there a bit trying to figure it out. Got up and prayed and put on the coffee pot. While the coffee was dripping, as I could smell the coffee brewing, I began to have a hankering for smoking a pipe. Somehow, that coffee smelled like some pipe tobacco that my grandpa used to smoke.
NT: Interesting. Tell me more, please.
Pastor: Well, I had already neglected getting my hair cut, and I hadn’t shaved in about four days, so that just sort of happened on its own. But the tattoo, well I was filling up my truck up in Leesville, and saw this man there that had a couple of tattoos of a church and an angel. That got me to thinking. I thought about that tattoo all the way back home.
NT: It’s only about a 20 mile trip.
Pastor: I took the long way back.
NT: Where did you get the tattoo?
Pastor: I’d rather not name the business, but I got it up in Leesville.
NT: That’s interesting. So now, what has happened since then?
Pastor: Well, honestly think my preaching has gotten better. I have more confidence. My wife likes the longer hair and the beard. She don’t like the tattoos. My daughter thinks the pipe smoking is cool. And I think I have that, what they call, that anointing, since I’ve done all this. That can’t hurt.
NT: Well, we’ve heard a lot about your big change. We certainly wish you the best. And please keep us informed of any new news.
Pastor: Thank you a lot. I appreciate you saying that. Maybe you can come and break bread with us sometime. No telling what we’ll be serving! God bless you, dude.
