Thousands of Christians have signed a petition for a Lutheran pastor indicted on criminal charges concerning the 2020 presidential election in Georgia to be expelled from his denomination.
Illinois pastor Stephen Cliffgard Lee, a former police chaplain, was among 18 co-defendants indicted alongside former President Donald Trump in Fulton County, Georgia, last week. Lee, accused of participating in a plot to coerce election worker Ruby Freeman into falsely confessing election fraud, is facing felony charges that include racketeering, influencing a witness and conspiracy to solicit false statements and writings.
An online petition addressed to the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison that calls for Lee’s expulsion had been signed over 10,000 times as of Monday evening. The petition was created by Faithful America, a group opposed to “Christian nationalism” that describes itself as “the largest online community of Christians putting faith into action for social justice.”
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“The credible charges against Rev. Lee are deeply troubling, expose an abuse of pastoral authority as well as a threat to American democracy, and contradict the Biblical values of justice and truth,” the petition states. “Such charges should thoroughly disqualify Rev. Lee from serving as a spiritual and moral leader in the Lutheran Church.”
“As Christians and as supporters of American democracy, we ask that you take these charges seriously and immediately expel the Rev. Lee,” it concludes. “Thank you.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to the LCMS via email on Monday.
Lee is one of several Georgia defendants accused of participating in an effort to intimidate Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, also an election worker, following Trump’s 2020 loss to President Joe Biden.
Freeman said she and Moss were relentlessly targeted by Trump supporters after the former president and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani spread false claims that they counted fraudulent ballots.
“I’ve lost my name, and I’ve lost my reputation,” Freeman said in testimony to the House January 6 Select Committee last year. I’ve lost my sense of security. All because of a group of people starting with number 45 and his ally, Rudy Giuliani, decided to scapegoat me and my daughter, Shaye, to push their own lies about how the presidential election was stolen.”
Giuliani, who was indicted on 13 felony counts in Fulton County last week, was sued by Freeman and Moss for spreading the false claims. The former New York City mayor admitted to making false statements about the women in a court filing related to the lawsuit last month.
Prior to launching the effort to expel Lee, Faithful America promoted a number of other online petitions targeting Trump’s allies and supporters.
A petition urging the former pastor of GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene to denounce her call for a “national divorce” was signed by over 15,000 in March.
Last month, over 23,000 signed a petition calling on North Las Vegas officials to cancel plans to host on public property the “Reawaken America Tour”—a conference featuring speakers including Eric Trump, the former president’s son, and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.