Florida pastor invites alligator to church – KIRO 7 News Seattle

LEHIGH ACRES, Florida – Pastors are ready and willing to welcome new members to their wards. A Florida pastor may have gone a little too far and invited an alligator who was wandering near his church on Tuesday.

>> Read more trending news

“No one will ever be able to take me seriously again,” Daniel Gregory, pastor of Victory Church in Lehigh Acres, wrote in a Facebook post.

The reptile’s attempt at rescue came after the 4-foot alligator crawled out of a nearby gully and walked to the church, WBBH reported.

“One of the day care workers came in and said, ‘There’s an alligator,'” Gregory told the TV station. “I was like ‘Funny’.”

No joke. And Gregory said he couldn’t resist the chance to take a selfie with the alligator and even offer his business card in case the animal decided to go to the service.

“He’s coming to church, get ready,” Gregory said in a video. “And I’ll do what I probably shouldn’t and take a selfie with it.”

“Definitely a Florida thing, you know,” Ximena Villasis told WBBH.

“He came to our church. I don’t know what his mental state is, ”said Gregory. “I have to invite this alligator to church.

“We have services on Sunday mornings at 9 am and 11 am,” Gregory said in a video in which he hands the alligator a business card. “Do you want to check us out?”

It’s a fun video, but wildlife officials didn’t join in the laughter.

Adam Brown of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it wasn’t worth the risk of interacting with an alligator, regardless of the size of the reptile.

“We definitely encourage viewing, but we never want you to approach such a wild animal. It can be very dangerous, ”Brown told WBBH. “There is no reason to take a risk.”

Gregory admitted that his actions were reckless, especially when he tried to baptize the alligator. The alligator fled the scene and went back down the drain.

“Don’t follow my example,” he told WBBH.

That’s gospel, brother.

© 2021 Cox Media Group