SPRINGFIELD (IL)
News-Leader
By Linda Leicht
News-Leader staff
A woman who is accusing her former church pastor of attacking her has put the United Methodist Church on trial.
Teresa Norris of Springfield sued the West Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church in 2002 for not responding to numerous complaints about the Rev. David Finestead, former pastor of Campbell United Methodist Church in south Springfield, leaving her in danger. Norris, who served as the church's choir director, alleges she was raped by Finestead on March 25, 1998.
Finestead, who does not have a listed number in Missouri, has not been criminally charged. He was not in court Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.
Finestead, whose credentials as a minister have since been suspended by the church, came to Campbell in 1995, transferred by Bishop Ann Sherer from Central United Methodist Church in Kansas City.
Posted by kshaw at April 20, 2005 01:56 AM