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	Pastor Could Face 60 Years If Convicted of Indecency By Amy Collins Beaumont Enterprise June 14, 2008 http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19773497&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6 KOUNTZE - The children that Silsbee minister Lester L. Banks is accused of molesting were two males under the age of 17, according to the three indictment papers the Hardin County District Court released Friday. Banks is accused of engaging in oral sex with one of the youths and touching the genitals of the other, according to court documents. Because the youths are between the ages of 5 and 17, Banks was indicted on three second-degree felonies, according to the Texas Penal Code. If convicted, Banks faces up to 60 years, with each charge carrying a maximum punishment of 20 years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine. Banks is pastor of Union Baptist Church at 340 South 21st St. in Silsbee and still is listed as such on the sign outside the church. Although not familiar with the recent events surrounding Banks, Joe Patterson, interim pastor of Kountze First Baptist Church and director of missions of the Southern Baptists of Southeast Texas organization, expressed his thoughts on the situation. "Pastors are people, and if there is that kind of sin that has taken place with them, they need to pay the piper and ask forgiveness from God," Patterson said. "God can forgive and does, but there are certain things that happen which take on consequences. "It brings a bad mark on the name of Christ. I hope it's not true, but if it is, he doesn't need to be involved in the ministry anymore. It disqualifies that person from any type of ministry." Patterson said Banks' church is not part of the Southern Baptist organization, but instead is an independent congregation which might have different methods of choosing a leader. Most Southern Baptist congregations choose a pastor by forming a search committee, Patterson said. The committee can accept resumes from pastors looking for a church, consider recommendations from other pastors or search for pastors at conventions. The committee then looks at the chosen candidates' background and invites them to preach to the congregation. The church can interview the candidate and then later take a vote. "It's never solely up to the committee; the church always gets to vote," Patterson said. The vote can be by either secret ballot or a showing of hands. It can be up to two or three weeks before the chosen candidate is made the official pastor due to relocation issues.
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