Religion: Hard Preaching

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When Traveling Evangelist Del A. Fehsenfeld, 38, settled down last fall as pastor of the Argentine Baptist Church† in Kansas City, Kans., he started right out"preaching hard — hard against sin." But after a while, Pastor Fehsenfeld began to get on the nerves of some of his parishioners. He acted like a dictator, they said — expelling people from membership, illegally changing the church's affiliations, preaching against lodges and fraternal orders. He even denounced Santa Claus from the pulpit. "He said Santa Claus is a dirty lie," reported one member of the congregation. "Then he cupped his hand over his mouth and said, 'Did you hear me? It's a dirty lie.' "

Last spring a dozen of his 300-member congregation brought suit for Pastor Fehsenfeld's removal. The judge decided that he had violated the customs and laws of his church, and perpetually enjoined him from occupying the parsonage or conducting services in the church building.

Last week Pastor Fehsenfeld filed a motion for a new trial. He had done nothing illegal, he claimed, and the Santa Claus incident wasn't worth all that com motion. But he had a point to make on the subject, and he made it again: "Some people are more interested in teaching their children there is a Santa Claus and an Easter bunny than teaching about the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection. To teach your children it is a fact that there is a Santa Claus is to lie."