Let us be in prayer over this situation: Congregants of North Carolina’s popular Westminster Presbyterian Church were shocked to learn two weeks ago that their new pastor, the Rev. Reggie Weaver and his wife, Ashley-Anne Masters, are getting ready to divorce because he had been cheating on her with another woman in the nine months he has been head of the 2,000-member congregation.
The news also came as a shock to many others in Presbyterian circles where Weaver was seen as a rising star, according to reports.
Weaver made the revelation in an apology letter to members of his congregation highlighting that his mistress was not a member of his congregation and that he and Ashley-Anne have already started the divorce process.
“I have violated my ordination vows and my wedding vows,” the 33-year-old Weaver confessed in the letter, which was mailed to the congregation on Friday by the Salem Presbytery, the regional governing body for local Presbyterian (U.S.A.) churches. “I am sorry and I ask your forgiveness.”
In details provided to church members on May 4, it was revealed that the affair began last July, around the same time Weaver started as senior pastor. Weaver also requested time off from his pastoral duties.
“Talking to members tonight almost everyone’s reactions were of sadness — sadness for Reggie and Ashley-Anne — and then, overwhelmingly, forgiveness,” said church member Robert Bell. “It’s not always easy and it takes a lot of strength to forgive, but Westminster is a pretty strong church.”
