Gay man subjected to ‘exorcism’ at Sheffield church receives compensation
Matthew Drapper, 37, was a volunteer at St Thomas Philadelphia, a joint Anglican-Baptist congregation in Sheffield, in 2014 when he was invited to an “encounter God weekend” at the “contemporary, welcoming church”, the Times reported.
Drapper was told “sexual impurity” had allowed demons to enter his body and that an exorcism was to be performed. During the incident he was instructed to “break agreements with Hollywood and the media” that led him into an ungodly lifestyle.
He said he was left deeply distressed after the exorcism, which was conducted by a married couple who were “prayer leaders”. He felt so depressed and “empty” that he considered taking his own life.
Drapper told the Times: “Looking back it seems like something out of a horror movie – for someone to be standing over you saying they can see the demons leaving your body is quite terrifying. But when you are deeply tied into the church, as I was at that time, it is easy to believe anything they tell you.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...mpensation
Matthew Drapper, 37, was a volunteer at St Thomas Philadelphia, a joint Anglican-Baptist congregation in Sheffield, in 2014 when he was invited to an “encounter God weekend” at the “contemporary, welcoming church”, the Times reported.
Drapper was told “sexual impurity” had allowed demons to enter his body and that an exorcism was to be performed. During the incident he was instructed to “break agreements with Hollywood and the media” that led him into an ungodly lifestyle.
He said he was left deeply distressed after the exorcism, which was conducted by a married couple who were “prayer leaders”. He felt so depressed and “empty” that he considered taking his own life.
Drapper told the Times: “Looking back it seems like something out of a horror movie – for someone to be standing over you saying they can see the demons leaving your body is quite terrifying. But when you are deeply tied into the church, as I was at that time, it is easy to believe anything they tell you.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...mpensation
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
