Ralph Ovadal

Ralph Ovadal (born August, 1951) is the fundamendalist Christian pastor of Pilgrims Covenant Church in Monroe, Wisconsin. He is a Reformed Baptist, although his church is not part of any formally recognized denomination. He is noted for impassioned street preaching and picketing in various cities. Ovadal is highly opposed to abortion, public nudity, homosexuality, and ecumenism; his vigorous public actions against them have resulted in frequent scrapes with the law. Vehemently anti-Catholic, he openly calls the pope "antichrist," and led protests in front of movie theaters showing Mel Gibson's 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ".

Opposition to Modern Bible Versions

Ovadal is a staunch defender of the Received Text, but opposes some of the teachings of such individuals as Peter Ruckman and Gail Riplinger. He has produced numerous sermons against modern Bible translations, including The NIV and God's Word translation.

Comparison to Fred Phelps

Ovadal is compared by some of his detractors to Topeka's Fred Phelps, pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, due to similarities in their targets and their practice of picketing with signs bearing incendiary or accusatory messages. However, Ovadal's groups' signs customarily stop short of the vulgarity shown in the Phelps pickets (e.g. "homosexual" vs. Phelps' "fag"). Ovadal has criticized Phelps' behavior in the past [http://www.wisconsinchristiannews.com/letter.php] and labeled Phelps' female family members as "profanity-spewing, angry Amazons" [http://www.wcuweb.com/Documents/NEWSLETTERS/2003,9-13.htm] [http://web.archive.org/web/20050218111308/http://www.wcuweb.com/Documents/NEWSLETTERS/2003,9-13.htm] whom he says physically attacked one of his church members.

In spite of his disputes with Phelps, Ovadal makes frequent use of Phelps' terminology (such as "homo-fascist") in his flyers and sermons.

Arrests and Convictions

Ovadal has been arrested more than 130 times for actions during various anti-abortion protest activities at family planning clinics, resulting in the loss of his drivers license for ten years, "a considerable amount of time in jail," and other punishments. This has led to accusations of being "a criminal with a rap sheet," according to biographical information on his ministry's website. [http://www.pccmonroe.org/Updates/nocriminal.htm Pilgrims Covenant Church defends Ovadal arrest record]

In August 2000, Ovadal was convicted of disorderly conduct and fined by a Wisconsin court stemming from an incident in which he and a group of followers blocked access to Mazo Beach, a legal nude beach west of Madison, Wisconsin. [http://www.madison.com/tct/archives/index.php?archAction=arch_read&a_from=search&a_file=%2Ftct%2F2000%2F08%2F11%2F0008110479.php Ovadal August 2000 conviction] He was convicted again on similar charges in February, 2002 for harassment and intimidation of a beachgoer during a protest and fined the maximum allowed by law [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-86508809.html February 2002 disorderly conduct conviction] , and lost on appeal in October 2003. [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=wi&vol=wisctapp2%5C2003%5C03-0377&invol=1 October 2003 appellate court decision]

However, Ovadal has prevailed in some of his legal battles. A challenge mounted by Ovadal against the city of Monroe, WI over ordinances restricting public demonstration eventually resulted in an out-of-court settlement in Ovadal's favor and the repeal of the disputed ordinances. [http://www.pccmonroe.org/Updates/1-8-02.htm]

References

External links

* [http://www.pccmonroe.org Pilgrims Covenant Church's web site]
* [http://www.theheartofthematteronline.com/ The Heart of the Matter, hosted by Ralph Ovadal]
* [http://www.pccmonroe.org/Homosexuality/Bible.htm What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality by Ralph Ovadal]