Word of Life member wrote book in 1994
“The ACLU, the radical feminists, the militant homosexuals, Planned Parenthood, radical atheists and anti-Christian bigots are using the courts of America to try to wipe out Christianity.
Utica Observer-Dispatch/October 23, 2015
By Micaela Parker
“The ACLU, the radical feminists, the militant homosexuals, Planned Parenthood, radical atheists and anti-Christian bigots are using the courts of America to try to wipe out Christianity.
“Civil liberties are being obviously promoted for everyone except Christians. They must really feel that Jesus Christ is a threat to their goals, and they are right.
“Our God will wipe them out all in due time. God will destroy all who would banish His Son from our society. These people will be thrown into the lake of fire where they will burn in hell forever.”
Those writings are from “Nobody Told Me I Was Going to Hell and So Are You Unless …” — a 1994 book written by Richard S. Wright of Clayville. Wright became a member of the Word of Life Christian Church sometime before his death in 1999, but it’s unknown if he was already attending when he authored the book.
The Chadwicks church is mentioned twice in the text, however.
There is no advice on how to handle parishioners who might be seeking to leave the church, and there is no mention of counseling sessions similar to the one that reportedly resulted in the death of 19-year-old Lucas Leonard last week, but there are references to some of the parties involved.
That’s because Lucas Leonard and his brother, 17-year-old Christopher Leonard, are Wright’s grandsons. Their mother, Deborah Leonard – one of six church members accused of beating the teens – is Wright’s daughter. And Wright’s son, who is also mentioned in the book, was a pastor at the church in the 1990s.
“(Rick Wright II) is now married and has three children of his own,” Wright wrote. “He is an international bank manager and pastor of the Word of Life Christian Church in Chadwicks. Deborah (Leonard) is married and has three children. She is a supervisor at our church’s Agape Christian Academy.”
Lucas Leonard died of his injuries following a 14-hour counseling session that began in the evening on Sunday, Oct. 11, and continued into the next morning. Christopher Leonard had to be hospitalized with injuries to his stomach, back, genitals and thighs. He appeared in court on Wednesday to testify against one of his alleged attackers.
The boys’ parents, Bruce and Deborah Leonard of Clayville, are both charged with first-degree manslaughter. Four other members of the church — Joseph Irwin, 26, of Chadwicks; David Morey, 26, and Linda Morey, 54, both of Utica; and Sarah Ferguson, 33, of Clayville — are charged with second-degree assault.
Additional charges and arrests are possible, police have said.
In the book, Wright discusses his experience in becoming a born-again Christian and explains his own misconceptions he had regarding the Bible in the past. The book is broken up into two parts, the majority of it belonging to “The Witnessing Chapters,” where he tackles topics such as the existence of hell, tithing, prayer and fasting, interspersed with personal anecdotes.
The latter chapters, known as “God’s Judgment Chapters,” turn a similar focus on abstinence, homosexuality, abortion and new-age beliefs.
The Rev. Abraham Esper of St. Patrick St. Anthony Parish, which is next door to Word of Life, said that taking several elements of the Bible “out of proportion” could have led to the reported activities the day of the assault.
“They could have very well taken out of proportion honor thy mother and father, and also could have taken out of proportion a wrathful god, forgetting that in balance to that is the New Testament God and Jesus which is mercy and forgiveness and understanding,” he said. “There’s a lot of dominance, control and manipulation that’s taking place there in their whole ideology and how they transmit this.”
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