A church service at a Texas megachurch was briefly interrupted when a worshiper was escorted out by security after disrupting the sermon.
The incident occurred on March 15 during the 11 a.m. service at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, north of Dallas. The disturbance occurred while Pastor Jack Graham was delivering a message focused on “America, Israel, and War in the Middle East.”
According to longtime attendee Linda Casey, who has been part of the congregation since 2000, the disruption began as Graham spoke about “Israel, and the Jews being God's chosen people.” An unidentified man began interrupting the message before being removed by members of the church’s security team.
“I was not sure if he was armed or not, but Pastor Jack Graham was pulled away from the podium momentarily amidst the chaos,” Casey told CP on Monday.
Another individual familiar with the situation said the interruption happened as Graham was discussing reports of people coming to faith in Iran. At that point, an “excited young man [who] looked Persian started to walk down the aisle” toward the stage and “asked if he could say something.”
The same source said the man was reportedly shouting phrases such as “God Bless America” and “God Bless Israel,” adding that he was “just excited to share his faith and didn’t realize that was an inappropriate manner to do such.”
After Graham declined his request to speak, security personnel quickly intervened and escorted the man out of the sanctuary.
A separate attendee confirmed that the situation was handled swiftly, noting that Graham was instructed to step back on stage until the individual had been removed.
Plano police later confirmed the man was not a member of the church and had attended the service with his wife. Authorities said he became disruptive by “agreeing loudly with what the pastor was talking about and was animated in doing so, making other churchgoers uncomfortable.”
Following the incident, church security consulted with law enforcement, and officers were called to issue a warning.
“There was no actual disturbance or physical altercation, but his verbal outbursts, even though supporting the pastors’ words, were deemed disruptive to other worshipers,” Plano Police Officer J.D. Minton said.
