SCHIAVO JUDGE ASKED TO LEAVE HOME CHURCH

It seems like an endless list of stories related to the Terri Schiavo case, but the consequences come close to home for some.

Judge George Greer, the Pinellas County Circuit Judge that has presided over the case for several years before it was allowed to be heard in Federal court, is a Republican, and conservative evangelical Christian; a Southern Baptist by demonination.

Four days after he discussed his relationship with the church of which he was a member --- Clearwater's Calvary Baptist Church --- with the St. Petersburg Times, the pastor sent a letter to Judge Greer saying that it "might be easier for all of us..." if he left.

The letter continued: "I am not asking you to do this, but since you have taken the initiative of withdrawal, and since your connection with Calvary continues to be a point of concern, it would seem the logical and, I would say, biblical course."

The judge responded with a letter withdrawing his membership with the church.

He stopped financially supporting the church after a publication that it supported became critical of him. Greer had told the Times that he had other unrelated problems with the church.