KNOXVILLE, TN — Chaos erupted Saturday afternoon after Pastor Todd Blakely, 42, was unintentionally left behind at Mercy Meals Outreach when his own congregation mistook him for one of the men they were feeding.
Pastor Todd, who showed up to the service event wearing his usual outfit — an old flannel, baggy pants, and Crocs with the strap up — was reportedly sitting near the exit sipping from a Styrofoam cup when the church van loaded up and drove off without him.
“Honestly, we thought he was waiting for seconds,” said deacon Jared Martin. “The man had a beard, a hoodie, and a distant stare. That describes at least five people we prayed for today.”
Blakely, lead pastor of GracePoint Collective (formerly New City Grace Fellowship Gathering), is known for preaching in T-shirts and using sermon illustrations involving vape pens, DoorDash, and The Mandalorian. Parishioners claim this may have contributed to the confusion.
“It’s not that we don’t love him,” said youth group leader Kayla Reese. “But when you dress like an off-duty REI cashier, we just assume you’re either here to be served or to do sound check.”
Witnesses say Pastor Todd spent an hour inside, politely declining leftover casseroles and awkwardly trying to explain that he was, in fact, the one who brought the casserole in the first place.
“I get it,” Todd later told reporters. “I’ve spent years trying to blend in with the broken, the weary, the outcast — and apparently I succeeded.”
At press time, the church van had returned to pick him up, only for several members to once again attempt to evangelize him before realizing who he was.
