Lindale pastor resigns after prostitution charge

KLTV
January 08, 2016

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Ronnie Stribble (Source: Smith County Jail)

SMITH COUNTY, TX (KLTV) -

A Lindale pastor has resigned after being arrested on a prostitution charge.

Ronald Wayne Stribble, 66, of Lindale, was arrested Jan. 6 and booked into Smith County Jail. He was later released on $500 bond.

Tyler Police spokesperson Don Martin says Stribble had been communicating with a woman on social media earlier in the week and agreed to meet her at the LaQuinta Inn on Loop 323 in Tyler. Police were tipped off about the meeting by an anonymous source and sent an undercover officer to meet with the pastor on Wednesday.

Martin says Stribble gave the undercover officer enough information to have him arrested at the scene for soliciting prostitution.

Stribble is a senior adult pastor with First Baptist Church of Lindale. According to the church's website, Stribble has been affiliated with the church since 1990 and has served as the music pastor for 20 years.

The church's senior pastor, Tom Buck, released a statement on the incident:

"As the pastors of FBC Lindale, our hearts are broken over the recent news concerning the arrest of Ronnie Stribble who served as minister to our senior adults. We deeply love him and his family and are praying for them during this difficult time. Our greatest concern in all of this as pastors is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what guides our thinking and responses. None of us are immune from allowing sin to grip our hearts and take us down a path that is destructive to ourselves and others. We all are in need of the saving work of Jesus Christ to deliver us from the power of sin over us. At the same time, as ministers of the gospel, we are called to be men whose lives reflect the transforming work of that gospel. We never want our lives to detract from the truth of the message. In light of this truth, earlier today, Ronnie submitted his resignation to be effective immediately. Our focus, as a church, from this point forward will be to love, pray for, and help Ronnie and his family as they walk through this time, and seek God to bring healing both to them and our church."