American Bishop Disguises As Homeless Man To Teach Church Compassion

An American
bishop has
taken on the prejudices of his church congregation by dressing
up as a homeless man.
Bishop David Musselman found himself “surprised at my own
inability to have compassion” and wanted to challenge those
who were critical of others.
“Sometimes the best way to do that is through experiences that
go beyond just a talk in church,” the Mormon bishop told
Deseret News .
He wanted to see how people would react to him if were dressed
as an entirely different person.
So he contacted makeup artist Tara Starling, who with makeup,
facial hair, glasses and a beanie, transformed him into a ragged
old man.
Last Sunday Bishop Musselman attended his weekly church
service in Taylorsville, Utah, not as a preacher, but as a member
of the congregation.
He received mixed reactions. At least five people asked him to
leave the building, some gave him money, but most were
indifferent.
“Many actually went out of their way to purposefully ignore me,
and they wouldn’t even make eye contact,” he said. “Their
inability to even acknowledge me being there was very
surprising”.
Some children, however, wanted to offer him money.
“They [the children] looked to their parents to determine whether
or not that was safe, and that’s certainly something you would
expect and it’s a good thing,” Bishop Musselman said.
“Some parents completely embraced it with their children, other
parents were very, very guarded and evasive.”
Halfway through the service, Musselman asked to say a few
words before the congregation. As he received a few odd stares,
he stood before the people and thanked those for the kindness
they has showed him. He asked where the bishop was so that he
could return some of the money given to him as a token of his
appreciation.
When no one spoke, Bishop Musselman took off his wig and
glasses to reveal his true identity.
“It had a shock value that I did not anticipate,” he said. “I really
did not have any idea that the members of my ward would gasp
as big as they did.”
The experiment seems to have had a profound effect on many
people. Ms Starling said it has ignited real change in some
people’s minds.
“People are sharing that it has really touched them, and it has
caused them to think again and look at things in a different way
and maybe change their mind about the way that they treat
people and to endeavour to look beyond the face, into the heart.”
Ms Starling says being a part of the project has been a
rewarding experience.
“I used to dream … (that) the pinnacle of my career would be to
work on a film and the film would get nominated for an Academy
Award of makeup.”
But people contacting her saying, “Thank you for sharing this.
It’s changed my mind. It’s changed my heart, and it’s changed
the way that I’m living,” is worth more than all the awards in the
world, she said.
Bishop Musselman says the experience has showed him that
people have a desire to improve themselves and change their
prejudices.
“I learned that more people want to be better than I had
originally thought,” he said. “I learned that we don’t know what
happened to an individual, and so we can’t and never should try
to judge.”