Pastor believes "Hand of God" caused Springfield explosion

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - A Springfield pastor says that the explosion of a downtown strip club on Friday night is the “answer to our prayers.”

Pastor Scott Lively of Redemption Gate Mission Society in Springfield wrote in a recent blog posting that he and his faithful are giving God “all the glory and praise for this occurrence, since it is only by His power that any of our prayers can have any effect.”

In the blog , Lively says that for years he and members of his church have offered prayers to “destroy the works of Satan in this city,” adding “We have specifically included the strip clubs in these prayers.”

On Friday night, a natural gas explosion centered at SCORES Gentlemen’s Club on Worthington Street destroyed the bar and two nearby buildings, and heavily damaged several others. No one was killed, but 21 people were injured. All have been released from the hospital.

According to Lively, the prayers that he and his followers make are to “save the people but destroy the institutions.”

“We also thank God that no one was seriously injured in this blast, though it was enormous,” Lively wrote.

He specified in a prayer included in the blog posting that any further destruction come at the hand of God himself, and not as the work of men.

The pastor has gotten significant attention for his activism against the gay rights movement. He is the co-author of the book The Pink Swastika, which suggests that gays are behind the rise of Nazism.

Lively recently announced that he was considering a run for Governor of Massachusetts.

22News attempted to contact the pastor for further comment, but he was not immediately available.