Holier-Than-Thou Pastor Refuses to Tip Waitress & Then Gets Her Fired

Pastor Alois Bell of the St. Louis-based Truth in the World Deliverance Ministries should probably be feeling prettty sheepish today. Last Friday, after evening services, Bell and her congregation headed to Applebee's for dinner as they did on many nights. But when she got the bill, she chose to stiff her waitress named Chelsea Welch the automatic 18 percent gratuity (for parties of eight or more -- a standard practice at MOST restaurants), writing on their receipt, "I give God 10 percent. Why do you get 18?" She then crossed out the tip line and wrote a big fat "0" with a diagonal line through it. Whoa!

That's when, understandably peeved and also amused, Welch decided to post the receipt on Reddit, where it spread like wildfire ...

It's not like Bell's identity was made perfectly clear by the receipt, but somehow the web figured out who she was, and she's even spoken to The Smoking Gun about what happened. She said:

My heart is really broken. I've brought embarrassment to my church and ministry.

Uh, yeah, I'd say so! Can you imagine ... It's bad enough to throw a hissy about not leaving a tip, but then to hide behind your religion? And making it like somehow that has to do with refusing to be an upstanding patron and giving the poor waitress her due? So nuts!

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Although it sounds like Bell's fully ashamed of what she did, and she says it was a "lapse in my character and judgment" that "has been blown out of proportion," she must not feel THAT sorry and it must not have been that momentary a "lapse." Because she actually called the restaurant and asked to have everyone involved fired! So, today, Welch is out of a job. Yep, for real.

So, no matter what she says, this pastor will definitely land a historical spot in the Internet Hall of Shame. Refusing to tip is one thing, but using your religion an excuse to be cheap and selfish, and on top of that, getting someone with a minimum wage gig FIRED is anything but "godly."

How crazy/horrible/ridiculous is this?! How do you feel about the automatic 18 percent tip on parties of 6-8 or more?