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Richard Rossi (b. March 2, 1963, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American filmmaker, actor, producer, musician, church planter, and healing evangelist. His 1995 trial for the attempted murder of his wife, who recanted her original identification of Rossi as her attacker and espoused his innocence, ended in a mistrial and was front-page news in Pittsburgh and widely covered by syndicated television news programs; Rossi eventually pled no contest to a lesser charge.

Early years

Rossi was the son of Richard Rossi Sr., a professional jazz guitarist in West View, Pennsylvania, and the boy followed in his footsteps, playing the guitar on stage at age 7. As a child, Rossi was fascinated with Pittsburgh-based faith healer Kathryn Kuhlman. After one of his father's hospitalizations for manic depression, Rossi landed in a surrogate family led by an evangelist who immersed him in Pentecostal preaching and outreach. After a drug overdose, he became a born-again Christian, and toured as a rock and roll preacher, usually in tandem with songwriting partner Johnny Walker, playing gospel rock. He was featured on The 700 Club and in the CBS documentary Teen's Songs Turn Youth to God. His music from this period was released on the album New Wine. Rossi was considered a controversial figure in contemporary Christian music for writing religious rock and singing his songs in secular nightclubs.

Ministries

Rossi moved to Lynchburg, Virginia at age 18 to study at Liberty University, where he earned a Bachelors and Master's degree in Biblical Studies. He married his classmate Sherrie Lynn Plaugher on May 11, 1984. In his senior year, he started his first church, "The Fellowship."

His second church, created with partner Jack Sims, was called "Matthew's Party", the name taken from the biblical story about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners at the home of Matthew, the gospel writer. In 1986, Rossi started First Love, a charismatic church. He rented movie theaters and showed films as an evangelistic outreach. Dramatic faith healings allegedly occurred. The healing services grew from 200 to 2000. Rossi filmed the healings and produced a Fox TV documentary on faith healing and exorcism that Christianity Today called a "riveting film," an "innovative Christian use of media."

In 1988, Rossi tried and failed to change both the name of The Church of the Three Rivers and its affiliation. He then joined the Assemblies of God the next year and led the Cranberry church, but left in 1991, saying that his ministry was too radical for the Assemblies; church officials said he left owing several thousand dollars for the church building.

In September 1991, Rossi began broadcasting his nightly radio show Rich Rossi Live on Pittsburgh's WPIT-FM. Rossi appeared on the Jerry Springer Show in 1994 to discuss faith healing, exorcism, and ESP.

Attempted murder charge

On June 24, 1994, Rossi's wife, Sherrie Lynn, was found near death in a coma on the side of a Pennsylvania road; she had a crushed skull and was left covered in blood; her injuries were so severe that she needed to wear a helmet. Ms. Rossi twice testified that her husband attacked her and left her for dead. According to police records, Rossi did not summon help for nearly two hours after strangers found and rescued his wife. Richard denied the allegations, telling authorities that a man who looked just like him, driving a car just like his, had hijacked his wife's car and beat his wife. Press accounts claimed that Rossi attributed the attack to a Satanic cult, but Rossi denies this. Sherrie Lynn received an order of protection from a court, but, in October 1994, withdrew her accusation; a state court judge refused her request to void the order of protection. (Press accounts claimed that Ms. Rossi stated that her attacker might have been a demon in human form, but the Rossis deny they said this.) Sherrie's stepbrother, Mark Plaugher, accused the Rossi family of pressuring her to change her story; her father said she had been "brainwashed," and Sherrie's stepfather, Phil Plaugher, said that church members pressured Sherrie by telling her that it was a sin to testify against one's husband.

Prosecutors charged Rossi with attempted murder over his wife's objection. Prosecutors argued that the blood-soaked interior of Rossi's car contradicted Sherrie's revised claim of being beaten outside the car. The secretary of Rossi's church testified that Rossi asked him shortly after the incident to forge an alibi.

A five-day trial ended in a hung jury, with the vote 9-3 in favor of conviction after six and a half hours of deliberation. Before retrial, Rossi pled no contest to a count of second-degree aggravated assault, and received a four-to-eight month sentence in Butler County Jail plus four years probation and required domestic-violence counseling; he served 96 days. Domestic violence workers criticized the short sentence. The Rossis renewed their wedding vows after his release. Rossi wrote a letter to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette apologizing and saying "I repent of the sins I have committed and, with God's help, do not plan to repeat them."

Sherrie Rossi, who had campaigned for her husband's exoneration, sued state and county officials for abridging her civil rights when courts refused to lift a bond restriction forbidding her husband to contact her while he was out on bail; the suit was dismissed by a federal court. In 1996, Sherrie self-published Assault of Justice: The Richard Rossi Mystery, defending her husband and proclaiming his innocence, and claiming that charges were retaliation for exposing police corruption and a Satanic cult. A press release alleged Rossi was innocent based on physical evidence and the testimony of eyewitnesses.

While charges were pending and Rossi served his sentence, membership in his church dropped from 300 to 12.

Acting and ministry

After completing his probation, Rossi relocated to Hollywood in 1997. He returned to preaching, serving as a pastor and church consultant, and moved into acting and filmmaking to explore his interest in creative and cutting-edge expressions of ministry.

His tenure as pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church was interrupted when parishioners discovered his attempted murder charges and charged that he had misused church money; litigation ensued, and the parties settled out of court.

He first Hollywood role was in the 1998 short film Jesus 2000. In 1998, he appeared on stage in his own adaptation of Elmer Gantry, in which he wrote, produced, and starred.

He started Eternal Grace, a movement of Hollywood house churches for actors and celebrities who had difficulty attending public services due to paparazzi, and also for AIDS victims and others not welcome to attend other churches. He was protested by followers of Fred Phelps from Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, who decried his lenient attitude toward homosexuals. Rossi's wife Sherrie worked with puppets in their children's ministry. In 2001, Rossi wrote and directed Saving Sister Aimee, a short documentary film about 1920's evangelist Aimee McPherson. The film won the Golden Halo Award from the Southern California Motion Picture Council for best documentary. In November, 2001, Rossi received restoration treatment for depression and healing from childhood abuse at Healing for the Nations ministry in Atlanta, Georgia. "I was trying to help everybody else, but I was feeling empty inside," Rossi said. "It was like I was trying to fix the whole world, but I couldn't fix myself. It was a pretty lonely feeling."

In 2005, Rossi revisited Sister Aimee's story in the feature biopic Aimee Semple McPherson. Filmed for under $75,000, it starred actors who understood the paltry budget and worked for free including Mimi Michaels as Aimee, and Rance Howard as Aimee's father James Kennedy. Rossi cast Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter, Kiera Chaplin, in a role. Christianity Today and Charisma magazine praised the film, though the latter noted the movie's "shoestring production values." Christianity Today said "Rossi gives insight into the emotional dysfunction arising from Pentecostalism's adulation of flawed and charismatic leaders...the film veers into psychohistory and reflects the psyche of the writer/director." The Screen Actors Guild honored the film with an exhibition as part of their SAG Conversations Series. Rossi and Rance Howard spoke at the event in the James Cagney Auditorium. . The movie was nominated for best feature in Milan, Italy at the Sabaoth International Film Festival, voted one of the top guerrilla films of all time, attracted a record crowd to Hollywood's Beverly Cinema, and has generated mostly positive feedback since it's worldwide release by Maverick Entertainment under the new title Sister Aimee: The Aimee Semple McPherson Story.

Between acting gigs, Rossi appeared as a contestant on "Merv Griffin's Crosswords." In addition, Rossi finished his first novel "Stick Man" and began working on a film about baseball great Roberto Clemente, planning a "bicoastal" return to Pittsburgh.

External links

References

This article has an unclear citation style. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation and footnoting. (September 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

^ Kane, Karen (April 1, 1995). "Rossi jurors can't decide". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. pp. A1. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
^ Levin, Steve. "Rev. Rossi back in news as Hollywood success story". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
^ Kurutz, Daveen Rae (August 8, 2008). "Minister jailed for beating wife in '94 plans return to Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
^ Donnally, Ed (October 2005). "Filmmaker Tells Story of 'Wounded Healer'". Charisma. Retrieved 2007-07-31. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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^ "'Sopranos' lawsuit brings up question of idea ownership". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 27, 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
"Museum Fetes Fred Rogers". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 4, 1994. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
^ Karen Kane (1994-10-13). "'My Husband Is Not To Blame'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. A1.
^ Kim Phillips (1999-11-21). "Pastor Wins By Default". Long Beach Press-Telegram. p. A2.
^ Pitz, Marylynne (October 2, 1996). "Judge dismisses civil rights suit". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
^ Rodgers-Melnick, Ann (November 5, 1994). "Family advice shunned: Sherri Rossi's kin doubt her husband". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. pp. C1, C7. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
Gabbay, Alyssa (January 14, 1995). "Church troubles: Work of Satan?". Associated Press. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
^ Cite error: The named reference Gabbay was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "The Trauma Of Being Falsely Accused" (Press release). Ethel Bernstein. 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
^ Karen Kane (1995-05-19). "No-contest plea entered for assault". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. A1.
Kane, Karen (March 30, 1995). "Cover story by Rossi alleged". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. pp. A1, A3. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
^ "Rossi renewal blocked". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 1995-06-26. p. C4.
^ Karen Kane and Mark Belko (1995-08-30). "'Lucky' man is out of jail". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. B1.
Associated Press (1995-05-20). "Rev's 4-month jail term for beating wife ripped sends bad message, Victims Center says". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 9.
Cindi Lash (1995-05-19). "Domestic violence workers score 'obscene' Rossi term". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. A9.
"Pastor seeks public forgiveness". Reading Eagle. September 13, 1996. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
Rossi v. Court of Butler, et al., No. 2:95-cv-01144-WLS-KJB (W.D. Pa.).
Rossi, Sherrie Lynn (1996). Assault of Justice: The Rev. Richard Rossi Mystery. Eternal Grace. ISBN 0965233006.
"Pastor faces suit for revising bylaws of church". Long Beach Press-Telegram. 1999-11-20.
Displaced pastor finds grass is greener on the outside
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Charisma magazine review
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