What happens when a Southern Baptist megachurch congregation starts to question the iron-fisted rule of its preacher? Things get nasty in a hurry.

Rev. Jerry Sutton, is facing complaints that he spent church money on his daughter’s wedding. Oh, and he watched pørn on his church computer and had an affair with a female member of the congregation.

Sutton has served as leader of Nashville’s Two Rivers Baptist Church for 21 years. The megachurch is located just across the highway from the Grand Ole Opry. In 2005 the church hosted the “Justice Sunday II” rally, where then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and others criticized judicial activism to a national audience of evangelical Christians. Of course, that was before the Supremes got down to rewriting the Bill of Rights, etc.

Sutton’s people deny the pørn and affair, which were investigated by the congregation’s human resources staff and found — surprise — to be baseless. As to maintaining secrecy about the church budget and spending church dough on his daughter’s wedding, Sutton’s tools are unrepentant:

The church’s executive pastor, Scott Hutchings defended the church budget and acknowledged that the church paid about $4,300 for a reception for Sutton’s daughter that was open to all church members. He said Sutton personally paid for another separate reception outside the church.

“When you’re pastor, we feel like you have to invite the whole church,” to avoid the appearance of favoritism, Hutchings said.

But what it really seems to be about is that Sutton wants to wield absolute power and brooks no dissent (sound familiar?) among his congregants:

Church trustee Frank Harris has been leading the campaign against Sutton. Two Rivers “appears to have been manipulated from a people-led church to a staff-run church,” Harris said.

“Anyone who voiced opposition to leadership was alienated and lost any ministries they may have had in the church,” Harris said.

Sounds kind of like the United States gubmint. Hutchings put Sutton’s position succinctly: “There has to be submission and authority.”

“Submission and authority” — could be George Bush’s mantra. Maybe if the church thing doesn’t work out for him, Sutton can probably find something in the administration, say in the Department of Justice ….