And it has nothing to do with sex. At least I don’t think it does.

Lutheran pastor leaves over participation in some lame Krewe

A Lutheran minister who faced the furor of his congregation for donning a devilish-looking running suit to become a member of the St. Paul Winter Carnival’s Vulcan Krewe is questioning his calling and belief in organized religion.

The Rev. Steven Robertson, 49, began setting aside his collar for the title of “Prince of Soot” last year. Like all Krewe members, Robertson marked his face with grease and vowed allegiance to the Imperial Order of Fire & Brimstone and Vulcanus Rex, the Winter Carnival’s god of fire.

It was all for fun, Robertson told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. He said the Vulcans’ reputation as a group of “womanizers and drunkards,” is outdated.

However, some members of his congregation at Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church thought otherwise, and Robertson resigned as pastor Nov. 30. He said his enlistment with the Vulcans – a lighthearted St. Paul Winter Carnival tradition sometimes known for their boisterous behavior – triggered his downfall in the congregation.