John Oliver has closed his spoof church after some viewers took his request for "seed donations" too literally.
Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption was founded by Oliver as part of his targeting of televangelists preaching the prosperity gospel. He founded it to ridicule the law in the US which allows anyone to start a 'church' and collect income tax free.
However three weeks later, the comedian announced its closure due to some unwanted deliveries.
"The reason we are shutting this church down is we received a different kind of seed. We received – and this is all too true – not one, not two, not three, but four packages containing jars and/or vials of semen," Oliver told his audience.
For the last three weeks, Oliver has played the role of Pastor John, mocking televangelists "who exploit people's faith for monetary gain." He has been accompanied by his 'wife,' Wanda Jo, played by Rachel Dratch.
"Some looked fake, but others did not," Dratch added, "We live our lives by one hard and fast rule: When someone sends you [semen] through the mail, it's time to stop doing whatever you're doing."
Although Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption's existence was short lived, it raised thousands of dollars which will be sent to the charity Doctors Without Borders, Oliver promised.
Oliver's church received a variety of other donations including actual planting seeds, bags of beef jerky and a $100 trillion bill from Zimbabwe.
"Setting up churches is all fun and games until someone gets sperm in an envelope," Oliver said. "Don't send us anything anymore. If you want to send money to a fake church, send it to Scientology."
