James Mitchell James " Jim " Mitchell ( February 26 , 1965 ) is an American professional wrestling Manager , known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) as James Vandenberg , with Extreme Championship Wrestling ( ECW ) as " The Sinister Minister " , and his work under his own name ( alternately as both " Father James Mitchell " and as " Reverand James Mitchell " ) for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) . Professional wrestling career . Smoky Mountain Wrestling . Mitchell wrestled in the Carolinas and in Virginia before joining Smoky Mountain Wrestling . He was not satisfied with his physical appearance as a wrestler , so he switched to being a manager . Mitchell , known as Daryl Van Horne , made his Smoky Mountain Wrestling debut in 1994 managing Prince Kharis ( Rob Mayze ) . Van Horne claimed Kharis was a " 4000 - year - old mummy " . The gimmick , based on a 1960s wrestler named " The Mummy " , was a flop in the promotion and was dropped after only a few months . Van Horne went on to manage Kendo the Samurai ( a masked samurai gimmick played at different points by Tim Horner , Scott Antol and Brian Logan , among others ) for a brief time before disappearing from the promotion . The Van Horne gimmick was that he was a " Collector of Human Curiosities " . World Championship Wrestling . Mitchell debuted in World Championship Wrestling as James Vandenberg , the manager of Mortis , a wrestler with a persona based on the characters Reptile and Scorpion from Mortal Kombat . Managed by Vandenberg , Mortis feuded with Glacier . Mortis faced Glacier at Uncensored on March 16 , 1997 in his Pay - per - view debut and lost . Following the match , Wrath debuted , siding with Mortis and Vandenberg and attacked Glacier . Glacier defeated Mortis in a rematch at Slamboree on May 18 , when Wrath interfered on Mortis ' s behalf , causing a disqualification ; Glacier then suffered a post - match beating before Ernest " The Cat " Miller ran to the ring to defend him . The four men fought one another over the following weeks , culminating in a match at Bash at the Beach on July 13 , which was won by Mortis and Wrath . Mitchell then tried to get a commentary segment off the ground on WCW Saturday Night . The piece featured Mitchell standing alone in a darkly lit room . He would discuss current feuds such as that between Saturn and Glacier , always finishing the segment with " And I could be wrong . . . but I doubt it . " The segment was quietly axed after a few weeks . With nothing planned for his character , Mitchell was sent home with pay until his contract ran out . The office was not checking up on his contract status , however , which was for two years , so it rolled over and he stayed at home for another year with pay until he was finally released in 1999 . Extreme Championship Wrestling . In late 1999 , Mitchell unofficially debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling in a backstage Promo where he would " heal " a hurt Steve Corino , saying that his " gig " sucked but proclaiming it was better than his previous job , in WCW . In 2000 , as The Sinister Minister he managed The Unholy Alliance ( Yoshihiro Tajiri and Mikey Whipwreck ) until the promotion closed in April 2001 . He was injured in an accident with a handheld machine that was used for shooting fireballs , which exploded and blew off a piece of his finger . Mitchell appeared at the World Wrestling Entertainment - produced ECW reunion pay - per - view One Night Stand on June 12 , 2005 . He accompanied Tajiri to ringside for his match with Super Crazy and Little Guido . The New Church and The Gathering . Mitchell debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on June 19 , 2002 . On October 30 , going by the name Father James Mitchell , he returned to TNA along with Slash and Brian Lee , collectively known as the Disciples of The New Church . The New Church feuded with America ' s Most Wanted throughout 2002 . In 2003 , The New Church began feuding with Raven . On November 5 , 2003 , Mitchell fought Raven in a Last Man Standing Match match that was won by Raven . In late 2003 , Mitchell aligned himself with The Gathering , Raven ' s former protégés . Alliance with Abyss . Mitchell returned to TNA on July 1 , 2005 , aligning himself with Abyss . Mitchell led Abyss to victories over Lance Hoyt at Sacrifice and Sabu at Genesis . At Turning Point on December 11 , Abyss lost to Sabu in a Barbed wire match . He also led Abyss in a feud against Jeff Hardy . At Genesis in 2006 , Abyss won his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Sting . The weeks after Abyss ' s title reign Sting seemed to control Abyss , and ordered Abyss to come to the ring alone were he would speak to Abyss without Mitchell speaking in Abyss ' s ear . Mitchell nearly lost control of Abyss , however soon scared him straight by showing Abyss a prison . Mitchell slammed Abyss into the fence and slapped him and reminded Abyss about his past . This act let Mitchell once again control Abyss with both men going into Final Resolution as a unit , manager and wrestler , to help Abyss defend his title against Sting and Christian Cage . On January 14 , 2007 , at Final Resolution Abyss lost his World Heavyweight Championship to Christian Cage during a Three Way Elimination match against Sting and Christian Cage . Abyss was eliminated by Sting after a Scorpion Death Drop , and then Sting by Christian Cage . The following week , Mitchell was later attacked and kidnapped by Sting , who threw him into the trunk of his car , and told Mitchell to leave Abyss alone . On January 25 , he was able to give Sting by payback by launching a fireball right into Sting ' s face . The week after that , he told Abyss to find Sting while he later came into the ring and told Sting if he would accept his challenge at Against All Odds pay - per - view and on February 8 , he accepted . He was then " kidnapped " by Sting again only this time , he was locked up in a cage , until Abyss came to his rescue by attacking Sting while Mitchell grab his belt buckle and choked Sting with it . At Against All Odds on February 11 , Abyss lost to Sting in a prison yard match after he was powerbombed by Sting into a barbed wired table . Subsequently , Mitchell was attacked by Sting after the match , causing him to bleed heavily . Mitchell returned to on screen action on March 22 when he came up the ramp and distracted Abyss away from his tag team match by bringing Abyss ' on - screen mother to ringside . It was then revealed at a meeting with Sting and Mitchell that Abyss ' mother had actually shot his dad , and Abyss took the blame to protect his mother . Mitchell was once again Abyss ' handler , as " Father Jim " had threatened to report Abyss ' mother to the authorities if Abyss did not come back to him , after which Mitchell allied Abyss with Team Cage . On the April 19 edition of " Impact ! " , after months of abuse by Mitchell , Abyss turned on Mitchell , Black Hole Slamming him , and turning face . Later , Mitchell delivered a eulogy for Abyss , saying that he had moved on to bigger and better things , and implying that he had a new monster . This monster was eventually revealed as his " son " Judas Mesias , who first appeared as a hand cutting a hole in the ring and pulling Abyss through it . He made his official debut on the September 13 Impact ! , assaulting Abyss . On the January 17 edition of Impact ! , Mitchell finally revealed the secret that he had been threatening to reveal for months : that Abyss was his on - screen son . Mitchell was released from his TNA contract on July 7 , 2008 .