Posted on 07/28/2012 6:27:04 AM PDT by Olog-hai
It was to be their big day, but a Jackson couple says the church where they were planning to wed turned them away because of their race.
Now, the couple wants answers, and the church's pastor is questioning the mindset of some of members of his congregation who caused the problem in the first place. …
"The church congregation had decided no black could be married at that church, and that if he went on to marry her, then they would vote him out the church," said Charles Wilson.
The Wilsons were trying to get married at the predominantly white First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs (Mississippi)—a church they attend regularly, but are not members of. …
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxal.com ...
Now how Christian was that? Those church members should be ashamed.
Very foolish indeed but it is a church and freedom of religion is to be respected. As long as they were good Christian folks they should be able to marry in their church. Or leave. It’s not newsworthy unless you’re MSNBC then let it roll 24/7 to their 59 audience members.
I thought I was reading satire .... unbelievable !
I read the article because I thought there might be another reason why the Church wouldn’t marry them (other than race). Doesn’t seem so. Would the Church members rather this couple live in sin? Do they not see them as two of God’s children (thus, brother and sister in Christ?). You are right... the church members should be ashamed.
I’m sure there is much more to the story. What I don’t know.
But the couple did say that they were NOT members of the church even though they do attend services there.
“The church’s pastor, Dr. Stan Weatherford, says he was taken by surprise by what he calls a small minority against the black marriage at the church.”
I’m wondering if there is more to this story. How does a “small minority” dictate these sort of decisions. And why would no one object to these folks attending the church but refuse to allow them to marry. We’re only getting one side of the story here.
But if this is accurate, then I disapprove, certainly.
I’ve seen small churches like this before. There are usually 4 or 5 old biddys who had successful husbands. They have a gossip ring that will kill a church’s pastor’s career.
The article says they aren’t members of the church. Maybe the church has a policy only to marry members?
The result no doubt of the way Democrats ran the South from before the Civil War. There’s still that segregation mind set.
“”The Wilsons were trying to get married at the predominantly white First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs — a church they attend regularly, but are not members of. “””
A church is not obligated to conduct a wedding for people who are NOT members of the church.
If these two had actually been attending on a regular basis, then why did they not become members of the church.
This story sounds like another set up by some lefties.
I'm sick and tired of churches not adhering to Scripture and making a mockery of the cross.
He’s bald and gray; She looks about 20. I’m guessing it wasn’t over race, but the pastor wants to defeat the vestry so didn’t correct the reports.
Absolutely, and all you had to do was read carefully to see what it was all about....
Look how many here were willing to JUMP at the headline and first couple sentences. That brought us “Zimmerman is GUILTY!” for weeks if not months here.
I’ve seen many freepers lately unwilling to look at the rest of the story and unwilling to question the reporting style or intent of a blatantly politicizing article.
A surprising many seem ANXIOUS to believe what they are being told by Big Media.
Yep, a leftist set-up for sure....because, as we all know there is absolutely no racism in Jackson.
According to the Associated Baptist Press,
A Mississippi couple claims they were not allowed to get married in the Southern Baptist church they attend because they are black.
According to WLBT television in Jackson, Miss., Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson had already printed and sent out invitations to their wedding at First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs when their pastor called with some bad news.
"The church congregation had decided no black could be married at that church and that if he went on to marry her, then they would vote him out the church," Charles Wilson told the NBC affiliate.
Pastor Stan Weatherford said he was caught by surprise by what he called a small minority opposed to a black wedding. He said he was prepared to go ahead and do the ceremony at First Baptist like he had agreed to do but instead moved it to a different church because he didn’t want the couple’s wedding day to be marred by controversy.
The Wilsons are not members of the church but reportedly attend regularly. The Southern Baptist Convention-affiliated church founded in 1883 is predominantly white, but says it is open to all races. Church leaders are reportedly holding internal meetings to discuss how to move forward should the issue come up again.
The Southern Baptist Convention, founded in 1845 by supporters of slavery, has worked in recent years to shed the racial baggage of its past and reach out to more people of color. At the convention’s 150th anniversary in 1995 a resolution apologized to African-Americans for past sins including widespread support for segregation. This year the nation’s second-largest faith group made history by electing its first-ever black president, Pastor Fred Luter of New Orleans.
Seems rather odd to me that such a small group could influence what the church does. But I can imagine that they may have threatened utter mayhem had the ceremony gone as planned.
Seems like the happily married couple may be looking for someplace else to fellowship after their honeymoon.
I grew up in Alabama and left years ago....but I can tell this oddball story.
My dad and mom left the local church about twenty years ago...small operation of 140 members...mostly because of Deacon versus Deacon decisions that were stupid and making the church into a soap opera.
So years passed. Around early 2004...the church hires up a new minister, with a special contract (they’d never done something like this). Basically, if they fired the guy in less than two years....they had to cough up one-year of pay as the severance package. Well...things run ok for six months, then the election period comes up, and the minister talks up John Kerry, which upsets the local folks greatly (go figure). The Deacons have a meeting and fire the guy. He lawyers-up and they find themselves having to borrow roughly $24k from the bank to pay this guy off.
The Deacons meet a month or two after the loan....terribly upset over the financial stability of the church, and they talk up with the new minister of recruiting new folks into the church...but with the financial incentive that they’d be “junior-members” unless they paid up $500 to be “regular members”. It was never clear how this would relate....either in parking, seating, or whatever.
So a couple of weeks pass, and these young ladies show up at my dad’s house....talking to my mom (age has harmed her mental capacity by this point), and wanting her to convince my dad that they needed to rejoin the church....and be “regular members” by paying the $500.
My dad steps into the house...listens to three minutes of this conversation....and puts the young ladies into the traveling encyclopedia salesman category. They need to leave...and he says this real friendly-like. Well...they just don’t get it....so he moves this up a notch....saying that their welcome was finished up. In Bama....that ought to be a clear understanding but these gals weren’t going to be happy over this. The next day....the minister comes over and does his chat....which my dad keeps him on the drive-way and says just plain no.
Religion has been turned into some kinda mess....that you’d put into a reality TV show or soap opera. Deacons are mostly guys who drink heavily, gamble, or run around with lusty gals who don’t attend church much.
We passed the test anyway. It was an interesting collection of questions about children, family, and careers, religious beliefs, gender rolls, money, realistic goals, infidelity, health and retirement plans.
If the congregation of the church in this article has questions about the couples future union, perhaps they should write their own marriage exam. I can't imagine they just don't like black people! After all the couple in question felt comfortable and welcome enough to attend services there!
Thanks.
The next racist story will be about the exclusive Country Club that refused to allow the marriage of two people who are NOT members of the club even though they hope to become members at some point in the future.
The leftist media and Obama are working overtime to convince people that the USA is a racist nation.
Good old Alabama....
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