White Baptist church in Missouri bans black wedding

[cleanhippie]

A black couple in Crystal Springs, Missouri says that a predominantly white Baptist church refused to let them get married because of their race.

Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson told WLBT that the day before they were to be married, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs informed them the ceremony would have to be moved due to the reaction of some white church members — even though the couple had attended the church regularly.

“The church congregation had decided no black could be married at that church, and that if [the pastor] went on to marry her, then they would vote him out the church,” Charles Wilson explained.

“He had people in the sanctuary that were pitching a fit about us being a black couple,” Te’Andrea Wilson added. “I didn’t like it at all, because I wasn’t brought up to be racist. I was brought up to love and care for everybody.”

Dr. Stan Weatherford, the church’s pastor, was forced to perform the marriage at another church after he was taken by surprise by his congregation’s outrage.

“This had never been done before here, so it was setting a new precedent, and there are those who reacted to that because of that,” Weatherford said. “I didn’t want to have a controversy within the church, and I didn’t want a controversy to affect the wedding of Charles and Te’ Andrea. I wanted to make sure their wedding day was a special day.”

Church officials said they would hold meetings to decide what to do if another non-white couple wanted to use their facility in the future. They insisted that all races were welcome at the church.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/27/white-baptist-church-in-missouri-bans-black-wedding/

[sinkingfeeling]

1. And we wonder how so many can hate President Obama?

[cleanhippie]

2. Wonder? Not at all. Religion in this country creates the "other" that they must distrust...

All of this racism has its roots deep in religion.

[RedStateLiberal]

3. WTF?

Isn't the pastor suppose to be the leader of his church? And he's letting racist memebers bully him? Stand up to those assholes and turn this into a teaching opportunity you dimwit.

Disgusting!

He didn't want a controversy... Well you've got one now dumbass!

I'm not a religious person and closed-minded bigots like that who call themselves "Christians" just remind me why.

[1StrongBlackMan]

4. So I assume that the Wilsons ...

will be shopping for another church?

[33Greeper]

5. Raw Story got the state wrong.

Actually it is First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, Mississippi. WLBT is a television channel out of Jackson, Mississippi.

[cleanhippie]

6. Good catch.

But a minor detail.

[33Greeper]

7. I tweeted Raw Story and they just fixed it.

White Baptist church in Mississippi bans black wedding | The Raw Story: http://bit.ly/Or5GO5

[MineralMan]

8. How strange that a church wouldn't let people

who regularly attend church there get married in that church. I can't even wrap my mind around that one. Too bizarre. I can say that I don't have a lot of respect for that minister, though. No leadership happening there.

[cbayer]

9. He did end up marrying them, just not there, but I agree that he should have stood up

to his congregation and made this a teaching moment. He says that he didn't want the controversy to impact the couple's special day.

The couple needs to find a new church. This is not a good place for them or for anyone else.

[MineralMan]

10. I'm sure they will seek another church. However, the cowardice of that

minister remains. Perhaps the majority of its members should see about doing something about his cowardice and lack of leadership. I'm not sure how that particular congregation runs its business, but the typical elected deacons can be unelected and censured, if the congregations wishes to do so. Why anyone would be willing to lead a corrupt church I do not understand. My respect cannot go to such a man.

[cbayer]

11. Agree. Other articles say it was a small minority of congregants that objected, but

maybe it's a small group that pays the bills.

Anyway, it's despicable all the way around and I hope his congregation will stand up for what is right against this reported small minority of objectors.

[MineralMan]

12. Boards of Deacons run a large proportion of

Protestant churches. Sometimes they do a good job, and sometimes they use their power to control the minister and have the church just as they prefer it. It's all done behind closed doors, and the overall congregation is rarely aware of the mechanics of it.

In the Presbyterian church I attended in my high school days, its Board of Deacons dismissed a very popular pastor because there were rumors that the pastor's wife was having an affair. One Sunday, he just wasn't there any longer. The Deacons were an ugly bunch of old men, and were replaced by the congregation at the next election of Deacons, but their damage had been done, and an excellent pastor was out on his ear. It was another stop on my road to atheism.

[RainDog]

13. vomit n/t

[TransitJohn]

14. That pastor should leave that congregation, if he's a decent fellow. eom

n/t

[humblebum]

15. "They insisted that all races were welcome at the church."

I'm sure they meant the 3-legged sack races and soapbox derby races common at many churches.

[cbayer]

17. Lol, apparently that is exactly what they meant.

[jeepnstein]

16. Really?

They were going to fire him? And the couple attended church there? If it were me I think I would have gone ahead with the ceremony and let the chips fall where they may. Somebody needs to grow a spine.

[panzerfaust]

18. Feel the Christian Love of the Southern Baptists

Of course, the reason that there are SOUTHERN Baptists, is that they broke with the Baptist church over the question of if Blacks were fellow humans, or simply beasts of burden - the only surprise to me is that any black person would want to be associated with such a church.

Actually, make that, I am surprised that anyone would want to belong to a such church, the very foundation of which rests upon such savage and racist views.

Still though, the Southern Baptists are, I believe, the largest single Protestant Christian denomination. Praise the Lord!


"Reaching the {White} World for Christ"

Gotta admire the Old South too - hang in there Mississippi: The South Shall Rise Again.


The African American hanging death in North Greenwood, Mississippi in Leflore County has raised suspicions of a racially-motivated lynching.

[struggle4progress]

19. Community rallies in support of black couple blocked by church

By NBC News staff

Hundreds of people turned out in Crystal Springs, Miss., to support an African-American couple who says a predominantly white Baptist church where they planned to wed turned them away because of race.

The city of Crystal Springs organized the rally to send a message of unity, NBC affiliate WLBT of Jackson, Miss., reported. People held hands in prayer while First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs pastor Rev. Stan Weatherford and New Zion United Methodist Church pastor Rev. Fitzgerald Lovett embraced.

"I pray that God will take a very difficult situation and that he will turn it into good and that we will move beyond tolerating each other," Weatherford told WLBT ...

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/31/13052619-community-rallies-in-support-of-black-couple-blocked-by-church?lite

[struggle4progress]

20. Prof says racism should be test of fellowship

By Bob Allen

A Southern Baptist seminary professor said July 30 the Southern Baptist Convention should withdraw fellowship from a Mississippi congregation if it doesn’t discipline a minority of members who managed to block an African-American couple from getting married at the church.

Russell Moore, dean of the school of theology and vice president for academic administration at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said in a blog that the pastor of First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs isn’t a racist but moved the ceremony to another church to create a “win-win situation” for both the couple and a minority who threatened to fire him if he went through with plans to marry the couple in their church.

The problem, Moore, a native of Mississippi opined, is: “The only answer to the ongoing struggle between Jesus Christ and Jim Crow is a lose-lose situation.”

“Mississippi Christians know, perhaps better than the rest of the country, just how satanic and violent racial supremacy can be,” Moore said. “We have danced with the devil and we ought to recognize him when he returns. But that’s precisely why Mississippians ought to be the ones to lead the way in showing the church what biblical reconciliation and revival looks like.” ...

http://www.abpnews.com/ministry/organizations/item/7666-prof-says-racism-should-be-test-of-fellowship

[struggle4progress]

21. So. Baptists Assess Racism after Black Wedding Banned

... The Southern Baptist Convention is historically known for supporting slavery. But with the recent election of Fred Luter as the SBC's first black president, many members saw it as proof the convention had progressed far from its discriminatory past ...

"We just have to be aware that the enemy will use anything he can to come against our churches and our ministries with something like this," Luter said. "We've always got to be aware that the enemy is out to kill, steal and destroy." ...

Spokesman Roger Oldham said, "The convention's position on race relations is clear: 'In the Spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism.'"

He went on to call racism a sin, and said it's also unfortunate that a small group in the church was able to "determine church policy without giving the church an opportunity to discuss the matter and take formal action as a congregation." ...

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2012/July/Baptist-Convention-Miss-Churchs-Actions-Sad/