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....
So they drive 30 minutes to attend a small town white church? They can't find a church (white, black, or mixed) in Jackson? There's a lot missing from this agenda-driven story, and it isn't passing the smell test.
It has been so exaggerated that some local Blacks have called them liars.
I don't believe anything I hear or read more than ever. If you read "Black" and "a southern state" in the same sentence it will be about racism. They overlook racism in Northern states!
Trust me....there is another side to this story!!!
Or, you could read the post.
So they were denied by a church in Mississippi and had to go all the way to Birmingham to find a reporter. OK, I call leftist agitator on this story.
I even question the quotes attributed to the pastor. This simply smells of a put up.
Yeah, looks like at least a 30 year age difference between them. I can’t see dating someone young enough to be your daughter. Though I would be not be unconcerned about racism, I suspect that given that church has very few black members, the people of the church probably are concerned that this older man is taking advantage of a younger woman.
I am thinking that there is something missing in this story. Perhaps the Pastor, not wanting to appear racist agreed to marry the couple, but the Policy of the Church is to only allow Members to be married there, take some Pre-Cana type counseling, etc.
Yes, if the couple were attending the Church, why didn’t they become Members? LoL, I know couples who’ve signed up as Members of a particular Church just so they could have their wedding at the nicest Church in town.
Good response, and right on!
I'm sure that these good folks were not passed over by the collection plate. Shameful.
Pitiful. The people who stopped the wedding ought to be ashamed, and NO it doesn’t represent mainstream Christian thinking in the south.
This is NEWS because it is an aberration.
“freedom of religion” — what religion? It’s a Christian church and there is nothing in the Christian’s Bible that says certain races are barred from Christian marriage...so, it’s not the practice of the Christian “religion” that they are exhibiting.
“the story smells of a put up”
Sure does, or a put down—of Christians.
Religion and faith are two separate things. I am not religious, I am an apprentice of Jesus and I believe in him. Jesus himself spoke against religion (saducees, and pharisees), and the dangers of repetitious prayer etc.
I think there is two sides to this story, no Christian I know would discriminate against someone based on skin colour.
Shame on them!
This started just after The Ascension of Jesus.
I am sure that when Rev. Farrakhan performs a white wedding in his Mosque, this couple will be allowed to marry here.
You wrote:
“Jesus himself spoke against religion...”
Nope. Not even once. What Jesus denounced was hypocrisy, man made traditions from sects, etc.
“(saducees, and pharisees), and the dangers of repetitious prayer etc.”
Jesus said repititious prayers. In the garden, in fact, Jesus prayed “the same thing” three times (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44). Repeatedly praying the same thing is not dangerous in itself. Persistence is necessary. What He condemned were vain prayers and they are vain no matter how many or how few times you say them.
“I think there is two sides to this story, no Christian I know would discriminate against someone based on skin colour.”
The Southern Baptist convention was born out of racism and slavery. It doesn’t surprise me that some Baptists might still be tinged with those hateful beliefs.
When I see stories that I question, I always go to a local news source. In the case of George Zimmerman, I found video of the night Trayvon the punk was killed and the next day interview of the eye witness from the apartment right where it happened. The reporter interviewed the guy on video. I was like the only person in the country who found this video report clearing Zimmerman on the DAY AFTER the shooting.
Read the article and watch video of the couple.
I still am in awe of how the MSM twisted a story about 6 black kids beating up one white kid so bad he was hospitalized. They turned this story from Jena, Louisiana into 'whitey's fault'. And yes, many on FR joined in the white lynching.
see #39
see #39
What difference does their ages matter?
see #39
see #39
As I said, it’s not the practice of the Christian “religion” that they (the racists)are exhibiting...it doesn’t matter if it’s 5 people or the majority. They had to have had a meeting and voted to not let the couple marry there, which means more than 5 ultimately voted their racist convictions. Two days before the wedding...how “Christian.”
It still gives true Christians a bad name...whether it’s what the racists did, or the way it was reported in this posted article.
“I’m sure there is much more to the story. What I don’t know.”
I know of a couple who were married in my church, but not by the pastor, since he refused to marry an unbeliever to a believer. His stance was and is that a Christian marriage ceremony is a worship service asking the Lord to bless a union. A couple can be married by a notary, justice of the peace, or any of many options, but to ask for the Lord’s blessing to such a union is not biblical.
In this case I’m sure that the pastor confirmed that both the bride and groom are Christians, especially since he married them in another church.
The problem here is specifically that members who have no problem with tithes and offering going to foreign missions for Blacks and other people of color, can’t get the plank out of their own eye, and realize that in heaven there will not be walls dividing black from white, red from yellow, or Baptist, from any other denomination. More clearly, the Body of Christ here on earth should reflect that which is in heaven.
To be fair, every other Protestant denomination also split over the issue during the 1840s and 50s.
In most if not all cases the aggression was on the side of southerners, insisting that the denomination change previous policies recognizing or implying opposition to slavery to ones that were either non-judgmental or even supportive of the peculiar institution.
“The Wilsons were trying to get married at the predominantly white First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs (Mississippi)—”CRYSTAL SPRINGS, MS (WLBT)”
“Good old Alabama....”
At least us “Good old Alabama” people know how to read. You might note that this is Crystal Springs, Mississippi. Just out of curiosity, what perfect state are you from where there is never a controvery or stupid people doing stupid things?
The reporter states the accusation as fact, when it is only an accusation. I flat out don’t believe a pastor refused to marry the couple because they were black. There had to be some other reason. For example, the groom may have been a Christian adherent and the bride not, or the church may have a bylaw regarding marriage of non-members or marrying non-baptised individuals.
The church could NOT have had a rule against performing marriages for a specific race or national origin and have been part of the SBC.
Let’s not act like lemmings and pile on without some healthy skepticism.
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