Sunday, July 29, 2012

Alabama Church Still Thinks It's the 1920's

From the New York Daily News: Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson were set to marry at a Mississippi church when they got shocking news from the pastor just a day before the ceremony.
The predominantly white congregation at the First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs “had decided no black could be married at that church,” Charles told WLBT-TV.
Dr. Stan Weatherford, the pastor, told him that his parishioners had vowed to vote him out if he went ahead with the wedding.
"He had people in the sanctuary that were pitching a fit about us being a black couple," Te'Andrea said.
It was a small but vocal minority that objected to the wedding, according to Weatherford.
He performed the Wilsons’ wedding at another church in the area, forcing them to abandon months of planning.
"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,” he explained. “I wanted to make sure their wedding day was a special day."
I think the pastor ought to rethink his priorities: Church or bigotry.  I'm pretty much sure that Jesus would not have refused to marry a black couple just because some people objected.  My guess Jesus would have kicked the objectors out of the Church and gave the marriage a ceremony the couple would never forget.
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2 comments:

  1. magicdogJuly 31, 2012 at 8:02 AM

    I'm a bit suspicious of this story.

    First, let it be said any house of worship and its officiants DO have the right to refuse to perform a marriage ceremony. Reasons include the couple not being members of the [church] (merely sitting in on services doesn't count as membership). The officiant may think the marriage is for the wrong reason. A huge age gap between couple (as appears in this case) or if the union would be the result of one of the parties having committed adultery to break up a previous union are but two other possibilites.

    Third, wouldn't a pastor KNOW what his church's rule are? If this race stipulation is correct, he wouldn't have agreed to do the ceremony at the church knowing it wouldn't be allowed. Yet he agreed to marry the couple elsewhere.

    The congregation was labeled as "mostly white". Then what color(s) are the other members? Apparently they might be black or mixed race.

    Personally, I think this couple are ringers trying to foster ill will and imagined racisim.

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  2. AnonymousJuly 31, 2012 at 8:55 AM

    Alabama and Mississippi are two different states. The headline says "Alabama church," but the church is in Mississippi. Are you geographically challenged? That said, as a southerner, let me say that I am horrified and embarrassed by this story, and so is everyone else I know.

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