Backbone-less Pastor Brings Shame on the Church

I wouldn’t have accused the pastor of not having a backbone. 

I think you’re being too polite.

I would have expected this 40 or 50 years ago but not today. *sigh*

Yeah, this is right up there with the IOC bowing to the wishes of the Lebanese Olympic judo squad not wanting to work out within sight of the Israeli squad.  At that point, you sit the complainers down and explain the facts of life to them.

Are we sure there’s not more to this—if true, ridiculous and embarrassing action?  Why would a church that has black members, including the bride’s father, suddenly decide that it can’t possibly have a wedding with black people in it?

That makes no sense.

I need to have *consistent* bigotry if we’re going to have it!

must have been his “most faithful pledgers”.

as for the IOC, what about the moment of silence Israel asked for to memorialize the victims of the massacre in ‘72?  They have a long tradition of dhimmitude.

Sarah, that was my first thought as well. But as I looked at several articles about the incident, and saw the reaction from both the townspeople and other church members (who are profoundly embarrassed by this), I concluded that yes, this did make no sense, and yes, this is what happened.

If true, this is outrageous, un-Christian and reflects poorly on the Pastor.  But, like Sarah, this is so bizarre that I wonder if there is more to the story.

Who needs enemies with friends/fellow parishioners like these? I too wonder if *race* is a convenient excuse for something else. Certainly this does not make sense- then again the rest of the world does NOT ask my advice.  how dare they! 

interesting .... I made the second comment about the IOC, but ended up higher up the tree ....  technical problems with the site perchance?

I am wondering why this couple did not realize the church they attended/choose for their wedding was not what it should have been….the minister was certainly at fault at the beginning and in his parting decision

I agree - if this is accurate - it is outrageous and the pastor needs to be defrocked.

Thanks for the article.  Those that seek to stand for the truth have a special obligation to speak out against racial intolerance.

As I recall, years back, when a small rural Baptist church balked at taking a black Beeson Divinity School student as an intern the school did the right thing - it suspended its entire intern program until the wrong was made right.

Well, it’s true that there are still a few sure ‘nough bigots here and there (fortunately not too many), but it’s unusual for a pastor in these days to give in to this kind of thing.  Shame on him.  It does make one wonder if there’s not some church personality issue behind this.  In any case, once the pastor did the counseling and scheduled the wedding, canceling is hurtful.  Dumb move by a pastor who should soon find himself looking for another position.

That was a time to have a very uncomfortable conversation and stand up for what is right.  I wonder if the Baptist leadership will take care of this inappropriate behavior?

When I first heard this I was embarrased for my state.  This was not only sinful, but also stupid.  However, today they have an article in the Clarion Ledger about the pastors reasons.  He comes across as a kindly, loving, orthodox man of God.  He relates how the family came into the church by his efforts and how they seemed to be loved by all.  Also, the father and husband came to church yesterday and were singled out as our people and hugged by the pastor and others.  They made a positive statement to the church.  It seems that five unknown members—-I can just see them in my mind now—after seeing the rehersal Saturday night came to the pastor and protested that there had never been an afro-american wedding in “thier ” church and never would.  He stated that to “keep down trouble”  and have a win-win situation they would just go down the street.  CH Spurgeon told his seminary students, “To avoid trouble, make trouble.”  A small dust up now versus a tornado later!
    Now he apparently never consulted the board or others.  He should have had a teachable moment with these racist that ended in enlightment and repentance or an offer for them to choose another church.  He failed..period.
    But before we get on our high horse, isn’t that just the way our denominations, including TEC, got into this mess.  Kind, loving, orthodox soft handed preachers didn’t do their duty to stand up against early heresy and error and nip it in the bud, but rather hid their heads and hoped the cancer went away.  Paul told Timithy and Titus how to choose good leaders.  Less leads to all this apostacy.  CH Spurgeon said to his student in his seminary, “To avoid trouble, make trouble.”  A small dust up now will prevent a tornado later.  This is leadership.  IMHO

That was a time to have a very uncomfortable conversation and stand up for what is right.  I wonder if the Baptist leadership will take care of this inappropriate behavior?

I have a question. What “Baptist leadership” are you referring to? Baptist churches are fully autonomous. The pastor is answerable ONLY to God and the congregation. If the congregation is fine with what has happened, nothing will be done to this pastor.

The most the local Baptist association, the Mississippi Baptist Convention, or the Southern Baptist Convention can do is kick the church out of their local, regional or national bodies, respectively. But what they cannot exercise any discipline.