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Tomahawk, Kentucky - A vote to bar interracial couples from a small church in eastern Kentucky has triggered hand-wringing and embarrassment.
Nine members of Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church backed their former pastor, with six opposed, in Sunday's vote to bar interracial couples from church membership and worship activities. Funerals were excluded.
The vote was taken after most of the 40 people who attended Sunday services had left the church in Pike County, near the border with West Virginia. Many members left to avoid the vote.
Most members of the church “didn't want anything to do with this,” said longtime church official Dean Harville, whose daughter and her black fiance had drawn pastor Melvin Thompson's ire.
At services earlier this year, Stella Harville, 24, who is working on her master's degree in optical engineering, sang “I Surrender All” with her fiance, Ticha Chikuni, 29, a Zimbabwe native, according to her father. Chikuni, an employee at Georgetown College in Kentucky, played the piano.
“There didn't appear to be any problem,” Dean Harville said on Wednesday. “None whatsoever.”
But Harville said Thompson told him the couple would not be allowed to sing at the church again. Thompson resigned in August but would not drop the issue.
Thompson told a local radio outlet, “I do not believe in interracial marriages, and I do not believe this (ban) will give our church a black eye at all.”
He could not be reached for comment.
The move has drawn scrutiny from the hierarchy of the Freewill Baptist Church, Harville said.
“This kind of thing brands all of us so easily,” said Randy Johnson, president of the Pike County Ministerial Association. “That's not who we are. From all the churches I've talked to so far, it's really not anger so much as it is shock.” - Reuters
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brascoo, wrote
The people have spoken ...... truthfully I might add .No faulty PC correctness about this !
Hlalukana KaMaduna, wrote
may be the still belive Satan is an African they should remember the bible says with one blood he created all nations,every man is the image of God christ preached none racialism his followers called brothers and sisters regardeless of race, i think they must continue praying as i ll pray for them
Anonymous, wrote
@ pedalingparson-rape, murder, suicides, STD's, theft, filth, stench...seriously?how do these have any bearing whatsoever on racism or the media's breaking of the story. so racism is ok if it's practised in a dinky little church? The world is reeling and trying to somehow adjust the pain, misery and hurt caused by centuries of racism, social inequality and segregation...your comment is shallow and represents a form of ignorance i do not care to label...shame on you, and the people in that church who voted to ban inter-racial association in that way!
Hlalukana KaMaduna, wrote
may be the still belive Satan is an African they should remember the bible says with one blood he created all nations,every man is the image of God christ preached none racialism his followers called brothers and sisters regardeless of race, i think they must continue praying as i ll pray for them
Karen, wrote
You see... its everywhere, not just here in SA. Give us Saffers a break, we try our best!
Anonymous, wrote
I am sure they are not reading from the same bible that I do...such a pity in this time and age
Mike, wrote
Freewill Baptist Church? Might wanna remove the "Freewill" part?
Anonymous, wrote
Interesting,
pedalingparson, wrote
Who cares? This is a little dinky church of 20 or 30 people out in the hills. This story hardly discredits Christianity as a whole. Its funny, the media couldn't seem to find all the negative things about the Occupy Wall Street--like rape, murder,suicides, STDs, TB outbreaks, theft, filth, stench, defecating on cop cars, obstruction, disturbing the peace, and grand-mall stupidity. But a story like this breaks and because it is a church they are all over it. The media is the problem--no integrity and no honesty so no truth. Those in the media have become more loathsome than politicians.
Anonymous, wrote
Idiots!
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