Rejected members based on race

http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=226460&pub=1&div=Lifestyles

Pastor claims church voted to reject black membership, resigns
8/26/2006 8:34:40 AM
Daily Journal
BY CHARITY GORDON

SALTILLO - A pastor who says his congregation voted not to accept black membership has resigned. The church says it never made such a decision.

The Rev. John Stevens says Fellowship Baptist Church in Saltillo voted not to approve blacks as members during a scheduled Sunday night business meeting Aug. 6. Because of the decision, Stevens stepped down from the Baptist Missionary Alliance congregation that has an average Sunday morning attendance of 30 people.

According to Stevens, the church made race an issue after a biracial 12-year-old boy, Joe, began attending Fellowship Baptist with his temporary guardians.

The church was "afraid Joe might come with his people and have blacks in the church," Stevens said. "I could not go along with that. There would always be a wall between us, so I resigned that night."

After the Daily Journal contacted Fellowship Baptist members, they gathered Aug. 17 to form a response. Mike Dillard, who acted as spokesperson for the church, said the congregation "categorically denies" accusations that the church took such a vote and feels the charge is an attempt by a party to do them harm.

Family leaves
After being told of the vote, Cliff Hardy, an officer with the Tupelo Police Department, left the church. He and his family had been going to Fellowship Baptist for about a year and had been praying about becoming members there.

"I was asking the Lord to lead us," Hardy said.

The police officer says there are good people at Fellowship Baptist, and the Bible was preached there.

However, "You see, my best friend is a black man," he said. "I wouldn't be comfortable going to a place where I couldn't ask my best friend to go to church with me."

Hardy says he knows there are still a lot of folks who are not comfortable with people from other races - there is still a lot of holdover from the past, there is still a lot of fear.

"But that's not what Christ died for," he said. Jesus' death and resurrection "is supposed to be a uniting force, not a separating thing."

We're all God's children'

In July Joe moved in with his uncle and aunt, Saltillo residents Jason and Melinda Kirk. The Kirks, who had been attending Fellowship Baptist for almost five months, were Joe's temporary guardians until recently, when his stepmother moved here from Ohio.

During the week of July 23-26, Fellowship Baptist held revival services, and on July 26, Joe became a Christian.

The following Sunday, people at the church asked the Kirks if they would become members, and the family started praying about it.

The next Sunday morning, Aug. 6, the Kirks went to Fellowship Baptist. When company arrived at their house that afternoon, they decided not to go to the church that night.

Later that evening, the Kirks received a phone call from their pastor, Stevens, who said the church had voted not to accept black membership. The minister, 72, who has now retired, said he had resigned from the church over the decision.

Joe overheard the telephone conversation.

"We explained to him that everybody didn't feel like that," Melinda Kirk said. "But it really bothered him. He felt like our pastor had to quit his job because of him."

The Kirks reassured their nephew that Stevens was just standing up for what is right.

"People have got to realize we're all God's children," Jason Kirk said. "It's not God so loved the white people; it's God so loved the world."


Since Stevens' resignation, one church member who was not at the Aug. 6 meeting has called the former pastor and told him he was in favor of what he did. Stevens estimates 80 percent of the church is against having blacks as members of the congregation.

"It's between them and God," police officer Hardy said. "I love those folks, but I can't agree with them."

Contact Daily Journal religion editor Charity Gordon at 678-1586 or charity.gordon@djournal.com

Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 8/19/2006 8:00:00 AM, section C , page 1

 

Yea, the earth is still spinning around and around in outer space.

 

How unfortunate.... :smt009 :smt009

 

Whether this congregation actually made such a vote or this is some vindictive Pastor it reminds me of the oft quoted statement that Sunday mornings is the most segregated hour in the US.

Thank goodness I have little use for religion & most of the self righteous phonies who practice it.

 

I sincerely hope you're not saying that every believer in God is a self- righteous phonie kinfolk. :?

 

I think that he's speaking about overzealous church-goes in general, and I see what he means myself.

 

me pops say that the Catholics are the worst (even though were Catholic), they say that they don't care bout such things but deep down they are the most mean, and racist :evil:

 

Church is bs. And I'm glad I stop going years ago. And those bigots can have a fun time explaining being a racist to their so called god later.

 

:lol:

 

Been there, done THAT.

 

REALLY??? is that possible???

Bcoz on Sunday NFL countdown on ESPN you have two white guys (Chris Berman and Steve Young or Ditka) and two black guys (TJ and Mike Irvin)!!!

 

Religion/Church Rejects.........

It's good to be an atheist. I have absolutely no use for nonsense like this, and to each thier own, but I feel a little sad for people who waste time in institutions such as this.

 

WHAT THEIR BIBLE SAYS ABOUT JESUS ANCESTRY ..BARRING BLACK MEMBERS..HMM

=============


EACH ONE TEACH ONE ..PLEASE CLICK HERE
WANT TO KNOW MORE CLICK HERE .

http://www.gainformer.com/Files/Was Jesus A Black Man.htm

SEND THIS TO Fellowship Baptist Church in Saltillo

Was Jesus A Black Man?


Reprinted from 1998 issue of The Georgia Informer

The Christmas season marks the observance and celebration of the advent of Jesus Christ out of eternity and into this world in human form, as it had been prophesied in the Old Testament. God became a man, just as he said, without either ceasing to exist as God or being diminished in any way as God. Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, who had always been with the Father, came to humanity as a human to save humans. The Word of God became living flesh in fulfillment of the written Word of God. That is why Christians rejoice at this season: God keeps his word!

But was the “Sweet Little Jesus Boy,” a child of African heritage or was he European as he is depicted in the classical paintings mostly done during the Renaissance in Italy. Was Jesus Black or White? THE GEORGIA INFORMER dealt with this question once before, in 1994. We print again some of the answers given then and some of those given by African American pastors throughout the state who were contacted at the time.


HOW CAN PEOPLE BAR BLACK PEOPLE FROM A SO CALLED CHRISTIAN CHURCH ..WHEN JESUS HIMSELF WAS ,,A MAN O NDARK (BURNT BRONZE COMPLEIXION )....IGNORANCE IS BLISS

But was the “Sweet Little Jesus Boy,” a child of African heritage or was he European as he is depicted in the classical paintings mostly done during the Renaissance in Italy. Was Jesus Black or White?
The flight of Mary and Joseph into Egypt to hide the Christ child from the jealous and murderous plot of Herod, as recorded in the Book of Matthew, led Pastor E. Dewey Smith of Macon's Beulahland Bible Baptist Church to conclude, “He could not have been hidden in North Africa had he European features.” Pastor Smith further explained: Daniel in the Book of Daniel and John in the Book of Revelation both give us a physical description of Christ. Both describe him as having hair like wool, eyes like fire, and feet like polished brass.”

Pastor George Moore of St. Philip A.M.E. Church of Decatur, Georgia said, “If we are referring to Jesus, the man who walked this earth in human body, He may have been born black. If we are referring to Jesus, the Christ, we are talking about all nationalities and ethnicities.” This fits well with the idea that Jesus Christ came to save “the world.”

WANT TO KNOW MORE CLICK HERE .

http://www.gainformer.com/Files/Was Jesus A Black Man.htm

“If you accept the Bible as the authentic source of such information, the color of His Skin is not important,” say Ronald Terry, Pastor of New Fellowship Baptist Church of Macon and Assistant Director of Music for the National Baptist Convention. “However, the Bible also gives credence to the fact that Christ was not European, which is not important either. The color is not important to Christ, for He is the Savior of the World. We do know the Book of Revelation describes His ‘feet like polished brass’ and ‘hair like lamb’s wool,’ so one can draw whatever conclusion from this


WANT TO KNOW MORE CLICK HERE .

http://www.gainformer.com/Files/Was Jesus A Black Man.htm

 

The key word here is VOTED, you see Christianity is not a democracy, it's a set of beliefs based on Scripture which is believed to be the infallible Word of God.

So if said church VOTED on such a policy, they were wrong right there, they should have searched the Word of God and if they didn't find anything to back them up there (which they won't find) they should have left it alone. In fact they would have found many, many scriptures telling them to accept and love one another.

I think democracy is great for a government of the people by the people and for the people, but Christianity is Of God, By God and For the people. So we don't get to pick and chose what we like or don't like, we only get to chose whether to follow Christ or not.

I thank God the pastor had the guts to resign his position and do the right thing when his congregation didn't. God will bless him for that.

As to Jesus being a man of color, I have seen some research on that, and I find it interesting. The Jewish people are certainly not all of white skin, and he may very well have been a man of color. Also studies on the shroud of turen (if it is his burial cloth) indicates he may have had very curly hair.

 

That story is two years old and who cares?

 

Me personally,i prefer to attend Black churches anyway.Thats just me.

 

People need to stop blaming God for what PEOPLE do!! He gave us all the right of Free Will.We can choose to accept salvation and reconcilliation through Christ Jesus,or reject it,but then we can`t rightfully blame God when things go haywire in our lives.

 

Here's a question:

Why is it rare to see a black Jew?

Do Jews base their religion on race??

 

Yes, many Jews do base their religion on race, although a black person could become Jewish, threw some rituals.

However, There is a tribe in Africa that is being studied by the Israeli Rabi's because they think they may be one of the lost tribes of Israel. The are trying to find all 12 (really 13) tribes in order to restore the temple fully. (I saw an extensive show on it a few years ago on the History channel.