Pastor Kicks Out 9 Members For Not Supporting President Bush! (page 2)

EvilForce

They should revoke that church's non-profit status since they are a political party operation.

ithinkisee

I posted something like this yesterday on JWD and it got deleted or blocked or something ... still not sure why.

-ithinkisee

minimus

Hmmm. Can't say. Maybe they like me more?? Nah, I didn't think so, either.

blondie

Pastor Says Ouster a Misunderstanding

Sunday May 8, 2005 8:46 PM

AP Photo NCRH103

By PAUL NOWELL

Associated Press Writer

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Calling it a ``great misunderstanding,'' the pastor of a small church who led the charge to remove nine members for their political beliefs tried to welcome them back Sunday, but some insisted he must leave for the wounds to heal.

The Rev. Chan Chandler didn't directly address the controversy during the service at East Waynesville Baptist Church, but issued a statement afterward through his attorney saying the church does not care about its members' political affiliations.

``No one has ever been voted from the membership of this church due to an individual's support or lack of support for a political party or candidate,'' he said.

Nine members said they were ousted during a church gathering last week by about 40 others because they refused to support President Bush. They attended Sunday's service with their lawyer and many supporters.

Chandler noted their presence in his welcome to the congregation, saying, ``I'm glad to see you all here. ... We are here today to worship the Lord. I hope this is what you are here for.''

But Chandler's statement and his welcome didn't convince those members who were voted out that things would soon change, and some called for him to resign.

``This all started over politics and our right to vote for whoever we wanted to,'' said Thelma Lowe, who has been attending the church for 42 years. She and her husband Frank, a deacon at the church for 35 years, were among those voted out.

``Things will never be the same here until he leaves,'' she said.

The ousted members have said Chandler told them during last year's presidential campaign that anyone who planned to vote for Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry needed to leave the church in the mountain town about 125 miles northwest of Charlotte.

``He needs to leave,'' said Marlene Casey, 42, a lifelong member. ``A lot of blood, sweat and tears have been shed by the people he told to leave.''

Added Lewis Inman, a deacon at the church who said he was voted out Monday: ``He could have apologized and made everything right. He's not man enough.''

Chandler invited all church members to attend a business meeting on Tuesday. ``This should all be cleared up by the end of the week,'' he said in an interview after the service.

Chandler said he and his wife have received calls from around the nation - some of them threatening - since his politics in the pulpit made national news.

His actions also drew criticism from other Baptist clergymen in the town.

``This is very disturbing,'' the Rev. Robert Prince III, who leads the congregation at the nearby First Baptist Church, said Saturday. ``I've been a pastor for more than 25 years, and I have never seen church members voted out for something like this.''

Some members of his congregation, however, voiced their support for Chandler on Sunday.

``He's a wonderful, good old country boy,'' Pam Serafin said as she walked into the church. ``There are always two sides to every story.''

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4991767,00.html

http://www.biblicalrecorder.org/content/news/2005/5_6_2005/ne060505achurch.shtml

Friday, May 6, 2005

Church removes members for political views, deacon says

By Steve DeVane

Managing Editor

A Baptist deacon says he and eight other members of East Waynesville Baptist Church were removed from the church roll because they disagreed with the pastor's political views.

Frank Lowe said he had been a member of the church for 43 years. He said the pastor, Chan Chandler, said he wanted the church to be a politically active church, and that anyone who disagrees with his views should leave.

Chandler could not be reached for comment.

WLOS-TV in nearby Asheville reported that Chandler declined an interview but said, "the actions were not politically motivated."

The controversy at the church reached a high point the Monday night, May 2, when the pastor invited all church members to a deacons' meeting. Lowe said at the beginning of the meeting, the pastor said anyone who didn't agree with his political views should leave.

Lowe said he, his wife, Thelma and seven others left. The pastor then called the church into conference and congregation voted to terminate the membership of those who left, Lowe said.

Among those dismissed were three deacons, he said.

Church member Janet Webb who was at the meeting declined to say what happened during the meeting, but said that Chandler is "a man of God who only preaches against sin and to win people to Jesus Christ."

Church member Bill Rash, who has been attending the church for about 29 years, said he stayed through the meeting, but has since resigned from his positions and decided to leave the church. He said another church member initially asked if all church members could come to the altar, pray together, forgive each other and get on with the Lord's business.

Chandler responded by saying if those who disagreed would repent, then they could get on with the Lord's work, Rash said. The pastor said if they weren't going to repent they should leave, Rash said.

That's when Lowe and the others left.

After they left, the remaining members voted to take their names off the roll, Rash said everyone voted for the measure except he and his wife, who didn't vote.

The remaining members decided that if another church wrote for the letters of those who left, East Waynesville would reply saying they had left in bad standing. Members also discussed changing the church bylaws to state that all members had to sign a statement saying they supported the pastor's political views, Rash said.

During the last presidential election, the pastor said that anyone who was supporting John Kerry should repent or resign from the church, Rash and Lowe said. The pastor offered to hold the door for them to leave, Lowe said.

Lowe said he usually votes Democratic while his wife votes Republican.

The pastor "says my political views support abortion and homosexuality, therefore that would be enough to turn me out of the church," Lowe said. "I am not - positively not - for either one."

If indeed Chandler's pulpit statement was made before the November election and did not indicate he was speaking only for himself, it would be a "pretty clear" violation of Internal Revenue Service rules against political endorsements by churches, said Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC). That could lead the IRS to revoke East Waynesville Baptist Church's tax-exempt status.

Some members of Congress have been trying to do away with that restriction, led by Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.). He has introduced a version of the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act in every session of Congress since 2001. Although the bill has not passed, it continues to receive strong support from many conservative Christian groups.

However, many groups that support the separation of church and state have strongly opposed the bill, including the BJC.

Lowe said he and his wife have been invited to other churches since the meeting. He expects they'll start attending somewhere else, but wouldn't rule out an effort to "retake" the church.

Another church member, Selma Morris, said she believes the vote to remove the members isn't valid because the church bylaws weren't followed.

The bylaws say a called meeting should be announced on Sunday morning. The meeting Monday was announced at the Sunday evening service, she said.

The bylaws also say a called meeting should be held two weeks after the announcement, according to Morris. The meeting was held the next night.

Morris said she wasn't at the meeting, but would have walked out with the others if she had been there.

"I can't support that," she said.

(EDITOR'S NOTE - Greg Warner of Associated Baptist Press contributed to this article.

EvilForce

It's about 4 hours away from me Minimus.

For the life of me I can't understand how ministers can push for Bush when he has killed thousands and thousands of people. He has brushed aside poverty programs. He has lied. How Christian is that? Regardless of who is running they are not going to fit a "Christian Ideal" so how can you promote one over the other.

Churches should stick to teaching about God and keeping their noses out of politics. That or they should be deemed a political organization and taxed & regulated like one...plain and simple :)

Pastor Kicks Out 9 Members For Not Supporting President Bush!

EvilForce

minimus

ithinkisee

minimus

blondie

Church removes members for political views, deacon says

By Steve DeVane

Managing Editor

EvilForce

EvilForce

ColdRedRain

minimus

donald

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