Kentucky Church in Racism Row
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December 1, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
A church in Kentucky has voted to ban interracial couples from joining its congregation.
The small church in rural Kentucky has caused a rift between its members after they were made to vote on the resolution which states that the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church “does not condone interracial marriage”.
The resolution was created by Melvin Thomas who, according to church secretary Dean Harville, drafted the resolution after Mr Harville’s daughter, Stella, visited the church with her African boyfriend Ticha Chikini. Mr Harville says that Mr Thomson approached him after a service to tell him that his daughter and her boyfriend were no longer allowed to sing at the church.
Mr Thomson said: “I am not a racist. I will tell you that. I am not prejudiced against any race of people. I have never in my lifetime spoke evil about race.”
Despite there being just under 40 people at the vote, only 15 actually responded to it with the remainder of the congregation either declining to vote or walking out. The result was nine to six in favour of the resolution which states that “anyone is welcome to attend services but interracial couples can not become members”.
The church’s pastor, Stacy Stepp, revealed that he was against the resolution and that the denomination’s regional conference would be attempting to solve the issue later this week. However, The National Association of Free Will Baptists in Tennessee will take no action, saying that all local churches have autonomy over decision making.
By Nicola Stahr
[Image courtesy of folldark]
