Church Looking for Attendees! Interracial Couples Need Not Apply.
SOURCE. (There's more at the source, including a cute picture, but here's the edited down version)
A small Pike County church has voted not to accept interracial couples as members or let them take part in some worship activities. The decision has caused sharp reaction and disapproval in the Eastern Kentucky county.
"It's not the spirit of the community in any way, shape or form," Randy Johnson, president of the Pike County Ministerial Association, said of the vote.
The issue came up at the Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church, said Dean Harville, a longtime member who serves as church secretary and clerk. Attendance is usually around 40 people for a Sunday service at the church in the Johns Creek area, Harville said. Harville said his daughter Stella Harville, who is pursuing a master's degree in optical engineering at a school in Indiana, brought her fiancé, Ticha Chikuni, to church in June and played the piano as he sang.
The couple performed I Surrender All, said Stella Harville, who is 24.
Chikuni, 29, who works at Georgetown College, is black. He is a native of Zimbabwe.
Stella Harville grew up in the church and was baptized there, but she is not a member, Dean Harville said.
Dean Harville said Melvin Thompson, who had been pastor for many years, told him in August that his daughter and her fiancé couldn't sing at the church again.
In early November, Thompson proposed the church go on record saying that while all people were welcome to attend public worship services there, the church did not condone interracial marriage, according to a copy of the recommendation supplied by the Harvilles.
The proposal also said "parties of such marriages will not be received as members, nor will they be used in worship services" or other church functions, with the exception of funerals.
The recommendation "is not intended to judge the salvation of anyone, but is intended to promote greater unity among the church body and the community we serve," the copy supplied to the Herald-Leader read.
Members at a business meeting decided to put the matter before the whole church. Last Sunday, nine people voted for the proposal and six voted against it, Harville said. There were more people in attendance, but some didn't want to take a stand, he said.
A small Pike County church has voted not to accept interracial couples as members or let them take part in some worship activities. The decision has caused sharp reaction and disapproval in the Eastern Kentucky county.
"It's not the spirit of the community in any way, shape or form," Randy Johnson, president of the Pike County Ministerial Association, said of the vote.
The issue came up at the Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church, said Dean Harville, a longtime member who serves as church secretary and clerk. Attendance is usually around 40 people for a Sunday service at the church in the Johns Creek area, Harville said. Harville said his daughter Stella Harville, who is pursuing a master's degree in optical engineering at a school in Indiana, brought her fiancé, Ticha Chikuni, to church in June and played the piano as he sang.
The couple performed I Surrender All, said Stella Harville, who is 24.
Chikuni, 29, who works at Georgetown College, is black. He is a native of Zimbabwe.
Stella Harville grew up in the church and was baptized there, but she is not a member, Dean Harville said.
Dean Harville said Melvin Thompson, who had been pastor for many years, told him in August that his daughter and her fiancé couldn't sing at the church again.
In early November, Thompson proposed the church go on record saying that while all people were welcome to attend public worship services there, the church did not condone interracial marriage, according to a copy of the recommendation supplied by the Harvilles.
The proposal also said "parties of such marriages will not be received as members, nor will they be used in worship services" or other church functions, with the exception of funerals.
The recommendation "is not intended to judge the salvation of anyone, but is intended to promote greater unity among the church body and the community we serve," the copy supplied to the Herald-Leader read.
Members at a business meeting decided to put the matter before the whole church. Last Sunday, nine people voted for the proposal and six voted against it, Harville said. There were more people in attendance, but some didn't want to take a stand, he said.