The pastor of a Waynesville Baptist church who tried to force
his political views on his members resigned Tuesday night, taking a few dozen
members with him.
The Rev. Chan Chandler, pastor of East Waynesville Baptist Church in the
Blue Ridge Mountains, did not apologize for the division he caused and said
only that his underlying concern was to save unborn babies from abortion.
"I am resigning with gratitude in my heart for all of you, particularly
those of you who love me and my family," Chandler said during a meeting at the
church, The Associated Press reported.
Remaining church members said they sat in silence for a long time after
Chandler and 35 of his loyal followers left the sanctuary -- a silence broken
when one of the members stepped forward and began to play hymns on the
piano.
Chandler made national headlines after nine of his congregants were
expelled from membership after a contentious meeting May 2. Those expelled
said they were forced out because they did not follow their pastor's bidding
to vote for President Bush in November's elections.
'Repent or resign'
The church had been embroiled in partisan politics since October, when
Chandler told his 100-member congregation that anyone who planned to vote for
Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry needed to "repent or
resign."
Many older members, lifelong Democrats, resented the way Chandler, a
Haywood County native, imposed his political views on the church, and tried to
steer him away from politics. It didn't work.
Still, no one voiced pleasure at Chandler's departure. Many said it was a
sad day in the history of the 52-year-old church.
"Maybe the church can heal now and we can go on," said Margaret Biddix, one
of the nine members expelled by Chandler's supporters.
The storm that hit the church -- about 300 miles west of Raleigh divided it
along generational lines.
Many of the older members are traditionally Democrats, though some have
voted Republican in recent elections. Many of the newest and youngest members
have always been Republicans. In this, the church reflected Southern voting
habits that have dramatically embraced the Republican Party in recent
decades.
Now the challenge for the church is to find younger members, said Maxine
Osborne, 70, a member. "We hope the church will grow now, and I think it
will," she said.
Following convictions
Chandler, 33, said he intended to continue his studies toward a master's
degree in divinity at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake
Forest, where he has been a student.
He did not speak to the news media throughout the past week's ordeal,
releasing only one statement through his lawyer saying no one was expelled
from the church because of political affiliation.
"He's a young man doing the best he can to stand up to his convictions,"
said Waylan Owens, Southeastern vice president for planning and
communications, who taught Chandler in one of his classes.
Owens said Chandler wanted his members to apply the morals they say they
uphold, such as their opposition to abortion, at the voting booth. Roman
Catholic bishops did something similar last year when they said they would bar
Kerry, a Catholic, from receiving Communion.
But others said the church battle was another example of the Southern
Baptist Convention's conservative shift in recent years and its emphasis on a
literal interpretation of Scripture.
"When you believe in an inerrant Bible, then the next step is to have an
inerrant interpreter and then an inerrant morality," said Bill Leonard, the
dean of the divinity school at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.
Chandler's actions brought rebuke from national groups committed to the
separation of church and state. They called on the Internal Revenue Service to
revoke the church's tax-exempt status. Federal law prohibits tax-exempt groups
from engaging in politics, such as endorsing candidates.
Several church members described Chandler as someone who was uninterested
in hearing other people's points of view. Most church members said they agreed
with him that abortion was wrong, and many said they opposed extending gay
couples the same rights heterosexual couples enjoy. Still, they said, he
wouldn't listen.
"We couldn't serve God under those conditions," said Selma Morris, 78.
"Hopefully, this will be a healing period, and we'll go on and do the work God
wants us to do."