Cool! I’ll join his church any day. J Izzy
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Lance Muir
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 7:10
AM
To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org
Subject: [TruthTalk] Fw: Vote for
Bush or Repent
----- Original Message -----
Subject: Vote for
Bush or Repent
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/2395269p-8773218c.html
Pastor, 35 more leave church
Expulsion of nine ignited a furor
By YONAT SHIMRON, Staff Writer
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."