Mississippi church refused to marry couple simply because they were black


This article was originally published on Examiner.com on July 29, 2012. (5,300 likes)

 

The First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi refused to marry a couple simply because they were black. National outrage over the event is simmering but the people who were discriminated against, Charles and Andrea Wilson, are doing their best to get on with their lives.

They had their wedding planned for months in advance, and it was just mere days before the event was to take place. They had already sent out invitations to family and friends, some of who were traveling long distances to see Charles and Adrea’s wedding.

The Wilson’s claimed in an interview Friday, July 27, with the local news, wapt.com, that just a week before on July 20 the pastor of The First Baptist Church, Stan Weatherford, called Andrea Wilson and told her he would be canceling the wedding. When asked why Weatherford allegedly replied that, “he would be fired if he went forward with the ceremony” and that it was a decision made by the congregation as a whole.

Crystal Springs residents are not surprised by this, especially J.C. Wells who has owned a barber shop near the church for over 30 years. He says, “First Baptist Church, I remember a time that they wouldn’t even allow blacks to come in the church.”

Charles Wilson wants to know one simple thing. “On the policy that First Baptist Church gave us, the first line read, ‘A wedding is a Christian ceremony.’ Where is the Christianity in that?”

Good question.

The Wilson’s were unfettered by this discrimination and married at a different local church.