NBC 3
They had set the date and printed and mailed out all the invitations, but the day before wedding bells were to ring for Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson, they say they got some bad news from the pastor.
Members of the First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs in Mississippi want the world to know that it isn?t a racist church.
?We?re not,? Barbara Mack told WLBT-TV on her way into Sunday services. ?We welcome anybody that wants to come through those doors.?
Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson didn?t feel welcome when the church?s pastor told them the day before the wedding that the mostly white congregation had decided no black couple could wed there.
Dr. Stan Weatherford, the pastor, said a small but vocal minority at the church objected, and threatened to vote him out if he went through with the Wilsons? wedding.
The couple was forced to scrap their plans and get married at another church on just one day?s notice.
First Baptist member Ralph Miley told WLBT he hopes the church will eventually address the controversial decision.
?Personally, I would like to apologize to the Wilsons, to their family and friends, and to the entire black community because this has happened," he said.
WLBT
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The First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, Miss., forbade the wedding of a black couple in their house of worship.
Barbara Mack?s husband, Bob, blamed the members who ?intimidated the pastor and created a situation that had him in a bind,? and said they ?have some misconceptions? about their religion.
"We hope we can straighten them out, you know, get them to understand what Christianity is all about,? he said.
But Charles Wilson told CNN that the time to "step up and be Christ-like" would have been before he and his wife were forced to move their wedding.
"If it was such a minority of people, why didn't the majority stand up and say, 'in God's house we don't do this?'" he asked.
abartkewicz@nydailynews.com
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