103-Year-Old Woman Banned From Church
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (62112)
United States
September 16, 2015 11:03pm CST
This definitely belongs in the "truth is stranger than fiction" department. A 103-year-old rural Georgia woman was banned from the church she has attended for over 90 years because she said she didn't like the pastor's "holiness" style of preaching.
Can you believe that?
From what I understand, people can be removed from the church for engaging in blatant sin. Criticizing the preacher's style of delivering the sermon isn't mentioned anywhere in the Bible as being one of those "blatant sins."
It seems to me that the preacher WAY overstepped his authority. It also seems to me that houses of worship are supposed to be open and welcoming to everyone.
My Fox Atlanta reported the story, and here's the link to their article:
A 103-year-old Georgia woman, who said she was kicked out of her life-long church in Elberton, is causing a schism in her small church.
3 people like this
3 responses
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
17 Sep 15
Seems to me that if you didn't like the preacher and his sermons, you'd want to leave the church and find another. But I don't see why anyone should be kicked out. Unless they caused trouble, and you don't know about that from a news story. I know one church where a couple started that kind of trouble, simply because they wanted to start their own church. They sowed a lot of discord and eventually left, taking some of the congregation. At 103, I hope she finds the right place for her, but seems it might be easier to stay put.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (62112)
• United States
17 Sep 15
There's one thing about southern women, especially 103-year-old black southern women: they are FEISTY. 
I'm sure she feels that she was there first, and as all Baptist churches are autonomous, she also feels she has the right to have a say in the church structure. It's certainly not the first time a church has lost a member over "modernizing": one of the biggest reasons that people left churches 20-30 years ago was because the church began incorporating "modern music."
I'm sure she feels that she was there first, and as all Baptist churches are autonomous, she also feels she has the right to have a say in the church structure. It's certainly not the first time a church has lost a member over "modernizing": one of the biggest reasons that people left churches 20-30 years ago was because the church began incorporating "modern music."
@gnatsmom (2336)
•
3 Sep 17
Nothing surprises me about churches anymore. I have been a pastor's wife since 1999. That position changed my perception of churches. My rose-colored glasses were ripped from my face. So this doesn't surprise me. The local congregation is not at all, what the NT church was established to be.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
4 Oct 15
That was a very Christian thing to do of the pastor. It is a cruel thing to do to an elderly lady unless of course she was disrupting services in some way but one would hope that she did not and was possibly too frail to be running up and down the aisle or throwing things at the pastor.
If anyone is supporting her they should contact his superiors.
@FourWalls (62112)
• United States
6 Oct 15
There was a follow-up to this: the pastor and his supporters left that church and formed their own. The woman who was banned from her lifelong church is back. So, in the end, it appears everyone is happy.
