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Monday, August 24, 2009
If you're planning on visiting The New Olivet Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee you better be prepared to obey the commands of Pastor Kenneth T. Whalum Jr. or you may find yourself leaving with bruises and scratches according to lesbian couple Monique Stephens and Yas Meen.
Stephens, said she and her partner were attending the 11 a.m. service at New Olivet Baptist Church because they wanted to meet the Rev. Kenneth Whalum Jr., who they intended to support in the Oct. 15 mayoral election.
An hour into service, Whalum told the congregation to bow to the ground and blow kisses to God, Stephens said, but she and her partner, who are agnostic, did not move.
She said Whalum and church members began calling them “devil worshippers” and “gay,” among other derogatory names. Security guards surrounded and pushed them out of the sanctuary. Stephens said her glasses were broken and both she and her partner of three years have bruises and scratches from the altercation.
In a post on Grand Divisions: News and Comment on TN Politics, Meen goes into further detail on the events that led up to she and her partner being physically removed from the service.
"A security guard asked us to leave because we were disturbing God's House. I asked what had we done to disturb God's House. He could not give me an answer. He just said you two need to leave. He informed us that he had called the police. I told him because I did not clearly understand what was going on, we will just wait for the police. That's when the herd of men gathered around to physically remove us from God's House! While this was going on, the church's photographer was taking pictures of Monique and I. We begged them to stop taking pictures of us. She continued and when she finished, she blew us a kiss and said God Bless You!"
And allegedly all of this occured while Rev. Whalum stood silent from the pulpit. "The women were “being disruptive, boisterous and speaking loud, Whalum said in a statement issued to commercial appeal.com "They had to have some kind of agenda to come in church like that. If I put every lesbian out of church, we’d be putting people out of church all day long,' said Whalum."
6 Comments:
Well, guess who lost two votes in the next election...
sickening.
August 24, 2009 3:08 PM
Hmm this story sounds a bit fishy to me. However, I still don't understand why gay people keep going to churches that clearly have zero tolerance for the "out" gay lifestyle? and continue to GAGG everytime the church reminds them of their intolerance. As horrible as it may be, the church is still a private organization that is under no legal obligation to accept any lifestyle outside of its religous beliefs.
August 24, 2009 4:50 PM
Wow!!!! Tell me this doesn't sound like something from a novel and i will tell you I'm not a black gay man! This is horrible. I can't believe what happened. I mean seriously I've experienced open ridicule from Bishop Clarence mcClendon's ministry, Paula White Ministries, and Yes... even Donnie McClurkin; nothing I've been through comes close to these women's story. It seems to me that the church is digressing instead of progressing in this age. Events like this would not happen if all SGL men and women would leave these "Dens of hate". Yet alone if we keep supporting them in political offices. I'm so mad I can throw my brand new laptop across this coffeshop!
August 24, 2009 6:07 PM
I too, do not understand why black LGBTQ folks keep running up in these traditional churches when there are hundreds of open and affirming churches all across the country. Try www.unityfellowshipchurch.org for starters. Free your mind and the rest will follow. God's Love is for Everyone!
Twitter = Strongforu
August 24, 2009 8:36 PM
I guess if the lesbian couple were identified as "devil worshippers" they were in the right place because Kenneth Whalum's style of teaching God's word has been questioned by many, many churches here in Memphis. Before he decides to discriminate against anyone else because they are different he should remember the negative feedback that he received for the same reason. I made up my mind not to vote for him in the upcoming election because the statements he makes in the local media make him look like a new age bozo the clown. Even his own father Kenneth Whalum Sr. distanced himself from Jr. because of his "unorthorox" beliefs.
August 24, 2009 11:15 PM
I was there! These chicks had no purpose @ the church besides trying to set up Dr. Whalum. They have been to the church before. One of them left the church saying "...everytime I come here..." meaning she cant get her lies together. How long did it take you to make this lie up, sweetie? Whalum could care less about your sexual orientation. He is supportive of the gay community. But fools like these women give the community a bad name.
And if they were agnostic, why would you come to church to learn about a mayoral candidate? Would it not make sense to listen to the news or read his bio online. Again, get your lie together.
Nobody called them out their name. I was there and saw the whole thing. 1 chick answered her phone! You dont do that in church. There is a time and place for everything. The other chick that was in a dress, punched one of our men. Our men were just standing around them, didnt touch them or anything. They were just standing there protecting the members around the chaos.
Im glad they got put out. Their plan backfired and now they look like fools. They were being loud, and disruptive. They were the ones that were cursing during the service. There were children around them, but the children and others sitting around them moved once they started being disruptive.
August 24, 2009 11:44 PM
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