Baptist bodies call on church to reject racism - FOX 8 WVUE New Orleans News, Weather, Sports

Baptist bodies call on church to reject racism

Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson (AP Photo) Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson (AP Photo)

By JEFF AMY
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Southern Baptist bodies are calling on a Mississippi church that blocked a black couple from getting married under its roof to reject racism.

Leaders of the Mississippi Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention said Monday that preventing Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson from marrying at First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs was wrong. Southern Baptist beliefs reject racism. In keeping with Baptist tradition, they want the congregation to chart its own course.

The Rev. Stan Weatherford, pastor of the church, married the Wilsons earlier this month at a predominantly black church in Crystal Springs, a small town south of Jackson. The wedding was moved after some congregants told Weatherford they opposed allowing black people to marry in the church.

Crystal Springs town officials plan a racial unity rally Monday evening.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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