More than 2,000 protestors armed with signs and slogans lined Newton’s Southwest Boulevard on Sunday morning. They were there in reaction to the May 13 sermon by Charles Worley, pastor of Providence Road Baptist Church. In the sermon, originally posted on the church’s website, Worley called for all gays and lesbians to be imprisoned behind an electric fence.
The protestors came out in force to bring a message of love and acceptance.
Their signs bore bold statements like, “Jesus had 2 dads and he turned out just fine.” And “I am a gay, moral, conservative Christian.”
Sheriff’s deputies and Newton police officers kept the peace as the protestors stood by the side of the road and cheered every time a car drove past and honked in approval.
A vocal group of more than 50 counter-protestors were on hand to support Worley and his church.
They too had signs with slogans like, “Sodomites are vile, unnatural and worthy of death. Romans 1:21-32.” And “Gay pride is why Sodom got fried.”
The protest’s organizer explained her goals for the event.
“Hopefully our protest today will send a message that we, as a community, as a state and as a country, will not stand in the background in silent acceptance,” said Catawba Valley Citizens Against Hate member Laura Tipton. “This protest has grown beyond Pastor Worley. I hope his congregation sees that we are gathering in love. Their messages are wrong, and we will not accept them.”
After hearing about Worley’s May 13 sermon, Tipton contacted Worley. She said he told her he’d made a poor choice of words, but did not apologize for his message.
A two-minute clip of Worley’s sermon was posted online at YouTube. As he preached he said, “I figured a way to get rid of all the lesbians and queers,” he says. “Build a great, big, large fence — 150- or 100-mile long — put all the lesbians in there . . . do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals, and have that fence electrified so they can’t get out.
“Feed ’em, and you know what?” Worley continues. “In a few years, they’ll die. Do you know why? They can’t reproduce.”
I was raised in a very religious family in England, I sat in church as a child every Sunday and listened to the sermon, never in my lifetime have I ever heard a vicar in the church of England preach hate.
This pastor in NC is no christian, the christian message is of one of love, understanding and inclusion of all.
Good on thes folks from NC, we all need to stand up to hate!