Blog-Journalism: My Interview with Deacon at East Waynesville Baptist Church
Sun May 08, 2005 at 03:30:16 PM PDT
[Ed]: For those just logging onto this blog, here are some links as background for the interview:
Here and
here and
here.
As the Baptist church fuss explodes outward into the national psyche and international press, I decided to do what every good regional blogger-journalist should do. Call the church members.
I've interviewed one of the deacons who left East Waynesville Baptist Church last Monday night, 2 May 2005. The deacon's name is Lewis R. Inman. He and his wife, along with seven other longtime members, left the church on Monday night because of an attempt by Rev. Chan Chandler and 40 others to have eleven members kicked out of the church. Two of the members stayed behind and have attested to the same testimony of the nine who left.
It was clear to me, as I talked with Lewis and his wife Sue, that Chandler went off the deep end. He alienated members who did not share his political views, telling those who were planning to vote for Kerry or any Democrat that they would go to hell. In October 2004 Chandler started his six-sermon series on politics which went right into election week. Inman and his wife claim that all the messages on politics focused on Kerry and why he was an evil man. Chandler was threatened by those who asked him to stop the politicizing at church. In fact, the "eleven" told Chandler that they would have to report him to the IRS if he did not stop. The church is part of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Then again on 1 May 2005, Chandler preached two political messages (one at morning worship, the other at night) and called a deacon's meeting for Monday night but invited the entire congregation to be there.
"Monday night was a lynching," said Lewis Inman. "He [Chandler] had forty people with him, twelve adults and the rest teenagers, and said they were going to vote us eleven out. In other words, if you had voted for John Kerry for President, you were going to be voted out of the church. And he only needed a two-thirds majority to do it. I guess he thought that 40 against 11 would do it. So nine of us stood up and left before they could vote. And the two that stayed can talk with you too about what was said."
Btw, I plan on talking with those two also. For now I'm talking with another member who was not part of the eleven but is (quietly) in agreement with the eleven. A morning of police escorts and cameras and journalists everywhere has made this church the emblem of what's wrong with right-wingism in America. More to come at the Daily Bailout and Chattanooga Pulse. Stay tuned. This is where blogging meets journalism.
[Update] at 7:15 p.m.: Lewis Inman made it clear that the teens and adults were new members brought in (recruited) over the last year or so by Chandler. The teens, according to Inman, were fired up and ready to expel the older eleven members. And when the nine got up and left, the teens jumped up and clapped and shouted in triumph. Certainly sounds like a young right-wing club to me.
[Update] at 7:38 p.m.: I'm scheduled to talk with another member shortly (via phone) and will be back later. Also I have scheduled two interviews with Baptist ministers here locally (in Chattanooga, which is only 130 miles from Waynesville). In the meantime, many of you are right on about the YOUTH BRIGADE.
[Update] at 8:20 p.m.: Waiting to talk with a Mr. Richardson who will be available at 10 p.m. Just a bit more from Lewis Inman. Lewis says that the organized group of teenagers are all new members (not more that one year) and have been taught by Rev. Chan Chandler's wife. "She and her husband [Chandler] have those young people wrapped around their fingers. They're [Chandlers] brainwashing them." Of course, Inman is a Democrat and a Vietnam Vet. He's 60 years old. And he was victim of a 1998 plant closing by Dayco Products because the plant was "too unionized." Maybe these are reasons why the battle at this little Baptist church has more to do with politics than faith. Lots of generational hostility, wouldn't you say?
[Update] 9:35 p.m.: Just talked with an ordained Southern Baptist minister in Chattanooga and he said that the entire issue is about Baptist polity. "Just look at the way Charles Stanley took over in Atlanta at First Baptist," said this liberal minister. "He divorced his wife, stacked the search committee in his favor, and has been running the place ironfisted ever since." What about those pesky teens? This progressive Baptist pastor said that again it is about polity: "If you have the votes, you win. Simple as that. Now if there was secular political organization going on, you should get the preacher's relavant sermons and make them public. Maybe this guy publicized them or taped them. Just get them. That would nail it down. Otherwise what you need to know is that politics is talked about or alluded to in most Baptist churches in the South." I know, I said.
[Update] 10:45 p.m.: Got off the phone with David Richardson a few minutes ago. He's a fairly new member at EWBC but very knowledgeable about what is happening. He was not one of the eleven to show up on Monday night last. The first thing out of his mouth: "This is not a show; this is serious stuff!" Richardson was interviewed on MSNBC today. He says that Good Morning, America! wanted some of the 55 people who have sided against the minister to come on tomorrow, but their lawyer said that would be too much. Here's the interesting thing: Richardson voted for Bush but is deeply hurt that his minister is using politics in place of faith. Richardson believes that such political decisions are individual or personal, not religious. He believes strongly in a wall between church and state. Which brings to a very important point again: the Generation thing. Richardson is 72 years old. He and his wife are retired. And he's been Southern Baptist for 58 years. When I pressed him on the point of age difference, he was hesitant and congratulated the Chandlers on their work with teens. But he had to admit that the teens may have been misled by the minister into supporting him on a political cause. Richardson assured me that the supporters of the pastor are in a range of age groups. But of course Lewis Inman has been there much longer. And I have to trust Inman on this one, that the teens and early-twenty-somethings have been "brainwashed." A little Hitlerian youth group? Maybe in some figurative sense. Even Richardson compared the minister's behavior to a dictatorship.
[Update] May 9, 3:45 p.m.: Just got off the air with WGOW's Max Hackett. We talked politics and religious, focusing on the Waynesville church. The news story will be out tomorrow morning. For now let me share this bit of news. Dr. Robert Prince, minister at First Baptist in Waynesville, spoke with me about necessary causes for the Chandler fiasco. One, the movement in the Southern Baptist Convention has been to push for more authority granted to pastors--therefore, the dictatorship potential. And two, the election of '04 increased the volume of Falwell/Robertson/Dobson activity, which is pushing Baptists to commit to supporting the president while demonizing Democrats. More to come tonight with an update or new blog. Thanks for all your responses and support.
[Ed]: A clarification about numbers. First, the church membership is about 400+. Second, the number of people who exited the church last Monday night during a "Deacon's Meeting" was nine (two stayed behind). Third, 40 or so Chandler supporters shouted and hooted as the nine left. Fourth, the number of church members to have joined the nine later during the week is about 40+ or so. Fifth, 55 or so of the Chandler dissenters met outside the church on Sunday morning and went in together today (per their lawyer's instructions). Last, about 130 (including media reps) were in attendance at the church today.
