Aren't we past this?

I don't even know where to begin with this one. Maybe you heard about it, maybe you didn't. If you did, you didn't believe it still possible. If you didn't, you won't believe it is still possible.

 The First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi refused to marry a couple simply because they were black. National outrage over the event is simmering but the people who were discriminated against, Charles and Andrea Wilson, are doing their best to get on with their lives. They had their wedding planned for months in advance, and it was just mere days before the event was to take place.

They had already sent out invitations to family and friends, some of who were traveling long distances to see Charles and Adrea's wedding. The Wilsons said that the pastor of The First Baptist Church, Stan Weatherford, called Andrea Wilson and told her he would be canceling the wedding. When asked why Weatherford allegedly replied that, "he would be fired if he went forward with the ceremony" and that it was a decision made by the congregation as a whole. Crystal Springs residents are not surprised by this, especially J.C. Wells who has owned a barber shop near the church for over 30 years. He says, "First Baptist Church, I remember a time that they wouldn’t even allow blacks to come in the church." Charles Wilson wants to know one simple thing. "On the policy that First Baptist Church gave us, the first line read, 'A wedding is a Christian ceremony.' Where is the Christianity in that?"

They might not be surprised by this, but I am astounded. I am astounded that we're still living in that age.

But should I be?

I went to a clergy dinner for an entire district of the denomination in which I am a pastor on my birthday Friday. Apparently there are no African-American pastors in our district, for there were none there at the event. I am not even aware if there are any African-American churches in my district, but surely, surely there are.

Some have said that the most segregated hour in American life today is the 11 a.m. hour on Sunday morning, meaning church hour. I can't argue that.

But someday, maybe, we will fix this. The story about is news because it's Mississippi or it's Mississippi so it's news.

But are we any better? Really?

I see plenty of African-Americans not very far from my new neighborhood. In five Sundays I've had none come to our service. In fact, none have come to any of my three churches. In fact, only one black woman in six years of service to two churches in the Covington area came. She moved soon after we arrived.

I have grown up in a mostly white United Methodist background, and I am uncomfortable about it to this day.

Maybe someday, someday we will fix this.

But I doubt it.