Methodist Reverend Refuses to Baptize Baby Because Her Parents Aren’t Married
Hmm. It’s not the baby’s fault that the parent’s aren’t married, but I kind of see the point I think the guy is trying to make… but it seems like it’s unfairly punishing the baby. The baby is still made in God’s image, regardless if her (his?) parents aren’t married.
(Link): Mississippi Methodist reverend refuses to baptize baby because her parents aren’t married
October 7, 2022
A young couple in Mississippi wanted their new baby to be baptized at their church, but said the reverend sent them a letter refusing to perform the sacred ceremony because they were not married and ‘living in sin.’
Kamri Mclendon, 18, and her boyfriend of two years, Tristan Mcphail, are parents to daughter Presleigh, who was born in May.
Mclendon had been attending Hickory Grove United Methodist Church in Sumrall, Mississippi since she was young and wanted her own daughter to be baptized there.
But in a letter the young mother shared on Facebook, Rev. Dewayne Warren wrote that he would not be performing the baptism because the baby was born out of wedlock and that Mclendon and ‘the baby’s father’ were living together ‘in sin.’
He also pointed out that Mclendon’s mother was also not married, yet living with a man, and that the couple were not in regular attendance at the church.
Mclendon, who shared the letter on Facebook, explained they had missed some church services because of their schedule with a new baby.
She added that she felt ‘shamed’ by the church she grew up in and wrote: ‘Instances like this are why young people are scared to go to church. We are aware we sinned, but us repenting for that is between us and the Lord, not to be shamed by a church,’ Mclendon wrote.
‘When people ask why there are no young people in these churches this is why.’
‘I will be the first to admit that yes I have sinned and have done wrong in my life,’ she wrote. ‘How did me trying to dedicate my daughter to Jesus turn into us being shamed for being young parents and unmarried?’
The letter, which was dated September 15, also stated that if Warren were to perform the infant baptism, it would set a bad example for the youth and children of the church.
‘I am informed that you and the baby’s father are living together in sin; the baby was conceived before the parents were married,’ the letter began.
‘It would be saying to them that the lifestyle that you are living is OK for a Christian. That is not so.’
Mclendon and her boyfriend told WLBT that they were shocked by the letter, after they were initially told that Warren would perform the baptism for their daughter.
Related:
(Link): Evangelical CEO Dave Ramsey’s Company Fired Employees Who Had Premarital Sex by Leonardo Blair
(Link): Teacher Fired By Catholic School For Getting Pregnant Out of Wedlock (2018)
(Link): Synagogue worker: I was Fired for Having Sex Before Marriage
(Link): Single, pregnant mother fired from church for not being married (2015)
(Link): Woman Fired From Christian Preschool Teaching Job For Having Porn Side Job
(Link): Women in Sao Paulo Must Provide Proof of Virginity to Be Hired as Teachers
(Link): Church Forced Out Woman Who Complained Pastor Regularly Sexually Harassed Her
(Link): Sexist Double Standards from Christian Dave Ramsey and Ramsey Solutions
Christian Pundit 