103-Year-Old Woman Banned From Church She Attended For Over 90 Years, Find Out Why
A 103-year-old woman was banned from a church she had attended for nearly a century, and the reason is quite shocking.
According to ABC News, Genora Hamm Biggs joined Union Grove Baptist Church in Elberton, Georgia, when she was only 11-years-old. Since he was hired as the pastor of the church six years ago, Rev. Timothy Mattox and Biggs have been butting heads over his preaching methods. She said he has adopted a “holiness style,” which was “different than the real Baptist [traditions].”
“At one point he had a crew in here and they were hollering and falling out in the middle of the floor. We don’t do that in the Baptist Church,” Biggs said.
They have had several disagreements before, but everything finally came to a head when Mattox suggested Biggs be removed from the church permanently on the first Sunday of August. Apparently, Biggs and several other members of the congregation had held a business meeting, where she voiced her opinions of Mattox never answering, or returning, phone calls. This didn’t sit well with Mattox, who then made the motion to have her removed as a member of the church.
“We tried to get him away but he’s determined to stay. After that motion was made, the next week I got his certified letter saying I was not to come back.” Biggs said. “I was sad and unhappy. Very unhappy.”
103-year-old Elberton, GA woman gets banned from her church after 92 years of service for “speaking out”. pic.twitter.com/HqKqCn3WiQ
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“This letter is to inform you that according to the By-Laws of the Union Grove Baptist Church, and by vote of the active members, any membership or associations that you have had with this church are now officials [sic] revoked,” the letter said, according to Fox News.
103-year-old Biggs and the other members who received the letter said they weren’t going to let anything stop them from attending their church. The went the following Sunday where Mattox threatened to have them escorted out. However, the police declined getting involved, therefore Mattox cancelled the service altogether.
“The lights went out while we were sitting there. Finally we got up and filed our way out and we left. But they went back in there after we left and started the service,” she said.
Ezell Land, a former member of the church for over 50 years, also said he left the congregation over Mattox’s preaching style. Land said that some 20 members have left the congregation because of the issue.
“You can’t do that to somebody. She has been part of this church her whole life. She was even the church secretary for 40 years,” Land said. “That’s just no-good pastoring to do that.”
“This is my church, I love this church, and he cannot stop me from going,” Biggs said.
What do you think about the 103 year old woman being banned from church? Leave your comments below.
[Photo by Nagel Photography / Shutterstock]
