UPDATED: NY Church cancels sex offender’s wedding
THIS STORY IS AMENDED. PASTOR RICK RESPONDED TO OUR POST (SEE COMMENTS) AND TO THOSE WHO WROTE HIM.
I AM KEEPING THIS STORY UP BECAUSE THE REPORTING FROM THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER, THE POST STAR, RECOUNTS THE EVENTS DIFFERENTLY FROM PASTOR RICK AND PERHAPS THE REPORTER DESERVES THE FOCUS OF OUR EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS, NOT THE PASTOR.
WE SINCERELY APPRECIATE PASTOR RICK’S RESPONSE TO OUR MEMBERS AND HOPE HE IS SINCERE IN HIS MESSAGE THAT ALL ARE WELCOME IN HIS CHURCH.
A wedding that was scheduled to take place this Saturday at South Granville Congregational Church in New York, was cancelled after individuals pressured the pastor, Rick Backus, to not allow the wedding to take place because the groom was convicted of a sexual offense.
Apparently, many in the community reached out to the church opposing the wedding and even suggested they would protest during the ceremony. Pastor Backus wound up telling the couple they could not marry in his church.
Ironically, when you Google the church their descriptor begins, “Loving God * Loving Each Other * Loving our Neighbors“. Perhaps they should change that to “loving some of our neighbors”.
Should anyone want to share your thoughts with the Pastor, he can be reached at PastorRick@SlateValleyShepherd.org
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Dear Pastor Rick,
My heart is heavy as I read an article on the cancellation of the wedding in your church. What would Jesus have done? Did you listen to the voice of Christ or the voice of pharisees?
We are here to bring healing to the broken, not cater to the religious, who do not practice forgiveness and restitution. The greatest miracle is the restoration of a broken individual. We have seen this miracle in a local church in our area – you missed the opportunity to see this in yours.
What would Jesus do? I feel deep sorrow.
dr
I attended a church in downtown Tallahassee for over a year. I was even a member of the praise and worship team. When a congregant complained, I was asked to no longer attend by the pastor. A pastor who claims to be a “recovering alcoholic”. The pastor’s favorite song at the time was “If We Are the Body”, a song that asks why the church isn’t reaching out to include more people.
I ended up at another church and I told the priest up front about my “situation” in order to stave off future issues. The priest later pushed for me to join the church vestry (council). I explained that I could just keep volunteering and didn’t need a title/ position. I was elected to the vestry and served for over a year before there was an issue. The priest (same one) then asked me to resign an made a veiled threat if I didn’t. Fortunately, the congregation knew me and after the initial shock (4-5 days), people processed what the label says with who they knew me to be. I had already resigned and the situation had already soured me on the church leadership (priest), so I only attended a few more months. Now, I haven’t been a member of any church in nearly 10 years.
Interestingly enough, the state has now passed a law that makes it a felony for me to serve in any such position again. I was threatened with arrest for helping my daughter sell girl scout cookies. The law makes no statement of effective date but I believe it was passed in 2014 while my charge is from early 1995. Isn’t this ex post facto as well?
When I was sentenced, the judge made a stipulation on the designation order that I was not to be subject to community and public notification. The judge did this at his own discretion and not at the behest of my public defender or myself. In fact, the judge did not want to designate me at all, but the p.d. made no arguement against it. If the state were following the court order, so much of this harassment would not have come against me.
On a positive note, I had a visit for address verification last night and the officer made no comment on the Halloween lights nor made any comment to try and restrict my participation. So, that’s a definite plus.
Lastly, I am so thankful for the F.A.C. for not only helping us legally, but keeping us informed of news around the country AND, just as important to me, giving us a place to vent our thoughts and frustrations on occasion.
We are thankful to our members for providing the community for all to feel comfortable and welcome.
Amen to that ! ( Your last paragraph )
My letter to the pastor. Also, please know that this was not a Jesus move. This was a sinful man move.
Hi Pastor Rick!
You don’t know me, but I recently heard about the wedding being canceled this weekend due to the background of the groom. I was so saddened to hear that. As a Bible reading Christ follower, I know that it was not a decision that Jesus would have supported. The church condemned what Jesus forgave. Thankfully, Jesus died for all sins- including this one.
I know you were in a hard place. For that I am sorry. My dad is a pastor. So, I completely understand the difficult place you were in. I just wish this decision would have been based on Biblical principals instead of human emotion.
I’ll be praying for you, your church, and the couple condemned by the action of the congregation.
What an embarrassing shame. So hypocritical. Here is my response.
The Bible talks a great deal of judgement, forgiveness, and repenting. Have you, has your congregation, forgotten that?
Today, after reading that your church was led to dismiss the binding marriage of a man and a womanâs love in front of Our Lord (not only those of your congregation that condemn this man/his partner/his family) but He is Lord of ALL!, today, I am ashamed to be part of a Christian belief that is so hypocritical that we earthly beings are led to condemn in this way. Cancelling this wedding.
Do we so easily forget the story of the woman who wept in front of Jesus and asked forgiveness as she was waiting to be condemned by stoning. What did Jesus say? He told them all, if anyone is without sin, go ahead, you be the first, you throw the stones! What happened? They all turned and went away, knowing EVERYONE HAS SINNED!! No sin is greater than another. The Lord told her to go and sin no more.
Leave the judgement to God. Let these people live. In one place where anyone, ANYONE, should be welcomed, is in Church.
Such a shame that this man, who youâve likely come to know in some way, who is looking to put mistakes behind him, and move on, pave a new path lit by the light of OUR LORD, and he is turned away by those people who count themselves as âChristianâ.
Iâve always said there are two types of Christian, those who walk the walk, and those who talk their own talk. Which do you want to preach?
May I respectfully suggest an emphasis on those scriptures of forgiveness, judgement, and love this week?
God bless you and I pray He leads you in every word, step, and breath. May the Holy Spirit proceed you in service this week and surround your congregation with a new understanding, the warmth of love and forgiveness. I pray the Holy Spirit gives you the words to lead this lost group, gives you the strength to lead through action, showing love, compassion, and forgiveness. I pray for you now! Amen.
-A fellow Christian, who walks the walk the best I can every single day, looking for Godâs light in every step and every word. Praise Him
Pastor Rick. I am sure you have received an overwhelming amount of emails.
Matthew, the disciple, was extremely despised and hated by his own people because he was a tax collector working for the Roman government and therefore considered a ‘traitor’.
Imagine if Jesus esteemed the thoughts of the people over the love and will of God.
Imagine if Jesus cared more about what the people thought than what God thought-the book of Matthew would not be in our Bible.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what you have done, and this is not from God nor is it spiritual conduct of a Christian.
You really need to repent of this and apologize to the man and the woman, and if the congregation you serve dislikes this, then this is not where you need to be or anyone else for that matter.
As Christians, we are not to be swayed by the thoughts and intents of man and the world, but rather by the love of God. That is a truth throughout the Bible.
Also, one worldly man once said “The path of least resistance not only makes rivers crooked, but also the hearts of men.”
What you, and your congregation have done is wrong, and I am in doubt if Jesus is actually among you or if you understand His love and Who He truly is, because this does not line up with Him and what He teaches.
I received a response:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Saladin Wedding. Matthew 7:1 says âJudge not, that you be judged.â Itâs true that after weâve removed the speck from our own eye â we can judge the âActionsâ of another Christian â but what we can never judge is motive. Especially when we donât have the facts. In a case like adultery or theft â the motive is pretty clear â but in this case â you simply do not have all the facts. When a post on Facebook went viral, two groups decided that they were going to form protests and storm our grounds and disrupt the wedding. If you havenât had your head in the sand and have watched the news at all â you can see what happens at these protests â many times they turn violent – In the comments section where this was being discussed there were both death threats and threats of physical harm to David (The Groom) (which have been turned over to police). Ultimately, I made the decision to cancel the wedding for the safety of everyone involved (The Bride and Groom, Wedding party, those attending, our church â both congregation and property, and the community at large). I Spoke with David and his fiancĂ© and they agreed that it would be best to have their wedding in private in an undisclosed location where their safety could be assured. I preach and believe in the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ and that no one is beyond that redemption. My congregation feels the same way. David and his fiancĂ© are more than welcome to attend our church for services as is anyone who is seeking Christ. I hope this has given you some clarity. Thank you and God Bless.
Pastor Rick
Rev Richard J. Backus (Rick)
Senior Pastor
South Granville Congregational Church
(518)222-7506
http://www.sgcongregationalchurch.org
From: https://poststar.com/blogs/don_lehman/blog-church-pulls-plug-on-sex-offender-s-wedding/article_2d441ae6-f02c-5499-a460-19f9125938be.html
“Pastor Rick Backus said that he was aware Saladin had been accused of child sexual abuse after the wedding was booked, but in light of the fact he hadn’t been convicted the wedding was going to be allowed. But after he was sentenced last week, Backus said it was decided the church would not allow the ceremony under the circumstances.“
not shocked at all and it will only get worse as long as it is allowed to. It is designed to get worse. same way the mob mentality treated blacks, irish, witches, japanese, jews, babies, Christians, Muslims,.ect… You name it and mob herd mentality will attack it.. It has nothing to do with being a “sex offender” and it has everything to do with the government branding a select group of people as different and therefore open for vigilante behaviours. The registries are beyond punishment, they are a deliberately designed attack on the humanity of a select group of individuals and a deliberate effort to desensitize the “herd of humanity” so that they accept categories of humans are acceptable for lesser then human treatments. . That “select” group will continue to morph into a larger and less selective group the longer it is allowed to exist.Eventually the “registered group” will include everyone the government doesnt like..The exact same as the Nazi Germany registries that started with “offenders” and ended with anyone the government didn’t like. How did 75% of the German population get convinced to help torture and exterminate the other 25% of their population”? Get your popcorn because you are getting a front row seat..
Believe it or not, I had something similar happen. I was volunteering at a church event that had nothing to do with under age people and was answering phones for a fund raiser. On the third day they simply left me a message on my voice mail telling me someone had complained about my past and I was no longer welcomed there.
I know places want to protect themselves from liability but I bet if you asked a church to raise their hands if you have ever been arrested and everyone was honest, in a large congregation, I bet everyone would be shocked of how many would raise their hands. If you do not feel safe in a church where can you feel safe.
On that note, that reminds me of a man a few years ago who was anonymously leaving money orders for a huge amount each week in the offering plate. The church was on the verge of closing but his secret checks were keeping the place afloat. Someone in church reported that he was in a gay relationship and when confronted he stated that was none of the church’s business. He got booted and his checks stopped of course. I guess after that they knew where the checks had been coming from.
Not sure if the church closed or not after that but they bit the hand that fed.