Pastor Banned Defiant 103-Year-Old From His Church — and Now There’s a Big Twist

Pastor Banned Defiant 103-Year-Old From His Church — and Now There’s a Big Twist

Apparently she doesn't enjoy his 'laying on of hands' ......

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/25/embattled-pastor-reportedly-banned-defiant-103-year-old-from-church-services-and-now-theres-a-twist/


Embattled Pastor Reportedly Banned Defiant 103-Year-Old From His Church — and Now There’s a Big Twist

The pastor who sparked national outrage for reportedly kicking a 103-year-old woman out of his church has subsequently been “fired” by some of his church flock, but he’s apparently not backing down.

Members of Union Grove Baptist Church in Elberton, Georgia, voted on Sunday to terminate the Rev. Tim Mattox after he banned Genora Hamm Biggs, a retired schoolteacher who has been a member of the church for 92 years, from attending services, the Daily Mail reported.

Mattox, who was given a letter of termination, has reportedly ignored the vote and the letter.

On Tuesday, two days after the vote to remove him was held, the pastor obtained temporary restraining orders against Biggs’ grandson, Elliott Dye, and Shirley Robinson, another church member who previously served as secretary, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

Superior Court Judge Thomas L. Hodges granted the temporary order against Dye and Robinson, and a hearing will take place on October 5 to further explore the issue, the outlet reported.

After the controversy made national news, church members reportedly met following service on Sunday to vote for Mattox’s removal and subsequently issued a letter telling him to remove his belongings from the property — a mandate that the pastor is ignoring.

The battle between Biggs and Mattox caught attention after the preacher and church deacon Glen Jackson purportedly revoked the 103-year-old woman’s longstanding membership and precluded her from attending services.

The disagreement between the two apparently centers on differences over church practices such as the laying of hands, which Biggs — who was once Mattox’s teacher — opposes, though it is unclear what else might have unfolded that led to the initial ban.

“He is a holy sanctified minister or so he says. We voted him in and we didn’t know it until he was there,” Biggs told the Associated Press last week. “We are Baptists and that’s what we want to stay.”

The church initially defended the decision, saying that a vote to retract membership was held in August, though Biggs refused to stop attending.

Repeated calls to Union Grove Baptist Church seeking comment went unanswered.

(H/T: Athens Banner Herald via Daily Mail)