Church Bans 103-Y-O Member Over 'Holy Rolling' Dispute, but She Says 'I Intend to Die Right There'
Law enforcement officers in Elberton, Georgia, are now keeping a close eye on Sunday services at Union Grove Baptist Church after an enduring feud between longtime members, led by a 103-year-old woman, and their new pastor, Rev. Tim Mattox, came to a head in recent weeks.
Feisty 103-year-old church member Genora Hamm Biggs told The Christian Post Tuesday that the church sent her a letter last month telling her she was no longer welcome following the debacle over "holy rolling" and other non-traditional Baptist styles of worship.
The letter, highlighted by Fox Carolina, declared that Biggs could not attend the church "for any reason whatsoever."
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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 officially revoked. Therefore, you cannot attend Union Grove Baptist Church for any reason whatsoever. You are not to come to the property of the Union Grove Baptist Church located at 680 Pulliam Street, Elberton, Georgia, 30635," noted the letter which was signed by a number of members and officers of the church.
Despite receiving the letter, however, Biggs said she has no intention of quitting her church because she was one of its earliest members and intends to have her funeral there.
"Of course I am [going back]. That's my church where I have been all my life. I joined there when I was 11 years old and I can't leave it now. Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church. I intend to die right there from that church," she told CP.
Biggs said the dispute with Mattox, who has been at the church for about six years, began after he tried to introduce a charismatic style of worship to the congregation, which she and other members of the church have been resisting.
"He is a Holy Sanctified [Pentecostal] minister and he is trying to turn my church into that, but I told him that we are Baptists and that's what we ought to stay," said Biggs.
"He [pastor] had a program. He is from Athens [Georgia] and he invited some of his denomination members to come and they came. And during the service they start falling out on the floor, rolling on the floor, and we don't do that," said Biggs of the first incident, which happened "a couple of years ago."
She said after speaking with Mattox about the "falling out" incident, he said it was part of a "revival" and it just kept happening.
"We spoke to him about it, that that's not our way of service," she said. "He said that would not be anymore but to have revival … and some more of that went on."
She said she also felt disrespected by Mattox, whom she taught as a child in the first grade, because he refused to take her calls even when she left messages to discuss her concerns. Fox Carolina reports that the church has about 150 members, but according to Biggs the membership is about 50-55.
Calls made to the church were not returned Tuesday, but Elberton Police Chief Mark Welsh told CP that the feuding congregation has been fighting for a long time.
"This has been going on for several years, this preacher and the former membership of the church being at odds. It's church politics that's involved in that particular church and there is a division in the church. The new pastor there at one point was going to eject them from the church and wanted the police to come over there and do that," he said.
Welsh explained that Mattox and his supporting team have been repeatedly told: "We will not do that. You need to contact an attorney. If you have an issue it's a civil matter. It's not a criminal matter and you need to resolve this in the courts or by your bylaws. But we are not going to come over there on Sunday mornings and start dragging people out of the church."
Although he counts the dispute as a civil matter, Welsh says the police have been monitoring the dispute to ensure "there is no violence."
He said the last time the pastor tried booting members he sought the help of the police, but he was eventually forced to abandon his worship service.
"It was confrontational. They were wanting them out of the church and they did not want to go, and they called us over there to eject them," said Welsh.
"They were confrontational, not violent or anything, and the preacher said, 'Well, you know what? We're just not going to have service today,' and just turned off the lights, closed the church up and went home. And that's pretty much the last incident we had. They were there last week too … we're keeping an eye on them, we just don't want it to turn violent," added Welsh.
