A black couple planned to wed at a predominantly white church that they attended (but were not members of) in Crystal Springs, MS.

A day prior to the nuptials, however, they learned that they were not going to be allowed to exchange vows at the First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, due to a small minority of white opponents to a black couple marrying at their church.

Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson, who actually wed at a nearby church, set the date and mailed out the invites when the pastor, Dr. Stan Weatherford, told them that congregants opposed the wedding.

“The church congregation had decided no black could be married at that church, and that if he went on to marry them, then they would vote him out the church,” Charles Wilson revealed.

“He had people in the sanctuary that were pitching a fit about us being a black couple,” said Te’Andrea Wilson. “I didn’t like it at all, because I wasn’t brought up to be racist. I was brought up to love and care

for everybody.”

“This had never been done before here, so it was setting a new precedent, and there are those who reacted to that because of that,” said Weatherford. He did perform the ceremony at a neighboring church to keep the sanctity and specialness of the day. “I didn’t want to have a controversy within the church, and I didn’t want a controversy to affect the wedding of Charles and Te’ Andrea. I wanted to make sure their wedding day was a special day,” said Weatherford about why the ceremony was performed elsewhere.

The couple remains unsure of why the wedding was banned due to race. “I blame the First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, I blame those members who knew and call themselves Christians and didn’t stand up,” said Charles Wilson.

Officials at the church claim to welcome any race into their congregation and are holding internal meetings to figure out how to move forward if such a situation should arise again.

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