A Virginia pastor forced an unwed teenager to apologize to his congregation for getting pregnant. Apparently, the girl approached the pastor for counseling and he advised her to repent and seek the congregation’s forgiveness.
Cell phone video of the young girl’s tearful apology went viral last week. Since then, protesters have visited the church to express their disappointment.
The incident occurred at the True Vine Apostolic Church of Christ when Bishop Terry Jackson called upon the unidentified girl to address the congregation.
“Stand right in front of the congregation. Don’t touch that table,” the pastor told the nervous girl.
“Um, I want to apologize to everybody in here because I am pregnant,” she said before pausing to wipe tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry y’all, I just hope that y’all all forgive me and hold prayer for me,” she said, as the congregation applauded politely.
The pastor took the mic and said he hopes she repents for her sin now rather than later. “If you sin, you don’t wait until the baby comes to repent, you repent now,” he said.
“We ain’t gon’ condone your sin now… we ain’t gon do that. Ain’t no baby showers going on, that’s what you lose out on. When you have a baby out of wedlock you don’t get a baby shower and nobody at this church should attend one.”
The conservative church is divided among the sexes – with men dressed in suits on one side of the aisle and women wearing white dresses on the other side.
@lifenwithmeek This pastor is running his church like a cult #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp ? original sound – LifeNwithMeek
After the video went viral, a young man confronted the pastor — and was promptly shown the door by a group of men. The young man threatened to return with protesters to shut the church down.
@lifenwithmeek The congregation was broadcasting live tonight and someone showed up. The video of the young lady getting in front of the congregation is posted on my page. The church is True Vine Apostolic Church of Christ #pastor #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp ? original sound – LifeNwithMeek
As the video clip continued to go viral on social media, the girl’s mother, Dee Myles, responded in a Facebook post.
“To everyone that’s concerned, we greatly appreciate it. However, I do want you to know that you all are interrupting my peace and is causing more damage than good,” Myles wrote. “You are showing up disrupting my church, my beliefs, and disrespecting my pastor. I am where I want to be and where I chose to be. We were not forced or manipulated to stand before the congregation. My daughter willingly approached the congregation and was welcomed and embraced with open arms. I stand on what I’ve been taught, and I’m raising my daughter to do the same.”
