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May 11, 2005
Exhibit F: Exclusive Q&A with Marlene Casey, Member in Good Standing at East Waynesville Baptist
I spoke with Marlene Casey (member in good standing at East Waynesville Baptist Church) on 11 May 2005. She is owner and operator of Zoolie's Natural Foods, a health foods store in Waynesville.
Q: So where do I start? Well, I've heard Rev. Chandler resigned. Last night. How do you feel?
A: Very sad that it had to come to this. It could have been phenomenal for the Lord. But I was also surprised and relieved.
Q: Why surprised?
A: Because he would get up and preach politics like there was nothing wrong with it, and so I thought he would do it to the bitter end.
Q: And relieved?
A: It's over. And now we have our church back.
Q: What do you mean?
A: My father was a deacon at the church, and my parents raised me there, and I've raised my children there. We've had lots of car washes, selling pencils, fund raisers. All to build the church to where it is. And the buildings and property are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the church and the parsonage. Am glad we aren't going to lose that.
Q: What happened last week, May 2?
A: My aunt was there. She was one of the nine who walked out. Well, he walked in that night and told him he was changing the bylaws and kicking them out, but remember we voted him in and the bylaws say no politics.
Q: How will the church survive with these forty or so people and a minister leaving?
A: We'll be provided a minister from the Southern Baptist Convention. But I'm going to miss all of the ones who left. We had a great thing going until last October. We had lots of young people because the Chandlers were good at bringing them in. And we lost a deacon, Francis Webb, and our piano player, Vicki Messer.
Q: I hear there were audio tapes of Chandler's sermons out there in the media. Your ABC affiliate played one of them that demonstrated how overtly and strongly political Chandler was being. Are there other tapes?
A: Yeah, I heard it. Well, about the other tapes, I've heard that he went into the church library and destroyed some tapes of his sermons. We tape sermons for the shut-ins. I think the pastor only got ahold of one or two to destroy.
Q: Before two weeks ago, what was happening in the church?
A: The deacons had been warning him, and there was no communion. And then that last Sunday [May 1] when he called a meeting we didn't even have a church bulletin. And why? Because my aunt does the bulletin and she included some scripture verses from the King James Version that he did not like, from Jeremiah 23:1-2 [which says: "Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people: "Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. "]. And he got hold of those bulletins, about 130 of them altogether, and destroyed them. But see those verses were about a pastor dividing his flock, our church. She would spend 4 or 5 hours a week doing the bulletin.
Q: What's your aunt's name?
A: Magaret Bidix.
Q: What will the church's mission be now?
A: We need to be preaching the Love of God. Look, he wanted to change the covenant and bylaws. And the first time I heard him preach politics back in October, I wish a camera had been on my face. But he wouldn't stop, and we never got a sermon after that on anything about the love of God or good things or heaven. Only hell and judgment and political talk. But he brought in so many new members who liked that.
Q: Who were these members?
A: Mainly people 30 years old or younger. I wouldn't let my 15-yr-old son, Landen [Steveson], stay in the youth group. He didn't want to anyway. The youth group was being run by the preacher and his wife.
Q: What about money? I hear assets were frozen.
A: You should talk with Selma Morris about that, or the lawyer.
Q: I know our time is up. I want to thank you and let you know we'll all be praying for you.
A: Thank you. We'll need it, believe me.
Posted by wjbailes at May 11, 2005 08:15 PM
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Comments
Does anyone know if the church's tax exempt status is still in jeopardy now that the poltiking pastor resigned?
Posted by: CRM-114 at May 11, 2005 10:09 PM
For now, that is being discussed privately. But there is still a chance that the IRS could be involved.
Posted by: Bailes at May 12, 2005 07:08 AM