Southern Baptists expel church as pastor defends blackface and Native caricatures-ZoomTech News

The Southern Baptist Conference has ousted an Oklahoma church whose pastor defended his blackface efficiency at one church occasion and his impersonation of a Native American lady at one other.

The Government Committee of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination voted Tuesday that Matoaka Baptist Church of Ochelata “be deemed not in pleasant cooperation with the conference” — the official terminology for an expulsion.

The church’s pastor, Sherman Jaquess, wearing blackface for a 2017 church Valentine’s Day occasion, wherein he claimed to be impersonating the late soul singer Ray Charles. Jaquess wore darkish facial make-up, a big Afro wig and darkish glasses and smiled broadly as he sang a duet. Some within the crowd might be heard laughing throughout the video of the efficiency.

The video was dropped at gentle earlier this yr by a Tulsa neighborhood activist, Marq Lewis.

One other Fb picture, revealed by the Examiner-Enterprise of Bartlesville, additionally surfaced, displaying Jaquess dressed as a Native American lady at a “Cowboys and Indians” evening at a church camp. The picture reveals a person dressed as a cowboy, holding an apparently pretend gun to Jaquess in jest whereas a boy dressed as a cowboy is poised with raised fists subsequent to him.

In a Fb publish earlier this yr, Lewis wrote: “He did not simply mimic Ray Charles, he distorted the options and tradition of African People and in addition Indigenous People along with his offensive Pocahontas caricature. He’s selling the hatred that sees African People and Indigenous People as not solely totally different however lower than. “

Jaquess didn’t instant reply to a request for remark despatched by way of e-mail.

Lewis praised the Government Committee’s motion.

“For him (Jaquess) to not apologize, and double down on it, to me I felt this can be a pastor that wanted to be uncovered,” Lewis stated in an interview. “I am grateful that the Southern Baptist group stated, ‘We do not wish to have something to do with this.'”

Blackface performances date again to minstrel reveals of the 1800s, wherein performers darkened their faces to create bigoted caricatures of Black individuals.

Jaquess defended his actions after they got here to gentle, saying he was enjoying tribute to Ray Charles and that he does not “have a racist bone in my physique,” in response to the Examiner-Enterprise.

Jaquess, who has campaigned towards public drag reveals, stated in a sermon posted on Fb that his “dressing up like Pocahontas” was not a drag efficiency as a result of it wasn’t sexual. Drag performers are usually described as entertainers who gown and act as a distinct gender.

Within the sermon, Jaquess stated he has “Cherokee blood in me however I put some brown make-up on. … I used to be attempting to appear to be a Native American lady.” He acknowledged within the sermon that a number of individuals had been leaving the church amid the controversy.

Since Southern Baptist church buildings are impartial, the conference cannot inform a church what to do or whom to have as a pastor, however it might probably oust a church from its membership.

The conservative denomination has lately expelled church buildings for varied causes — most prominently Saddleback Church, the California megachurch ousted earlier this yr for having ladies pastors. The SBC’s structure says a church can solely be deemed in pleasant cooperation if, amongst different issues, it “doesn’t act to affirm, approve, or endorse discriminatory habits on the idea of ethnicity.”

Any church has a proper to attraction its dismissal to the total annual assembly of the SBC. At this yr’s annual assembly, delegates overwhelmingly ratified the committee’s ouster of Saddleback and two different church buildings.

In 2018 and 2022, the Government Committee ousted a Georgia church and a New Jersey congregation amid considerations over alleged discriminatory habits.

Different causes for ouster embrace a failure to handle sexual abuse and for performing to “endorse gay habits.”

Individually, the committee confronted its third management setback in a matter of months when its anticipated appointment of an interim president fell by way of.

Retired Kentucky pastor Dan Summerlin, who had been really useful by the committee’s officers, withdrew his candidacy, saying Tuesday that he would not have time for the job whereas caring for his spouse throughout most cancers remedy.

The committee was assembly for the primary time since its interim president, Tennessee pastor Willie McLaurin, resigned in August after it got here to gentle that he had falsified his instructional credentials on his resume. McLaurin had been the main candidate to grow to be the everlasting president after the committee didn’t approve the nomination of its former chairman, Jared Wellman, as president in Could.

The committee stated in a press release Tuesday that based mostly on an inner investigation, it concluded that “McLaurin engaged in each tutorial {and professional} fraud.” Nevertheless it stated no proof was discovered “of wrongdoing or direct monetary hurt to the Government Committee.” It didn’t elaborate.

“Whereas the Government Committee acknowledges the collateral, reputational hurt and oblique monetary affect ensuing from McLaurin’s misrepresentations, the Government Committee doesn’t plan to proceed with taking any authorized motion towards McLaurin right now,” it stated.

Jonathan Howe, who as vp had been serving within the interim function, will proceed that function, in response to the committee.

The job of the chief government includes main the day-to-day enterprise of the committee, which acts on behalf of the conference when its annual assembly shouldn’t be in session. The earlier everlasting president, Ronnie Floyd, resigned amid turmoil over the Government Committee’s dealing with of a third-party investigation into how the committee addressed sexual abuse stories.

Amid tight funds, the committee lately reduce 5 full-time employees positions and two contractor positions.