Collection-plate Protocol??

An article appeared about our church in the Metro Spirit last week - it seems a contributing columnist has been visiting local churches at random, and writing about each church based on one visit. Mrs. Angel Cleary visited our church the night that we had Jeremy Edens in our service, and because we took a separate love offering for him, she decided that we were all about the collection plate. You can read her article here.

While she did write that we were friendly, that was pretty much the only positive thing she wrote. Our instruments, in her view, are "an interesting combo"; our Sunday night crowd was in "full suits and high heels"; and she apparently wasn't happy that our guest pointed out that in spite of Patagonia being littered with Catholic churches, no one is preaching the gospel there.

In case you want to check out her other church critiques, they are listed on the side of her column with such titles as "Karaoke Church" (Glenn Hills Baptist) and "Churches and Dead Cats" (Woodlawn Methodist).

Apparently, we are not the only church that has been misrepresented by this writer - I found the following letter to the editor from a member of Oak Grove Baptist Church:

"To the editor:

AUGUSTA, GA - On Wednesday, Jan. 9, the Metro Spirit printed an unfortunate article by a troubled young lady named Angel Cleary. Cleary need not expect a Pulitzer Prize for her misguided, inaccurate smear of a small Southern Baptist Church.

Finding a Baptist church in Georgia made of brick with white columns and a steeple is a discovery worthy of national media attention. Cleary just described the vast majority of Baptist churches in the Southeast.

Her personal attack on the musical minister demonstrates her lack of unprofessionalism and underlying emotional problems. Twice, she referred to her disturbed childhood. I suggest that she focus less on Nostradamus and more on the words of any supreme being she chooses.

Cleary claims she had nightmares as a child, wondering if she would be here for the rapture. I hope she is here when it occurs so she can report on it afterwards. Most of the journalists and reporters of her ilk will still be here.

The prominent sign she refers to is actually a small sign in the very back of the church and does not mention anything about the steps. This is an outright falsehood.

Surely Cleary can find a more newsworthy story at one of the big, rich churches in the CSRA, but I don’t think she will. I do not believe intestinal fortitude is one of Cleary’s strong points. Perhaps Islamic theology is.

The pastor of Oak Grove Baptist does not promote any doctrine that is not set forth by the Southern Baptist Convention. All Baptists, all Christians, for that matter, should take exception to her scurrilous article.

How astute Cleary must be to deduce that the people inside the church seemed to know everyone else. Her keen powers of perception are apparently being wasted on the Metro Spirit. She could have a lucrative career as a psychologist.

Members of Oak Grove Baptist never realized that they belonged to a “farm church,” which is an ignorant phrase coined by Cleary. Actually there are no farmers in the church, but they would be welcomed. Cleary, on the other hand, is one Oak Grove can do without."

Just for the record, a couple of Catholics wrote in to complain about the manner in which she reported on their church, as well. Apparently Ms. Cleary visits churches, writes about them, and leaves some pretty upset folk in her wake.